National Defence committee  Speaking not on the U.S. thing but in general and to your question about misinformation, the antidote to misinformation is education. If people are not being educated—and there has to be self-education in this as well—there will always be people who get duped. If you watch the i

National Defence committee  I think we've spoken about the Chinese factor, and we know that's not the Chinese position. However, South Africa is an interesting one, and Mr. Jenkins has alluded to the colonial histories and so on. We just spoke about apartheid. The Soviet Union in the Cold War was very much

National Defence committee  They're still doing it right now. The point is that South Africans have a historical legacy, and they're speaking to that. That's where they're coming from.

National Defence committee  The point is that international states become legitimate when they have international recognition. That's really not even 100% based on the United Nations. When the Soviet Union came apart, it was individual countries.... For example, Canada was one of the first to recognize a n

National Defence committee  Yes. He was referring to the Brusilov offensive, which I fully understand. That's because things were really bad in Russia back home. The Russian army was not being properly supplied and they collapsed, and the Russian Revolution was starting. We're not at the point yet where th

National Defence committee  Again, the sanctions haven't done everything they were supposed to do because the Russians have done workarounds. I'm not an economics specialist, but I will say from my understanding of history that the only time sanctions have actually worked and you get the political effect wa

National Defence committee  Yes, the merchants of death and all that sort of thing.

National Defence committee  The principle weakness of the Ukrainian forces is people power. The west can supply the ammunition, and yes, there's a shortage, but at the end day you can bring things in. The Russians have supply problems too, but they can manufacture it and they are bringing it in. The people

National Defence committee  I'll go first. The challenge is that it's essentially a war of attrition, but there are various dynamics. We have to see where the Ukrainian offensive will go now and how dynamic it will be. That dynamism will, in fact, affect public opinion in and of itself. Political leadersh

National Defence committee  I'll be very quick. This is a key component, and Mr. Jenkins has mentioned that. It is part of Russia's other side. There is the conventional war going on, but there's the nuclear deterrent aspect and the nuclear threat aspect. Putting nuclear forces in Belarus is very consist

National Defence committee  You have asked two questions. One is about the Russian internal situation, and then there's the nuclear thing. Let me put the nuclear thing in one way. I don't believe they would be considering limited nuclear war. I think most deterrence strategists believe that there is no su

National Defence committee  I think he was speaking out of line, because the Chinese government has basically said it was a personal view. He was postulating things, saying there was no international treaty that validated the independence of the post-Soviet states. I don't think that really has any credibil

National Defence committee  Those are two fundamental questions. On the point of the war not going the way people on either side thought it was going to go, wars generally tend to do that. World War I started in 1914 with one concept and ended in 1918 with a completely different concept. Yes, this war was

National Defence committee  The answer is no. The west's position is that Ukraine will drive it. Does Ukraine have a plan? Yes. The Ukrainian plan is to expel all Russian forces from all of occupied Ukraine, including Crimea. That is the Ukrainian plan, and the west backs it.

National Defence committee  Well, from what I'm aware of, for the Lithuanians, who are hosting it, the big thing is to get everybody to plus up to 2% GDP. That is the Lithuanian position. I know they are pounding on the doors here in Ottawa to try to get Canada to plus up to 2%. They would even say that 2%