Defence chief denies tailoring combat definition to suit Liberal narrative

OTTAWA — The country's top military commander is taking pains to explain what is — and what isn't — combat, and denies tailoring his definition to suit the political needs of the Trudeau government.

Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, says he is a combat expert — and that the Liberal government's version of the mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is not a combat mission.

Vance says that so-called "advise-and-assist" missions are new, and that some have trouble understanding the concept — a veiled reference to the NDP's claim that Canada's special forces mission in northern Iraq constitutes combat.

Vance points to the peacekeeping and peace support operations of the 1990s, mostly in the Balkans, where troops were engaged in firefights, but the missions were never described as combat operations.

He says combat is when the Canadian military takes direct action against an enemy with its own weapons, as it did with airstrikes against ISIL targets until the bombing campaign ended earlier this week.

Vance says he believes advise-and-assist missions are likely the future for many western militaries.

Original Article
Source: nationalnewswatch.com/
Author:  The Canadian Press