Defence chief defeating ISIL alone won’t bring peace, stability to Iraq
Posted Sep 21, 2016 03:30:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Canada’s defence chief says the war against Islamic State militants is just the first step in a long journey towards bringing peace and stability to Iraq.
Gen. Jonathan Vance tells the Senate defence committee that the international community’s military intervention in Iraq has helped eliminate a short-term calamity.
But he says much more political, diplomatic and development work will be needed to ensure the country emerges as a functioning, democratic state.
Concerns about Iraq’s long-term stability are mounting after its parliament sacked a high-profile minister for the second time in a month.
Finance minister Hoshiyar Zebari was impeached on allegations of corruption — the same fate that befell defence minister Khaled al-Obaidi at the end of August.
There has also been an uptick in violence between some of the various Iraqi groups, including Kurdish forces and Shia militias, that have until now been united in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
