NORAD survives despite rejection of U.S. shield
Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, April 10, 2008
Canada may have rejected the American ballistic missile defence shield, but a Canadian general at NORAD headquarters is kept fully informed on all missile threats to the continent, a top U.S. general revealed Wednesday.
What's not clear is whether the U.S.-led defence shield would actually defend Canada if some rogue state fired a nuclear warhead at us.
Three years ago, the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin decided to opt out of the controversial missile defence scheme.
On Wednesday, the U.S. commander of NORAD, Gen. Gene Renuart, shed new light on how both countries are actually getting along deep inside the Cheyenne Mountain, Colo., bunker that serves as the headquarters of NORAD, the joint Canada-U.S. aerospace command.
It's also the intelligence gathering hub of the new U.S. missile defence shield.
"I can tell you that the Canadian deputy commander sits at my side and has full access to information. He would not be frozen out. In fact, he plays a very key role for me in the air process," Renuart said. "We respect the decisions taken by nations and we work through that."
The Martin government was subsequently accused of misleading the Bush White House with its February 2005 decision to opt out of the missile shield.
Martin's defence minister, Bill Graham, wanted Canada to join the shield, and bilateral military relations were paving the way for Canada to participate in the U.S. project through NORAD -- the 50-year-old military alliance that monitors the continent's airspace for missile threats.
Canada's participation was essentially political. Though the system relies on ground-based interceptor rockets in Alaska to shoot down an incoming attack, there was never any plan to base any of the defensive warheads on Canadian soil.
The U.S. did not want money either.
Canada's rejection raised the question of how this would affect NORAD, especially because a Canadian officer fills the deputy commander's post.
The Pentagon always maintained that if Canada did not sign on to missile defence, it would proceed with the project on its own.
"In terms of air defence, it is a totally transparent process. In terms of missile defence, decisions that we make are to defend the United States, assuming we are targeted," said Renuart.
"I certainly would be comfortable with both nations participating. I'm not uncomfortable as Canada works through their own debate within the country. For me, we stay focused on the mission that we have."
The debate within Canada ended with Martin's decision in February 2005.
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