Since January, when officers briefing media at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa first revealed Canadian Special Forces accompanying Iraqi security forces near front lines of ISIL soldiers had “neutralized” ISIL combatants who fired at them, the government has denied the nature of ground operations has shifted since the House of Commons approved the mission last October.
The terms of a motion the Conservative majority passed in the Commons last Oct. 7 stipulated the House “note that the government of Canada will not deploy troops in ground combat operations.”
The clause was in a lengthy motion that expressed Commons support for a government decision to “contribute Canadian military assets to the fight against ISIL, and terrorists allied with ISIL, including air strike capability for a period of up to six months.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and Defence Minister Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Atla.) insisted—in the face of opposition claims that the ground operations have evolved into combat—that the Canadians acted in self-defence and the mission for the soldiers continues to be advisory, aimed at developing untrained Iraqi and Kurdish security forces.
“The House knows that the Canadian Armed Forces are engaged in this multi-country, international coalition involving western democracies and Arab countries against this genocidal terrorist organization in Iraq, supporting the Kurds with an advice-and-assistance mission for the (Kurdish) peshmerga, as well as hitting ISIL targets through tactical strikes by the Royal Canadian Air Force,” Mr. Kenney said as the opposition pressed him about the reports of combat.
“They try to kill us, and we kill them,” Mr. Harper said in Edmonton.
But a section of regulations in the Canadian Armed Forces Foreign Service Instructions, which set out qualifications for a Post-Combat Reintegration Allowance to help soldiers reintegrate with family after repatriation from combat operations, includes definitions that suggest the Canadian Special Forces soldiers are engaged in combat operations.
And if they are not in a combat operation, the regulations indicate they don’t qualify for the Canadian Forces support for post-deployment for reintegration with families.
The debate over combat operation, or not, was renewed earlier this month when Special Forces Regiment Sgt. Andrew Doiron was killed by gunfire from Turkish peshmerga troops, who mistakenly believed he and the Canadian soldiers returning with him from a night operation were ISIL soldiers from the nearby front lines.
The Canadian Armed Forces Foreign Service Instructions include a description of combat operations in regulations governing post-combat support for soldiers returning to their families.
“Combat operations are military operations designated by the CDS [Chief of Defence Staff] where the use or threatened use of force, including lethal force, is essential to impose will on the opponent or to accomplish a mission," the regulations say.
"Non-combat operations are military operations where weapons may be present, but their use or threatened use is for self-protection purposes and not otherwise essential to the accomplishment of the mission. Non-combat operations are normally peace support or humanitarian operations," the regulations say.
The Canadian Forces, through its media relations branch, did not respond directly to questions about the definition of combat and non-combat operations and whether the Special Forces Regiment soldiers would qualify for the post-mission family support, but appeared to insist the mission’s ground operations are not combat operations.
"Canada’s engagement in Iraq is not a ground combat mission. It includes a number of targeted measures, being taken with coalition allies, to severely limit the ability of ISIL to engage in full scale military movements and to operate bases in the open," the media relations branch said Tuesday in an email response to questions The Hill Times emailed last Wednesday.
"Canada’s mission also includes advising and assisting Iraqi Security Forces, in order to improve their ability to take the fight to ISIL," the response said. “The CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] has a mandate from the government of Canada, and we will operate within that mandate to deliver the greatest effect possible in the fight against ISIL."
In response to another question from The Hill Times—centering on whether Sgt. Doiron’s death had been designated as a combat death for any posthumous settlements, affairs or honours—the response said only that Sgt. Doiron’s family would receive the “full Memorial Package.”
The honours included: “Posthumous award of the Sacrifice Medal, three Memorial Crosses to be presented to the recipients previously designated by Sgt Doiron, his mother, father and sister, five Memorial Ribbons to be presented to other loved ones, to be determined by the executor of Sgt. Doiron’s estate, the Memorial Bar, the Memorial Scroll, his name on the 7th Book of Remembrance [for Canadian Forces members who died or were casualties in a range of service roles] administered by Veterans Affairs Canada and posthumous award of the General Campaign Star with EXPEDITION ribbon, in accordance with the regulations pertaining to this award due to serving in a medal-earning theatre [Iraq] at the time of his death.”
Prime Minister Harper on March 18 announced the government will introduce a motion in the Commons to extend the Iraq mission before its six-month expiry date on April 7 and to expand the motion beyond its current terms—which could either mean a rumoured extension of Canadian air strikes and operations into Syria or possibly an expansion of the ground operations in Iraq.
The U.S. last month deployed 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne regiment to bring its ground strength in Iraq to more than 4,000 soldiers. The U.S. is officially designated as being on an “advice and assist” mission to help a coalition of forces build up the Iraqi army and Kurdish pehsmerga to the point they can overrun Islamic State soldiers and militants who have taken over a large region in northern Iraq and Syria.
"Next week, it is the government's plan to move forward with a request for Parliament for extension and expansion of the mission," Mr. Harper said Wednesday in Mississauga, Ont., where he was announcing new government business measures in one of the Conservative-held electoral districts that will be key a battleground during the 2015 general election.
The debate over the mission in Iraq, and related worries the government has fomented over potential terrorist attacks in Canada, has become the central current of conversation in the lead-up to the election currently set for Oct. 19.
Mr. Harper did not specify how the Conservatives intend to expand the Canadian mission, which includes 600 Canadian Forces personnel, including nearly 70 special forces soldiers and six CF-18 fighter aircraft that have conducted 46 strikes against ISIL troops, combat vehicles, excavators and other earth-moving equipment and buildings since last Nov. 2.
The mission also includes cargo aircraft, an air refueling plane that supports Canadian fighter jets and other coalition aircraft and two surveillance aircraft to help target ISIL movements and forces on the ground.
“The current mission was authorized in the fall and that authority comes due fairly shortly,” Mr. Harper said. “I will obviously give more details when we do that.”
Asked about whether the expansion includes “going into Syria to fight ISIS,” Mr. Harper replied: “I will address those issues next week. Let me just say that the current authorization laid open the possibility of going to Syria, although we have not done that, but we’ll address issues like that next week when I make a proposal to the House of Commons.”
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com/
Author: Tim Naumetz
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