XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: mtl.general   
   From: Raisa@nyet.ca   
      
   Remember that little TV theme "Have gun, will travel . . ." ?   
   Seems the Harper government is looking for a war to fight in.  What a bloody   
   joke on Canadians with the mission estimated at "up to $266 Million for 6   
   months".   
      
   ____________________________________________________   
   Postmedia News | November 27, 2014   
      
      
   With little for Canadian jets to do in Iraq, expanding mission to Syria may be   
   next   
      
   Canadian military aircraft tasked with fighting ISIS in Iraq are spending most   
   of their time on the ground, which could bolster arguments for extending the   
   war into Syria.   
      
   Canada is contributing six CF-18 fighter jets, two Aurora military surveillance   
   aircraft and a Polaris refuelling plane to the U.S.-led bombing campaign   
   against militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, commonly known as   
   ISIS.   
      
   Canada’s Iraq mission by the numbers   
      
        116: Total sorties flown by Canadian military aircraft in Iraq since Oct.   
   30   
        42: Sorties flown in the first week   
        26: Sorties flown in the second week   
        35: Sorties flown in the third week   
        13: Sorties flown in the fourth week   
        4: Canadian airstrikes since the start of the mission   
        0: Canadian airstrikes in the past week   
      
   The aircraft began flying sorties on Oct. 30, and by the end of the first week   
   had logged a total of 42. Those included an airstrike that destroyed four ISIS   
   construction vehicles.   
      
   The pace has since slowed, particularly over the past week. While the CF-18s   
   and other aircraft flew a combined 26 and 35 sorties in the war’s second and   
   third weeks, only 13 sorties were flown between Nov. 20 and 26. (The military   
   counts a sortie every time one of its planes embarks on a mission. If two   
   planes are involved in the same mission, it is counted as two sorties.)   
      
   Of the 13 sorties, six were flown by the CF-18s, or exactly one mission per   
   fighter jet over the entire six-day span. The Auroras flew four while the   
   Polaris flew three. Each sortie is believed to run about four to six hours.   
      
   A U.S.-led command centre is responsible for assigning missions to all   
   coalition aircraft, and the Canadian commander on the ground, Col. Daniel   
   Constable, said Thursday that Canada accomplished all the missions asked of it.   
      
   But Constable also admitted two weeks ago that coalition forces were having a   
   hard time finding ISIS targets, and the latest figures indicate the situation   
   hasn’t gotten any better.   
      
   This was the first week where Canadian warplanes did not launch an attack   
   against ISIS targets after destroying the construction vehicles, an artillery   
   piece, a warehouse and a bunker over the previous three weeks.   
      
   Constable said the most noteworthy Canadian mission over the past week was   
   escorting an allied transport plane dropping water, tents, blankets and other   
   supplies to Iraqi civilians.   
      
   He would not say what country was behind the humanitarian drop, how much aid   
   was delivered, when the mission happened, or where it occurred, citing concerns   
   the information would help ISIS forces.   
      
   With Canadian warplanes having little to do in Iraq, the discussion turns to   
   the future of the six-month combat mission. In particular, the government will   
   be faced with the question of whether to end operations or, conversely, expand   
   into Syria.   
      
   Syria has been embroiled in a complex and bloody civil war since 2011, and   
   unlike in Iraq, the Syrian government has not invited Canada or its allies to   
   fight ISIS within its borders. That has created legal hurdles as well as fears   
   of being drawn into a broader conflict.   
      
   But while the country has been off limits to the Canadian military, the U.S.   
   and some Arab allies sidestepped the Syrian government to launch attacks   
   against ISIS forces there since the summer. There has been speculation in   
   recent weeks that Canada will follow suit.   
      
   Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman, Stephen Lecce, would not comment   
   Thursday on the possibility of expanding the mission into Syria.   
      
   “Canada is focused on our current mission: air strikes against [ISIS] in   
   Iraq,   
   and soldiers performing an advise and assist function,” he said, referring to   
   the several dozen Canadian special forces troops working with Kurdish and Iraqi   
   government forces in northern Iraq.   
      
   However, Justice Minister Peter MacKay told the CBC last weekend that the   
   government had discussed the idea of expanding the mission with other allies,   
   and that lawyers in his department were working to eliminate the legal hurdles.   
      
   “We’re operating against an enemy that does not respect any borders,” he   
   said.   
   _______________________________________   
      
   Seems Harper's Canada is also operating without any borders . . . .   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)