Canada's Justin Trudeau Promises to End Combat Mission in Syria Telesur, Venezuela, 20 October 2015 The Liberal Party's Justin Truduea said he will pull Canadian fighter jets from the U.S.-led coalition bombing Iraq and Syria. The next prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, said Tuesday he plans to keep a campaign promise and remove Canadian fighter jets from the skies over Iraq and Syria. Speaking at his first press conference since winning Canada's Oct. 19 election, Trudeau said he told his U.S. counterpart, President Barack Obama, "that we would continue to engage in a responsible way that understands how important Canada's role is to play in the fight against ISIL (the Islamic State group), but he understands the commitments I've made about ending the combat mission." Trudeau, who will take office sometime in the next few weeks, did not say when exactly that combat mission would end. According to The Guardian, Canada has deployed six fighter jets to Iraq and Syria. Around 70 Canadian soldiers will continue training Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. The U.S.-led international coalition has been bombing Iraq and Syria since September 2014, largely targeting the Islamic State group and particularly in recent months Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaida. The outgoing Canadian government led by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had committed to remaining a part of that coalition until at least March 2016. From: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Canadas-Justin-Trudeau-Promises-to-End -Combat-Mission-in-Syria-20151020-0036.html New PM Tells Obama Canada to Withdraw Fighter Jets From Syria, Iraq Sputnik, Moscow, 21 October 2015 Mere hours after defeating Stephen Harper, Canadian Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau has told US President Obama that he will withdraw Canadian jets from Syria and Iraq. According to Reuters, the pledge was made as President Obama called to congratulate Trudeau on his election win. The Liberal leader ran on a promise to withdraw Canada's CF-18 bombers from the US-led coalition's military campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group. Earlier this year, Canada's Liberal Party fought against the Conservative government's proposal to extend combat missions from Iraq into Syria. On the campaign trail, Trudeau also floated the idea that his administration may consider bolstering local forces in the region, and increasing Canada's humanitarian aid. Earlier on Tuesday, the US State Department addressed questions as to whether or not it was concerned that Canada's new government may not support US foreign policy regarding IS presence in Afghanistan. "These are all decisions the Canadian people have to make and Canadian legislators have to make.and their Prime Minister [has to make]," department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. "We have stood shoulder to shoulder with Canadian armed forces.in Iraq and Afghanistan," he added. From: http://sputniknews.com/world/20151021/1028844531/canada-withdraws-syria-jets .html See also: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trudeau-promises-policy-depart ures-post-harper-canada-34617156 -- -- NEW!!!! SSN FORUM IS ON FACEBOOK!!!! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum Google Group. Visit the group home page at http://groups.google.com/group/sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum for more options, pages and files. To post to the group, send email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum@googlegroups.com or reply to this message. To unsubscribe, send email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
