Oppose the $16 billion F-35 stealth fighter jets

October 30, 2010

If you didn’t write a letter-to-the editor about the F35 issue last time, please consider it now.  This is one of the critical issues of the day and we need to take advantage of it whenever an opportunity presents itself. We have new information to back our arguments against this obscenity from the auditor general. And we have Harper making the absurd argument that escorting a US cargo jet (as Canadian CF18s did this week) demonstrates that we need these “shock and awe” monsters.  It’s a good opportunity to get letters published as having a news story to reply to helps get them accepted.

WRITE A SHORT LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL PAPER…

Your letters can be short and pointed – getting even a paragraph into your local paper on this is very important. While it may be hard to imagine that people would accept the escort argument don’t forget that 30% of Canadians blame Ignatieff for Canada losing the Security Council seat – because Harper framed the issue before the Liberals could

FRAMING:  You can continue to frame this issue by painting Harper as completely irresponsible. These jets, one of the biggest purchases in the history of the military are utterly useless to Canada’s military or sovereignty needs.  But in this specific instance it is important to frame Harper’s using of the US jet incident as an argument for the purchase as desperate and absurd.  Also use this incident as an opportunity to use the auditor general’s warning  that the purchase is highly risky – pointing out that Harper is using the escort incident to distract people from the facts.

Some facts and arguments to consider:

• The idea that we would spend from $16 – 30 billion (some estimates put the figure this high) so we can escort plans that have bombs in them is ridiculous/absurd/laughable – just what are these shock and awe fighter bombers going to do – how can they protect the jets they are escorting given that the threat (the bomb) is INSIDE the jet being escorted?

• This is a transparent effort to distract attention from the  Auditor general’s warning that the jets pose a high possibility of cost over-runs.  

• The Globe describes Sheila Fraser’s auditing of defence procurement: “Spending watchdog Sheila Fraser warns that the Harper government’s estimated $16-billion plan to buy new fighter jets carries significant risk of delays or cost increases – problems her latest audit finds also plagued Defence Department helicopter purchases.” [read here]

• Fraser’s audit  revealed that the Defence Department generals and bureaucrats deliberately low-balled the cost of two different helicopter purchases: “They were presented as being off the shelf or what would be a simple purchase,” Ms. Fraser told reporters. “But this was anything but the case.” The helicopters ended up costing $11 billion – twice what the military estimated.

• Congratulate the Liberals for pledging to cancel the contract if they are elected.

General arguments against the jets:

• We are entering – according to Harper himself – an era of greatly increased austerity where everyone has to tighten their belts. This expenditure is grossly irresponsible and threatens the fiscal health of the country.

• The government says the deficit will reach $56 billion this year – and yet has the gall to announce a huge spending program

• Next spring – if they are still in power – the Conservatives will introduce a budget with huge cuts to social programs, while the military is getting buckets of cash.

• The new jets have been in the development stage for years and are essentially a cold war upgrade. But the cold war is over.

• According to the CCPA report the costs of the jets could be much higher – life-cycle maintenance costs could be as much as $21 billion, bringing the total cost to $30 billion.

• According to the Globe: “Just months before the Harper government announced it would spend an estimated $16-billion on new fighter jets, a report for the Defence Department recommended using pilot-less drones to enforce Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic.”  Who overruled this recommendation and why? [read here]

• Who is the enemy we would use these jets against? Russia is no longer a threat and not other country except our closest ally is in a position to pose a threat. The jets are designed to fight other jets. Whose jets?

• The F-35s are fighter-bombers – used as a first strike weapons to pulverize the enemies military and strategic infrastructure. Who are we going to attack?

• The government argues the purchase is good economic development - which Canadian branch plants like Lockheed Martin will get to bid on contracts. But military procurement is the least effective way to spend taxpayers’ dollars – over a million dollars a job compared to $100,000 for a nurse or teacher.

• The life of Canada’s existing CF-18s, expected to wear out between 2017 and 2020, could be extended by replacing their airframes.

• The government argues that we need “interoperability” – similar equipment as our allies. But Canada has been fighting in Afghanistan for nine years with equipment that is not identical to that of its allies.

• These jets are useless for counter-insurgency such as the Afghan conflict. Not once during nine years of conflict has the Canadian government felt it necessary to deploy Canadian fighter capabilities to that country.

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