Operational Security for Special Forces Collateral Damage

By David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen

It wasn’t that long ago that the news media was prohibited from showing the faces of any Canadian military personnel taking part in the Iraq mission. Official photos from the mission were issued only after the faces of mechanics, pilots and other military personnel were blurred out. Journalists were told they were not allowed to take photos showing the faces of CF members involved in the Iraq conflict.

The reason?

The threat of retaliation from the Islamic State against a military member or their family was very real.

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office inadvertently released a video showing the faces – albeit from a distance – of Canadian special forces the Liberals rose in the House of Commons and accused the Conservatives of putting Canadian lives at risk.

Harper’s office later issued an apology and removed the video imagery which was shot while the prime minister was visiting Canadian special forces in northern Iraq.

That was then.

Now it seems there has been a significant change of heart on operational security when it comes to the Iraq mission, and in particular, when it comes to Canadian special forces deployed to a war zone.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance recently took a tour of the front lines in northern Iraq with journalists in tow.

The media were not only allowed to photograph Canadian special forces but interview them as well (CANSOF personnel have been interviewed and photographed before by the Citizen, CBC, Global TV, CTV and other news outlets but on training missions and with various caveats attached…these latest interviews and photographs/video were taken in an active combat zone).

So what has changed?

The Islamic State is still a resourceful and significant enemy….or at least according to the Canadian government and Vance himself.

Military sources say the difference this time is that the Liberal government is keen on showing that Canada is indeed contributing to the Iraq mission, even though the Trudeau government pulled the CF-18s out of the coalition bombing campaign.

Vance was more than happy to accommodate the Liberals and so the military proposed the media tour of the front lines, highlighting Canadian special forces, sources added. It was all done in close co-ordination with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office.

CANSOF operational security was simply collateral damage, sources say.

(Photo below screen grab from CTV news report about Canadian special forces in Iraq. The video was taken during Gen. Vance’s recent visit to special forces).



My Ottawa Citizen colleague Lee Berthiaume has more details here in his article:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/military-defends-letting-media-show-pictures-of-canadian-special-forces-in-iraq



There are those inside the Canadian Forces who argue that OPSEC is too rigid for Canadian special forces. And still others who say it isn’t tight enough; that no faces should be shown or interviews granted….ever.

Whatever the case, the Genie has now been let out of the bottle.

In the wake of this new development on OPSEC, it should be interesting to see how the Canadian Forces will go about justifying operational security for future missions. If it is willing to show off its special forces in an active combat zone, where the enemy is a resourceful terrorist group that has shown it can strike at targets in the West, then it could prove very difficult for the Canadian Forces to rightfully claim OPSEC for other similar, or lesser operations.

Military Defends Publication of Special Forces Photos

In a new report published in the Ottawa Citizen today, the military is defending the publication of photos; which clearly identify members of Canada's Special Forces team in Northern Iraq. (Photos which were also republished in previous posts on this webpage). The debate began, as the Liberals accussed the former Conservative Government of endangering CAF Special Forces members when then Prime Minister Harper visited Iraq. 

Here is the full report: 

By: Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — Military officials have defended the publication of photos and videos that clearly identify Canadian special forces soldiers operating in Iraq — even though the Liberals accused the Harper government of endangering lives by doing the same thing last year.

CTV and the Toronto Star shot and published the photos and video last month, after being invited to join defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance on a tour of the Canadian mission in Iraq. Vance organized the tour in close co-operation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office.

Several members of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment from Petawawa, Ont., are clearly identifiable in the footage, with one even sitting down in an interview to discuss what the unit has been doing in northern Iraq.

Military spokeswoman Maj. Isabelle Bresse said in an email that “considerations for the safety of our deployed personnel and the security of military operations are at the forefront of our military planning and decision-making processes.” She did not say who decided to let the soldiers be filmed and photographed.


Bresse said the military has tried to maintain a balance between security and transparency when it comes to the mission. The two media outlets were required to sign an agreement outlining what they could and could not show, she said, adding: “The images were vetted and approved prior to release.”

The footage stands in sharp contrast to the extreme restrictions imposed at the start of the Iraq mission in early October 2014, when media were forbidden from publishing photos or video that would identify military personnel — whether they were involved in the Iraq mission or not.

Officials warned at the time that the Islamic State or supporters would use the information to identify and target the family and friends of military personnel. Those concerns were reinforced after two self-declared ISIL supporters killed Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo in separate attacks later that month.

(Military intelligence reports later obtained by the Ottawa Citizen also showed several worrying incidents in which Canadian military personnel or their families received messages from purported ISIL supporters on Facebook and other social media.)

Those restrictions were still in place when then-defence minister Jason Kenney tweeted photos in March 2015 of Canadian Forces personnel participating in a ramp ceremony for Sgt. Andrew Doiron, who was killed by so-called friendly fire from peshmerga fighters.

Two months later, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office was forced to apologize after posting a video that showed Canadian military personnel in Iraq. The videos, shot while Harper was visiting the troops, were quickly removed after officials confirmed they posed a security risk.

In both cases, the Liberals accused the Conservatives of endangering Canadian troops. “They just want to promote themselves at any cost — and that’s at the expense of our Canadian Armed Forces,” Liberal MP Marc Garneau said of the Harper video at the time. Garneau is now the federal transport minister.

But Bresse said the threat to deployed military personnel “vary between geographic locations and change frequently over time.” She would not say what specifically had changed from last year to now.

FBI Director James Comey warned in an annual report in October that ISIL is targeting U.S. military personnel and their families back home. “The names continue to be posted to the Internet and quickly spread through social media, depicting ISIL’s capability to produce viral messaging. Threats to U.S. military and coalition forces continue today.”

Related
Iraqi leaders have to reconcile differences to avoid conflict after ISIL defeated, Sajjan says
New video shows Canadian soldiers wearing Kurdish flag on uniforms: Why this risks fracturing Iraq
Kurdish battle with Iraqi forces raises questions about Canadian military training

Retired major Michael Boire, an associate professor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., said he was surprised to see Canadian special forces troops in what he described as “full frontals,” given the nature of the conflict against ISIL. He said the real threat isn’t to the troops, but their families back home.

“They must be fairly certain that ISIL no longer poses a threat to the families,” Boire said of senior military officials. “If I were commanding those guys out in Iraq right now, I would be very, very leery of exposing their identities. And I sure as hell wouldn’t go on TV, but that’s just me.”

Conservative defence critic James Bezan said the Liberal government has an obligation to explain how publishing the faces of Canadian special forces troops does not constitute a security risk.

“Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the government of the day to monitor and control media access to our troops,” he said in an email. “I expect the government to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of our troops, even if that means correcting a mistake.”