Immediately upon returning to the safer soil of neighbouring Jordan, Nicholson advised reporters via teleconference that Canadians should brace themselves for an extended mission.
Without any hint of irony, Nicholson prophesied that the campaign against ISIS in Iraq could very well mirror Canada’s more than decade-long deployment to battle the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“Being in this for the long term is similar to what we did in Afghanistan, for instance,” he stated.
“We were in Afghanistan, but we indicated that we would continue our assistance, and we have in Afghanistan.”
For the record, Canada ended its combat mission in July 2011, and completely withdrew all military personnel in March 2014.
Although the Harper government staged an elaborate Day of Honour to recognize the sacrifice and courage of our troops who fought in that bloody counter-insurgency, no one in their right mind would ever pretend that we were victorious in Afghanistan.
With United States forces largely withdrawn, Afghan security forces have been unable to contain a resurgent Taliban, with violence across the country currently at the highest levels since the U.S. invasion in 2001. In theory, the challenge of rebuilding a functioning state in post-Taliban Afghanistan should have been a cakewalk, compared with the complex inter-sectarian strife that presently grips Iraq.
The fact that Nicholson had to make two stops in Iraq — first to meet the nominal central government officials in Baghdad, and then to meet with Kurdish leaders in the northern city of Erbil — illustrates that there is no single cohesive Iraqi entity combating ISIS.
The remnants of the impotent but elected regime in Baghdad are representatives of Iraqi’s Shiite majority and have always maintained close political ties with Iran. When the U.S.-trained Iraqi security force dissolved last spring at the first sight of ISIS fighters, the Baghdad leadership called out their Shiite militia and welcomed Iranian military advisers into their midst.
A major battle is being waged by Iranian-led Iraqi-Shiite militias to reclaim the ISIS-held Sunni stronghold of Tikrit. Despite battling a common enemy for a strategic objective, Canadian military officials confirmed to the media that the Shiite militia can expect no support from either Canadian or allied warplanes.
This is, of course, because Canada has labelled Iran as evil, and we cannot be seen using our military assets to help entrench further Iranian influence in Iraq, even if they are fighting ISIS terrorists in support of Iraq’s elected government.
Now flip back to the Kurdish leaders in the north. They too have no loyalty to any central authority from the Baghdad regime. In fact, when ISIS first appeared, the Kurds took advantage of the Iraqi military’s collapse to launch their own offensive against the central government. In those initial chaotic days, the Kurdish militia pushed south to capture the Baba Gurgur oilfield outside the city of Kirkuk. Baba Gurgur pumps about 33 per cent of all Iraqi oil, and having this prize in their grasp makes an independent Kurdistan economically feasible.
For the record, Kurdistan has existed as an autonomous region since the end of the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. It has its own flag, which peshmerga militiamen proudly wear on their sleeves, and they fight for the establishment of their own state.
What makes this politically problematic is that large tracts of land, which Kurds consider to be part of their nation, are currently within the borders of Syria and, more importantly, Turkey.
As a NATO ally, Turkey sees the creation of an independent Kurdistan as a potential lightning rod to reignite the Kurdish separatist movement in the eastern provinces. During the 1990s, Turkish security forces battled Kurdish insurgents in a bloody campaign that left over 30,000 people dead.
Arming and training Kurdish militia and bombing ISIS in support of them may seem like the only short-term option available to Canada. God knows we cannot be seen to be supporting embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even though his loyalists are in the fight against ISIS. And we sure as hell can’t bomb ISIS in support of those evil Iranians. But if we bomb ISIS in support of Kurds, their long-term goal is to break up Iraq and seize chunks of Syria and Turkey.
Before any decision is taken regarding extending our military mission in Iraq, I believe Canadians need to know the ultimate objective. Selectively bombing ISIS is not a strategy. And it is not enough to know what you are fighting against; you need to know what you are fighting for. Especially now that we have started taking casualties.
So far, it is clear that the Harper government hasn’t a clue when it comes to Iraq.
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca/
Author: SCOTT TAYLOR ON TARGET
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