National Post (National Edition)
Canada confirms it still plans to arm Iraq’s Kurds
Independence vote threatens regional unity
Canada is continuing with its plan to arm Kurdish forces even after the Kurds voted this week to declare an independent state in what is now northern Iraq.
In a referendum Monday, the Kurds voted almost 92 per cent in favour of independence, and Kurdish leaders are calling on the Iraqi government in Baghdad to begin negotiations for a peaceful secession.
But Iraq had maintained the referendum was illegal. It has given the Kurds until Friday to hand over control of all oil revenue, airports, and border-crossings under their control. If they don’t comply, Iraq will shut down international flights to the Kurdish region. Iraq’s parliament has also urged the government to send troops to take control of oilfields held by Kurdish forces. The Kurds have dismissed the Iraqi government’s demands.
Turkey has also threatened trade sanctions against the Kurds and has hinted at military action. The U.S., Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and a number of other nations have condemned the referendum. Canada has not, although it has voiced its support for a unified Iraq.
The Kurds were able to use the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to seize portions of Iraq, such as Kirkuk. That gave them control of 40 per cent of Iraq’s oil and a steady flow of cash from oil sales to bolster their quest for independence. Canadian special forces have been training Kurdish troops in the fight against ISIL, and last year Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would provide weapons to the Kurds in support of their efforts. Deliveries are still expected to proceed, the Canadian Forces said Wednesday.
The Iraqi government has not signalled its desire for Canada to change the military assistance it’s providing, Canadian Forces spokeswoman Capt. Patricia Brunelle said in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. “The Government of Canada is taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the Government of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq provide the requisite commitments that any equipment provided from the government of Canada will be used in an appropriate manner,” she wrote. “Canada will ensure that end-user agreements are fully approved and in place before any equipment is delivered.”
It is still unclear when Canada will actually deliver the weapons, but among the armament provided will be .50-calibre sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60mm mortars and Carl Gustav anti-tank systems. Details about the numbers of each type of equipment have been withheld for security reasons. Other gear pledged to the Kurds includes grenade launchers, pistols, carbines, thermal binoculars, cameras, scopes and medical supplies.
But former Canadian diplomat Peggy Mason said the Canadian position — supporting a unified Iraq while nonetheless focusing on training and supplying Kurdish forces — is no longer tenable, if ever it were.
The two objectives are now in direct conflict, warned Mason, now president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute.
“It is bad enough that Canada and other members of the anti-ISIL coalition have failed to develop any meaningful strategy for heading off this entirely foreseeable crisis,” said Mason. “It is worse still for Canada to bury its head in the sand and continue supplying weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga. How is such action possibly consistent with support for a unified Iraq?”
Kurdish leaders have long openly acknowledged their intent was to eventually secede, which they consider their right. They have cited the example of Quebec’s attempts to leave Canada, and Kurdish leaders have said the arms are needed both to fight against ISIL and to defend an independent Kurdish state.
When asked directly last year about concerns that Canadian training and equipment could aid the Kurds in their quest for independence, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance replied it was important to have political unity during the fight against ISIL. “Where, after, Iraq decides to go in terms of its political laydown is up to Iraq,” he said.
IT IS WORSE STILL FOR CANADA TO BURY ITS HEAD IN THE SAND.