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Op IMPACT: CAF in the Iraq & Syria crisis
- Thread starter The Bread Guy
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Oldgateboatdriver
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I don't know if the first paragraph has to be read as an endorsement of the dedication of the Aurora's maintainers, or an indictment of the state of the airplanes being used. [
Anyhow, well done to all and keep up the good work. Some well deserved recognition was clearly in order here.
Anyhow, well done to all and keep up the good work. Some well deserved recognition was clearly in order here.
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So, air power, amongst other effects, is making a discernible contribution after all, as reported in the BBC.
"Up to $800m (£550m) in cash held by so-called Islamic State (IS) has been destroyed in air strikes, a US military official says." :jet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36145301
"Up to $800m (£550m) in cash held by so-called Islamic State (IS) has been destroyed in air strikes, a US military official says." :jet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36145301
Eye In The Sky
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I'd hazard a guess the 'slow pace' isn't based on or related the abilities of the air power in theatre...
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Indeed. Or lack thereof.
Eye In The Sky
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Daesh is doomed, Canada's top general says during dramatic visit to Iraq
Gen. Jonathan Vance asks for Canadians to “put their shoulder behind” military forces in Iraq in an exclusive interview on the front lines with the Toronto Star and CTV News.
By: Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau, Published on Thu Apr 28 2016
Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, was in northern Iraq on Wednesday to visit the area where peshmerga soldiers, aided by Canadian forces, have been fighting Daesh.
ERBIL, IRAQ—Abandoned villages, a shattered bridge, hidden bombs and a steady stream of fighters headed to the front line.
That’s the scene that greeted Canada’s top general as he paid a dramatic visit to northern Iraq Thursday to the area where Canadian special operations forces soldiers are aiding peshmerga fighters in their battle against Daesh.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, said Daesh (also known as ISIS and ISIL) is doomed to defeat and predicted that Canadian forces and their peshmerga allies will play a key role in the coming battle for Mosul, the Iraqi city that remains a key extremist stronghold.
“We are on key terrain with a key partner as what is being billed as the final coup de grâce of ISIL in Iraq occurs on Mosul,” Vance said.
The Toronto Star and CTV News had exclusive access as Vance came to take stock of Canada’s military mission, to “get eyes on as we contemplate next steps in the campaign.”
For more than a year, a small group of Canadian special operations forces soldiers have been working here, teaching peshmerga troops skills that range from the basics — map reading and shooting — to calling in airstrikes.
That mission will get bigger in the coming months with the Liberals’ decision to end airstrikes and instead triple the number of troops on the ground to act as advisers.
The United States has also committed Apache attack helicopters, more cash and more troops as western nations lay the groundwork for a final push to defeat Daesh, which has wreaked havoc across Iraq and Syria since 2014.
With the extra personnel, Canada will stretch its reach in this area west of Erbil, assisting peshmerga along a line more than 100 km long.
All of it is key terrain, some within sight of Mosul.
Vance predicts the battle for the Iraqi city will unfold over the coming year, a battle delayed as Iraqi forces first seek to oust Islamic extremists from other sites across the country.
“There’s no question that Iraq and the coalition, they all want to get on with it, but there’s other things that have to get done,” said Vance, who was making his first visit to Iraq since taking over as chief of defence staff in 2015.
“For a battle that must be started correctly and finished correctly, you don’t want to necessarily rush it,” Vance said.
But when that battle comes, Iraqi forces will squeeze Mosul from the south and it will be up to the peshmerga soldiers, mentored by Canadian special operations forces troops, to protect the northern flank — and block Daesh’s path of escape.
“At some point, the coalition and Iraqi security forces will deal with Mosul and our forces will be on vital ground, key to the containment of ISIL,” Vance said.
Vance stressed that the peshmerga — not Canadians — will be on the frontline to hold Daesh fighters in place. “We are responsible to train and support them. They’re responsible to hold,” Vance said.
Canadian forces and their peshmerga allies are already eroding Daesh’s capabilities in Mosul, thanks to their proximity to the city, which enables intelligence collection and targeting, said Col. Andrew Milburn, of the U.S. Marine Corps, who commands coalition special operations forces.
