Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Monday that Canada’s Boeing F-18 fighter jets will cease operations against the Islamic State group no later than February 22. Beyond that, Canada up the number of troops helping train Kurdish fighters in Iraq to near 200, triple the previous figure. The military now has 70 trainers on the ground in northern Iraq.
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As a result, the government said this would triple the size of Canada’s training mission for Iraqi security forces.
“The people terrorised by ISIL every day don’t need our vengeance, they need our help”.
International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said last week that today’s announcement would include new aid funding.
Mr Trudeau said the new military mission training the Kurds would be engaged for at least two years, after which it would be re-evaluated.
“There’s no mistake about it – we are in a conflict zone”, Sajjan told CTV’s Power Play later on Monday.
As well, Trudeau stressed that Canada must do more to help find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria and Iraq, saying an “enhanced presence” on the ground would allow Canada to increase its engagement with local and global partners to help work toward a solution.
The NDP has strongly opposed continuing the bombing mission and during the federal election campaign advocated for a total end to Canada’s military involvement in the conflict against the so-called Islamic State.
This new mission will be debated in Parliament next week, members will be asked to endorse it during a vote.
While no coalition countries immediately commented on Monday’s announcement, Canadian defense minister Harjit Sajjan later this week will take part in a meeting of NATO’s defense chiefs in Brussels.
The Liberals had made a pre-election pledge to pull Canada’s six CF-18 fighter jets out of the US-led mission in Iraq and Syria.
“We are concerned that the Liberal government has chosen to place Canadian Forces personnel deeper into an open-ended combat military mission in Iraq – a mission that fails to even define what success would look like”, Laverdière said.
Is Trudeau right in doing this?
But the promise has drawn criticism from opposition Conservatives who have accused the newly-elected government of abandoning Canada’s allies in the war against terrorism.
Added Sands: “I think people here will say ‘OK, fine”.
Canada is also providing additional humanitarian aid of $ 840 million over the next three years to meet the basic needs of refugees who have fled their country and are in Jordan and Lebanon, among others.
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August 7, 2014 -United States President Barack Obama authorizes targeted military intervention in Iraq.
