Canadian Officers Don't Want to Serve in the U.S. Anymore
theatlantic.com
theatlantic.com
When the article talks about Canadian officers serving as deputy corps commanders, that's referring to Canadian participants in exchange programs. The US military has exchange programs which do 1:1 exchanges with allied forces. For example, a Canadian might end up as as a US deputy division or corps officer, and an American might end up as a Canadian brigade staff officer or deputy commander. The exchange programs are part of a broader American program to build military-military ties, increase interoperability, and maybe grant unique perspectives.
NORAD spots must be filled, and will be filled. It just means that you're probably not getting the best or most motivated candidates anymore. The exchange slots will probably whittle away.
It was a serious question.
Did the former members of the allies get a vote when they were handed to Stalin by FDR ?
If you want something more recent, did the Persian Gulf allies get informed or a vote in the recent war about preemptive strikes ?
We all know that the Canadians never have any serious ability to veto any action. The only equality is that Canadians are expected to die when told.
In a hypothetical world where Russian influence controlled NORAD, what would they do differently than today? Driving allies to offer less skilled deputies to U.S. posts seems natural for their objectives.
It's not Americans who are being whipped up against Canadians, and it never has been.
Are Americans "inhospitable" to Canadians now? Or more the reverse?
Today tensions are highest, but even if Trump is the source, he's far from the cause.
It's like the Mad Men scene where the junior blows up, enumerates to Don everything wrong with him and Don blandly reacts "I don't think about you at all"
What does this mean?
the Canadians have reacted with restraint to someone, as in arguably the most powerful person in the world, ranting about conquering them as the 51st state and then petulantly slapping random illegal tariffs on goods from there when they didn’t roll over and play dead.
Canadians haven't reacted with restraint to Americans in the decades I've been aware of the divide, and this time there has been no restraint at all.
Canadian politicians and media are pursuing a strategy: it's arguable whether it's clever or foolhardy, but what's not arguable is whether it's restrained.
> https://youtu.be/7ZE0TuKTpo4
There's a cultural reason why "look how ignorant and stupid Americans are" has been staple Canadian comedy since the latter half of the 20th century. And it has nothing to do with America.
One of the great things about Americans, by the way, is being able to shrug, maybe chuckle along, and let it be for going on decades. That's what comes from being a first-rate global power. Game of Thrones reminded us "the wolf does not concern himself with the opinion of sheep".
And the power dynamic here is such that the analogy is apt.
That seems like a similar perspective on Canadians, we rip up trade agreements and some call like for like reciprocal tariffs a lack of restraint on their part.
We’re going to have to disagree on Canadians. I would’ve called their response unrestrained but not necessarily unreasonable if they’d closed the border to American tourists or slapped on an expensive visa, and closed the airspace to American flights - probably not in line with treaties but that hasn’t seemed to stop any of trump’s policies.
That type of response would be an unrestrained one.
Reciprocal tariffs and people being less willing to visit Florida and places when Florida is trying to specifically tax them and overwhelmingly support the person advocating the take over of Canada… Oh no the Canadians don’t want to visit us, they’re over reacting!! /s
That’s my take. You’re legally entitled to your own opinion.
None of those were ever viable options on the table. It'd immediately set off a Canadian national crisis that hurts the USA 1% and Canada 99%. Even Canada's current leadership isn't that politically suicidal.
It's like fighting off a mugger by cutting off your own arm and beating him with it, as you bleed out and weaken with every second that passes.
But there you go, my point exactly, as you point out Canada is practicing restraint and not cutting off their own nose over our leader’s petulance and repeatedly shown to be illegal behavior around tariffs. Canada only has done reciprocal measured responses. Glad we’re agreeing on that now.
If only our leader could learn from them and stop taxing Americans just because he has a weird fetish about making Canada a state, instead he’s lashed out and started taxing Americans for importing cheap raw material like aluminum from Canada in order to turn it into higher value goods… because I guess it hurts Canada a bit to tax American importers
It would be pretty bad.
If Canada did that, 3 months later there would be no country left to call Canada. The EU and East Asia would be sending relief aid in the form of peace-keepers, heating fuel & emergency power generators, antibiotics and food rations in a humanitarian gesture to save what's left of what was Canada.
Absolute, unadulterated nonsense.
> There's a cultural reason why "look how ignorant and stupid Americans are" has been staple Canadian comedy since the latter half of the 20th century.
It's been a staple of American comedy, too. Did you think this youtube clip was insightful or additive?
> Game of Thrones reminded us "the wolf does not concern himself with the opinion of sheep".
Ah, yes. That staple of actual, real, human geopolitics. Game of Thrones. Another brilliant analogy that has a lot to do with the real world. Clever and well thought out. Glad you shared.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
The main principle is to add value in your comments by engaging with whatever would be a strong version of what you're replying to