“It’s very careful targeting. Your guys are not causing civilian casualties here. I can affirm that,” Milburn told the Star in an interview earlier this week.
“That’s a hard claim to make, but these guys are doing this very well. They’re deliberately going after what we call key nodes in ISIS infrastructure, leadership, (command and control) nodes,” he said.
It was Vance’s first visit to Iraq since taking over as top general last summer and he saw firsthand the devastation caused by Daesh and the ongoing disruption caused by the conflict.
Vance visited a key stretch of the highway linking Erbil and Mosul where it crosses the Khazir River.
In 2014, this territory was all held by Daesh. With Erbil at risk, peshmerga forces counterattacked, pushing Daesh back. In their retreat, the militants blew up the bridge to stall the peshmerga counterattack.
Today, two spans of the bridge are nothing more than smashed concrete and twisted metal, resting in the river.
An improvised single-lane, steel-girder bridge has been erected in its place. On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of cars carrying peshmerga fighters headed to and from the front, just a short distance to the west. Lacking military transport, they are forced to rely on their personal vehicles to move about.
Three villages, all within eyesight, have been largely abandoned and the buildings and terrain remain littered with explosive devices.
“Anything in the bushes, avoid it. The last thing I want is for you guys is to step on something that goes boom,” a Canadian special operations sergeant cautioned journalists as they awaited Vance’s arrival.
Indeed, the general’s visit — done under a tight cordon of security provided by Canadian special operations forces troops — was not without risk. Daesh militants are just a few kilometres away and their rockets and mortars land on the riverside villages every day, the sergeant said.
Vance cast an expert eye on the demolished bridge and said it highlights the capabilities of Daesh. “That’s a professional military act to drop that bridge,” he said.
But while still dangerous, Vance painted a picture of Daesh as a faltering force, starved of financing, losing terrain and forced to put inexperienced personnel into battle as “cannon fodder.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind — and I don’t want to overplay this — they will lose militarily in Iraq. It’s inevitable,” Vance said.
“But between now and the time they lose militarily they still have the power to generate big events that can cause a lot of problems.”
That’s why local commanders like Maj.-Gen. Aziz Waisi, commander of the Zeravani forces, express gratitude for the work of Canadian soldiers — and appeal for more.
“The Canadian people should be proud of their forces on the ground. They’re doing excellent work with us,” said Waisi, who accompanied Vance.
But like others here, he pressed home their need for better weapons to replace decades-old military gear, equipment like vehicles, anti-tank weapons, night-vision goggles, robots to help defuse improvised explosive devices, and drones.
“We are hoping that Canada can assist us more,” Waisi said.
As part of its retooled mission, Canada has committed to providing arms for a new Zeravani commando force. “As we form it and train it, they’ll have the weapons necessary to do the job,” Vance said.
But he quickly adds, “We are not doing a wholesale re-equipping of the peshmerga.”
Canadian commanders have conceded that more troops on the ground means more risk.
But Vance is hoping Canadians get behind the expanded mission.
“Just because it’s hard and dangerous doesn’t mean it’s bad,” Vance said.
“We do danger. That’s what a military force is for. Canada’s military goes to dangerous places all the time. It’s always for a good cause. I’d like very much for Canadians to put their shoulder behind what we’re doing here,” Vance said.
“Despite the dangers, it is for a good cause.”
---------------------------------------------------
BZ to Mrs Laflamme for having the 'nads to get some sand on her boots.
Gen. Jonathan Vance asks for Canadians to “put their shoulder behind” military forces in Iraq in an exclusive interview on the front lines with the Toronto Star and CTV News.
By: Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau, Published on Thu Apr 28 2016
Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, was in northern Iraq on Wednesday to visit the area where peshmerga soldiers, aided by Canadian forces, have been fighting Daesh.
ERBIL, IRAQ—Abandoned villages, a shattered bridge, hidden bombs and a steady stream of fighters headed to the front line.
