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Path: utzoo!utcsri!ubc-vision!ubc-cs!ludemann
From: ludemann@ubc-cs.UUCP (Peter Ludemann)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: Arming our Forces
Message-ID: <1281@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 14-Sep-85 15:00:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: ubc-cs.1281
Posted: Sat Sep 14 15:00:24 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 15-Sep-85 00:41:47 EDT
References: <1371@utcsri.UUCP> <2043@mnetor.UUCP> <1280@ubc-cs.UUCP> <2135@mnetor.UUCP>
Reply-To: ludemann@ubc-cs.UUCP (Peter Ludemann)
Distribution: can
Organization: UBC Department of Computer Science, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lines: 49

In article <2135@mnetor.UUCP> clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) writes:
>In article <1280@ubc-cs.UUCP> ludemann@ubc-cs.UUCP (Peter Ludemann) writes:
>>In article <2101@mnetor.UUCP> clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) writes:
>>>
>>>You have entirely forgotten Korea.  Even though I've raised it several
>>>times.  That was a full-scale war and we were in it in a big way.
>>
>>So, why were "we" in Korea (I wasn't born when the war started)?
>
>The Russians got peeved in the UN over something or other, and they
>stomped out.  Then, the situation in Korea got bad enough (frankly,
>I'm not quite sure what the situation was) ...
>
>>The results of "winning" the war are unclear.
>
>This has nothing to do with the original reason for our being there.
>Nor does it have anything to do with the original topic (level of
>military preparedness desirable in Canada)

Sorry, it has everything to do with the original topic.  First,
you don't seem to dispute my claim the the results of "winning"
are unclear.  And you don't seem to even have a very clear view
of why the war started.

That war ended some thirty years ago.  Already, the reasons are
partly forgotten and the results seem unclear.  Every action has
a result and that result is usually not what was expected.  If you
don't know the results of your action, you should probably think
very carefully before doing something.  If you have lots of muscles,
there's a strong temptation to use them.  Politicians are not very
good at thinking through the consequences of their actions, so
let's give them the minimum amount of muscles.  (I suggest reading
Bertrand Russel's defense of his pacifist opinions during World War I.)

I am advocating the minimum military necessary to defend Canada
or at least demonstrate its sovereignty.  Other countries will
get themselves into trouble with or without our help.  I'd rather
be the citizen of a country which doesn't interfere in other countries
affairs - the Americans are not well liked because they interfere
in just about everyone's affairs.  Exporting capitalism is just
as undesirable as exporting communist revolution.  And before we
condemn South African apartheid, let's treat our aboriginal people
properly.

(BTW, before you write me off as a pinko-commie pacifist, I should
tell you that I have been a member of our "glorious" armed forces
and have seen how badly equipped they are.  We probably should
improve them, but without a clear idea of what we want to do with
them, we will not be able to decide how they should be built up.)