http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/propaganda-and-provocation-russia-scoffs-at-canada-s-baltic-war-games-1.4263213

Propaganda and provocation: Russia scoffs at Canada's Baltic war games

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Joe Shawn

What a bunch of crap. Canadian forces should not be there at all, not one Canadian troop should be over there!

David Raymond Amos

@Joe Shawn "not one Canadian troop should be over there!"

I agree but Gerald Butts is advising his buddy Trudeau The Younger to ignore our indignation and the Russian laughter just go to more parades in order make lots of selfies with their fans

Lou Parks

@David Raymond Amos
Justin is well skilled for that role.

A group, political or other, generally does better with an attractive actor as the 'face' of the group — as the sales representative for the group.

David Raymond Amos

@Lou Parks Methinks Trump proved that theory is flawed. In my humble opinion Trudeau The Younger did not win the last election Harper and Mulciar lost by getting consumed by dumb arguments. Pierre's Sunny Son got lucky by merely promising to legalize dope and getting folks who would never vote fr liberal otherwise to caste one in his favour.

However I admit that his pretty boy ways certainly helped him paying attention to the ladies and soliciting their votes.

The old lawyer Diefenbaker is probably rolling in his grave because he could never generate as many selfies at a gay pride parade even though he gave us the Bill of Rights that Trudeau offends on a daily basis.

Jill Bennet 

@Joe Shawn

Canada honours its commitments to our NATO partners. Doing training exercises together is a normal part of that commitment-- it builds cohesion, it helps people feel safer and more secure. The alliance is just as relevant today as its ever been since WWII-- balance of power, it's an alliance based on mutual protection. It's protection of the free-world, our democracies.

There has been Russian aggression e.g. elections interference-- and the influence campaigs are being tracked on a site which is view-able to the public-- how stories get amplified on social media, how there are attempts to influence both left and right wing, for purposes of exasperating partisan differences. Seen similar psyops on e.g. former Yugoslavia to create conditions for civil wars. It's being watched very closely, regardless of Donald.

 

David Raymond Amos

@Jill Bennet "The alliance is just as relevant today as its ever been since WWII-- balance of power"

Tell me another one

FYI The Russians were our allies in WWII and they did the lion's share of the battling Nazis Correct?

 

Irina Avilov

Who are the aggressors? Russia with it's troops inside it's own borders or Canada with it's troops thousands of miles away on Russia's borders?

David Raymond Amos

@Irina Avilov Thanks for asking the important question. All the flack your getting proves you are right over target. Why not follow it up by answering some of these people?

Lou Parks

@Tracy Cuthbert
> Nothing to do with Canada as a country, but it has all to do with being a member of NATO.

Doesn't matter. Canada is outside its borders.

That Canada has signed on to be Latvia's 'friend' doesn't remove the contradiction of Canada being outside its borders to help keep Russia inside its own.

> The Baltic States are part of NATO ...

Meaning they are 'friends' of Canada. That changes absolutely nothing.

> ... enough said.

But nothing of value, unfortunately.

David Raymond Amos 

@Lou Parks FYI Trust that Trudeau and Trump know I have issues with NATO

---------- Original message ----------
From: Michael Cohen xxxx@trumporg.com
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 14:15:14 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE FATCA ATTN Pierre-Luc.Dusseault I just called and left a message for you
To: David Amos xxxxx@gmail.com

Effective January 20, 2017, I have accepted the role as personal counsel to President Donald J. Trump. All future emails should be directed to xxxxx@gmail.com and all future calls should be directed to 646-xxx-xxxxx

 
Ida Pomme
Canadian troops on patrol securing Latvia's border, but Canadian border unattended

David Raymond Amos

@Ida Pomme At least the Feds kind enough to decide not to bill us for combating Mother Nature for a bit before they sent our troops overseas to where they are not exactly welcome

These are CBC's words not mine N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/latvia-propaganda-1.4162612

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/military-cost-ice-storm-nb-1.4262046

Ian Macpherson

@Ida Pomme We will happily defend Latvia and Canada from Russian aggression.

Dougal Fingal

@Ian Macpherson

We? Speak for yourself, you don't speak for me.

David Raymond Amos

@Dougal Fingal Nor I

 

Dave Hobson

Patrol and stop illegals from entering Canada at our Border Trudeau!

