Wednesday, August 25, 2010

P.M.s communications director reverts to Cold War rhetoric

“It’s the best plane ... and when you are a pilot staring down on Russian long-range bombers, that’s an important fact to remember.”
You could be forgiven for thinking this is a quote by Tom Cruise’s Maverick character from the Cold War-era favourite Top Gun. But no, the comment was made by the Prime Minister’s director of communications after two CF-18 Hornets shadowed two Russian TU-95 Bears in the Far North on Tuesday.
Apparently miffed that the Russians had dared buzz Canadian airspace while his boss is in the Arctic, Dimitri Soudas was extolling the virtues of Canada’s fighter jets.
The fact is, the Russians regularly sniff around in the North and the only reason we know about it this time, one suspects, is because the parliamentary National Defence committee was set to meet to debate the $16-billion untendered purchase of the next generation of fighter jets, the F-35s, from Lockheed Martin.

To read the full John Ivison column click on the title.

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