Training mission on hold after U.S. letter sows confusion
The future of Canada’s military mission in Iraq is facing turmoil after a U.S. general appeared to confirm to Iraq’s government that American forces would leave over the coming days.
The letter sent by U.S. Brig.-Gen. William Seely to Iraq’s Ministry of Defence said that as requested by Iraq’s parliament, U.S. troops were preparing to leave the country. “We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure,” the letter noted.
The Pentagon confirmed the letter was authentic but U.S. officials said it was a draft that should not have been released.
Following a day of confusion, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper later said no decision had been made to leave Iraq.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the letter “was a draft, it was a mistake, it was unsigned, it should not have been released.”
Part of the letter was “poorly worded, implies withdrawal,” Milley
said. “That is not what’s happening.”
With the situation changing hour by hour, Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence planners were sent scrambling.
DND sources said the Canadian military response would be linked to whatever the U.S. decided.
More than 300 Canadian personnel are in Iraq, primarily working to train Iraqi forces.
Iraq’s parliament voted on Sunday
for the removal of all foreign troops from the country. NATO subsequently suspended its mission in the country.
On Monday, Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he spoke with NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He said the hope was that Canada and the alliance would be able to resume training Iraqi personnel “when the situation allows.”
Sajjan said Canada was “committed to a stable Iraq.”
The Canadian Forces has temporarily suspended its training activities as a result of an increase in tensions following the recent U.S. assassination of a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
The temporary halt affects Canadian military personnel in Iraq involved in Operation Impact, including Canadian special forces involved in training Iraqi personnel. The move also includes Canadian military engineers who are training Iraqis on counter improvised explosive techniques.
The Canadians will now focus on their own security at the bases inside Iraq where they operate.
TRAINING OF IRAQI FORCES SUSPENDED AS LETTER SOWS CONFUSION OVER U.S. DEPARTURE
Following a meeting in Brussels Monday with representatives from all 29 members of the military alliance, Stoltenberg indicated his hopes that the Canadian-led training mission would resume.
“We have suspended our training mission now because of the security situation on the ground, but we are ready to restart the training when the situation makes that possible,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a news conference at NATO headquarters.
Earlier, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he talked to his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Ali al-Hakim and reiterated Canada’s commitment to a stable and united Iraq and a de-escalation in tensions.
But then the release of the Seely letter — its authenticity was confirmed by Reuters, AFP and the Washington Post — had top U.S. officials scrambling. The confusion around Seely’s letter underscored the degree to which the future of Canada’s mission in Iraq is beholden to decisions in Washington and Baghdad — and how quickly such decisions can come. A U.S. withdrawal would likely lead to a similar pullout by Canada.
Meanwhile, in response to the Iraqi parliament’s vote, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would punish Iraq with significant sanctions if foreign troops were given the boot. “It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame,” Trump said. The U.S. has already hit Iran with over 1,000 economic sanctions.
Trump also said he wants Iraq to repay the U.S. for its military presence in the country. “We have a very extraordinarily expensive airbase that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” Trump said.
Canada and its mission in Iraq was thrown into uncertainty last week with the U.S. killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Iraqis are worried they will be caught in a war between the U.S. and Iran, which has vowed to seek revenge for Soleimani’s killing.
Amid Iranian threats of retaliation, Trump tweeted over the weekend that the United States had targeted 52 Iranian sites, some “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture” if Iran struck any American or American assets in retaliation.
Esper strongly suggested on Monday that the U.S. military would not violate the laws of armed conflict by striking Iranian cultural sites.
Asked whether he was willing to target cultural sites, Esper told Pentagon reporters: “We will follow the laws of armed conflict.”
Pressed on whether he would then not target such sites, because that would be a war crime, Esper said: “That’s the laws of armed conflict.” He did not elaborate.