United in Service of Defence and Security since 1920 |
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Dear , Welcome to the August 2021 issue of our monthly e-newsletter - Dispatches. As more and more restrictions are lifting, we are starting to plan some in-person events in a safe environment (masks are still encouraged). Check upcoming events sections below for more information.
If you ever find that this e-newsletter is not for you, simply click on the link at the bottom of this newsletter to unsubscribe.
All members are warmly welcomed to contribute newsworthy matters and or photographs to future monthly issues of Dispatches by e-mailing us at admin@rausi.ca. |
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Message from the President
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 As the COVID restrictions are being lifted, the Institute is preparing to engage with new partners and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves / Army Reserves to provide interesting and sometimes provocative learning opportunities. The Board of Directors continues to focus on the future of the Institute and its Value Proposition with an emphasis on communication and relevance. Take the time to visit the RAUSI.ca website and feel free to provide comments.
Maj Kent Griffiths, MMM, CD (Retired)
President
The Royal Alberta United Services Insitute (RAUSI)
president@rausi.ca |
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Welcome Back Social
WHEN: Friday, 24 September 2021 @ 12:00 MDT
WHERE: The Wardroom, HMCS Tecumseh (1820 - 24 Street SW, Calgary)
Be there or be talked about! Finally… RAUSI is planning for our members and their friends to meet face to face again and engage in civil conversation and bonhomie over lunch. The event is intended as one where members are warmly encouraged to bring a friend or two to informally discuss matters of the day and to become better acquainted with RAUSI’s new model as a think tank in security and defence matters, with the hope that some of these friends may then consider joining as members. Luncheon is complimentary, accompanied with a no-host bar. Please RSVP to Lieutenant Commander Anna Kocot of RAUSI’s Programming Committee no later than Friday 17 September 2021 so that she can plan accordingly - anna.kocot@gmail.com. Meanwhile, please visit – and suggest that your friends visit – RAUSI’s website rausi.ca to read timely and authoritative research on recent issues in security and defence, and forward this note to any others who may be interested in attending or joining RAUSI.
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EUSI 2021 Security and Defence Symposium
WHEN: Saturday, 23 Octber 2021 @ 8:30 - 16:00 MDT
WHERE: Alberta Aviation Museum (11410 Kingswary, Edmonton)
The Edmonton United Services Institute, in partnership with 700 (City of Edmonton) Wing RCAF Association and the Royal Alberta United Services Institute invite all civilian and military members of civil society to EUSI 2021 Security and Defence Symposium: "Unmanned Vehicles in War and Peace"
… an issue impacting civilian and military personnel alike. Attend in person or via Zoom
Admission to symposium: no charge
Mess Dinner to follow: 6PM to 10PM
Price: TBD Program details and Zoom access to follow soon.
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| We are excited to announce that one of RAUSI members, the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies Professor Dr. Bob Bergen, was awarded the 2019 C.P. Stacey Award for scholarly work in Canadian military history.
Dr. Bergen's book, Scattering Chaff: Canadian Air Power and Censorship during the Kosovo War, makes an enormous contribution, providing innovative military and political insights, by meticulously unearthing the virtually unknown story of Canada’s air war in Kosovo in 1999 and the attempts by the Department of National Defence public affairs teams to micro-manage the release of information about the war. Congratulations!! |
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Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in the Asia Pacific Region and its adaptation to maritime security issues in the Arctic Region; Part III
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Competing claims to jurisdiction and sovereign interests in the Arctic raise complex legal questions concerning the law of the sea. They include e.g., freedom of navigation in waters whose navigable surface alters with effects of climate change, delimitation of continental shelves beyond 200 NM and exclusive economic zones, and the nature of right of innocent passage through territorial waters. The right to self-defence through national sea, land and air measures may exceed real capacity to effect such defence, thus invoking defence treaty regimes.
