By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch
During a Wednesday news conference with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, I asked the minister a direct question about the Iraq mission: “Do you still intend to provide arms to the Kurds?”
The minister, talking to journalists via phone from London, England, seemed taken back and stumbled for an answer. Sajjan then reverted to his standard talking points about wanting to work closely with the Iraqis. But he really didn’t answer the question.
Then on Thursday, the reason became apparent. Justin Ling broke a story on Buzzfeed noting that the weapons purchased by Canadian tax dollars are in storage in Montreal. The Iraqi government is refusing to give approval for the weapons to be delivered to the Kurds, he reported.
Iraqi troops attacked Kurdish forces after the Kurdish Regional Government announced plans to declare an independent state in the northern part of the country, including the oil-rich area around Kirkuk.
Iraqi forces seized Kirkuk and the Kurds retreated. The region faces further upheaval, as protests started on Monday after demonstrators took to the streets calling for the resignation of the Kurdish Regional Government. A number of government buildings were set on fire, and at least five protesters have been killed by security forces and dozens wounded. Some hospital officials put the number of wounded at more than 100.
The demonstrators are protesting against government corruption, the failure of the KRG to provide basic services and a lack of pay for civil servants — and there remains anger over the failed independence bid.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in February 2016 that Canada would provide weapons to the Kurds in support of their efforts against ISIL.
Canada had planned to provide the Kurds with gear including .50-calibre sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60mm mortars, as well as Carl Gustav anti-tank systems, as well as grenade launchers, pistols, carbines, thermal binoculars, cameras, scopes and medical supplies.
But that doesn’t appear like it is going to happen.
No specific delivery plans have been made by Canada, a Department of National Defence spokesman told Defence Watch.
“As is the case for any CAF operation, our contributions are constantly under assessment in order to ensure all appropriate strategic and tactical steps are taken,” he noted. “Canada also has a responsibility to ensure any provisions of equipment and small arms such aid is provided under the right conditions.”
The lethal equipment that has been acquired to date is currently stored in Canada at the 25 Canadian Forces Supply Depot in Montréal, QC. The supply depot is run by the Canadian Materiel Support Group, which is responsible for providing operational-level support through the delivery of materiel and assigned logistics services to the CAF and the DND.
Showing posts with label Arming the Kurds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arming the Kurds. Show all posts
Friday, December 22, 2017
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Iraqi Kurds to receive sniper rifles, anti-tank weapons, mortars from Canada
By: David Pugliese, The National Post
Canada will provide long-range sniper rifles and anti-tank weapons to the Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIL) in northern Iraq, the Department of National Defence said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a year ago that Canada would arm the Kurds, and DND said Wednesday the list included .50-calibre sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60mm mortars, as well as Carl Gustav anti-tank systems. Details about the numbers of each type of equipment were withheld for security reasons.
Other gear includes grenade launchers, pistols, carbines, thermal binoculars, cameras, scopes and medical supplies.
DND did not say when the arms would be delivered.
“We are currently working through the administrative, legal and various supply arrangements to enable the delivery of equipment,” DND spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier said Wednesday. “Exact delivery dates will depend on the Government of Iraq, as well as the availability of the identified equipment for delivery.”
But a Kurdish general told a Kurdish news outlet that within a month, Canada will make good on its promise.
“It should include weapons, military equipment and devices for the size of a battalion — everything, not including vehicles,” Brigadier General Hajar Ismail, director of coordination and relations at the Kurdish Ministry of Peshmerga told Rudaw, a Kurdish media outlet. “The paperwork is done, Baghdad has signed off.”
Related
Trump’s vow to use torture against ISIL won’t affect how Canada fights in Iraq, general says
Matthew Fisher: What happens after Mosul falls will set the new status quo for region
Kurds urge Canada to provide heavy weapons for war against ISIL, as well as for their independence
Canada required that the Iraqi government provide written approval to proceed with the provision of the equipment to the Kurds.
It took until December before the Iraqis did that, according to DND.
The issue of arming the Kurds, who have been trained by Canadian special forces, is highly controversial. Kurdish leaders openly acknowledge their intent is to eventually create an independent state. They argue it is their right to break away from Iraq, pointing to Quebec’s attempts to leave Canada as an example. The arms are needed both to fight against ISIL and to defend an independent state, Kurdish leaders have said.
