Pentagon chief thanks Sajjan for Canadian ISIS mission
Meeting is first face-to-face between defence counterparts
OTTAWA— U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has thanked his Canadian counterpart Harjit Sajjan for tripling the contingent of military trainers in Iraq in a conversation that reprised the defence minister’s past soldiering experience in Afghanistan, sources say.
The pivotal conversation marked the first face-to-face meeting between the two ministers, and it came at Wednesday’s larger gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. The two-day NATO meeting comes just days after Ottawa rolled out its long-awaited strategy for helping fight the Islamic State group.
The Carter-Sajjan meeting was significant because the government has faced heavy criticism for withdrawing its fighter jets. The opposition Conservatives have characterized the move as a step backward from the fight against Islamic State terrorists.
Carter thanked Sajjan for Canada’s additional contribution of trainers as well as its plan to double its intelligence-gathering assets, according to a Canadian government official who was not authorized to speak on the record, but was corroborated by Pentagon accounts.
Carter told Sajjan the Canadian response is what the U.S. wants to see from other coalition members: to step up the fight against the Islamic State group on the ground.
A Pentagon statement said Carter told reporters travelling on his jetliner to Brussels on Tuesday that he would “be asking others at this meeting also to accelerate their efforts” in the fight against the Islamic State.
“But we’re looking for others to make a contribution as well,” Carter said, adding that some countries had indicated a willingness to do more.
The ministers also discussed Sajjan’s three tours of duty in Afghanistan, which included one as a special adviser to a U.S. general, the Canadian source said.
“It was a departure from the usual scripted bi-lats that tend to happen,” the source said. “He was able to speak to his experiences working on the ground with Americans in Afghanistan.”
The government’s new anti-Islamic State plan includes spending more than $1.6 billion over the next three years on security, stabilization and humanitarian and development assistance in the region.