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Day 6

Canada's plan to back Kurdish fighters against ISIS could have unintended consequences

Canada's CF-18 fighters flew their final mission over Iraq this week. And the Liberal government began debate on its new plan for fighting ISIS. That plan leans heavily on training Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and has the potential to destabilize the whole region.
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Canada is backing Kurdish Peshmerga troops in their fight against ISIS. (Azad Lashkari/Reuters)
Day 611:02Should the Canadian government be wary of treating Kurdish fighters as allies in the ISIS fight?

Canada's decision to back Kurdish fighters against ISIS could have unintended consequences down the road.

This week, Parliament began debating the Liberal government's new plan for fighting ISIS and Canadian CF-18s flew their last mission over Iraq. The Canadian military will now focus on training and equipping Iraqi forces, mostly Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the country's north. 

The Peshmerga are one of the most effective fighting forces in the region. But they also have their own agenda and the potential to destabilize the entire region in their pursuit of an independent state.

Brent Bambury speaks to Scott Taylor, a former Canadian soldier who's now editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine and Richard Foltz, Director of the Centre for Iranian Studies at Concordia University and the author of the new book, 'Iran in World History.'

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