It is unclear why Iraq took almost a year to approve Canada’s arming of the Kurds. In the summer, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the delay was due to bureaucratic roadblocks and not resistance from the Iraqi or Turkish governments.
The U.S. military already has provided Kurdish units with mortars, anti-tank weapons and armoured personnel carriers. The U.K. announced last year it had shipped heavy machine guns and ammunition.
In August 2016, Germany resumed its weapons shipments to the Kurds. Such shipments were halted after it emerged that some of the weapons Germany previously supplied to the Kurdish Peshmerga had turned up on the black market.
Germany’s latest shipment included 1,500 rifles, 1 million rounds of ammunition, three armoured vehicles and 100 MILAN guided missiles.
Canada will provide long-range sniper rifles and anti-tank weapons to the Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIL) in northern Iraq, the Department of National Defence said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a year ago that Canada would arm the Kurds, and DND said Wednesday the list included .50-calibre sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60mm mortars, as well as Carl Gustav anti-tank systems. Details about the numbers of each type of equipment were withheld for security reasons.
Other gear includes grenade launchers, pistols, carbines, thermal binoculars, cameras, scopes and medical supplies.
DND did not say when the arms would be delivered.
“We are currently working through the administrative, legal and various supply arrangements to enable the delivery of equipment,” DND spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier said Wednesday. “Exact delivery dates will depend on the Government of Iraq, as well as the availability of the identified equipment for delivery.”
But a Kurdish general told a Kurdish news outlet that within a month, Canada will make good on its promise.
“It should include weapons, military equipment and devices for the size of a battalion — everything, not including vehicles,” Brigadier General Hajar Ismail, director of coordination and relations at the Kurdish Ministry of Peshmerga told Rudaw, a Kurdish media outlet. “The paperwork is done, Baghdad has signed off.”
Related
Trump’s vow to use torture against ISIL won’t affect how Canada fights in Iraq, general says
Matthew Fisher: What happens after Mosul falls will set the new status quo for region
Kurds urge Canada to provide heavy weapons for war against ISIL, as well as for their independence
Canada required that the Iraqi government provide written approval to proceed with the provision of the equipment to the Kurds.
It took until December before the Iraqis did that, according to DND.
The issue of arming the Kurds, who have been trained by Canadian special forces, is highly controversial. Kurdish leaders openly acknowledge their intent is to eventually create an independent state. They argue it is their right to break away from Iraq, pointing to Quebec’s attempts to leave Canada as an example. The arms are needed both to fight against ISIL and to defend an independent state, Kurdish leaders have said.
It is unclear why Iraq took almost a year to approve Canada’s arming of the Kurds. In the summer, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the delay was due to bureaucratic roadblocks and not resistance from the Iraqi or Turkish governments.
The U.S. military already has provided Kurdish units with mortars, anti-tank weapons and armoured personnel carriers. The U.K. announced last year it had shipped heavy machine guns and ammunition.
In August 2016, Germany resumed its weapons shipments to the Kurds. Such shipments were halted after it emerged that some of the weapons Germany previously supplied to the Kurdish Peshmerga had turned up on the black market.
Germany’s latest shipment included 1,500 rifles, 1 million rounds of ammunition, three armoured vehicles and 100 MILAN guided missiles.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Canadian Weapons Arriving to Kurdish Fighters
By: Scott Taylor The Chronicle Herald
It was with very little fanfare that Canada announced last week that the Iraqi government has finally agreed to let us provide weapons to Kurdish militiamen. The weapons were originally promised by Prime Minister Trudeau back in February, but that’s when things got a little bit sticky.
In the fall of 2014, the Harper Conservative government sent Canadian Special Forces trainers to Iraq for the purpose of combating the spread of the then-rampant Daesh evil-doers. Canadians were told that our troops were going to Iraq because it made things seem a little simpler than was actually the case. Our Special Forces Operatives were sent to the city of Erbil and when they stepped off the plane, they were greeted by a sign reading Welcome to Kurdistan.
It has indeed been Kurdish fighters that our soldiers have been training and assisting for the past two years. These Kurds are very open about their desire to establish an internationally recognized, independent nation. They already consider themselves to be a separate state; they fly their own flag and sing their own anthem.
