BRUSSELS — Canada’s new strategy for countering the Islamic State received a key endorsement from the United States on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of the 49 countries taking part in the effort to destroy the militant group, reported Globe and Mail newspaper.
While the federal government has come under intense criticism at home for its decision to withdraw six CF-18 fighter jets from combat missions over Iraq and Syria, U.S. Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter used a one-on-one meeting with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to praise Canada’s revamped contribution. It was the first face-to-face encounter between the two men since the Liberals won office last fall.
According to a Pentagon summary of the meeting, Carter “thanked [ Sajjan] for Canada’s announcement to triple their training mission in northern Iraq, double their intelligence effort, as well as expand their humanitarian and development contributions. The leaders also discussed how Canada will continue to contribute to the air campaign by conducting refuelling and aerial surveillance operations.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that sorties by Canada’s CF-18s would come to a halt on Feb. 22, while leaving two surveillance aircraft and one air-to-air refuelling plane at the disposal of the U.S.-led coalition.
Trudeau said Canada will expand its efforts on other fronts, including a tripling of the number of military advisers – to 207 from 69 – who are on the ground in northern Iraq training Kurdish peshmerga, while also scaling up its diplomatic and humanitarian efforts around the Middle East.
Unicef, among other aid organizations, has praised Canada’s commitment to spend $1.6-billion on security, humanitarian and development assistance in the region. About 100 Canadian military personnel are expected to be deployed to help stabilize Jordan and Lebanon, two of Syria’s neighbours that have been staggered by the presence of millions of refugees from the five-year-old civil war.
