Canada not invited to ISIl meeting

[gauge33]

Wonder why?

Canada has not been invited to a meeting of defence ministers in Paris this week to discuss the fight against Islamic State militants.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s office has confirmed to CBC News and the Globe and Mail that he won't attend Wednesday's meeting.

The reports say defence ministers from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and the Netherlands will take part in the talks.

Sajjan spokesman Renee Filiatrault told the Globe that Canada's plan to pull its CF-18s from the fight against ISIL had nothing to do with Canada's exclusion from the meeting.

Omar Alghabra, the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, told the CBC it wasn't a surprise as those seven countries meet regularly without Canada and the only thing different this time it that defence ministers will be there.

But Conservative defence critic James Bezan said the apparent snub shows Canada is no longer seen as a valuable ally.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/reports-canada-not-invited-to-isil-meeting/ar-BBopwYg?li=AAggNb...

[nan*55]

Could it be that they believe Trudeau has nothing to offer?

[gauge33]

0 - 6 CF18s = nothing Nan, and it looks like that's what it's going to be. 

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Those who want this so much should not sit at home and complain........please move there.

[disisus]

I don't know why we weren't invited to this meeting but we weren't the only one's and it wasn't the first time. The group of seven countries that were invited meet regularily without Canada.

It doesn't have anything to do with whether we have fighter planes engaged from what I can see. Not all invited countries have fighter planes in the war and some that do were not invited. Denmark and Belgium weren't invited even though Belgium has fighter planes in the war. Italy and Germany were invited but have no planes in the war. Saudi Arabia and Turkey weren't invited either.

You'd have to ask the Americans why some partners were invited and others weren't but I'm not sure that it matters.

[disisus]

I looked up how many countries were part of the coalition.

Here’s a list of who has agreed to what as of a year ago.:

Allies providing air support and military equipment

U.S.: The prime mover. Has launched air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since the end of August.

Canada: Has sent about 60 members of the Canadian Armed Forces to Iraq. Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) also provided airlift support to Albania, delivering 230 tonnes of military supplies to Iraq. Also sent $15-million for security.

Iraq: Authorized France to use its air space and welcomed coalition support in battling ISIS.

Jordan: Destroyed several ISIS targets through air strikes in Syria. Also worked to cut off funding to extremist and terrorist organizations.

Bahrain: Carried out air strikes against ISIS in Syria.

Saudi Arabia: Participated in air strikes in Syria. Has frequently condemned ISIS and given $100-million to the UN Counter-Terrorism Center and $500-million in humanitarian aid.

United Arab Emirates: Took part in air strikes on Syria. With other Persian Gulf nations has condemned ISIS and offered support to the coalition.

France: Bombed a warehouse occupied by ISIS in Iraq. French Air Force has also carried out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and vowed to take part in future air strikes “if needed.” Sent 59 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to Erbil, further deliveries due soon.

Germany: Sent 40 paratroopers to Iraq to provide weapons training to Kurdish fighters. Also sending 16,000 assault rifles, hundreds of anti-tank weapons and armoured vehicles — enough to arm 4,000 peshmerga soldiers. Some Kurdish fighters are also being trained in South Germany. Sending 36 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

United Kingdom: Supplied arms to the Kurds and a Royal Air Force squadron has contributed to surveillance operations. Gave $1.6 million of weapons and ammunition. Friday, Prime Minister David Cameron got the go-ahead to take part air strikes in the future. Earmarked $38-million in aid.

Australia: Sending up to eight Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 combat aircraft, an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, and a KC-30A multi-role tanker and transport aircraft. Australian Special Forces are advising Iraqi forces. Provided $5-million in humanitarian aid to Iraq.

Belgium: Sending six F-16 fighter planes, with eight pilots and 120 support staff.

Denmark: Sending seven F-16 fighter jets (four operational planes, three reserve) along with 250 pilots and support staff.

Italy: Sent $2.5-million of weaponry, including machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and nine million rounds of ammunition, and humanitarian aid. Offered to help refuelling planes.

Czech Republic: Provided fighter jets and 500 tons of ammunition to the Iraqi army, delivered by RCAF. Also contributed $1.5-million in humanitarian aid.

Albania: Provided weapons and ammunition to Kurdish forces. Has promised up to 22 million rifle rounds, 32,000 artillery shells for Kurdish forces.

