[♪♪]
>> Bob: On this edition
of The Fifth Estate.
Call it the fog of war.
Say it's because truth
is the first casualty.
>> This is not a combat mission
and our role is clearly defined.
>> Bob: Or blame it on Ottawa.
But Canada's military role in
the fight against Islamic State
may be the most secretive
Canadian mission ever.
Ahead, the war you haven't seen.
Video smuggled to
 The Fifth Estate, brave people
behind enemy lines risking
their lives to talk to you.
>> Do you know how it feels to
go out in the morning and find a
head in the street?
>> Bob: And troubling questions
for the new Prime Minister about
the hidden toll of coalition
bombing.
>> Every time you kill a local,
who is not a fighter, you're
creating ten or maybe hundreds
of new enemies.
>> Bob: I'm Bob McKeown near the
front in northern Iraq with the
story of Canada's hidden war.
This is The Fifth Estate.
[♪♪]
[explosion]
>> Bob: The human toll
is staggering.
Hundreds of thousands killed.
More than four million refugees.
Tens of millions displaced and
otherwise victimized
by this war.
Yet we seem to understand so
little of what's happened in
Iraq and Syria or why.
Historically, politically,
religiously, such unknown,
not to say, unknowable places.
In starting this story, we were
drawn to these shocking images.
They're the ruins of a city in
Syria called Deir ez-Zor, though
it could be Dresden or Hiroshima
after World War II.
About a hundred thousand people
still reside amidst the rubble,
half the population before the
war and Islamic State
occupation.
And it was here that we learned
about a young man,
we'll call Rami.
We made contact with him,
and he bravely agreed to talk
to us weekly.
A real-time diary of real life
under Islamic State.
In a way, it was Rami's war.
>> There are no words to express
what I feel.
I am afraid every moment.
Every moment, I fear arrest.
But I also dream of becoming a
saviour of my people.
I feel the people of Deir ez-Zor
are my responsibility.
>> Bob: Over four months,
he's called on Skype each week
sharing his hopes, dreams, and
the nightmare of Islamic State.
He knows he's risking his life
to do it which is why, from week
one, he's spoken to us only with
his face hidden.
But it wasn't always like this
in Deir ez-Zor.
Not long ago, this was a
peaceful city on the ancient
Euphrates River.
Now, 22, Rami was raised on a
farm nearby, the first in his
large family to study at the
local university.
>> I am the youngest
and most ambitious.
My mother urged me to study hard
and become a professional.
She said she wanted me to be the
best in my class.
>> Bob: His college days were
happy ones.
The campus, a place for
learning, laughter, music.
Jeans were acceptable attire,
even for women.
The niqab or burka,
a matter of choice.
And it's here that Rami met a
girl and fell in love.
>> The first time I saw her, I
felt butterflies in the stomach.
I don't know how to describe it.
I told my family that I want to
propose but when I talked with
her family, they said it
is still too early
and you're both students.
They said that I have to finish
school before marriage.
>> Bob: The future had seemed
so bright.
But then in 2014,
Islamic State arrived.
>> I remember the first time
I saw ISIS convoys.
The ISIS flags were coming
closer.
Their voices were coming louder.
The people here were screaming
"We're going to die."
>> Bob: At first, as you can see
in this video smuggled out of
Deir ez-Zor and obtained by
 The Fifth Estate, there was a
veneer of normal life, at least
for those willing to swear
allegiance to the extreme edicts
of Islamic State.
Rami says many simply took the
path of least resistance.
>> Islamic State is making us
wear black and white cloaks.
People used to take pride in
their appearances.
Now they dress so they won't
attract ISIS attention.
>> Bob: Rami's grandmother was
arrested and fined for not
wearing a veil and showing her
eyes in public.
When the family explained her
eyesight was badly failing, I.S.
said the law was clear she could
wear the veil or stay home.
In Deir ez-Zor, residents have
been forced to study the Islamic
State version of Sharia law
or be killed.
And everyone knows that for the
crime of apostasy,
abandonment of Islam,
retribution is unforgiving.
Again, this is smuggled video
never seen before.
>> My cousin was arrested by
Islamic State about
five months ago.
They accused him of apostasy.
I ran to see him before the
execution but when I arrived,
his body was crucified and his
head was between his legs.
A picture is still in my head.
>> Bob: When Rami could no
longer study at the university,
he decided to join a group
called Deir ez-Zor 24 which
documents atrocities committed
here for the outside world.
Rami also decided to talk to us.
>> Do you know how it feels to
go out in the morning and find a
head in the street or a
crucified body?
>> Bob: He seems to believe
western nations like Canada
might one day come to rescue
them from Islamic State.
>> Where is the rest
of the world?
The west can stop the war
if they want to.
>> Bob: But without independent
observers to tell the world this
story, most of what gets out is
highly-produced execution porn
video like this.
Spreading terror in the
population by showing what
happens when people like Rami
are captured.
Islamic State says these are
all citizen reporters
who got caught.