Yes, they have proven to be motivated and effective fighters against Daesh, but they have also clashed with Iraqi security forces loyal to the Baghdad regime and their Shiite militia allies. Canada’s official position is that we are supporting a unified Iraq under one central Baghdad government. Naturally, that same Baghdad regime did not like the idea of Canada supplying weapons to Kurdish troops, whose openly stated, and oft repeated aim, is to break away from Iraq.
That sentiment of not providing more weapons to the Kurds was echoed by the Turkish government. Turkey is a NATO ally and they are presently dealing with a full-scale insurgency by Kurdish separatist forces in their eastern provinces. The revolt in Turkey is spearheaded by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which is recognized by Canada, the U.S and the European Union to be a terrorist organization. Given the blurred lines between the various Kurdish militias, there are no doubt grave concerns on the part of the hard-pressed Turkish security forces that Canadian-supplied weapons will end up in the hands of the PKK, or worse, the Al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions (AQKB).
While Canadian officials have not yet identified exactly which type of weapons we will provide the Kurds — or at what cost — their shipment has admittedly not yet been sent.
Which means there is still time to rethink this flawed logic.
The allied campaign to recapture Daesh-held Mosul is now well underway. Progress has been slow and Daesh defenders have been determined, but the end result is not in doubt.
So if Canadian-supplied weapons will not arrive in time to assist in driving Daesh from Iraq, that means that they will only reach the battlefield in time to assist in the post-Daesh mayhem that will inevitably ensue.
Iraq has been engulfed in a horrific orgy of inter-factional bloodletting for the past 13 years and somehow the Canadian answer to the problem is to send in more weapons and to specifically train just one of the warring factions? Is training more young men to be soldiers the pathway to peace? Human Rights Watch recently reported that the Kurdish militias trained by the Canadians, and loyal to warlord Massoud Barzani, have been engaging in the ethnic cleansing of non-Kurdish minorities. This, of course, is not being done under the watchful eye of Canadian trainers — the Kurds are too clever for that.
Off the record, Canadian officers have admitted their Kurdish fighters are not angels, but they are the best of a bad lot.
Unlike those factions already involved in the conflict, Canada does not need to compromise its values or align with dubious allies. Thankfully, we have no dog in this fight and ultimately we will have no say in the final resolution. Which makes it all the more ludicrous that we would start pouring more weapons and munitions into an already raging conflagration over which we have zero control.
It was with very little fanfare that Canada announced last week that the Iraqi government has finally agreed to let us provide weapons to Kurdish militiamen. The weapons were originally promised by Prime Minister Trudeau back in February, but that’s when things got a little bit sticky.
In the fall of 2014, the Harper Conservative government sent Canadian Special Forces trainers to Iraq for the purpose of combating the spread of the then-rampant Daesh evil-doers. Canadians were told that our troops were going to Iraq because it made things seem a little simpler than was actually the case. Our Special Forces Operatives were sent to the city of Erbil and when they stepped off the plane, they were greeted by a sign reading Welcome to Kurdistan.
It has indeed been Kurdish fighters that our soldiers have been training and assisting for the past two years. These Kurds are very open about their desire to establish an internationally recognized, independent nation. They already consider themselves to be a separate state; they fly their own flag and sing their own anthem.
Yes, they have proven to be motivated and effective fighters against Daesh, but they have also clashed with Iraqi security forces loyal to the Baghdad regime and their Shiite militia allies. Canada’s official position is that we are supporting a unified Iraq under one central Baghdad government. Naturally, that same Baghdad regime did not like the idea of Canada supplying weapons to Kurdish troops, whose openly stated, and oft repeated aim, is to break away from Iraq.
That sentiment of not providing more weapons to the Kurds was echoed by the Turkish government. Turkey is a NATO ally and they are presently dealing with a full-scale insurgency by Kurdish separatist forces in their eastern provinces. The revolt in Turkey is spearheaded by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which is recognized by Canada, the U.S and the European Union to be a terrorist organization. Given the blurred lines between the various Kurdish militias, there are no doubt grave concerns on the part of the hard-pressed Turkish security forces that Canadian-supplied weapons will end up in the hands of the PKK, or worse, the Al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions (AQKB).
While Canadian officials have not yet identified exactly which type of weapons we will provide the Kurds — or at what cost — their shipment has admittedly not yet been sent.
