Canada to end airstrikes against ISIS | World Defense

Canada to end airstrikes against ISIS

Justin

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Trudeau: Canada to end airstrikes against ISIS
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Canada's Liberal leader and Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, October 20, 2015.


TORONTO -- The stunning victory of Justin Trudeau will reverberate beyond Canada's borders after the Liberal Party leader emphatically ended a decade of rule by the most conservative leadership in the country's history.

Among the areas in which Trudeau differs from his predecessor, Conservative Stephen Harper: airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), climate change, immigration and whether relations with the U.S. should hinge on the future of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Trudeau said he spoke with President Barack Obama on Tuesday and told him he will remove Canada's six fighter jets from the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Speaking at a rally in Ottawa, the 43-year-old Trudeau -- son of one of the country's most dynamic politicians -- underlined the sea change.

"I want to say this to this country's friends around the world: Many of you have worried that Canada has lost its compassionate and constructive voice in the world over the past 10 years. Well, I have a simple message for you on behalf of 35 million Canadians. We're back," he declared.

With Trudeau's decisive victory on Monday, Canadian voters reclaimed their country's liberal identity, giving the new prime minister a commanding majority in parliament that will allow him to govern without relying on other parties.

That means change in Canadian policies on a broad spectrum of issues.

"Trudeau will return Canada to its traditional approach in foreign affairs which is characteristic of every single government but Harper's," said Robert Bothwell, a professor at the University of Toronto. "Canada will go back to multilateralism, back to strong support for the United Nations."

There will be a "new way for Canada to be on the world stage," agreed Liberal lawmaker Marc Garneau, who won re-election Monday.

The son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who swept to office in 1968 on a wave of support dubbed "Trudeaumania" and governed for most of the next two decades, the younger Trudeau channels the star power - if not quite the political heft - of his father.

Tall and trim, he is a former school teacher and member of Parliament since 2008. He becomes the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history and has been likened to Obama.

"The whole tone of the U.S.-Canada relationship will change. Philosophically Obama and Trudeau are much closer," Bothwell said.

The White House said Obama called to congratulate Trudeau on Tuesday afternoon and said in a statement the two leaders "committed to strengthening the countries' joint efforts to promote trade, combat terrorism and mitigate climate change."

Obama "also teased me about my lack of grey hair, but said I'd probably get some quite soon," the dark-haired Trudeau quipped at a news conference later.

Trudeau's victory will likely improve ties with the United States, at least for the remainder of Obama's presidency. Harper was frustrated by Obama's reluctance to approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas and clashed with the president on other issues, including the Iran nuclear deal.

Although Trudeau supports the Keystone pipeline, he argues relations should not hinge on the project.

"Theoretically, Justin is for Keystone, but he can obviously jettison that," Bothwell said of the project, which Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton recently expressed opposition to. Republican contenders are for the project.

Antonia Maioni, a political science professor at McGill University, said the Obama administration will welcome the change in government. "Even on Keystone, Mr. Trudeau says he supports it, but he is not going to make it an issue of conflict with Obama," Maioni said.

Still, there are differences that could lead to friction with the U.S., including the decision to remove the jets from the campaign against ISIS. Harper had said such a move would hurt relations with the U.S.

Trudeau said Tuesday that the U.S. president understood his commitment to end Canada's involvement in the combat mission.

Trudeau has also vowed to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. Harper declined to resettle more Syrian refugees despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old's body washed up on a Turkish beach after his family's failed attempt to immigrate to Canada, and some analysts have questioned whether Trudeau's goal is realistic.

Canada shifted to the center-right under Harper, who lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation, strongly supported the oil and gas extraction industry and backed the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trudeau will have a more balanced approach to the conflict in the Middle East, analysts said.

"It certainly won't be the kind of blanket support for the Netanyahu regime that we saw from the Conservatives," Maioni said.

Trudeau has also vowed to consult the premiers of Canada's provinces in an effort to come up with a plan ahead of the Paris climate talks in November. Under Harper, Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol, the emissions reduction program for rich countries, and the Conservative leader was perceived by environmentalists as more interested in protecting Canada's oil-rich region of Alberta -- which has the third-largest oil reserves in the world -- than efforts to stem the effects of climate change.

"Canada's days of being a less-than-enthusiastic actor on the climate-change file are behind us," Trudeau told the news conference in Ottawa.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Canadian diplomats are delighted at Trudeau's election because Harper never let them speak without checking with the government first. "They've been totally marginalized. They've been told 'We don't care what you think,'" Wiseman said.