Netherlands: Sending six F-16 fighter jets, plus two reserve jets, 250 pilots and support staff, likely to be based in Jordan. Will send about 130 military trainers to Iraq to support Iraqi and Kurdish fighters. Provided 1,000 helmets and 1,000 bulletproof vests for Kurdish forces, $10-million in humanitarian aid.

Estonia: Provided one million machine gun cartridges and a Hercules transport aircraft, plus $90,000 to support displaced Iraqis.

Hungary: Provided seven million cartridges, “thousands” of mines and armour-piercing shells. Sent $90,000 for Christians in Erbil.

Turkey: President Tayyip Erdogan said he will “give the necessary support to the operation. The support could be military or logistics.” More than $1.9-million of humanitarian aid sent to Turkmen in Northern Iraq. Funded construction of a camp for 20,000 Iraqi Turkmen.

Lebanon: Will not send troops or weapons, but will “receive military help to fight the organization through the Army,” says its foreign minister.

Allies providing humanitarian aid

• Sweden: $13-million.
• Kuwait: $9.5-million.
• Switzerland: $9-million.
• Japan: $6-million.
• Austria: $1.3-million.
• New Zealand: $1-million.
• South Korea: $1-million.
• Ireland: $1.4-million.
• Spain: $640,000.
• Slovakia: $25,000.
• Norway: Contributed to UNESCO aid drop, including 40,000 blankets, 10,000 kitchen sets and 18,000 plastic tarpaulins.
• Luxembourg: Contributed to aid deliveries from the United Nations.
• Qatar: Passed a new law to stop charities diverting money toward ISIS. Sent six aircraft carrying 300 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

Allies who have expressed support

Bulgaria: Foreign minister has said the conflict “poses a direct threat to Bulgaria,” but has not offered any military or aid distance so far.

Egypt: Released a statement strongly denouncing the execution of American journalist James Foley, with a spokesman calling for the “international community to rally efforts to fight terrorism.”

Finland: Minister for foreign fffairs said his country will “concentrate on delivering humanitarian aid to people in desperate need”

Georgia: Defence minister said officials “fully support what the United States is doing to eradicate these barbarians.”

Greece: Government condemned ISIS’s actions, adding, “We express our solidarity with the Iraqi government.”

Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “These groups must be fought, they must be rolled back, and they must ultimately be defeated. That’s why Israel fully supports President Obama’s call for united action against ISIS.”

Kosovo: Will help the United States to destroy ISIS and is part of the “emerging global alliance to fight a great evil.”

Oman: The Sultan of Oman has said “no one can afford to neglect a situation as serious as this” and his government will work “as fast as possible” to end ISIS threat.

Poland: Intends to support the fight polically, as well as through NATO membership.

[gauge33]

Doesn't matter how you want to square it the world sees it as a snub. Other allies may not have planes in the fight but we do and Trudeau wants to pull them without saying specifically what he will replace them with.

And that probably left the meeting attendees having to replace our CF18s role with other support for our 60 ground advisors.

[gauge33]

Canada was pointedly excluded from the meeting, a decision defence experts say underscores the Liberal decision to back away from combat.

Carter said the gathering was with other countries who have been “central core contributors” in the ISIS fight. “We agreed that we all must do more,” Carter said following the meeting, according to a report by the Associated Press.

In a joint statement, the defence ministers said they agreed that the coalition must “accelerate and intensify” the campaign against ISIS “in order to deliver a lasting defeat to this barbaric organization.”

Defence analyst George Petrolekas said Canada’s absence from the meeting is blunt acknowledgement that the Liberals are unbending in their promise to withdraw the fighters and have yet to commit to doing something else.

“The meeting is about accelerating and expanding. If you’ve got nothing to contribute, why would we invite you,” said Petrolekas, a retired colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces who is a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

But as Carter leans on allies to do more, Ottawa should be concerned that Canada is seen to be doing its fair share in the ISIS fight or risk consequences, he said in an interview Wednesday.

“If the perception of being a freeloader somehow gains traction in Washington, it inevitably has policy spillovers, not just into defence and security,” Petrolekas said. “That’s deeply inimical to our interests.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/01/20/justin-trudeau-pressed-on-liberal-vow-to-end-airstrike...

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Conservatives generally speaking are masters at copy and paste, because they can't think on their own. Speaking of which, where is their hero Harpie? I said years ago he was a coward and he has proven me right yet again. He even snuck in the back door of Parliament. Harper....his supporters...birds of a feather flock together.

[ilurkthereforiam]

We have a new government.

They want to do more to help the refugees than kill ISIS.

The Americans aren't taking refugees.