That’s the scene that greeted Canada’s top general as he paid a dramatic visit to northern Iraq Thursday to the area where Canadian special operations forces soldiers are aiding peshmerga fighters in their battle against Daesh.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, said Daesh (also known as ISIS and ISIL) is doomed to defeat and predicted that Canadian forces and their peshmerga allies will play a key role in the coming battle for Mosul, the Iraqi city that remains a key extremist stronghold.
“We are on key terrain with a key partner as what is being billed as the final coup de grâce of ISIL in Iraq occurs on Mosul,” Vance said.
The Toronto Star and CTV News had exclusive access as Vance came to take stock of Canada’s military mission, to “get eyes on as we contemplate next steps in the campaign.”
For more than a year, a small group of Canadian special operations forces soldiers have been working here, teaching peshmerga troops skills that range from the basics — map reading and shooting — to calling in airstrikes.
That mission will get bigger in the coming months with the Liberals’ decision to end airstrikes and instead triple the number of troops on the ground to act as advisers.
The United States has also committed Apache attack helicopters, more cash and more troops as western nations lay the groundwork for a final push to defeat Daesh, which has wreaked havoc across Iraq and Syria since 2014.
With the extra personnel, Canada will stretch its reach in this area west of Erbil, assisting peshmerga along a line more than 100 km long.
All of it is key terrain, some within sight of Mosul.
Vance predicts the battle for the Iraqi city will unfold over the coming year, a battle delayed as Iraqi forces first seek to oust Islamic extremists from other sites across the country.
“There’s no question that Iraq and the coalition, they all want to get on with it, but there’s other things that have to get done,” said Vance, who was making his first visit to Iraq since taking over as chief of defence staff in 2015.
“For a battle that must be started correctly and finished correctly, you don’t want to necessarily rush it,” Vance said.
But when that battle comes, Iraqi forces will squeeze Mosul from the south and it will be up to the peshmerga soldiers, mentored by Canadian special operations forces troops, to protect the northern flank — and block Daesh’s path of escape.
“At some point, the coalition and Iraqi security forces will deal with Mosul and our forces will be on vital ground, key to the containment of ISIL,” Vance said.
Vance stressed that the peshmerga — not Canadians — will be on the frontline to hold Daesh fighters in place. “We are responsible to train and support them. They’re responsible to hold,” Vance said.
Canadian forces and their peshmerga allies are already eroding Daesh’s capabilities in Mosul, thanks to their proximity to the city, which enables intelligence collection and targeting, said Col. Andrew Milburn, of the U.S. Marine Corps, who commands coalition special operations forces.
“It’s very careful targeting. Your guys are not causing civilian casualties here. I can affirm that,” Milburn told the Star in an interview earlier this week.
“That’s a hard claim to make, but these guys are doing this very well. They’re deliberately going after what we call key nodes in ISIS infrastructure, leadership, (command and control) nodes,” he said.
It was Vance’s first visit to Iraq since taking over as top general last summer and he saw firsthand the devastation caused by Daesh and the ongoing disruption caused by the conflict.
Vance visited a key stretch of the highway linking Erbil and Mosul where it crosses the Khazir River.
In 2014, this territory was all held by Daesh. With Erbil at risk, peshmerga forces counterattacked, pushing Daesh back. In their retreat, the militants blew up the bridge to stall the peshmerga counterattack.
Today, two spans of the bridge are nothing more than smashed concrete and twisted metal, resting in the river.
An improvised single-lane, steel-girder bridge has been erected in its place. On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of cars carrying peshmerga fighters headed to and from the front, just a short distance to the west. Lacking military transport, they are forced to rely on their personal vehicles to move about.
Three villages, all within eyesight, have been largely abandoned and the buildings and terrain remain littered with explosive devices.
“Anything in the bushes, avoid it. The last thing I want is for you guys is to step on something that goes boom,” a Canadian special operations sergeant cautioned journalists as they awaited Vance’s arrival.