Kristoffer Luukski Gildenlöw

@Dave Hobson
Canada should build a wall and have Haiti pay for it.

David Raymond Amos

@Kristoffer Luukski Gildenlöw Methinks you jest at Mr Trump's. If so I like your style If not trust that I enjoyed the chuckle anyway.

 

Daniel McKay

@Kristoffer Luukski Gildenlöw Drop it right on the border between Canada and Haiti. Then we can keep them from eating our blocked cheese. Make Canada grate again.

David Raymond Amos

@Daniel McKay You are pretty funny too

  

jimmysinclair

$350m. to play soldier somewhere to accomplish something(nothing).

PS

Sounds Trudeauian.

 

Kristoffer Luukski Gildenlöw

@jimmysinclair
I am sure now that Putin is afraid of Canadian soldiers. The Canadian soldier is ill equipped, ill trained, ill leadership and stretched to the bare bones. It is laughable actually.

David Raymond Amos

@Kristoffer Luukski Gildenlöw Tut Tut Tut show some respect to our troops. They do put their lives on the line on our behalf because they are ordered to do so,

My beef is with who gave them such ridiculous orders for unethical political reasons.

 

Al Purves

We do not belong in Russia!

Plain and Simple!

Lou Parks

@Keith Laughton
> Do you believe that Latvia, along with other former Warsaw pact nations has the authority to make their own foreign and defence policy decisions regardless of the opinion of the Russian government?

That depends on what you mean by "has the authority to make their own foreign and defence policy decisions". Latvia is not *free* to decide. It has obligations -- primarily to the U.S.

> While you can cast aspersions on those decisions, they have been made after the countries had been under the control of the Soviet Union for over thirty years.

Yep. But those countries were also being courted -- by the West.

> I would guess that their "innocent desires" had more to do with joining economic (EU) and Military (NATO) alliances to counter Russia after knowing first hand the tender mercies of Russian control.

You would guess wrongly then, according to Latvian former foreign ministers -- at least with respect to NATO

David Raymond Amos

@Lou Parks "Latvia is not *free* to decide."

Yea Right tell me another one. Furthermore even Trump spoke against NATO in order to get elected.

  

Ken MacDonald

Provoking Russia is unwise. The US is in disarray, and Putin is playing the long game.

David Raymond Amos

@Ken MacDonald "Provoking Russia is unwise"

Methinks anyone with two clues between their ears should agree.

 

Richard Sharp

The Lib government's blind loyalty to USA and NATO aggression and provocations shames us all. The author should have written the "emancipation" of Crimea as it overwhelmingly preferred to join Russia. And he should have written "alleged" Russian support for Ukrainian rebels as the fog of war blankets that country. It was the USA (CIA) that overthrew the freely elected government of Ukraine in the first place.

David Raymond Amos

@Richard Sharp "The Lib government's blind loyalty to USA and NATO aggression and provocations shames us all."

Wow I agree with you. Amazing things never cease N'esy Pas?

 

Steve Duncan

I could not be more proud of the Canadian Military, this is exactly what our Military is designed and trained for, along with our allies to stop Russian aggression in its tracks. Leaders like Putin, Kim-un etc understand one language and that is Military might.

Irina Avilov

@Steve Duncan

You do realize that if push came to shove the Canadian troops would last maybe an hour or two?

 

David Raymond Amos

@Irina Avilov Sad but true

  

Gordon Stark

The Russians are correct. Canada is out of line and should not be taking part in war of aggression with the aggressors while Russia continues to uphold Canada's policy which Canada abandoned to pretend Harper was elected by America's war on Canada with him to commit election fraud and to set Canada against international law to support America's war of aggression to regime change nations like Canada and Iraq and Ukraine and Russia and so on and so forth.

We Canadians are bombarded by deceptive propaganda by our own country continuing George's war by Harper on Canada, pretending that the Canadian military is defending Baltic nations in NATO as NATO is used as a tool of war of aggression against Russia which has acted entirely appropriately in each of its responses to acts of war against it and all other nations targeted for fornication and regime change by the aggressors.

Canada was to return to upholding Liberal and Canadian policy which Russia had agreed with and stood behind Canada in upholding according to international law.