Harper, whose near 10 years as prime minister makes him one of the longest-serving Western leaders, will step down as Conservative leader after the crushing defeat, his party said.

During the campaign, Trudeau re-energized the Liberal Party, which suffered its worst electoral defeat four years ago, winning just 34 seats and finishing third behind the traditionally weaker New Democrat Party.

Trudeau, who has promised to raise taxes on the rich and run deficits for three years to boost government spending, said positive politics led to his victory.

Throughout the campaign, Trudeau's opponents pilloried him as too inexperienced, and he will be put to the test in the coming weeks with a series of global summits, including the Paris climate summit.

"It's going to showcase his lack of experience. He's going to be with world leaders and that's going to be a test," Maioni said.

Trudeau: Canada to end airstrikes against ISIS - CBS News
 

Lieutenant

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Canada doesn't want to be involved beyond its borders. I highly respect their choice.
 

Scorpion

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Canada is saying no headache please.
 

BrandonA

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Won't affect our effectiveness in the Middle East, but none of those other policies really sound good for Canada. It'll be interesting to see how it affects the Keystone.
 

HeliArmy

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I would say: what a joke. What are these allies, seriously? It's allies we can't never count of when we need it?
You know, the threat comes more from people doing nothing, than from people acting for the Middle East conflict. Because there's always people who want to do the conflicts. But the less countries care about it, the less dissuasion happens.

I know there's no NATO country threatened here but meanwhile United States is taking seriously Middle East issues, enough to call special forces on the matter, Canada is just retiring. And they feel like a strong country? Right now, they look more like the Swiss of the North America.
 

djordjem87

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What are The United States taking seriously? They have been 'fighting' against ISIS problem for a long time and Russian made ISIS panicking from one attack. If all countries were more like Canada, which of course is impossible, the world would be a better place. There wouldn't be many reasons to go to war because every one ( read US) would take care of their own homes and yards. I see some people there still do not or just would not realize what is this really about. Please, do not ask me to explain because i know some would like to ask that. Really, if you do not know already, what is there to say. Good for Canadians.
 

Falcon29

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Canada has the right, not everyone wants to be part of war with unintended consequences not just with militants but also regional powers and possibly Russia. Russia has warships near Canada and nuclear armed subs I believe, they have them for a reason. Because if US and Russia get in conflict over Syria then Canada and US will be hit. Canada doesn't want problems with Russians and neither ISIS. Canadian PM is liberal who wants wants people to enjoy secular lifestyle and live safely. He is from younger generation so he understands how to approach politics, most younger gen people are leaning to the left.
 

Corzhens

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As I see it, those 6 fighters jets never made a mark in the news. In other words, I didn't know that Canada had a contribution in that ISIS attack so I think it's all right if they withdraw their support to the forces against ISIS, it wouldn't matter. But this move by Canada's PM Trudeau is in bad timing since everyone is hastily packing up something in support of a planned unified military attack in relation to the Paris attack.
 

vash

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It was not like their air strikes was doing much anyway with so few aircraft involved. Yes, they do not have to be following the US everywhere. They are a sovereign nation after all, and they can make their own decisions.

What are The United States taking seriously? They have been 'fighting' against ISIS problem for a long time and Russian made ISIS panicking from one attack. If all countries were more like Canada, which of course is impossible, the world would be a better place. There wouldn't be many reasons to go to war because every one ( read US) would take care of their own homes and yards. I see some people there still do not or just would not realize what is this really about. Please, do not ask me to explain because i know some would like to ask that. Really, if you do not know already, what is there to say. Good for Canadians.

Everyone is bombing their version of "ISIS" for an agenda. The US wants Assad gone, and Russia wants Assad to stay in power. So you can figure it out easily the "ISIS" the two sides bombed are completely different groups... although both the US and Russia are claiming to be against the terrorists.
 

Diane Lane

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It's not really surprising to hear this. As mentioned above, Canada wasn't doing much in the way of fighting ISIS anyway, so it's probably not going to affect the overall effort. I understand the desire to take more of a protectionist approach, but it will be interesting to see what happens if there are any ISIS attacks on Canadian soil. I'm sure there are some who aren't happy about this news, and I doubt they would appreciate Trudeau standing down if they suffered an attack.
 
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