Indeed, the general’s visit — done under a tight cordon of security provided by Canadian special operations forces troops — was not without risk. Daesh militants are just a few kilometres away and their rockets and mortars land on the riverside villages every day, the sergeant said.
Vance cast an expert eye on the demolished bridge and said it highlights the capabilities of Daesh. “That’s a professional military act to drop that bridge,” he said.
But while still dangerous, Vance painted a picture of Daesh as a faltering force, starved of financing, losing terrain and forced to put inexperienced personnel into battle as “cannon fodder.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind — and I don’t want to overplay this — they will lose militarily in Iraq. It’s inevitable,” Vance said.
“But between now and the time they lose militarily they still have the power to generate big events that can cause a lot of problems.”
That’s why local commanders like Maj.-Gen. Aziz Waisi, commander of the Zeravani forces, express gratitude for the work of Canadian soldiers — and appeal for more.
“The Canadian people should be proud of their forces on the ground. They’re doing excellent work with us,” said Waisi, who accompanied Vance.
But like others here, he pressed home their need for better weapons to replace decades-old military gear, equipment like vehicles, anti-tank weapons, night-vision goggles, robots to help defuse improvised explosive devices, and drones.
“We are hoping that Canada can assist us more,” Waisi said.
As part of its retooled mission, Canada has committed to providing arms for a new Zeravani commando force. “As we form it and train it, they’ll have the weapons necessary to do the job,” Vance said.
But he quickly adds, “We are not doing a wholesale re-equipping of the peshmerga.”
Canadian commanders have conceded that more troops on the ground means more risk.
But Vance is hoping Canadians get behind the expanded mission.
“Just because it’s hard and dangerous doesn’t mean it’s bad,” Vance said.
“We do danger. That’s what a military force is for. Canada’s military goes to dangerous places all the time. It’s always for a good cause. I’d like very much for Canadians to put their shoulder behind what we’re doing here,” Vance said.
“Despite the dangers, it is for a good cause.”
---------------------------------------------------
BZ to Mrs Laflamme for having the 'nads to get some sand on her boots.
It always impresses me how the Kurdish forces seem to hold themselves to a respectable level of professionalism.
By in large, compared to other groups of forces in the Middle East, the Kurdish have acted quite professionally. They look professional. Uniforms are clean. Berets are formed & worn.
It's a shame the collective western countries haven't spent the resources to arm & equip the Peshmerga. Compared to the ANA. ANP, and Iraqi Army - that money would have been money well spent, with much more bang for our buck.
By in large, compared to other groups of forces in the Middle East, the Kurdish have acted quite professionally. They look professional. Uniforms are clean. Berets are formed & worn.
It's a shame the collective western countries haven't spent the resources to arm & equip the Peshmerga. Compared to the ANA. ANP, and Iraqi Army - that money would have been money well spent, with much more bang for our buck.
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- 2,532
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Yup ...Altair said:
... and yup.NinerSix said:
Meanwhile, the CDS also dropped by to chat up the Kurds while in the neighbourhood - from one of the Kurdish info-machines ...
Attachments
And more on the Special Forces involvement in this story reproduced under the Fair Dealings provision of the Copyright Act.
Exclusive: Canada's elite soldiers train Kurdish troops in fight against ISIS
Canada's top soldier paid a visit to Northern Iraq, where he spoke to Lisa LaFlamme about the dangerous mission against ISIS.
Gen. Jonathan Vance tells Lisa LaFlamme in Iraq that Canada's training efforts in fight against ISIS are paying off.
Bruce Campion-Smith, Ottawa Bureau Chief for The Toronto Star
Published Friday, April 29, 2016 9:30PM EDT
ERBIL, Iraq -- A swirl of smoke, then the screams.
Two men drop to the ground, “blood” squirting from wounds. Orders are barked in Kurdish as Peshmerga soldiers rush to the aid of the fallen.
At this military outpost in Northern Iraq, it’s all a drill run by Canadians, a mock mortar attack to test Peshmerga on their battlefield medicine.
A Canadian soldier helps train Peshmerga troops in Northern Iraq on Friday, April 29, 2016.
