Good afternoon, General Vance. I want to welcome you here today.
Let me go back to Operation IMPACT.
Right now, there are a lot of discussions about our intervention in Iraq. There is a lot of wordsmithing on this issue. At the beginning of the meeting, my colleague asked a question about the specific work that is being done there.
If we go back to the original idea behind Operation IMPACT and its initial mandate, overall, there were the F-18 fighters bombing targets and our special forces that really had an advise-and-assist role. That was quite clear. There was no ambiguity. Afterwards, at the new government's request, the F-18s were pulled out so that our Canadian Forces no longer had a combat mission. So the goal was to maintain one force on the ground to train the peshmerga of the Iraqi army.
Before going any further, let me point out that I fully understand the secret nature of the work the special forces do. I don't want to know where our troops are. I don't want to know where they are on the ground since I don't want to undermine their safety. However, we are now at another stage. The special forces are used to travelling in very secret conditions, and I respect that. However, we are now part of an international coalition. We are now conducting an offensive on Mosul. Everyone knows about the offensive. The international press knows what we are doing. There is no secret about that right now.
I would like confirmation from you. You said that our forces on the ground continue to provide advice, assistance and training, but they don't have an accompanying role. I think there is a lot of wordsmithing going on, because it has been confirmed that the Canadian troops were in contact with ISIS fighters and attacked them directly. They are not just there to defend the Iraqi forces or the peshmerga. They have really attacked targets on the ground. Those events did happen, so it's not a secret.
Are you able to confirm that the Canadian troops on the ground have taken offensive action against the enemy, instead of simply ensuring security and protection?