| James Murray | |
| The Ottawa Citizen |
Monday, October 21, 2002
Canada was reduced to pleading with the U.S. for an "emergency" re-supply of bombs and military equipment in April 1999 to help its air force fulfil its NATO commitment during the Kosovo bombing campaign.
The startling information, which was contained in a letter Canadian air force officials sent to the deputy under-secretary of the United States air force, raises questions about Canada's ability to equip its Armed Forces to support any future allied military action against Iraq.
Due to a lack of resources, the documents reveal, the Canadian air force requested, "on a national emergency operational basis," 100 general purpose 225-kilogram bombs and 200 laser-guided bombs for its CF18s.
The letter stated the munitions could only be obtained from the United States because it was "the only known source that can provide those assets in time."
Another piece of equipment requested for Canada's military jet fighters was forward looking infra-red pods, which are used for targeting positions for precision bombing.
The document revealed that a failure by the Americans to supply the equipment could have forced the Canadian jets to withdraw from the Kosovo campaign.
"The impact of not receiving these additional assets would be to have NATO re-evaluate the role of the Canadian CF18s and another role assigned," stated the letter, which was obtained by the Citizen from the U.S. Defense department through the American Freedom of Information Act. Canadian requests to the U.S. for more equipment were made three times during a two-week period in April 1999 and within weeks of the opening of hostilities in Kosovo.
Now as the U.S. continues to threaten war against Iraq to force Saddam Hussein to disarm, Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien has stated Canada could possibly play a role in a U.S.-led war.
That could include use of Canada's CF18s which were deployed to the Gulf region during the 1991 Gulf War. However, observers of Canada's military question the readiness of the Armed Forces to get involved in a conflict with Iraq.
"We don't have much of an ammunition inventory", said John Thompson of the MacKenzie Institute, a Toronto-based, non-partisan think-tank that deals in foreign affairs and defence issues. "There is probably an expectation -- every time we expect the Americans to supply us with ammunition because we run through our inventory so fast."
Capt. Mark Gough, a spokesman for the Department of National Defence, said the military has moved to "just in time delivery" for its equipment and material requirements, "to cut down on the cost."
"It is not prudent for us to go ahead and buy up all kinds of stuff, put it in a warehouse on a what-if basis," he said.
Capt. Gough said orders are made for munitions from the country of origin when they are produced.
"We keep a smaller stock," he said. "We rely on them (the u.S.) because they produce much more."
During the 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia and then-president Slobodan Milosevic, Canada participated in the first offensive operations ever conducted by NATO.
Canada contributed 18 CF18s based in Aviano, Italy for air operations over Yugoslavia.
At the time, Yugoslavia conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing of Albanians native to Kosovo, the military campaign began only after all diplomatic negotiations failed to bring a peaceful resolution to the area.
The Canadian contribution to that campaign, which lasted from March 23 to June 12, consisted of 682 combat sorties over Yugoslavia at a cost to the taxpayer estimated to be $54.5 million.
During those 78 days, the air force dropped a total of 530 bombs of which 361 where laser-guided or "smart" bombs. Overall NATO flew 38,000 air sorties over Yugoslavia.
