Pace of Canadian airstrikes against ISIL picks up despite Trudeau’s vow to end mission

The pace of Canada’s aerial bombardments against ISIL has picked up since Justin Trudeau became prime minister, a curious scenario given his campaign pledge to withdraw from the U.S.-led mission in Iraq and Syria.

Since Trudeau’s swearing-in five days ago on Nov. 4, Canada’s CF-18 jets conducted five airstrikes, hitting seven targets identified as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant assets, according to information from the Department of National Defence.

There were 14 airstrikes in all of October, 10 in September and 11 in August. The busiest the CF-18 crews have been recently was in July, when there were six airstrikes in a five-day period.

As of Monday, CF-18 Hornets have conducted a total of 184 airstrikes as part of Operation Impact, a multinational coalition against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

The military defines an airstrike as an aerial attack intended to damage or destroy an objective.

DND said the frequency of airstrikes are dictated by operational matters, not the politics of Ottawa.

“Yeah, in the last few weeks there have been more (airstrikes) in the past week or so, but if you look back at the course of Op Impact, there’s been peaks and valleys where it’s gone up and it’s gone down. It mainly happens with regard to what’s going on in the coalition,” said Capt. Kirk Sullivan, a public affairs officer with Canadian Joint Operations Command Headquarters.

“It’s broader, it’s bigger than just even the Canadian Armed Forces because it happens at a coalition level,” he said.

“Many factors determine the frequency and location of airstrikes in a coalition setting. Be it in Iraq or in Syria, aircraft are assigned on a daily basis by the coalition to targets where (ISIL) is known to operate with the ultimate goal of improving the security of Iraq and coalition nations.

“Coalition aircraft are assigned the targets by the coalition.”

He said Parliament decides the military’s missions, but doesn’t select its operational sorties. And the mission is set to continue until the government recalls its forces.

“It’s part of Operation Impact, which is continuing under the mandate given to it by Parliament until direction is provided otherwise.

“We don’t act on regime change, we act on direction, is basically what it comes down to,” said Capt. Sullivan.

“As far as the direction goes, we’re continuing on with our operations until directed otherwise. We are ready to implement any change when it comes from the government.”

In Trudeau’s first press conference as prime minister-designate, he reiterated his intention to end Canada’s participation in the ISIL bombardments.

He said he informed U.S. President Barack Obama of his plans in a phone call.

“I committed that we would continue to engage in a responsible way that understands how important Canada’s role is to play in the fight against ISIL, but he understands the commitments I’ve made about ending the combat mission,” Trudeau said.

Canada’s first anti-ISIL bombardment took place on Nov. 2, 2014, according to DND, with jets conducting six airstrikes that month.

Original Article
Source: canada.com/
Author: ADRIAN HUMPHREYS