Saudis appear to be using Canadian-made combat vehicles against Yemeni rebels

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is famous around the world for his humanity-loving & peace-loving stature & acts. But those are only words. When it comes to words, then this is Canada for you; selling weapons to those countries, which are proven to be habitual human-rights abusers. After all, what would you expect from selling $15 billions worth of weapons & Light-Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia; that they use those vehicles to help Syrians or Iraqis or Yemenis?

Saudi Arabia gets correctly blamed for its bombing of Yemeni civilians but what about the "drug-dealer" who provided those "drugs" to the "drug-addict" in the first place? Canada & other G7 countries are developing or substantially supporting their economies through sales of weapons to the world, & especially to those countries, which are embroiled in wars in hot zones. But they don't get blamed for selling arms & weapons; users of those weapons get blamed for using those weapons.

This is the media for you. Canadian media & social media shows the face of Liberals & Trudeau to the world that shows how peace-loving & humanitarian Canadian government is, & they don't show how that same government is causing so much pain in the world, too.

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/saudi-arms-used-against-yemeni-rebels-seem-to-match-canadian-lavs/article28846678/

Canadian-made armoured vehicles appear to be embroiled in Saudi Arabia's war against Yemeni-based Houthi rebels – caught up in cross-border hostilities that critics say should force Ottawa to reconsider a $15-billion deal to sell Riyadh more of these weapons.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis – who are aligned with Iran – has already been accused by a United Nations panel of major human-rights violations for what its report called "widespread and systematic" air-strike attacks on civilian targets. Along the Saudi-Yemen border, constant skirmishes pit Houthi fighters against Saudi ground forces such as the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

The Saudi Arabian National Guard, a buyer of many Canadian-made light armoured vehicles (LAVs) in the past decade, has published photos on its official Twitter account showing how in late 2015 it moved columns of combat vehicles to Najran, a southwestern Saudi town near the border with Yemen that is in the thick of the conflict.

A significant number of vehicles in the photos have the triangular front corners, the eight wheels and the headlamps fixed above these triangles that are familiar features in earlier LAV models made in Canada.

Neither the Liberal government nor LAV-maker General Dynamics Land Systems in London, Ont., would confirm these are Canadian machines.

But a retired Canadian general consulted by The Globe and Mail, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified the LAVs being transported to Najran as fighting vehicles made by General Dynamics Land Systems. Stephen Priestley, a researcher with the Canadian American Strategic Review, a think tank that tracks defence spending, also identified the LAVs as Canadian-made.

Critics say having Canadian-made arms enmeshed in a conflict that has claimed more than 2,800 civilian lives should prompt Ottawa to rethink the recent $15-billion deal to sell hundreds or thousands more to the Saudis.

Canada's export control rules for weapons shipments are supposed to require Ottawa to restrict arms exports to countries such as Saudi Arabia, that have "poor human-rights records." Saudi Arabia, regularly ranked among the "worst of the worst" on human rights by Freedom House, qualifies for special scrutiny.

The same federal weapons export controls also say Canada should "closely control," or be very discriminating, about shipments to countries "that are involved in or under imminent threat of hostilities."

Foreign Affairs ... department refused comment Monday when pressed on whether it is concerned about the armoured vehicle shipments, saying it's bound to secrecy on anything to do with arms sales to the Saudis.

"In regards to your request, please see our response: For reasons of commercial confidentiality, specific contractual details cannot be shared," Tania Assaly, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs said in a prepared statement.

The Trudeau Liberals keep trying to dissociate themselves from the increasingly controversial deal. Last week, Mr. Dion argued his government merely inherited the contract and that cancelling it would cost taxpayers huge penalties. Pressed on this, Mr. Dion's department refused to provide details to back up the Foreign Minister's assertion, citing the need to keep the commercial pact with Riyadh secret.

General Dynamics Land Systems Canada of London, Ont., which employs about 2,100 people, did not respond to a request for comment about whether it is concerned about the LAVs caught up in the Saudi-Yemen conflict.

Ken Epps with the anti-war group Project Ploughshares, which tracks arms sales, said the Liberal government should rethink the latest $15-billion contract with Saudi Arabia. Ottawa, not General Dynamics Land Systems, is the prime contractor in this deal, which was also brokered by the federal government.

The Trudeau government still has power over the deal. It can suspend exports of these combat vehicles.

