Canadian Brigadier General Michael Rouleau has confirmed Canadian ground troops were involved in the first battle by members of the US-led coalition against ISIS forces.
Details on the clash are still vague, but Canadian troops were said to have been “planning” an Iraqi offensive, and went to the front lines to see the terrain first-hand. That was when they came under fire.
It’s not the first time troops have come under fire, as the Pentagon has confirmed several times when US troops in Anbar Province have come under “indirect fire.” This is the first time, however, that coalition troops confirmed firing back.
Gen. Rouleau insisted no Canadian troops were injured in the exchange, and that Canadian snipers killed the ISIS fighters.
The clash could prove to be the first shots fired in the ever-escalating war, as it moves inexorably into the ground war phase. That the Canadian troops, who like US forces were supposed to be merely advisers, wandered heedlessly to the front-lines and eagerly got in a shootout with ISIS reflects how quickly the coalition could escalate things.
"…eagerly got in a shootout with ISIS reflects how quickly the coalition could escalate…"
But that is the plan. Otherwise the "advising" and "planning" could be performed from the relative safety of the Green Zone.
"…went to the front lines to see the terrain first-hand."
Isn't that (remote video and photography) one of the advertized functions of using drones? Anything for the MIIC.
"Eagerly got into a shoot-out"; "That is the plan"; yep. As the hero in the movie American Sniper said in his diary; "killing is fun". What is the use of going 5000 miles from home, and not getting a chance to kill somebody. (real bummer). "Using drones for surveillance". That lets the guys on their monitors in Nevada have all the fun.
Troops in the Islamic State are fighting for more then money, that is the big difference.
Why aren't the *Iraqis* out there 'planning an offensive' and checking out the terrain first-hand? It sounds to me like the Canadians went out there and used themselves as bait to draw fire- makes for a great story back in the rear with the gear. Then again, how many ISIS fighters could there have been, if they were 'all killed by Canadian snipers'? And why would a terrain reconnaissance by advisers require at least two snipers?