Will Iraqi special forces get away with murder?

Will they get away with murder?

As the world absorbed the impact of images bearing witness to torture in the fight against Daesh, the leader of an Iraqi special forces unit with blood on its hands gleefully admitted to the worst, boasting that the disclosure of his “mistakes” will make him only more famous.

The staggering sense of impunity among at least some fighters that Canada and its coalition-partners have singled out for praise in the battle against Daesh (also known as ISIS) emerged early Friday, as Capt. Omar Nazar of the Iraqi Emergency Response Division took proud ownership of the damning evidence exposed in separate investigations by the Toronto Star and ABC News.

Tories Would Expand Canada's Special Forces, Kenney Says

REGINA — Jason Kenney says a re-elected Conservative government would expand the ranks of Canada's special forces by 35 per cent over the next seven years.

With Conservative Leader Stephen Harper taking a break from the campaign trail today, Kenney is making the campaign promise today at an event in Regina.

Canadian special forces and families severed from social support

Canada’s elite troops and their families have faced a “disjointed” level of social support from the military – and in some cases implemented their own programs to cope with the hardship and uncertainty of their lives.

The findings are contained in a survey conducted by the army’s special forces operations regiment, which includes the highly trained JTF-2 counter-terrorism unit.

The survey found some units were “doing their own thing” to provide outreach to families.

“With the stand up [Special Operations Forces] units it has become apparent that there is a requirement to provide support to not only the unit itself but to the families,” says a briefing note prepared for the regiment’s former commander, Major-General Mike Day.

The document, which provides a rare glimpse of the travails of the country’s most exclusive military formation, was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

The review was initiated by special forces, but the Director of Military Family Services, which manages and funds social program in the defence community, joined.