Canadian PM Justin Trudeau finds Iraq war a major challenge

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finds the war between Syria and Iraq as one of the most challenging tasks to deal with. The Iraq war has not only challenged the overall global scenario but also hampered the bond of Canada with nations that used to share stronger relations with Canada, according to The Star’s columnist Thomas Walkom.

The Syrian refugee influx to European countries that has impacted the Canadian election campaign was the result of the same. The support of Russian President Vladimir Putin for Syria to fight against its ISIS opponents is also one of the reasons of concern for Trudeau as it has affected the relationship between Canada and Russia to an extreme extent. Russia offered direct diplomatic and military involvement in Syria against the fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ISIS opponents.

Trudeau aims at stopping the involvement of Canada in bombing raids against the Islamic State group. Last week, the PM-in-waiting told reporters in an interview in Ottawa that he had a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, during which they discussed steps to be taken against the ISIS militants in the Middle East.

The PM shared his wish with Obama to withdraw the CF-18 fighter jet planes that Canada used to bomb the ISIS earlier. “I committed that we would continue to engage in a responsible way that understands how important Cana has a role to play in the fight against ISIL [Islamic State], but he [Obama] understands the commitments I’ve made around ending the combat mission,” Trudeau said via the BBC.

Ex-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien has given a piece of advice to the new PM in waiting and said that he must “talk to everybody” to ensure better and improved relationship with nations around the globe. He advised him to have a dialogue with international leaders, including Russia’s Putin.

Chretien gave an example, saying the new PM’s father Pierre Elliott Trudeau used to talk to the global political leaders, including Cuba’s Fidel Castro, openly to discuss matters and sort them out mutually.

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