Canada should cease its aggression and threatening behavior and end the propaganda campaign against the Canadian people which has been falsely portraying Russia as an aggressor in the world war America instigated in 2001 on all the nations which dare to defend their sovereignty and to uphold international law against America's world war. 

David Raymond Amos

@Gordon Stark In a nutshell the title of this article says enough.

"Propaganda and provocation: Russia scoffs at Canada's Baltic war games"

Propaganda and provocation: Russia scoffs at Canada's Baltic war games

Canada-led NATO battle group goes through first major exercise to test battle-readiness

By Chris Brown, CBC News Posted: Aug 26, 2017 5:00 AM ET 

Maj. Chelsea Braywood leads Bravo Company in the first major exercise for the Canadian-led NATO battle group in Latvia. (Pascal Dumont/CBC) 

A high-level Russian official is unimpressed with Canada's war games in the Baltics.

"There is no other way to interpret what's going on in the Baltic republics [than] as a very provocative action," Maria Zakharova, chief spokesperson for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview with CBC News.

"How can that bring more stability to European security?" said Zakharova. "I cannot understand that. Nobody in Russia can understand that."

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says "nobody in Russia can understand" how bolstering NATO's presence in the Baltic border region will make Europe more secure. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

Russia's annexation of Crimea and its military support to separatists in eastern Ukraine spooked some Baltic republics and prompted the request for NATO to bolster its presence in the border region.

That led the Trudeau government to commit more than $350 million dollars to send Canadian troops to lead the NATO force in Latvia for three years.

Five other countries — Italy, Spain, Poland, Slovenia and Albania — are also part of Operation Reassurance.

The exercise they've been engaged in this past week — their first major one — is essential for testing their battle-readiness.

Canadian Forces take part in their first major exercise, aimed at testing their combat-readiness. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC )

After five days and nights living out of a mud trench, the end is finally in sight for Maj. Chelsea Braybrook and the rest of Bravo Company.

"We're in the last phase now," said Braybrook, a member of the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and one of 450 Canadian soldiers stationed here as part of the Canadian-led NATO battle group.

"I'd say we have at most another 48 hours of defensive operations," said Braybrook.

Repel attack

The aim of the exercise was to repel a conventional enemy attack with armour and infantry units and to hold a forested area about an hour's drive north of Latvia's capital.

Every member of Canada's battle group wears thick camouflage makeup on their faces.

Some hunker down in foxholes, listening to orders come in over the radio in the make-believe battle. 

The command centre set up by Canadian troops is protected by armoured vehicles and infantry. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

Others are perched nearby inside LAVs — light armoured vehicles — scanning the horizon for movement.
Cpl. James Thoman says the simulation has been intense even though it hasn't involved using live ammunition.

"It's real as it can be without rounds flying both ways," he said.

The enemy in this case is being role-played by their hosts — the Latvian military — and Canadian commanders say the exercise has fine-tuned communications and helped the multinational force work together.

Brig.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu is overseeing the certification exercise for Canadian troops. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

"Although this team has been together for a very short period of time, what they have achieved so far is very impressive," said Brig.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu. As the senior Canadian officer at the certification exercise, it's his job to confirm to NATO command that the Canadian-led task force is battle-ready.

Not 'aggressors'

In the past, Russian officials have denied any ambitions to move into the Baltic states and said the expanded NATO presence along their eastern borders has only added to tension in the region.

Zakharova, known for her robust defense of Russian foreign policy, offered CBC News a more extensive explanation of Russia's opposition.

Canadian soldiers have been living in the field, camouflaged and sleeping rough for nearly a week. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

"We are not spreading all over the world. Why do you regard us as aggressors?" she said.

Russia's position, she said, is that NATO is wasting money putting troops in the border region when there are more serious common threats at hand.

"We're watching more and more terrorist attacks take place all over Europe," said Zakharova.

Western 'propaganda'

The NATO exercises, though, may pale in comparison to manoeuvres Russia has planned in its eastern region in mid-September.
  Whereas NATO's exercises in three Baltic countries over the past month have featured roughly 5,000 troops, Zapad 2017 — Russia's war game — is expected to be an order of magnitude larger. There are estimates suggesting as many as 100,000 Russian troops will take part.  

Some security analysts have raised red flags that Russia may use the Zapad exercise as a cover to make more territorial gains.

