Canada leaves Obama's anti-ISIS alliance

Canadian soldiers gave their lives in the Middle East . . . but for what?

How About Some Common Sense?

• The area around Damascus, Syria has had human settlements since about 9000 BC. Somehow these people have managed their affairs without Canadian or American troops for a long, long time. Canada's new Prime Minister pulling out of combat in the Middle East is just common sense.
• A Special Note  -  There would not be a Syrian Civil War or ISIS if the CIA, Turkey and Saudi Arabia had not pumped mountains of weapons into the region.

(Castanet)  -  Justin Trudeau's first-day foray into international relations included informing the U.S. president that he'll carry out his campaign promise to withdraw from Canada's combat mission in the Middle East.

Without offering details on the timing of the bombing-mission scaledown or what role Canada might play next, Trudeau said the country would remain involved in other aspects of the fight against Islamist rebels.

That announcement came after he spoke by phone with U.S. President Barack Obama, who was one of multiple world leaders calling to congratulate him Tuesday on his previous day's election win.

And it came just hours after the White House expressed hope Canada might remain involved in the anti-ISIL coalition, where it contributed 10 bombing runs last month.

There had been whispers in Washington over the summer that the administration was concerned about the Liberals' and NDP's stated intention of withdrawing from bombing in order to contribute in other ways — which Trudeau downplayed Tuesday.

"(Obama) understands the (campaign) commitments I've made around ending the combat mission," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa, while promising to withdraw responsibly.

"We want to ensure that the transition is done in an orderly fashion."

The Obama administration is struggling to manage an unwieldy international coalition in Iraq-Syria; a shifting dynamic caused by escalated Russian involvement; and domestic political pressure from Republican critics who say Obama hasn't been aggressive enough. The White House statement released after the Trudeau chat barely mentioned the military issue.

Earlier in the day, an Obama spokesman had discussed Canada's Mideast role.

The White House said it worked well with the outgoing government on the military mission and on the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and expressed hope the next government might maintain those policies.

"We hope that we can continue to count on their ongoing support for this very important mission," Obama's spokesman, Josh Earnest, said of the ISIL campaign.

The White House spokesman did concede hope for one improvement from the previous government — on climate change: "We believe that it's possible that there is more that Canada can do in this regard."

Read More . . . .

ISIS Burning

A
Any Volunteers Want to Die?
I am far, far from being a pacifist, but I just don't understand the mindset of people.
.
Universally everyone says politicians are lying sacks of crap.  But history shows there appears to be a bottomless pit of volunteers willing to die, or come back as triple amputees, in meaningless wars created by and for the political Elites.
.
After a few years passes by no one is really going to care that you gave up both of your legs and half of your face in Afghanistan for Bush or Obama.  Those politicians, who avoided front line military service themselves, will have moved on to playing golf and raking in millions in speaker fees.
.
But don't worry, I am sure the political hacks are thinking about the scarifies of the troops while they are out on the 16th hole.