RE: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,156722,00.html


That's all we need right now is another gathering storm in the Artic! Thars Oil in dem thar bergs!

Morning Dale, and Happy Thanksgiving. Sounds like it's time for another of those international conferences to hammer out borders so everybody knows where they are. Might save alot of trouble in the long run.

quote:

Originally posted by TPCAT:
Morning Dale, and Happy Thanksgiving. Sounds like it's time for another of those international conferences to hammer out borders so everybody knows where they are. Might save alot of trouble in the long run.

Hey, Jim!!

I wish you and yours a great holiday and hope that the Brits don't take it too hard that we sailed to another country Maybe we can buy some Artic land!

First we put reliable heaters in the HMMWVs and we fight in the desert.
Now we put reliable AC in the vehicles and we may fight in the Arctic!

Murphy has a sense of humor!

Nuke them all let God sort them out.. The Russian Iceburg huggers that is.

Is the entire planet going crazy or what. Some of these BS headlines make me want to start smoking again.

The potential for an ecological disaster in the arctic will increase with ship traffic. Not adding to the problem is US insistance that the 'Northwest Passage' is an international waterway, even though it passes among Canadian islands. It more resembles the American intracoastal waterway than say the Straits of Molucca or the Dardanelles.

The US Coast Guard has half the problem that Canada faces with this newly-opening 'highway of commerce'.

quote:

Originally posted by popsiq:
The potential for an ecological disaster in the arctic will increase with ship traffic. Not adding to the problem is US insistance that the 'Northwest Passage' is an international waterway, even though it passes among Canadian islands. It more resembles the American intracoastal waterway than say the Straits of Molucca or the Dardanelles.

The US Coast Guard has half the problem that Canada faces with this newly-opening 'highway of commerce'.

The US view is the one that will keep tensions lower in the region, thank you very much. Keeping freedom of the seas has always been best for everyone.

The place should be totally neutral and sovereign and not belong to anyone. Ask any kid..because it belongs to Santa "HAPPY HOLIDAYS"

It would be a very good idea if the United States got behind canada's assertion that the Northwest Passage is Canadian waters. It may be far grander in scale than the Panama and Suez canals; but like them it lies totally within the national boundaries of one country. The Straits of Malacca, on the other hand, lies between Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Canadian Navy, however, must step up and control the Northwest Passage with 24/7 Naval and Air presence.

Reminds me of the movie back in the 80s with Rock Hudson and David Soul

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084919/

The Russians cant be serious about their flag and sovereignty, right? If so maybe we should give it to em and claim ALL the moon.

Putting a flag down there is absurd. Unless someone is standing guard down there it means nothing. The U.S. Navy has been there, just hasn't placed a flag. The whole thing is Putins way of creating tension between the two powers. He is a little man with a little....shoe size. He just wants to flex up.

The need for an integrated patrol regime to guard the Arctic is great. Canada cannot handle all of it alone.We should find a middle ground where we can help patrol the boundaries as well as the "Northwest Passage".

It is interesting that the route across "the top of the world" may become a possibility. It has cost the lives of hundreds of explorers, many of whose names are used to designate straits, channels, islands, and peninsulas.

We have been down this road before concerning the Northwest Passage. In the early 1960s, a warming trend was spotted in the Arctic which led to the decision to modify a tanker, SS Manhattan to be able to test out the route. I do not recall this as a success. The Manhattan was sold to the Maritime Administartion and placed in in either the Suisun Bay or James River "boneyards". That failure confirmed that the Alyeska Pipeline was the only way to move crude oil from the North Slope to Valdez. Of course, Captain Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez really put that place on the map for the public.

In 1881, the bulk of the U.S. whaling fleet was caught by an early return of the ice. The relatively few sailing ships that escaped had to carry the crews of dozens of ships trapped and crushed in the ice floes. Along with the discovery of crude oil and the losses of whaling ships to Confederate shiiping raiders, the 1881 event was the beginning of the end for the U.S. whaling industry as described in "Moby Dick". The last U.S. whaler, the Wanderer, ended up on the rocks off Cuttyhunk Island...Not having made it far from her port of departure, New Bedford, MA.

Exciting times! Maybe our piss-poor foreign policy can get us involved in yet another conflict! One can only hope that we could piss away the future of our country in less than a decade. Or, since we have a limited interest in the area, we could leave it the hell alone. If the Canadians want it, let them take it, its their back yard anyway.

This is a good opertunity to form a joint effort that would in the end make developement easier on all parties concerned and increase profits. Anyone that wants to live in that cold can have my space.

I think the point of Putin "planting the flag" at the North Pole is being missed. This gives him an excuse to use submarine warfare on transiting ships by claiming violation of Russian territorial waters and land. Same as they (his buds in the KGB) pulled off with the passenger jet Korean Flight 107 over Sakilian (sic) Island. They fully knew it was a civilian commerical flight and had it shot down anyway. He is trying to compensate for his "male size".
Give Canada total control of the "Northwest Passage" and work out a treaty wherein the US can assist, if necessary, with either our Coast Guard or Navy just as we do now with our two countries militaries and Coast Guards for North American Defense. Our two countries have been friends for too long to destroy that friendship over who gets it.
FINALLY HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL YOU VETERANS AND THOSE STILL SERVING AND YOUR FAMILIES.
An old AF Cop "Class of 60-87" (Cold War and Vietnam)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! May we all remember those who gave some and especially those who gave all that we may enjoy this day. If not for those who went before us, we may not be enjoying the freedom, liberties, and the truly great food of which we are about to partake.

With Deepest Respect,
George Suchey
AT1 USN(Retired)

I have it on good authority that global warming is a liberal lie put out by the liberal media supported by liberal pseudo scientists that believe in the evolution lie.
At least that was what one of my Republican ex-bosses was telling me last week.
Of course, he thinks things are going well in Iraq and Afghanistan, we just need to hit them harder.

This whole thing is really pretty silly, at least as far as the US and Canada goes..
To say that the Northwest Passage is an international water way is to say that the passages between the Hawaiian and Aleutians Island chains are international waters.. let’s see how the USCG would react to that one!
It's well in their Arctic Archipelago, it is nowhere near Alaska, or any other countries boundaries. All one has to do is look at a map of the area! The main reasons Canada wants to control it, besides sovereignty, is environmental. They are afraid of a fleet of Liberian or similar registered vessels dumping their garbage and bilge water while passing through. Can you blame Canada for that fear?
Even the former U.S. Ambassador agrees!
The former U.S. ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, was saying that he agreed with the Canadian position. "It is in the security interests of the United States that it be under the control of Canada," he said at a conference in Ottawa." I think the US still sees it more a strategic problem rather than an environmental one. But I think it would be best for all if Canada were able to control it. Their new government has started to strengthen their forces there, and seem to have a plan. If they were to stop enforcing and monitoring the area, I could see a US response. But until then, they should be left alone to enforce their sovereignty.
Now the Russians are another matter! This is where the US, Canada and Greenland/Denmark need to come up with a plan and scenario's to deal with Putin!

quote:

Originally posted by AGBrina:
It would be a very good idea if the United States got behind canada's assertion that the Northwest Passage is Canadian waters. It may be far grander in scale than the Panama and Suez canals; but like them it lies totally within the national boundaries of one country. The Straits of Malacca, on the other hand, lies between Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Canadian Navy, however, must step up and control the Northwest Passage with 24/7 Naval and Air presence.

Why, didnt we give Panama to China? Oops we sold it right? Our best bet is probably just to stay out of it so we dont mess it up. Ya know we will have a new President soon!