Friday, March 4, 2005
The Halifax Herald Limited
Voice of the people
Decisive action key
Alex Morrison's Feb. 16 opinion piece "Busy days ahead
for Hillier" is now a reality. Defence Minister Bill Graham's statement that some items need not
wait for the defence policy review reflect his desire to move quickly.
The accord between these two is refreshing and it augurs well that
decisive action will now replace procrastination.
Some
corporations have already crossed the start-line vying for lucrative contracts,
aided by media coverage focused mainly on big-ticket items. Publicity is scarce
for less-costly items, such as the need for a reconnaissance capability
to be added to the reserves in Nova Scotia to optimize their relevance to coastline
security.
Except
for Nova
Scotia,
every mainland province has this capability, which would enhance the
army's support for vital RCMP security operations on our vulnerable and
sparsely inhabited coastline. Conceivably, without this capability, the
Russian roulette metaphor could haunt us one day. Let us hope Gen. Rick Hillier agrees with the need and Defence
Minister Graham authorizes it without delay.
As
a bonus, the capability would broaden support for emergency and
search-and-rescue operations, permit military footprints in communities
where the sight of a soldier has been lost from memory, and provide some Nova Scotia reservists with an added challenge.
Edward Amy, Halifax
Back to: