By Scott Taylor
There were two news stories out last week which served as a reminder that Canada still has combat soldiers deployed to two global hotspots that rarely get mentioned in the media: Namely Niger and Iraq.
On Thursday January 3rd, the Ottawa Citizen headline read “Canadian Special Forces to remain in Niger, but details about role are unclear.” Most Canadians can be forgiven if they were unaware that Canada has been deploying military training teams to Niger for more than a decade.
Questions should have been raised when the Niger military staged a coup last July to oust that country’s democratically elected president.
The Niger officers who plotted that coup had been trained by U.S. and Canadian military trainers and had participated in the U.S.-led annual Flintlock exercises.
It took the U.S. State Department until October before they officially deemed the events in Niger to be a coup. Under U.S. law such official recognition brings with it restrictions on the provision of military aid and training to that nation.
Canada did not concede that- what they continued to refer to as an ‘attempted coup,’ was in fact a successful ‘coup’ until mid-December.
Given the time lines, the question begs just what exactly these Canadian soldiers have been doing in Niger for the past six months? Ostensibly they were deployed to train the Niger military. That same military then illegally seized power, imprisoned the elected president and cut ties with the European Union.
Also in that interim, the Niger military junta expelled the 1400 French troops which had been based in the former colony.
After being questioned by the Ottawa Citizen, the Canadian Armed Forces issued a statement that the small team of Canadian special forces members will no longer train members of Niger’s military. While not divulging what exactly these special forces trainers have been doing since the coup, the defence department made it clear that these soldiers were not leaving Africa anytime soon.
Instead “they are conducting planning for future activities in the region including liaison and coordination with African and Western nations” read the official statement. Well that certainly clears that up.
The second news story to catch my attention was that of the recent U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Several people were killed and wounded in that strike including a leader of a Iraq Shiite militia known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).
On the surface the U.S. action would appear to be justified. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, a group of Iranian-backed Shiite militias – which call themselves the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – have carried out over 100 attacks against U.S military installations in both Iraq and Syria.
However, this is where things begin to get a little complex. The U.S. and their allies – including Canada – retain military forces in Iraq and the region to build the capacity of the Iraq Security Forces to keep Daesh (aka ISIS or ISIL) from a resurgence.
The PMF are part of the official Iraqi Security Forces and as such they come under the command umbrella of the Iraqi army.
So the American military is resorting to extra judicial executions of the very same forces they are supposed to be assisting, to combat the really bad guys which would be the Daesh evil doers.
It simply makes no sense, which is why Canada should cut our losses and end OPERATION IMPACT in Iraq ASAP. While we are at it, we should bring home those trainers in Niger instead of looking for more mischief to be stirred up in that region of Africa.