Which means there is still time to rethink this flawed logic.
The allied campaign to recapture Daesh-held Mosul is now well underway. Progress has been slow and Daesh defenders have been determined, but the end result is not in doubt.
So if Canadian-supplied weapons will not arrive in time to assist in driving Daesh from Iraq, that means that they will only reach the battlefield in time to assist in the post-Daesh mayhem that will inevitably ensue.
Iraq has been engulfed in a horrific orgy of inter-factional bloodletting for the past 13 years and somehow the Canadian answer to the problem is to send in more weapons and to specifically train just one of the warring factions? Is training more young men to be soldiers the pathway to peace? Human Rights Watch recently reported that the Kurdish militias trained by the Canadians, and loyal to warlord Massoud Barzani, have been engaging in the ethnic cleansing of non-Kurdish minorities. This, of course, is not being done under the watchful eye of Canadian trainers — the Kurds are too clever for that.
Off the record, Canadian officers have admitted their Kurdish fighters are not angels, but they are the best of a bad lot.
Unlike those factions already involved in the conflict, Canada does not need to compromise its values or align with dubious allies. Thankfully, we have no dog in this fight and ultimately we will have no say in the final resolution. Which makes it all the more ludicrous that we would start pouring more weapons and munitions into an already raging conflagration over which we have zero control.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Still no Canadian weapons for the Kurds – will the small arms ever be sent?
By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in February that Canada would be providing the Kurds with lethal military equipment.
That still hasn’t happened and the Canadian government can’t say when such shipments might take place.
The issue of arming the Kurds, now being trained by Canadian special forces, is highly controversial. Kurdish leaders openly acknowledge their intent is to eventually create an independent state. They argue it is their right to break away from Iraq, pointing to Quebec’s attempts to leave Canada as an example. The arms are needed both to fight against ISIL and to defend an independent state, Kurdish leaders have said.
In addition, some Iraqi MPs have spoken out about U.S. efforts to directly arm Kurdish forces, saying that is a violation of the Iraqi constitution. Turkey has also expressed concerns about the U.S. supplying weapons to Syrian Kurdish militias.
In the summer Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the delay in providing small arms to the Kurds was due to bureaucratic roadblocks and not resistance from the Iraqi or Turkish governments. “We have to go through a process for us here in Canada but we have to respect the process in Iraq as well,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the Iraqi Defence Minister. He’s assured me once we have completed our process that he will expedite it.”
There are a number of Canadian regulations that have to be dealt with before the arms can be provided, Sajjan added.
Defence sources say Canada is trying to purchase the small arms on the open market.
Meanwhile, other nations are shipping heavy weapons to Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
The U.S. military already has outfitted such units with mortars, anti-tank weapons and armoured personnel carriers.
The UK Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon recently announced in the Commons addition equipment to be supplied. “We have supplied not only heavy machine guns to the Peshmerga but ammunition for those heavy machine guns,” he said. “I announced earlier in the summer a fresh gift from us of ammunition for those heavy machine guns, and that ammunition has now arrived and is being used.”
In August, Germany resumed weapons shipments to the Kurds. Such shipments were halted in January after it emerged that some of the weapons Germany previously supplied to the Peshmerga had turned up on the black market.
Germany’s latest shipment included 1,500 rifles, 1 million rounds of ammunition, three armored vehicles and 100 MILAN guided missiles.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in February that Canada would be providing the Kurds with lethal military equipment.
That still hasn’t happened and the Canadian government can’t say when such shipments might take place.
The issue of arming the Kurds, now being trained by Canadian special forces, is highly controversial. Kurdish leaders openly acknowledge their intent is to eventually create an independent state. They argue it is their right to break away from Iraq, pointing to Quebec’s attempts to leave Canada as an example. The arms are needed both to fight against ISIL and to defend an independent state, Kurdish leaders have said.
In addition, some Iraqi MPs have spoken out about U.S. efforts to directly arm Kurdish forces, saying that is a violation of the Iraqi constitution. Turkey has also expressed concerns about the U.S. supplying weapons to Syrian Kurdish militias.
In the summer Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the delay in providing small arms to the Kurds was due to bureaucratic roadblocks and not resistance from the Iraqi or Turkish governments. “We have to go through a process for us here in Canada but we have to respect the process in Iraq as well,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the Iraqi Defence Minister. He’s assured me once we have completed our process that he will expedite it.”