Zakharova calls that more fearmongering. It's just part of the "western propaganda" machine aimed against Russia, she said.

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-troops-latvia-1.4155939

Canadian troops newly arrived in Latvia encounter skepticism

Some Latvians believe Canada's military presence unnecessary, could 'annoy the Russians'

By Chris Brown, CBC News Posted: Jun 12, 2017 5:00 AM ET

 

Kaspars Cabulis, right, pictured with his wife, Liga, worries the arrival of NATO troops could be seen by Russia as a provocation. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

 

As Canadian troops in Latvia unpack and get to know their new surroundings, they're also dealing with some skepticism from Latvians about how necessary it is to have them there.

The first wave of more than 450 Canadian military personnel has arrived in the tiny Baltic nation as part of a NATO mission to deter any potential aggression from Russia.

The Canadian deployment is open-ended and could last for years.

"Our position here is entirely defensive and proportionate in response to Russian actions," said Lt.-Col. Wade Rutland, the commander of the Canadian battle group that's at the centre of the Latvia deployment, which also includes soldiers from six other countries.

Riga's historic old town has been occupied by foreign powers for much of Latvia's 800-year history. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

In response to Russia's take over of Crimea in 2014 and an ongoing conflict with Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, NATO ordered several thousand multi-national troops to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as eastern Poland.

Latvia's government has enthusiastically welcomed the Canadians, including giving them red and white friendship ribbons for their uniforms.

Not necessary 'to annoy the Russians'

However, many Latvians are doubtful that NATO's "enhanced forward presence", as it's known, will alter the dynamics of the region in any significant way.

"The fear is minimal," said Rimants Māceikis, who was shopping Sunday at Riga's central market.
"We are part of NATO and I don't think Russia would dare hurt us."

Rimants Māceikis says the deployment of Canadian troops offers some reassurance but is likely not necessary. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

Nonetheless, he told CBC News, the deployment adds a measure of reassurance.

Under article 5 of the NATO agreement, an attack on a member state compels other members of the military alliance to come to its aid, regardless of whether alliance troops are stationed there.
 
Other Latvians view the arrival of NATO battle group as unnecessarily provocative.
"I don't think it's necessary to annoy the Russians," said Kaspars Cabulis, who was out shopping with his wife and baby.

"They're going to do their exercises; we're doing our exercises. This [deployment is] not necessary. This is all normal."

'Russia gave Latvia its freedom'

Latvia has the largest Russian speaking population of any the three Baltic countries, with over a third of the country speaking Russian.

There are many close family and cultural ties between the countries, so in places there's resistance to the idea that Russia is a country that needs to be defended against.

"I don't think there's any kind of threat," said Olga Silo, a Russian speaker, who sells cucumbers at the market.

"I think Russia gave Latvia its freedom so it won't take Latvia back now," she explained, referring to the peaceful break-up of the former Soviet Union when Latvia regained its independence in 1991.

Russian-speaking Latvians such as Olga Siol make up over a third of the country's population. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

Canadian commanders agree the likelihood of a shooting war here is very remote, but insist their presence is part of the reason why.

"I would say that the threat of a conventional ground force invasion, I would say is not high largely because with NATO deciding at the Warsaw summit to put actual soldiers on the ground, it sends a really strong message of deterrence," said Lt.-Col. Rutland.

Rutland says one of the key goals of the Canadian mission is to engage Latvians through things like community events, training with their troops, and working closely with the country's government.

"I guess I would say that if there are some Latvians who are not for our presence here, we are here to defend all Latvians regardless of what you think of us."

'For me this mission is important'

Meanwhile, at the Canadian military compound about 45 minutes northeast of Riga, newly arrived troops continue to fight jetlag and acclimatize to their new surroundings.

Most will start off sleeping in windhavens, or heavy-duty tents, until permanent dwellings are completed later in the summer.

Sgt. Anna MacAoidh, who's originally from Winnipeg, says she's been waiting for most of her 11 year military career to practice her telecommunication skills on an overseas assignment.

"For me this mission is important," she told CBC News, as she set up her bed and gear.

"I wanted to contribute something to Canada, and I think this mission is worthwhile and I'm really excited to be in Latvia."

Sgt. Anna MacAoidh from Winnipeg is on her first overseas deployment. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)