Nice Bum, Can I Kiss It?

You think that when you get the job of the Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff, you would not have to kiss political ass anymore. I mean, you have the top military job in Canada, there is no higher rank, so promotion is out.

A report in the National Post states that the CDS, General Ray Henault, defended the purchase of the used British subs to a parliamentary hearing. The lead of the Post story is "The used subsmarines Canada bought from Britain are still a good buy and there is nothing to indicate the military would do it differently if it had to do it over again, says Canada's top officer."

Now, I am not saying the sub purchase was bad, but knowing what will know now, would you really do the same thing again? I mean, if you bought a used car, which perhaps was not a lemon, but had more wrong with it than you thought and cost more to get running than you anticipated, would not that be enough to consider buying something new next time?

Now, I know nothing about the reasons for this particular purchase, but I cannot believe that the Navy would not have prefered brand new subs, if the budget was there for it. I challenge anyone involved in the project to look me in the eye and say "We would rather have the used subs than new ones".

And Ray, you do nothing for your credibility in the eyes of your subordinates by claiming otherwise. Instead of always saying what the government wants you to say, how about saying what is true and strengthening the faith of the lower ranks in their senior leadership?