Den Tandt: Predicts CF-18s will Remain in Iraq

One of Michael Den Tandt's predictions for 2016 is that the Liberal Government will go back on at least one election promise, and it has to do with its decision to withdraw the CF-18s from Iraq.

In his 2016 Prediction opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen, Den Tandt, says, "Trudeau and his cabinet will reverse course on a couple of major policy files early in 2016. The first will be their pledge to withdraw Canadian CF-18 fighters from the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant."

That could possibly happen, seeing has the US-led coalition has made big impacts over the past few weeks, helping Iraqi forces retake Ramadi, and planning on helping more in Mosul in the coming weeks.

The RCAF has conducted  17 airstrikes since December 23rd,  2015; mainly in the vicinity of Mosul, as well as Sinjar, Kisik, and Ramadi.

Canada in.Iraq: RCAF targets 7 ISIS Positions & 2015 OP IMPACT numbers

The RCAF was active over New Years in Iraq. According to its OP IMPACT webpage, the RCAF targeted 7 ISIS fighting positions leading up to New Years and on New Years Day.

On 30 December 2015, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security forces, two CF18 Hornets successfully struck an ISIS fighting position south east of Sinjar, Iraq, using precision guided munitions.

On 31 Dec 2015, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security forces, two CF-18 Hornets successfully struck an ISIS fighting position north-west of Mosul, using precision guided munitions. Also on December 31, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security forces, two CF-18 Hornets successfully struck an ISIS fighting position near Kisik, using precision guided munitions.

On 1 January 2016, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security operations to clear ISIS from Ramadi, two CF-18 Hornets successfully struck four ISIS fighting positions with precision guided munitions.

As of 31 December 2015, Air Task Force-Iraq conducted 1955 sorties:
CF-188 Hornet fighters conducted 1249 sorties;
CC-150T Polaris aerial refueller conducted 337 sorties, delivering some 19,724,000 pounds of fuel to coalition aircraft; and
CP-140 Aurora aircraft conducted 368 reconnaissance missions.