Canada Approves ISIS Airstrikes in Iraq

Canada’s parliament has authorized the country’s armed forces to join U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIS militants in Iraq. The vote allows the strikes for up to six months, but rules out the use of ground troops. The Canadians will provide as many as six CF-18 fighter planes, as well as surveillance and refueling aircraft. Canada already has more than two dozen advisers in Iraq, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said no ground troops will be deployed. No airstrikes in Syria are currently envisaged, at least not until such strikes have the full support of Bashar al-Assad’s government. Canada joins the airstrikes campaign just days after Australia announced a similar move.