[ninty]

[quote="Short Hand":62955]proves how ill prepared our Canadian forces are in Afghanistan. ore military spending is needed.[/quote:62955]

You have no idea what you are talking about and you've insulted me. I am a member of the Canadian Forces. We are amongst the best trained soldiers in the world. The guys who got killed today were paratroopers. No amount of military spending can stop soldiers from being killed in a WAR. American soldiers are dying almost every day in Iraq and the US has the highest defence budget in the world. Even in Afghanistan the Brits, Germans, Americans etc. lost a lot of good soldiers. It has nothing to o with military spending. It has everything to do with going into one of the most hostile places on earth, and not to mention the most heavily country on earth. There are an estimated 9 - 11 million land mines in Afghanistan.

What we've heard is that the explosion was large. It might have been a tank mine. Who knows? If that’s the case, armoured vehicles aren't going to protect you. Shit happens. The Canadian Forces in the region are NOT ill prepared. Those guys went through months of training prior to shipping out. We've go unmanned aerial reconnaissance planes, grizzly armoured vehicle and coyote reconnaissance vehicle not to mention the LAV III's with their 25mm gun that will rip anything to shreds.

The government is sustaining 1,900 troops in Afghanistan right now. That is the largest contribution by ANY country right now in Afghanistan. We just took over as the head of ISAF and now Canada is in charge of 5,000 troops.

The ILTIS is a shitty vehicle. If you've ever had to ride in one, you'll say this without a doubt. They were made in 84-86 and we have 2,500 of them. They are at the end of their life cycle as they are to be replaced Jan 2004. Even though their pieces of shit, new vehicles would make a difference. Funding doesn't make a difference in a situation like this. The CF needs more money. That is very true. But we NEVER send troops when they are under prepared or under equipped.