Trudeau announces end of Islamic State bombing mission by Feb 22

Canada will end its bombing campaign against the Islamic State by February 22, but will expand its efforts to train local military forces and provide more humanitarian support to regions affected by the Middle East conflict, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said Monday at a news conference.

The new expanded role, while described by the government as a "non-combat" mission, could also lead to direct engagements with fighters from the other side, the government said.

Flanked by three cabinet ministers, Trudeau said that things were about to get more dangerous for Canadian troops deployed on the mission to fight the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, a group seeking to take over authority of all Middle Eastern states.

“Our new approach to Iraq, Syria, and the surrounding region will be challenging and dangerous at times,” Trudeau said, at the National Press Theatre on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. “There will be lessons learned as we adapt to changing circumstances on the ground. I am confident that we are up to these challenges and that we will show the world all that Canada can accomplish in a crisis situation."

As part of the new policies, Canada would increase the number of military personnel deployed from 650 to 830. As a result, the government said this would triple the size of Canada’s training mission for Iraqi security forces.

Overall, the government said it would contribute over $1.6 billion over the next three years on the security, stabilization and humanitarian efforts in the affected regions, including Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Canada's top military official said that the new role for the troops could lead to direct engagements with fighters from the other side.

"I'm very comfortable that what we have before us is a mission that we can sustain over the long term," said Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, at a news conference that followed Trudeau's announcement.

"This is absolutely a mission that speaks to putting Canada's best efforts to the critical path of security and stability on the ground."

Canada's American allies praised the new announcement, noting that it would beef up training efforts as well as intelligence-gathering and humanitarian efforts. The White House said that President Barack Obama also spoke to Trudeau by phone on Monday, welcoming Canada's new commitments, while noting recent gains made against ISIL and the importance of pursuing their efforts to "ultimately destroy" it.

The Trudeau government said it would allocate about $264 million toward the military efforts, along with an additional $41.9 million in 2017. Canada would also spend $145 million over the next three years on other non-military security efforts, including counter-terrorism efforts.

“The commitments that Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet ministers announced today are in line with the Coalition’s current needs," said Bruce Heyman, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, in a statement. “Canada remains an essential partner in the Counter-Da’esh mission and we will continue to discuss with all Coalition partners additional ways to intensify our efforts."

Ending the bombing mission in Iraq was part of an campaign promise made by Trudeau’s Liberals during the 2015 federal election.

But the promise has drawn criticism from opposition Conservatives who have accused the newly-elected government of abandoning Canada’s allies in the war against terrorism.

Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose said that Trudeau’s decision actually runs counter to Canadian values.

“Today, in his first major foreign policy decision, the prime minister has shown Canada is not ‘back,’” Ambrose said. “In fact, this prime minister is taking a shameful step backward from our proud traditions by pulling our CF-18s and Canada out of a combat role against the greatest terror threat in the world.”

The interim Conservative leader added that nothing threatens diversity, rights and freedoms more than ISIS. But she said that the Liberals made a political decision based on a position taken in the heat of an election and that this would now put Canadians at risk.

But Trudeau said that the White House understands that Canada is stepping up training efforts and other areas of involvement.

"ISIL would like us to see them as a credible threat to our way of life, to our civilization," Trudeau said. "We know Canada is stronger, much stronger than the threat posed by a murderous gang of thugs who are terrorizing some of the most vulnerable people on Earth."

He added that Canadians should not give into fear about ISIL, saying that the lethal enemy of barbarism was reason, and not hatred.

"The people terrorized by ISIL every day don't need our vengeance," said Trudeau. "They need our help."

On the other side, federal New Democrats said they were concerned that the new mission would put Canadian troops deeper into a combat mission.

“The Trudeau Liberals promised to end the Conservative government’s mission and said we need a clearer line between combat and non-combat. Today’s announcement actually blurs these lines even more," said NDP foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière. “With so many unanswered questions, it is crucial that Canadians get better answers than we heard today. We expect the government to have a full debate and vote in the House of Commons.”