Article content continued

The Liberals haven’t done a particularly sound job explaining any of their ISIL-related foreign policy, including when the CF-18s will be recalled. To quote my colleague Matt Gurney: “the Liberals want to pull the jets out of the coalition, but not in a way that creates a gap (for coalition forces), and is investigating how to do more while pledging to honour its commitment to do less.”

If you read between the lines of Trudeau’s own statements and the party’s policy, it’s entirely clear why the Liberals want to bring our planes home: They hold fast to the mystique of blue helmets and white knights, of Canada as a peaceful, neutral middle power beloved by all the world.

Given this smug self-conception, bombing the Middle East just doesn’t feel right. Pulling out placates all the placard-holding Liberals who cheered when Jean Chretien refused to embroil the country in the last Iraq war. Chretien himself revelled in the glories of days past when he praised Trudeau’s stance in October.

Besides, there’s no domestic political cost to absconding. Although polls show most Canadians support the bombing mission against the Islamic State, it tops few priority lists in a country struggling with an oil collapse and plummeting dollar.

That said, leaving our allies in the lurch doesn’t feel particularly Canadian, either; so we’re stuck with this half-baked logic of involving ourselves only with the stuff that seems morally upstanding and relatively non-violent to the Liberal base — like training. Yeah, that sounds good. Never mind that this puts Canadian forces in more risk of harm.