"Given a UN report accused the Saudis of war crimes because of their bombing of civilians, then clearly our concern must be that since they are involved in war crimes there, it should give the Canadian government additional pause in shipping these kind of weapons to them," Mr. Epps said.

The $15-billion Saudi LAV deal will provide Riyadh with weaponized armoured vehicles in what is the largest manufacturing export contract in Canadian history – but one that doesn't garner significant public support. A recent Nanos Research poll found nearly six out of 10 Canadians surveyed feel it is more important to ensure arms exports go only to countries "that respect human rights" than it is to sustain some 3,000 jobs by selling combat vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

A new report says Saudi Arabia was the second-largest arms importer in the world between 2011 and 2015 after India as Mideast countries upped weapons purchases significantly. Shipments to Saudi Arabia rose 275% in those years, by value, compared with the earlier 2006-10 period, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.

At least one wartime footage video posted on YouTube on the Houthi-Saudi conflict also shows what appears to be a disabled Canadian-made LAV, presumably abandoned by Saudi troops as their enemies approached.

Mr. Priestley said this December, 2015, video, purported to be shot near the southern Saudi town of Al Raboah, shows a National Guard LAV-AG model, made in London, Ont., being looted by combatants.

Will Germans embrace or shun refugees?

I see quite a few people are enthusiastically sharing videos & news of Canadian PM, Justin Trudeau, welcoming Syrian refugees in Canada. They are all saying that this is what humanity is all about, & Syria's neighbouring Arab countries should learn a thing or two from Canada (please keep in mind that Syria's neighbouring Arab countries have taken in millions of refugees, while Canada is only taking in 25,000, even though, Lebanon is not militarily involved in Syria but Canada is).

If I recall correctly, social media was abuzz with similar praises, & rebukes for Arab countries, a few months ago, when Europe, & especially Germany, was welcoming refugees.

As this article shows, the world is full of either stupid people or extremely naive people. Europeans & German public was never, & still is, not so enthusiastically welcoming refugees as the media portrayed.

As the Toronto Star article from November 20th shows, a majority of general Canadian public also is not in favour of Canada welcoming refugees. Even though, Canada is only accepting 25,000 Syrian refugees who will be spread around all over the country, so their effect will be minimal on Canadian labour market, if any. Ironically enough, Canada got this idea of welcoming refugees from Germany, & Germany now has instituted border controls & German public has started to dislike Merkel ("Merkel's approval rating slipped to 54% in December - down from 71% in January.") We do have to keep in mind that Germany is smaller in land mass than Canada but then Germany has a better economy than Canada, which is suffering from a recession, which is also predicted to last long.

However, just like Germans, Canadians are torn apart between wanting to help people in their time of need, but then also looking at their own dire future. As the article states that policy makers in Germany are discussing lowering the minimum wages so employers can hire them (of course, low minimum wages will affect all & not only refugees). Although, German government is providing funds for German language classes for refugees, the funds are only available for basic classes. Of course, one cannot perform better in his/her job, if they are not fluent in the language of their adopted country. At the same time, the refugees in Germany are educated & coming with a dream to have similar jobs in Germany as they had back in their homeland, but they won't get those jobs. Germany needs, & welcoming, these refugees to get the jobs that German public doesn't want; the proverbial "low paid & dirty" work.

Canada is welcoming refugees who are family members, & no single men. Family / married men are usually educated & since they need to earn enough money to support their families, they will be looking for similar jobs they had back in their homeland. Problem is that Canada cannot provide those kinds of jobs, since its economy is in shambles, & even Canadian educated grads are having an extremely hard time in securing those kinds of proverbially "high paid & good" jobs. So, in a few months, these refugees will be forgotten, since the media will move on to the next sensational story, & the refugees will be left to fend for themselves in the labour market.

One more point comes out of this article is what is democracy, then? As I blogged earlier, the general public loves "democracy" as long as the government's decisions benefits it. Do you think that is it democratic that the majority of Canadians dislike Trudeau's plan of welcoming & settling refugees but he went ahead with it, anyway? Do you think that is it democratic that Merkel's welcoming refugees doesn't coincide with what the German public really wants? Do you think is it democratic that US, & Republican party's leadership front runner, Donald Trump, is being embraced by millions of Americans, even after his extremely xenophobic comments against refugees & Muslims?
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35062438

In a crowded market square in Gera, poets & performers take to the stage. Above them is a banner that has become a familiar sight at train stations across Germany. "Refugees Welcome," it reads in big letters.

