Canada’s CF-18s did us proud
On Monday, Canada’s combat mission in the Middle East officially ended. Sort of. Both the current and former federal governments have played somewhat fast and loose with the definition of combat. Suffice it to say that, on Feb. 22, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s mandate to drop bombs on Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant ( ISIL) targets in Iraq and Syria was rescinded ( air strikes had actually stopped the week before). Our six CF-18s will soon return to Canada, along with the hundreds of men and women who were deployed to Kuwait to keep those jets armed, operational and in the air. A new mission, with much greater emphasis on training local forces on the ground, is now beginning, and should be fully in place by the spring.
We can debate the merits of the missions ad nauseam. We can criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for making a hasty election promise his government needed months to deliver on ( and only when the flights were approaching an end anyway), or former prime minister Stephen Harper for consistently failing to match his small military commitments to his oversized rhetoric. But there has been enough of that already. Instead, let’s simply take a moment to acknowledge the fine work done by our CF-18 pilots and their ground crews. What they did mattered.
According to figures released by National Defence and analyzed by Postmedia’s David Pugliese, Canadian j ets dropped 606 bombs on ISIL forces during their 15- month air war. This was a small fraction of the overall allied bombing figure — 32,000 bombs dropped in total. Only five Canadian missions, totalling 27 bombs, involved targets in Syria, despite t he controversy aroused by the decision to extend the bombing mission to that country.
In Iraq, however, the Canadian bombing runs were indeed a valued and significant contribution to the allied effort. Canadian jets destroyed 267 enemy fighting positions, sapping ISIL’s strength and protecting the lives of local allied forces on the ground. Thirty ISIL bomb-making factories were destroyed. Canadian jets destroyed enemy vehicles, hampering their logistical operations, and provided direct support to friendly forces on the ground as ISIL was driven out of occupied towns and cities.
Despite r e ports suggesting Canada’s actions inflicted collateral damage, the military was not able to confirm any report that Canadian airstrikes resulted in the death of innocent civilians. Zero collateral damage. That itself is worth celebrating.
The hard work by the Canadian Forces has not ended, of course. Trainers remain on the ground, and will soon be joined by many more. They, too, are providing excellent service, and materially contributing to the war against ISIL. They will face real danger during their mission. Some may not return. Canadians should keep them in their thoughts.
The government may insist the current mission is non- combat, but for the Canadian soldiers on the front lines, close enough to be killed deliberately by the enemy, by friendly fire or simply by stray shots in the chaos of a battle, that’s a distinction without a difference. In the air, as well, our reconnaissance and refuelling operations will continue to support the allied air campaign against ISIL. The U. S. requested that they stay, and the Trudeau government consented. In their specialized way, these pilots, too, will be contributing to the war against ISIL, and also deserve our thanks.
As the bombing component of Canada’s contribution comes to an end, its achievements remain a source of national pride. The pilots returning home probably wish they’d stayed longer and could have done more. Many Canadians feel the same. But all should agree that, for as l ong as they stayed, they made us proud, and have our thanks for their service.
LET’S TAKE A MOMENT TO RECOGNIZE THE FINE WORK DONE BY OUR PILOTS AND THEIR GROUND CREWS.