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Iranian – Israeli Drone Warfare, Diplomacy and the Alberta Connection
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By L J Howard
Military operations
On 24 April 2021, the Iranian-flagged VLCC [very large crude carrier] Arman 114 was offloading its product to the smaller Lebanese-flagged Wisdom for transshipment onshore to one of Syria’s larger refineries north of the Syrian port city of Baniyas.[1] Syria obtains much of its crude oil from Iran. At this time, the Wisdom was struck with ordnance allegedly delivered by a drone.[2] Three personnel were killed. This incident followed an earlier attack on two Israeli tankers in the Gulf of Oman.[3] |
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| Fig 1: Syria's SANA news agency released photo of a tanker [Wisdom] burning off Syria's coast (Reuters: SANA)[4] |
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On 29 July 2021, the Liberian flagged MV Mercer Street was northeast of Masirah Island, off Oman and beyond Oman’s 12 NM territorial waters when it was struck by a drone from the Iranian armed forces. Two personnel were killed. The ship is owned by Japanese nationals but “…managed by Zodiac Maritime, an international management company led by Israeli shipping magnate, Eyal Ofer…. The drone exploded into its super structure [following] an unsuccessful attempted drone attack earlier in the day…The US military has long noted Iran has drones that operate by flying into targets and exploding on impact.”[5] |
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| Fig. 2: Mercer Street off Cape Town, South Africa (2016)[6] |
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Diplomatic practice
As recently as mid-June 2021, Iran noted that the US may soon relax its sanctions on the shipment of Iranian oil, continuing an earlier trend. “Iran [had] agreed in 2015 to curbs on its uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons, in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Trump abandoned the agreement three years later, calling it flawed to Iran's advantage, and reimposed harsh sanctions that hammered Iran's economy."[7] On the other hand, “the U.S. is considering tighter sanctions on Iranian oil sales to China as a way to encourage Tehran to conclude a nuclear deal and raise the costs of abandoning stalled negotiations…. One plan being drafted would choke off Iran’s swelling crude-oil sales to China, the country’s main client, through fresh sanctions targeting the shipping networks that help export an estimated one million barrels a day and bring critical revenue to Iran.”[8] |
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| Fig. 3: Map showing Syria and its access to the sea, and Oman[9] |
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These incidents comport with the Wall Street Journal’s June 2021 headline. “Armed Low-Cost Drones, Made by Turkey, Reshape Battlefields and Geopolitics; Missile-equipped drones built with affordable digital technology helped turn the tide against Russian-backed forces in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan.”[10] The Alberta connection
Taken together, these applications of drone technology introduce critical topics across the full spectrum of related military and civilian arts and sciences, international law and diplomatic practice, among others. They will be discussed at the forthcoming symposium on drone operations, co-sponsored by the Edmonton United Services Institute, 700 Wing RCAF Association and the Royal Alberta United Services Institute. The symposium is scheduled for Saturday, 23 October 2021, both in-situ at the Alberta Aviation Museum (Edmonton) and on zoom. Speakers will present in person and online, and both the live and zoomed audiences will hear all speakers. RAUSI is providing at least wo speakers, Bruce MacDonnell, P. Eng., and Joe Howard PhD (international law), as well as technical expertise in communications. More details will follow very soon.
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[1] TankersTrackersc.com (24 April 2021) https://twitter.com/tankertrackers/status/1386075609265213445?lang=en. [2] Marine Link, Oil Tanker Hit by Suspected Drone Attack Off Syria (26 April 2021) https://www.marinelink.com/news/oil-tanker-hit-suspected-drone-attack-off-487159 [3] The Media Line Staff, Iran’s Military Chief Threatens Israel After Attack on Oil Tanker, The Media Line (25 April 2021) https://themedialine.org/headlines/irans-military-chief-threatens-israel-after-drone-attack-on-oil-tanker/. [4]Australian Broadcasting Corporation, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-25/three-killed-on-oil-tanker-off-syria-in-suspected-drone-attack/100093616 [5] Jonny Hallam, Kareem El Damanhoury, Barbara Starr and Sheena McKenzie, Deadly drone attack on tanker escalates Iran-Israel maritime tensions, CNN (31 July 2021) https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/31/middleeast/iran-israel-tanker-attack-drone-oman-intl/index.html. [6] Ibid [7] Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi, Iran says U.S. to lift oil sanctions, Germany cautious on matter, Reuters (23 June 2021) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-official-says-us-has-agreed-lift-oil-shipping-sanctions-2021-06-23/. [8] Benoit Faucon and Ian Talley, U.S. Weighs New Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Sales to China if Nuclear Talks Fail U.S. negotiators have been working with international partners to revive the 2015 deal limiting Tehran’s nuclear program Wall Street Journal 19 July 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-weighs-new-sanctions-on-irans-oil-sales-to-china-if-nuclear-talks-fail-11626692402. [9] © ArmyNow [10] James Marson and Brett Forrest,“Armed Low-Cost Drones, Made by Turkey, Reshape Battlefields and Geopolitics; Missile-equipped drones built with affordable digital technology helped turn the tide against Russian-backed forces |
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Statement of the Conference of Defence Associations on Rescuing and Granting Asylum to Afghan Interpreters
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The Conference of Defence Associations, founded in 1932, is an umbrella organization for 40 member associations who represent over 400,000 active and retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The Conference of Defence Associations is very encouraged by Minister of Immigration Marco Mendicino’s comments today regarding how his office is working with Global Affairs and the Department of National Defence to bring Afghan interpreters to Canada. We believe that Prime Minister Trudeau and this government must act urgently to rescue Afghan interpreters and their families whose lives are in danger, because they chose to support our cause during the NATO deployment to Afghanistan, and who are now all the more at risk following the withdrawal of western backed troops and the advance of the Taliban. An expedited track for refugee status should also be extended to all former locally engaged staff including interpreters, translators, drivers, fixers, etc. who equally supported Canada’s efforts during our mission in Afghanistan...
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The Conference of Defence Associations and the CDA Institute are seeking 1,000 volunteers from coast to coast to coast in order to welcome and help integrate Afghans who served alongside the Canadian Armed Forces as interpreters, translators, drivers, and fixers during Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. It is feared that with the withdrawal of western-backed troops and the advance of the Taliban, their lives may be in danger. In order to show support for this initiative, CDA Institute is building a list of willing volunteers to step forward to help facilitate their arrival. Over 500 Canadians have offered to volunteer so far.
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Building a bridge between uniformed and civilian communities, the Royal Alberta United Service Institute's vision is to be the premier organization in Alberta linking the public with members of the Canadian military and their role within and beyond the border of Canada. |
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Copyright © 2021. The Royal Alberta United Service Institute, All rights reserved.
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