No, I am not selling anything. I am paraphrasing the “buyer beware” admonition for readers to be careful when “consuming” news. In particular, when listening to pundits regarding the Russian War of Aggression. Perhaps a better catch phrase would be what I learned when I first began studying history: consider the source.

The Internet Age has given voice to anyone with a phone or a computer. That does not mean they know what they are talking about. For more than a year, blogs, vlogs, websites and YouTube has been flooded with dire predictions about the demise of Ukraine. As I have said before, I hold fast to my original prediction that Russia will ultimately lose. The Ukrainians are demonstrating the same grit that the Brits did during the Blitz. They (both nations) were/are clear in their steadfast insistence that a punishing war was/is preferable to an unjust peace. The Ukrainians have the added impetus that many of them can recall what life was like under Russian domination and would never want to return to that life.

Same theme, different war. Why do we see so many Canadians supporting idiotic peace proposals for the Middle East? We can all agree that the death of ANY innocent non-combatant is a tragedy. That is NOT akin to calling what the IDF is doing a genocide. If we had a UN ambassador with a spine, Mr. Blanchard would give a speech denouncing such statements in the General Assembly. Anyone, anywhere, suggesting that trading land for peace, whether in the Donbas or in Gaza, should be chastised and then ignored. What would we do if the US decided to kill half the population of Windsor Ontario? Would we roll over and agree to change the border to appease the Governor of NY State? What if Maine decided it wanted half of New Brunswick? This may seem silly, but it is no different than what many are calling for others to do.

Things brings me to my final point and I leave it to the end because if I had begun with it, I would have spiralled down into depression and not been able to make my point. The latest survey done by the Canadian Armed Forces has found that fully half of uniformed members no longer believe that the CAF is a life that is fulfilling for them. It is likely that many are “trapped” by being too close to minimum pensions to walk away and so they stay in the hope of seeing improvement (at least until their superannuation date).

This makes me sad as someone who loved serving in the Canadian Army. I continue to believe that the senior leadership is working to make the CAF better, but with no inside knowledge, hope is all I have.

It might be time for the generals and admirals to re-read what they may have read at Command and Staff College. Carl von Clausewitz, On War

Book IV Chapter 11

If a bloody slaughter is a horrible sight, then that is a ground for paying more respect to war, but not for making the sword we wear blunter and blunter by degrees from feelings of humanity, until some one steps in with one that is sharp and lops off the arm from our body.

In the case of today’s CAF, it may soon not be an issue of how sharp is the sword, but whether we have a sword at all.