There are a number of Canadian regulations that have to be dealt with before the arms can be provided, Sajjan added.
Defence sources say Canada is trying to purchase the small arms on the open market.
Meanwhile, other nations are shipping heavy weapons to Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
The U.S. military already has outfitted such units with mortars, anti-tank weapons and armoured personnel carriers.
The UK Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon recently announced in the Commons addition equipment to be supplied. “We have supplied not only heavy machine guns to the Peshmerga but ammunition for those heavy machine guns,” he said. “I announced earlier in the summer a fresh gift from us of ammunition for those heavy machine guns, and that ammunition has now arrived and is being used.”
In August, Germany resumed weapons shipments to the Kurds. Such shipments were halted in January after it emerged that some of the weapons Germany previously supplied to the Peshmerga had turned up on the black market.
Germany’s latest shipment included 1,500 rifles, 1 million rounds of ammunition, three armored vehicles and 100 MILAN guided missiles.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Arming Kurds - Putin’s latest Iraq gambit
By" Matthew Fisher, The Ottawa Citizen
West’s plan for united state may be in peril
West’s plan for united state may be in peril
Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion has declared Ottawa’s enthusiasm for rebooting Ottawa’s frosty relationship with Moscow through cooperation rather than confrontation just as Canada’s military mission in Iraq becomes more complicated because of the machinations of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia is to supply arms to Kurdish Iraqi Peshmerga operating near the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-held city of Mosul, according to the Wall Street Journal. The weapons are to be used in an area where Peshmerga fighters who are poised to attack Mosul from the north have been working closely for more than a year with Canadian special forces advisers.
According to the Journal, the Kremlin will begin providing the Kurds with more advanced weapons next month and may provide training on them in Russia.
Putin’s new venture in Iraq comes amid a week when he has deeply unsettled Washington and its allies by boasting that Russian ground forces, backed by helicopter gunships, had joined Syrian Kurds in the battle for control of areas surrounding the city of Aleppo. The U.S. revealed last week that Russian warplanes had come within 30 metres of a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea and conducted a similar buzzing of a U.S. destroyer in Black Sea waters that were patrolled until very recently by a Canadian frigate.
The U. S. navy also revealed that Russian submarines have greatly increased the number of patrols they make, including in Arctic waters where Canada has strategic interests.
This follows last year’s revelations that the Kremlin had built or improved 15 military bases in its far north and was going to base thousands of combat forces there.
Putin’s arms deal with the Peshmerga came after long and loud complaints from the Kurds that their American and Canadian allies have not provided them with the kind of advanced weapons they require to fight ISIL.
Washington and Ottawa have been reluctant to do so because they are worried that if the Kurds received more potent guns, they would eventually be turned on Baghdad in a bid to carve out their own homeland in northern Iraq.
The West’s position is that Iraq’s Kurds and its Shia and Sunni Arabs must remain part of a united Iraqi state and that providing the Kurds with advanced weaponry could destroy the precarious power balance that exists in those parts of the war-weary country that are not controlled by ISIL.
Despite Dion’s olive branch to Moscow, the latest Russian gambit in Iraq appears designed to not only give Russia a bigger role there. It is likely to create mischief between the U.S., Canada and the Peshmerga who, since the days of Saddam Hussein have usually done the West’s bidding although they have never felt that they have received enough help in return.
The U.S. has not objected publicly to the Russia arms transfer to the Iraqi Kurds. But it was likely no coincidence that the White House finally agreed last week to a long-standing request from the Peshmerga for $ 415 million in aid. Most of the money will be used to pay Kurdish fighters.
Whether or not Russian ground forces are actually engaged in combat in Syria, Moscow has begun supplying arms and ammunition to Syrian Kurds, too. That development, near Syria’s border with Turkey, has predictably infuriated the Turks. They regard the Syrian Kurds as mortal enemies because of their links to independence-minded Kurds in southern Turkey.
Turkey has been seriously at odds with Russia since it entered the Syrian war to save dictator Bashar Assad’s regime.
Relations became much worse after a Turkish jet shot down a Russian fighter plane near the Syrian-Turkish border last year.
After that incident, Putin demanded that Syria’s Kurds be given a place at any peace talks.
