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CDN Aviator said:Manas is a bad idea.......
How so?
CDN Aviator said:Manas is a bad idea.......
PuckChaser said:How so?
Indeed. Lots of civilians over there teaching English. I wonder how all this will trickle down for them.Retired FDO said:I wonder what this little spat between the UAE and Canada will do for those other Canadians working in the UAE. There are 27,000 Canadians and about 200 Canadian companies. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks.
CDN Aviator said:Well :
a) Its a politicaly unstable ******* ; and
b) The already tried the "pay us $xxxxx or we'll kick you out" on other allies (the US) and succeeeded.
More from Postmedia News here.Even though the United Arab Emirates evicted Canada from an airbase used to supply troops in Afghanistan, there will be a Camp Mirage closing ceremony to thank the U.A.E., Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday.
He told a House of Commons committee the U.A.E. had let Canada use the airbase for transporting troops, equipment and supplies for free for nearly a decade and "always treated Canadians with utmost respect and dignity."
Canada's military still has a "bit of a cushion" to clear out as ordered by the U.A.E. because of a trade dispute over airline landing rights, and will meet the Nov. 5 eviction deadline, Gen. Walt Natynczyk signalled. The Canadian military has stopped flying troops to and through its base in Dubai ....
DirtyDog said:I've always avoided Air Canada as the general concensus was that they are undesirable. Much of my HLTA flying (I had over 10 flights) was done through them and I was impressed with the level of service and comfort.
STELLARTON, N.S. — Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the Canadian military will use facilities in Cyprus in addition to a base in Germany as a supply route for its mission in Afghanistan after the closing of Camp Mirage.
MacKay said Friday that Cyprus has already been used by the Canadian military.
"We've been currently using Cyprus for what is sometimes described as decompression. That is when soldiers are coming out of theatre, so Cyprus will be another hub as far as transportation in and out of theatre now," he said after an event in Stellarton, N.S.
Operations at Camp Mirage in the United Arab Emirates were officially brought to a close at a ceremony on Wednesday.
Canada was asked to leave the Dubai base last month following a dispute between Ottawa and the U.A.E. over airline landing rights at Canadian airports.
Much of Canada's logistical capacity has been transferred to an American base in Spangdahlem, Germany, which the Canadian military had already been using for its C-17 aircraft.
"Many Canadian air force pilots will remember landing in Spangdahlem when we had larger bases of operation inside Germany," said MacKay.
Military planners were given one month to vacate the base in Dubai, which was not only an operational hub but one they had been counting on for Canada's withdrawal from Afghanistan next year.
There has also been speculation that Canada will continue sending non-sensitive material through the Pakistani port of Karachi as it begins scaling down its mission in July.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has insisted the closure of Camp Mirage had not hurt military operations in Afghanistan.
The existence of the Canadian base in Dubai had long been a guarded secret. Until recently, reporters were forbidden from mentioning its name or location.
It was a way station for soldiers and valuable equipment either coming from or going to Afghanistan. The bodies of fallen soldiers were honoured there as they made their way back to Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario.
According to military figures only now being made public, transit through Camp Mirage increased steadily from 2001 right up to Wednesday. An average of 3.6 million kilograms of cargo were being moved by air each year, and as many as 32,500 Canadian personnel passed through its gates annually.
dapaterson said:Gee, you think this might be intended as a mild slap to the UAE?
57Chevy said:
Chretien criticizes Harper's handling of UAE relations
OTTAWA — Former prime minister Jean Chretien is taking shots at the Harper government for its handling of relations with the United Arab Emirates.
"I think this problem has not been well managed ... I hope (the Canadian government) will resolve the difficulty because we need good relations with this part of the world," Chretien told Arabian Business.
Chretien, who led a Liberal government from 1993 to 2003, added: "I never had any problems when I was prime minister with the countries here. I never had, in the 10 years I was there, had that type of problem without finding a solution ..."