Richard White
Senior Member
There's an assumption here that organizations don't evolve. NORAD today is about about a lot more than watching for ICBMs coming from Russia.
Agreed, NORAD does look inward now. On 9/11 they were helping with the response within the US and Canada.
My point was that it is better to focus on internal security and the arctic directly rather than have a joint organization whose primary focus is on airborne threats from the north.
NORAD is more of a US organization with Canada playing a minor role.
If you think Canada would not be dragged into a war in Europe, I don't know what to say...
Honestly, it should be our choice if we want to go to war, not the choice of an international organization. Article 5 when invoked, brings about a joint response to an attack on a member state.
Let's say Russia went and seized Ukraine. Hungary (a NATO member) borders Ukraine and was formerly occupied by the USSR. It was not a member of the Soviet Union but Soviet Troops, Flags and Influence were part of Hungary from WW2 to 1991.
Border skirmishes between Hungary and Russian troops would likely result in Article 5 being invoked. That in turn would mean Canada would be forced to join a military campaign against Russia.
The point I am trying to make is that we should not be getting involved in conflicts we have no business being involved in. NATO was intended to be a defense against the USSR.
NATO should be scrapped in favor of a EU defense force but that is another discussion for another day.