For politicians, Canada’s involvement in the latest Iraq war is the hottest of hot potatoes.

The Conservative government, which decided to send “dozens” of elite special operations troops to the war-torn country, is adamant to the point of incoherence that no Canadian soldier will take part in any battle.

“We’re not putting boots on the ground,” Defence Minister Rob Nicholson repeatedly told a Commons committee Tuesday — a curious pledge in that it left open the question of where exactly Canadian troops operating there will place their feet.

The Liberals say they support the government decision, as long as Canadians sent to take part in the war against Islamic State militants aren’t expected to fight.

The New Democrats haven’t yet made up their minds, saying they need more information.

Even Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who last week announced Canada’s participation in the latest U.S.-led war in Iraq, has done his best to divert attention.

On Tuesday, as opposition MPs prepared to grill senior ministers on the Iraq mission, Harper seized headlines by personally announcing the discovery of remains from the ill-fated 1845 Franklin expedition.

In fact, the sunken wreckage had been discovered in the Arctic Sunday. Yet in a strange coincidence, news of the find was kept under wraps until the day of the Iraq hearings.

There are good reasons for politicians of all stripes to be nervous about this war.

Canada’s experience in Afghanistan has left much of the public jaded about any kind of far-off military adventure.

A Forum Research poll estimates that a slim majority of Canadians, 54 per cent, support the new deployment to Iraq, while 47 per cent are either opposed or undecided.

The poll also shows Liberal voters to be evenly split on the mission, with NDP voters solidly opposed.

This leaves Tom Mulcair’s New Democrats in a bind.

In their drive to the political centre, they are desperate to avoid being labelled a party of peaceniks.

But they also want to avoid alienating their base, many of whom are peaceniks.

Luckily for the NDP, there remain enough unknowns about the planned operation that, should Mulcair wish, he could plausibly withhold support.

The government still won’t say how many “advisers” it will send in total to aid Kurdish forces in Iraq. Nicholson did say that 79 Canadian military personnel are already there, mainly to operate and service cargo planes.

Nor were ministers able to give a plausible answer Tuesday as to what advice Canadian advisers could offer Iraq’s experienced Kurdish fighters.

There is no word yet on when these advisers will arrive or what exactly they will do.

They are supposed to stay only 30 days.

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Indeed, the entire arrangement has the feel of something hastily patched together.

From Tuesday’s testimony, it appears that even Foreign Affairs Minister Baird had little warning of the decision to commit Canadian forces.

That decision, he said, was made on the basis of a personal request to Harper from U.S. President Barack Obama at last week’s NATO summit.

Obama has his own political imperatives. In order to convince war-weary Americans to get involved yet again in Iraq, he must show that the U.S. will not bear the burden alone and that nations like Canada are willing to help.

Harper, meanwhile, wants two things.

First, he wants to convince Canadian voters that he is a more serious figure on the world stage than Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. For a political leader, nothing is more serious than waging war.

But, Harper must also convince voters that none of their friends or relatives will die in this war. That’s why he insists there will be no combat role.

It’s fine line to walk. On Tuesday, Baird called the Islamic State “one of the most barbaric terror groups the world has ever seen,” saying the group seeks to “impose its barbaric views everywhere, from Spain to India,” as well as create a foothold for attacks abroad.

“We don’t know how long the struggle will take,” Baird said.

Yet apparently we do. The struggle will take 30 days and will involve no fighting on our part.

That, at least, is the government’s promise.

Thomas Walkom’s column appears Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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