Die Linke, a left-wing German political party, has set up a stall to welcome the newcomers, alongside a local charity.
...

Nearby, supporters of AfD - Alternative for Germany - a right-wing group which is cynical about the entry of so many refugees, have gathered.

It's Saturday afternoon in late October & Dirk Heinze has come with his wife Daniella Bruhnke & their 3 children, Sophia, six, Turina, two, & 10-month-old Pierre to hear what both groups have to say.

Dirk, 40, works in care for the elderly & has lived his whole life in Gera. I'm following them as well as some of the refugees to see how they & the city adapt to the changes brought about by the influx of asylum seekers.

Gera was once part of the former German Democratic Republic. It is small, with a population of 95,000, &, until recently, only had 2,000 foreign residents.

Dirk views the groups with scepticism, saying that they are both trying to capitalise on the refugee crisis.

Dirk & Daniella explain that they are frustrated at being excluded from decisions that have affected their town. Many residents feel the same, according to Daniella, because the decision to admit so many refugees was made by politicians, without consultation.

The couple haven't been involved in any protests, although they understand why others have. "So many other people are coming. They [the protesters] fear for their jobs. They fear, well, yes for their lives," says Daniella.

In August Angela Merkel said all Syrians could apply for asylum, & wouldn't be sent back to the first safe country they landed in. Germany was already taking a substantial number of refugees.

This week it was reported that the influx of asylum-seekers in Germany has reached the one million mark - four times the total for 2014. About a half of the new refugees are from Syria.

Refugees are being bussed across the country. ...

Gera is receiving fewer refugees than other cities. Many of them are currently living in the former hospital, converted in mid-October into a refugee centre for up to 2,000 new arrivals.

Someone tried to flood the centre before it opened, so security is very tight. There was also an attack on a refugee by two German men with five dogs in tow. Injuries were minor but news quickly spread around the centre that it may not be safe to go out at night.

The recent influx has caused a mini-political earthquake in Germany. Merkel's approval rating slipped to 54% in December - down from 71% in January.

There have been high-profile & large Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) demonstrations against the arrival of Muslim refugees. These have mostly been held in Dresden - about an hour from Gera.

In Gera itself there have been smaller protests known as "Thugida" demonstrations (the name combines Pegida with Thuringia, which is the state in which Gera sits).

It's far from one-sided, though. Germans have been filling train stations to welcome refugees - handing out sweets to children & clothes to their parents.

Dirk & Daniella's concerns are always couched with sympathy for those truly in need. "Regardless of which country they come, what religion they are - if someone needs help, they have to receive help," says Daniella.

But she maintains that people shouldn't be allowed to come "just because they want a better life, and because it is better here in Germany".

Dirk is sceptical of Merkel's "Wir schaffen das" ["We will make it"] pronouncements. ...
...

The recent attacks in Paris are on everyone's mind - particularly since at least two of the attackers entered Europe posing as refugees. New arrivals in Germany tell me they worry that Germans will come to fear all refugees & that everyone will end up too scared even to communicate, resulting in a segregated city.

"I do believe that the opinion of many people has now changed, because many are afraid now that terrorists will mix themselves among the refugees," says Daniella. "Who knows who is a terrorist and who is a refugee? They don't have it written on their forehead."

They tell me of other concerns, too. There has been debate for months about lowering the minimum wage in Germany for refugees. It is a controversial idea that, as Dirk puts it, "will keep the big bosses happy", but he fears may lower wages for Germans.

Jobs are on everyone's minds here. I spend some time at a German language school. Classes are growing every day because of the arrival of refugees. I meet a language teacher who, though enthusiastic about the potential of the refugees, is not hopeful about their chances.

Sandy Mazur tells me that German is being taught, funded by the government, to a basic level - but after that the money stops.

"These refugees who come from Syria are very ambitious," she says. "They want work - and here in Germany we have so many free work places because we don't have so many young people."

But she says the German provided is not enough to get a job, & certainly not a job in anywhere near in the same professions the refugees worked in back home. Some are teachers, IT professionals & engineers.

As I leave in early December refugees are more visible on the streets of Gera.

Residents are undoubtedly nervous, but many of their foreign neighbours hope they can bring new life to this quiet city.