Grits to unveil new Syria, Iraq mission within days
• The Liberal government will unveil its new plan for fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in days.
International Development Minister Marie- Claude Bibeau confirmed the pending announcement in a telephone call with reporters from London Thursday. She said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will present the plan with her, Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
“We’re talking about days,” she said. “We really want to announce a holistic approach and this includes all our contributions in terms of military, in terms of diplomacy and in terms of humanitarian assistance and development. So it’s important for us to do it together, and we’ll do so.”
Bibeau would not provide specifics, including whether the plan will be presented before a NATO defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels next week, which will focus on the war against ISIL. The twoday meeting begins Feb. 10.
Six Canadian fighter jets have been bombing ISIL targets in Iraq since October 2014. The mission was expanded to include Syria in March 2015. Canada also has two surveillance aircraft and a refuelling plane operating in the two countries, and 69 commandos training Kurdish forces in northern Iraq.
During the election campaign, the Liberals committed to withdrawing the fighter jets, but have said they will expand Canada’s fight against ISIL in other ways. The government has previously suggested it will keep its other aircraft in the region, and expand the number of Canadian military trainers on the ground.
The government has also said that the new plan will be focused not just on fighting ISIL militarily, but also politically and through development assistance.
Bibeau was in London taking part in a Syrian refugee donor conference, but would not yet say what additional money Canada is prepared to offer.
Sajjan told a foreign policy conference last week that the government was taking its time deciding on a new mission to ensure Canada’s contribution was both meaningful and wouldn’t make things worse. He has previously called for better intelligence and an approach that deals with the region, not just Iraq and Syria.
Dion told the same conference that the Liberal government’s plan would focus not only on Iraq and Syria, but also on Lebanon and Jordan. Canada has been accepting thousands of Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Jordan, which have been overwhelmed with asylum- seekers, and has provided other support to the countries.
It’s unlikely that the new plan will involve any escalation in direct military action against ISIL. Aside from promising to stop the bombing of ISIL targets, Trudeau has previously worried that any on- the- ground involvement would draw Canada into a Middle East quagmire from which there would be no easy escape.