Images of Canadian Special Forces troops in Iraq that were recently made public had been approved by the Canadian military, says Canada’s defence minister, and they do not pose a danger to the men and women on the ground.
Harjit Sajjan told The West Block’s Tom Clark that there is a distinct difference between the images released as part of special media reports linked to Gen. Jonathan Vance’s trip to Iraq last month, and those that were released as part of a former prime minister Stephen Harper’s visit to the the region a year ago.
“Those pictures that were released (linked to Harper) did not go through the appropriate process,” Sajjan said.
“The pictures in question … did not go through the Canadian Armed Forces process, and that’s the distinct difference. I trust when it comes to the safety and the security of the personnel, the chain of command takes it extremely seriously.”
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The images of special forces that were broadcast and disseminated after Vance’s visit had been pre-approved, Sajjan said, and the military is confident that they will not result in those people being targeted by the so-called Islamic State.
Clark then asked if, in fact, ISIL really cares about whether images went through a vetting process or not when they identify and target specific soldiers seen on camera. The terror group has previously said it would target the families of American special operations soldiers it is able to identify.
“When it comes to ISIL or any threat into Canada and especially to our Canadian Armed Forces, we evaluate that threat on a daily basis,” Sajjan replied.
“It’s continually assessed and the decisions for force protection are delegated right down, and the chief of defence staff is ultimately responsible for that. And I have had regular discussions about this, because this is one thing we take extremely seriously. And if there’s a change, he informs me quite directly.”
Watch the full interview with the defence minister above.
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