Still, it’s realistic enough, thanks to smoke grenades and special-effects blood that splashes on the would-be rescuers.
Two Canadian special forces soldiers hover over the Peshmerga troops like a watchful teacher, appraising the treatment. “You’re in danger right now,” the Canadian medic warns, urging them to move themselves and the casualties to safer ground, as they’d have to do if this was a real attack.
The exercise drill wraps up and the special forces medic gathers the Peshmerga soldiers around him for a debrief. “Everything went really well. You brought your patients to a safe area. You did the treatments you were supposed to,” he tells them.
This is the face of Canada’s military mission in Northern Iraq where Canadian special operations forces soldiers have been advising and assisting Peshmerga soldiers in their battle against ISIS, also known as ISIL.
CTV News and The Toronto Star were granted unprecedented access to that mission this week. It’s the first time that journalists have ever been allowed to join special operations forces soldiers on an active operation.
The visit found soldiers keen to talk about their training, about their mission and about their membership in an elite command of the Canadian Armed Forces. It revealed the respect they command from their allies. And it underscored the close working ties between Canadian soldiers and Peshmerga forces battling to reclaim their homeland.
“We are uniquely adapted to this,” says the man who heads up Canada’s special operations forces soldiers.
Mike Rouleau, who just this week was promoted to the rank of major general, knows well the world of special forces.
He is a former assaulter with Joint Task Force 2 and past commander of unit, which is the tip of the spear within the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. He left the military in 1999 and served as a police officer in Ottawa before rejoining the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
He commands Canada’s shadowy soldiers, trained to handle worst-case scenarios at home and abroad.
And as experts in the craft of warfare, they are exceptionally good at passing along those skills to other militaries, a task they do here in Iraq and in other places around the globe.
From its start as a small, highly skilled team known as Joint Task Force 2, Canada’s special forces capabilities have grown into a separate branch of the military -- Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM for short.
It boasts some 2,000 personnel, from JTF2 assaulters to operators with the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, to ace helicopter pilots, and experts trained to handle chemical and biological threats.
Canada’s special operations forces rank as among the best in the world, experts say.
“They are very, very good,” Col. Andrew Milburn, of the U.S. Marines, who commands coalition special operations forces in Iraq, told the Star.
And here in the rolling green hills of Northern Iraq, the Canadians are mentoring local Peshmerga troops on the fighting skills and military tactics needed first to contain the Islamic extremists and now to squeeze them out of existence.
It’s a mission tailor-made for special operations forces and their expertise working in small teams in complex environments with often tangled political interests and across cultural lines.
“This was classic irregular warfare in the sense that it was establishing immediately with an indigenous force, helping them achieve military objectives through our assistance. So we were well-suited to the mission,” Rouleau said.
A special operations forces sergeant sums up the mission, “In our military ethos, we have a term ‘warrior diplomats’ and that’s what we’re doing here.”
The Canadians work from several sites in Northern Iraq. Patrol Base Cirillo -- named in honour of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, killed while standing sentry at Ottawa’s National War Memorial in 2014 -- is located on the outskirts out Erbil. It serves as the logistics hub, headquarters and a place where operators from the field come to recharge.
A tactical headquarters is located further west, closer to ISIS-held Mosul, and the heart of the territory where Canadians are working alongside Peshmerga troops.
Driving there, the special forces operators move quickly through the chaotic Erbil traffic -- speed is safety, they say -- and at times the speedometer needle tops 120 km/h. The city gives way to countryside and the sights of flocks of sheep and their herders in the fields and roadside stalls selling mounds of watermelons.
In the early days, the Canadians worked out of a former border post. Since then, they've made improvements, adding modular units that house sleeping quarters, washroom and showers, an operations centre and a combined kitchen and living area, with a large TV.
During their downtime, operators make use of an open-air gym, sheltered from the hot sun by a tarp. In the ranks of special forces, rank doesn’t count here. Everyone is on a first name basis.