In an unconnected development that underlined how out of sync Canada has become with its NATO allies about not only how to confront Russia in eastern Europe, but the need for deadly force to defeat ISIL, Denmark’s parliament answered an urgent request by the U.S. and France for combat help by voting last week to send seven F-16 fighter jets to join the bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria.
The Trudeau government chose the opposite path six weeks ago, withdrawing its six CF-18s from the air war over Iraq and Syria.
Tiny Denmark, with a population of less than oneseventh that of Canada, has said that taking on ISIL was one of its highest priorities.
It regards ISIL as such a threat to global peace and stability that, in addition to jets, it is increasing the number of regular forces and special forces commandos that it has training Iraqi government forces.
Russia is to supply arms to Kurdish Iraqi Peshmerga operating near the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-held city of Mosul, according to the Wall Street Journal. The weapons are to be used in an area where Peshmerga fighters who are poised to attack Mosul from the north have been working closely for more than a year with Canadian special forces advisers.
According to the Journal, the Kremlin will begin providing the Kurds with more advanced weapons next month and may provide training on them in Russia.
Putin’s new venture in Iraq comes amid a week when he has deeply unsettled Washington and its allies by boasting that Russian ground forces, backed by helicopter gunships, had joined Syrian Kurds in the battle for control of areas surrounding the city of Aleppo. The U.S. revealed last week that Russian warplanes had come within 30 metres of a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea and conducted a similar buzzing of a U.S. destroyer in Black Sea waters that were patrolled until very recently by a Canadian frigate.
The U. S. navy also revealed that Russian submarines have greatly increased the number of patrols they make, including in Arctic waters where Canada has strategic interests.
This follows last year’s revelations that the Kremlin had built or improved 15 military bases in its far north and was going to base thousands of combat forces there.
Putin’s arms deal with the Peshmerga came after long and loud complaints from the Kurds that their American and Canadian allies have not provided them with the kind of advanced weapons they require to fight ISIL.
Washington and Ottawa have been reluctant to do so because they are worried that if the Kurds received more potent guns, they would eventually be turned on Baghdad in a bid to carve out their own homeland in northern Iraq.
The West’s position is that Iraq’s Kurds and its Shia and Sunni Arabs must remain part of a united Iraqi state and that providing the Kurds with advanced weaponry could destroy the precarious power balance that exists in those parts of the war-weary country that are not controlled by ISIL.
Despite Dion’s olive branch to Moscow, the latest Russian gambit in Iraq appears designed to not only give Russia a bigger role there. It is likely to create mischief between the U.S., Canada and the Peshmerga who, since the days of Saddam Hussein have usually done the West’s bidding although they have never felt that they have received enough help in return.
The U.S. has not objected publicly to the Russia arms transfer to the Iraqi Kurds. But it was likely no coincidence that the White House finally agreed last week to a long-standing request from the Peshmerga for $ 415 million in aid. Most of the money will be used to pay Kurdish fighters.
Whether or not Russian ground forces are actually engaged in combat in Syria, Moscow has begun supplying arms and ammunition to Syrian Kurds, too. That development, near Syria’s border with Turkey, has predictably infuriated the Turks. They regard the Syrian Kurds as mortal enemies because of their links to independence-minded Kurds in southern Turkey.
Turkey has been seriously at odds with Russia since it entered the Syrian war to save dictator Bashar Assad’s regime.
Relations became much worse after a Turkish jet shot down a Russian fighter plane near the Syrian-Turkish border last year.
After that incident, Putin demanded that Syria’s Kurds be given a place at any peace talks.
In an unconnected development that underlined how out of sync Canada has become with its NATO allies about not only how to confront Russia in eastern Europe, but the need for deadly force to defeat ISIL, Denmark’s parliament answered an urgent request by the U.S. and France for combat help by voting last week to send seven F-16 fighter jets to join the bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria.
The Trudeau government chose the opposite path six weeks ago, withdrawing its six CF-18s from the air war over Iraq and Syria.
Tiny Denmark, with a population of less than oneseventh that of Canada, has said that taking on ISIL was one of its highest priorities.
It regards ISIL as such a threat to global peace and stability that, in addition to jets, it is increasing the number of regular forces and special forces commandos that it has training Iraqi government forces.
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