Canada's war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has quietly entered a new phase, resulting in plans to keep fewer troops in the Middle East even after the COVID-19 pandemic passes.
The Canadian Armed Forces has had up to 850 troops in the region in recent years, including hundreds of military trainers who have been teaching the basics of soldiering to Iraqi forces as part of the global fight against ISIL.
The decision means the first permanent reduction in the Canadian military's footprint since special forces soldiers arrived in October 2014 to help stop ISIL from taking control of Iraq and Syria. The overall reduction doesn't just coincide with COVID-19, but follows a dramatic increase in tensions between the U.S. and Iraq earlier this year after an American airstrike killed a prominent Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, near the Baghdad airport in January.
Coalition officials have played down any connection between recent events in Iraq and the shrinking international troop presence, which Wright echoed when asked by The Canadian Press about Canada's decision to reduce its troop presence in the country. "There is still very much a requirement to work at the higher levels, to work at the operational level and the strategic level," he said. "But for the low-level tactical training, that is no longer required. Which should be the normal progression for any capacity-building mission."
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