The training mission has changed since the Canadians first arrived back in the fall of 2014. Back then, the special forces soldiers were more active in helping hold the line. And they were busy schooling Peshmerga in military skills such as shooting, countering explosive devices, map and compass work and lessons in the laws of armed conflict. It’s estimated 2,000 Peshmerga have been trained so far.
“Since we’ve been working here in Northern Iraq, we’ve seen outstanding progress. They are very capable fighters. They will absolutely fight to the last man to protect their homes,” a major with special operations forces told the Star. (The soldiers asked to be identified by their rank only).
These days, Canadians are teaching the Peshmerga more advanced skills, like how to direct airstrikes.
“When we first got here, we were much more material to the defence of the frontline. In some cases we were calling in airstrikes using on our own resources,” Rouleau said.
“Now I feel the Kurds are in a stronger position in many ways to defend the line . . . They know how to use the global positioning systems, the radios, they know the techniques for employing air power,” he told the Star.
But the Canadians are more than just military teachers. They are a welcome reassurance, a morale booster in what has been a difficult fight against the extremists. One Pesh general estimated that his forces have lost 1,500 men since the fighting began.
“As Peshmerga we gained a lot from the Canadians, from training to help during major attacks. We thank them for all this,” one Pesh soldier told Canadian journalists as he stood watch in an observation post.
This mission has risks for Canadians too, a reality driven home by the March, 2015 death of Sgt. Andrew Doiron, who was accidentally shot by Peshmerga troops in a friendly fire incident. Three other Canadians were wounded.
The loss hit the tight-knit group hard, said a corporal who knew Doiron as a good friend and mentor. “It’s something in the community we accept might happen. But when it does happen, it’s a hard situation to deal with,” he said. In honour of his friend, the corporal has a tattoo on his left arm of Doiron’s initials and a raven, a link between this world and the afterworld.
But the Pesh, backed by the Canadians, are making gains. ISIS has been pushed back – in early days the frontline was just hundreds of metres away -- and territory recaptured.
Peshmerga fighters say they are on a mission to stem ISIS here and prevent it from spreading further. But this fight is also a deeply personal one for them, a battle to reclaim their homes and homelands, a reality understood by the Canadians.
“Sometimes I’m on the line staring at a building which has ISIS activity and one my Pesh partners will identify that building as his home,” the sergeant said.
“This is one of the fronts that is in place to protect everyone else. This is a global matter,” the sergeant said.
Exclusive: Canada's elite soldiers train Kurdish troops in fight against ISIS
Canada's top soldier paid a visit to Northern Iraq, where he spoke to Lisa LaFlamme about the dangerous mission against ISIS.
Gen. Jonathan Vance tells Lisa LaFlamme in Iraq that Canada's training efforts in fight against ISIS are paying off.
Bruce Campion-Smith, Ottawa Bureau Chief for The Toronto Star
Published Friday, April 29, 2016 9:30PM EDT
ERBIL, Iraq -- A swirl of smoke, then the screams.
Two men drop to the ground, “blood” squirting from wounds. Orders are barked in Kurdish as Peshmerga soldiers rush to the aid of the fallen.
At this military outpost in Northern Iraq, it’s all a drill run by Canadians, a mock mortar attack to test Peshmerga on their battlefield medicine.
A Canadian soldier helps train Peshmerga troops in Northern Iraq on Friday, April 29, 2016.
Still, it’s realistic enough, thanks to smoke grenades and special-effects blood that splashes on the would-be rescuers.
Two Canadian special forces soldiers hover over the Peshmerga troops like a watchful teacher, appraising the treatment. “You’re in danger right now,” the Canadian medic warns, urging them to move themselves and the casualties to safer ground, as they’d have to do if this was a real attack.
The exercise drill wraps up and the special forces medic gathers the Peshmerga soldiers around him for a debrief. “Everything went really well. You brought your patients to a safe area. You did the treatments you were supposed to,” he tells them.
This is the face of Canada’s military mission in Northern Iraq where Canadian special operations forces soldiers have been advising and assisting Peshmerga soldiers in their battle against ISIS, also known as ISIL.
