(The following article is from the December 1-31, 2007 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.

People's Voice Editorial, Dec. 1-31, 2007

Next time you hear some Tory dinosaur claim that Canada can't afford a comprehensive national child care program, remind him that taxpayers just forked over $1.3 billion for the purchase and maintenance of 120 utterly useless Leopard tanks in Afghanistan. That works out to $40 per Canadian, and it's just a small fraction of the military boondoggles the Harper government aims to purchase over the next several years.

     The tank deal was the outcome of an expensive battle of another kind: a fight between so-called "tank men" in the Department of National Defence, versus "new guard" warriors like military chief of staff Rick "Killer" Hillier. According to files obtained through an access-to-information request by Canadian Press, the "tank men" convinced former defence-minister Gordon O'Connor to borrow 20 German Leopard A6M battle tanks and buy 100 used ones from the Dutch, arguing that the tanks would protect Canadian troops from explosive devices. Hillier wanted lighter, more mobile vehicles better suited to offensive warfare in the harsh Afghan climate.

     As anti-war groups note, this exposure of massive waste of taxpayer dollars has been ignored in the current atmosphere of "supporting our troops." The Tories want to boost military spending to the $25 billion annual range, an enormous burden of some $750 per Canadian every year. At a time when Canada's infrastructure is collapsing, social programs are slashed to the bone, and day cares are shutting down for lack of funds, the Harper government is blowing billions of dollars to kill people in Afghanistan. This criminal policy must be condemned, both inside Parliament and in the streets.

Found at: https://peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint08/12__TANKS_FOR_NOTHING___.html