CTV News and The Toronto Star were granted unprecedented access to that mission this week. It’s the first time that journalists have ever been allowed to join special operations forces soldiers on an active operation.
The visit found soldiers keen to talk about their training, about their mission and about their membership in an elite command of the Canadian Armed Forces. It revealed the respect they command from their allies. And it underscored the close working ties between Canadian soldiers and Peshmerga forces battling to reclaim their homeland.
“We are uniquely adapted to this,” says the man who heads up Canada’s special operations forces soldiers.
Mike Rouleau, who just this week was promoted to the rank of major general, knows well the world of special forces.
He is a former assaulter with Joint Task Force 2 and past commander of unit, which is the tip of the spear within the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. He left the military in 1999 and served as a police officer in Ottawa before rejoining the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
He commands Canada’s shadowy soldiers, trained to handle worst-case scenarios at home and abroad.
And as experts in the craft of warfare, they are exceptionally good at passing along those skills to other militaries, a task they do here in Iraq and in other places around the globe.
From its start as a small, highly skilled team known as Joint Task Force 2, Canada’s special forces capabilities have grown into a separate branch of the military -- Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM for short.
It boasts some 2,000 personnel, from JTF2 assaulters to operators with the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, to ace helicopter pilots, and experts trained to handle chemical and biological threats.
Canada’s special operations forces rank as among the best in the world, experts say.
“They are very, very good,” Col. Andrew Milburn, of the U.S. Marines, who commands coalition special operations forces in Iraq, told the Star.
And here in the rolling green hills of Northern Iraq, the Canadians are mentoring local Peshmerga troops on the fighting skills and military tactics needed first to contain the Islamic extremists and now to squeeze them out of existence.
It’s a mission tailor-made for special operations forces and their expertise working in small teams in complex environments with often tangled political interests and across cultural lines.
“This was classic irregular warfare in the sense that it was establishing immediately with an indigenous force, helping them achieve military objectives through our assistance. So we were well-suited to the mission,” Rouleau said.
A special operations forces sergeant sums up the mission, “In our military ethos, we have a term ‘warrior diplomats’ and that’s what we’re doing here.”
The Canadians work from several sites in Northern Iraq. Patrol Base Cirillo -- named in honour of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, killed while standing sentry at Ottawa’s National War Memorial in 2014 -- is located on the outskirts out Erbil. It serves as the logistics hub, headquarters and a place where operators from the field come to recharge.
A tactical headquarters is located further west, closer to ISIS-held Mosul, and the heart of the territory where Canadians are working alongside Peshmerga troops.
Driving there, the special forces operators move quickly through the chaotic Erbil traffic -- speed is safety, they say -- and at times the speedometer needle tops 120 km/h. The city gives way to countryside and the sights of flocks of sheep and their herders in the fields and roadside stalls selling mounds of watermelons.
In the early days, the Canadians worked out of a former border post. Since then, they've made improvements, adding modular units that house sleeping quarters, washroom and showers, an operations centre and a combined kitchen and living area, with a large TV.
During their downtime, operators make use of an open-air gym, sheltered from the hot sun by a tarp. In the ranks of special forces, rank doesn’t count here. Everyone is on a first name basis.
The training mission has changed since the Canadians first arrived back in the fall of 2014. Back then, the special forces soldiers were more active in helping hold the line. And they were busy schooling Peshmerga in military skills such as shooting, countering explosive devices, map and compass work and lessons in the laws of armed conflict. It’s estimated 2,000 Peshmerga have been trained so far.
“Since we’ve been working here in Northern Iraq, we’ve seen outstanding progress. They are very capable fighters. They will absolutely fight to the last man to protect their homes,” a major with special operations forces told the Star. (The soldiers asked to be identified by their rank only).
These days, Canadians are teaching the Peshmerga more advanced skills, like how to direct airstrikes.
“When we first got here, we were much more material to the defence of the frontline. In some cases we were calling in airstrikes using on our own resources,” Rouleau said.
“Now I feel the Kurds are in a stronger position in many ways to defend the line . . . They know how to use the global positioning systems, the radios, they know the techniques for employing air power,” he told the Star.
But the Canadians are more than just military teachers. They are a welcome reassurance, a morale booster in what has been a difficult fight against the extremists. One Pesh general estimated that his forces have lost 1,500 men since the fighting began.
“As Peshmerga we gained a lot from the Canadians, from training to help during major attacks. We thank them for all this,” one Pesh soldier told Canadian journalists as he stood watch in an observation post.
This mission has risks for Canadians too, a reality driven home by the March, 2015 death of Sgt. Andrew Doiron, who was accidentally shot by Peshmerga troops in a friendly fire incident. Three other Canadians were wounded.
The loss hit the tight-knit group hard, said a corporal who knew Doiron as a good friend and mentor. “It’s something in the community we accept might happen. But when it does happen, it’s a hard situation to deal with,” he said. In honour of his friend, the corporal has a tattoo on his left arm of Doiron’s initials and a raven, a link between this world and the afterworld.
But the Pesh, backed by the Canadians, are making gains. ISIS has been pushed back – in early days the frontline was just hundreds of metres away -- and territory recaptured.
Peshmerga fighters say they are on a mission to stem ISIS here and prevent it from spreading further. But this fight is also a deeply personal one for them, a battle to reclaim their homes and homelands, a reality understood by the Canadians.
“Sometimes I’m on the line staring at a building which has ISIS activity and one my Pesh partners will identify that building as his home,” the sergeant said.
“This is one of the fronts that is in place to protect everyone else. This is a global matter,” the sergeant said.
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I know the author of this next piece can be a bit ... polarizing, but in light of the above, he brings up an interesting point ...milnews.ca said:
Frame grab from CTV.ca video attached for reference.
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Good2Golf said:
That is my interpretation of this matter; especially after a member of CSOR was killed by 'friendly' Peshmerga fighters last year.
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Or they are wearing it because the Kurds wear it, and it shows solidarity with the private soldier. I've seen Americans posted to Canada wearing a small Canadian flag on their uniforms, and for the trainers on Op ATTENTION typically wore whatever Afghan school badge we were assigned to. It creates an instant connection.
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Good point.Good2Golf said:
First I've heard of this practice - cool.PuckChaser said:
I'm sure it would. The AFG case is a bit different than the Kurdish case, though, because the school would still be associated with one government we're helping out, not a group wanting to be its own government versus another government we're helping out.PuckChaser said:
I'm still a little nervous about potentially bad wishbone end-states re: helping the separatists while helping the central government, but I appreciate the further education. I'm guessing someone's got the contingency plan in place in case the Kurds we're training decide to punch it up against the Iraqis we're advising, or vice versa.
Retired AF Guy
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PuckChaser said:
I've seen foreign military personnel here in Kingston doing the same thing.
Oldgateboatdriver
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I just finished watching the interview of Lcol Moar on the CBC's National.
I think kudos are in order: Did a very nice job of talking up the Iraq/Syria mission of the CF-18's he commanded over there, all the while avoiding the traps that Peter Mansbridge tried to set him up for. An excellent demonstration of how operators can be your best PR people.
And our thanks should also go to him and all of his pilots for a job very well done over there.
Just one small question from an ignoramus such as I: After he came back from giving a little back seat ride to Mansbridge (without, apparently giving him a taste of the "G"s) the plane is parked on the tarmac with wings folded. Is that a common practice on an airbase, even though you have all the room in the world to park aircrafts?
I think kudos are in order: Did a very nice job of talking up the Iraq/Syria mission of the CF-18's he commanded over there, all the while avoiding the traps that Peter Mansbridge tried to set him up for. An excellent demonstration of how operators can be your best PR people.
And our thanks should also go to him and all of his pilots for a job very well done over there.
Just one small question from an ignoramus such as I: After he came back from giving a little back seat ride to Mansbridge (without, apparently giving him a taste of the "G"s) the plane is parked on the tarmac with wings folded. Is that a common practice on an airbase, even though you have all the room in the world to park aircrafts?
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