Remarkably, that didn't
discourage Jurgen Todenhofer,
a 74-year-old German author
and activist.
He also set out to witness and
report the reality
of Islamic State.
Though it's no secret he's an
outspoken critic, he managed to
negotiate the guarantee of safe
passage for a visit
behind I.S. lines.
>> I had said publicly before
that this is not an Islamic
movement, this is a brutal
terror movement.
They knew my opinion, but they
said you will come back safe.
And I must say, they kept
this promise.
>> Bob: Ultimately, he got
permission not only to interview
Islamic State fighters but to
openly challenge what he
believes is their criminal
interpretation of Islam.
>> There were those who actually
engaged on that?
>> Yeah, we discussed every day
Islam and the Qur'an, and I said
113 of the 114 chapters of the
Qur'an start with the words
"The name of God, most gracious
and most merciful."
Where is your mercy?
Where is your mercy?
>> Bob: Mercy is not something
associated with the man who is
Todenhofer's guide and driver
through all of this.
>> By the way, the I.S.
driver, our I.S.
driver was Jihadi John.
>> Bob: That's what he said,
none other than Jihadi John.
>> I'm back, Obama, and I'm
back because of your arrogant
foreign policy toward
the Islamic State.
>> Bob: He became
internationally infamous when he
beheaded American journalist
James Foley.
It was three weeks after Foley's
murder in 2014 that president
Barack Obama announced a
dramatic expansion in the U.S.
war against Islamic State.
>> My fellow Americans, our
objective is clear -- we will
degrade and ultimately destroy
ISIL through a comprehensive and
sustained counterterrorism
strategy.
>> President Obama has requested
a commitment of Canadian
military advisors.
>> Bob: Canada would quickly
sign up, though with conditions
that made the commitment sound
more like teaching or
counselling than warfare.
>> This is not a combat mission
and our role is clearly defined.
>> Bob: Officially, here are the
numbers, six Canadian jet
fighters, 600 air crew and
staff, 69 special forces
operating from this base in
northern Iraq, ostensibly
for training only.
On the ground, no one at the
front lines and no combat.
But then, just six months later,
came the shocking news that
sergeant Andrew Doiron had been
killed, not in an office
or classroom but at the front.
His death would trigger
controversy about what Canadian
forces really are doing
in Syria and Iraq.
When we come back...
It's a dangerous job.
>> To do that, you have to have
a direct line of sight, you have
to be pretty darn close.
>> Bob: But Canada's
got to do it.
>> It is no less a combat role
than dropping a bomb
on an enemy target.
They're both combat.
[♪♪]
>> Announcer: The following...
[♪♪]
>> Bob: How did it happen?
Two years ago,
we barely heard of them.
Today, the so-called Islamic
State is the world's most
notorious terrorist force,
fighting a U.S.-led coalition
that includes Canada,
Great Britain, Germany, France,
and others.
And opposed separately
by Russia and Iran.
Yet I.S. now controls
a massive tract of land
in Syria and Iraq bigger than
Britain with totalitarian rule
over 10 million people.
When The Fifth Estate set out
to tell the story of Canada's
hidden war, it was immediately
clear where we had to go.
To northern Iraq where the
Canadian ground troops
are based.
69 special forces operators as
they're known were sent here to
advise and assist, officially
a training mission.
But they are a battle-hardened
group and secretive, stationed
in this isolated area within
minutes of the front lines.
Former Canadian sniper Jody
Mitic served three tours of duty
in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
>> These are our seal team 6
guys, these are, you know, our,
whatever you want to call it,
green berets, these are whatever
you think of as special forces
or special operations, these are
our best guys.
>> Bob: Along the highway north,
there are frequent security
checkpoints.
Islamic State can be just a
kilometre or two away, meaning
this road is often
within mortar range.
The Canadian base is an
unimposing collection
of trailers.
The special forces often work at
night and sleep by day so the
compound can look deserted.
But this is as close to someone
in a Canadian uniform as any
journalist here can get
with a camera.
Back in Ottawa, there are
periodic media briefings.
But here in Iraq, citing
security, the Department of
National Defence refused our
request for access to any
Canadian personnel or
operations, even training,
or any interviews on or off
the record.
Make no mistake about it, the
special forces operators here
at Canada's forward base in
northern Iraq are the Canadian
military's best and brightest
and they don't do photo-ops
or news conferences.
Be that as it may, after over a
year of the fight against
Islamic State, there have been
almost no facts released to the
Canadian public about what's
happening here, an absence of
information virtually
unprecedented in any other
Canadian war.
In fact, it's the first major
conflict all the way back
to world war I, not to have
journalists with Canadian troops
in the field or at the front.
According to Afghanistan veteran
Jody Mitic, combat soldiers may
prefer it that way.
>> There is a feeling that if
there's a litmus test in
democracy, it's how a government
deals with the truth during
times of war.
>> Right.
There's a lot that happens in
war that you don't know about.
You know, there's still files
closed from World War II.
Is it good or bad?
I know that for the troops on
the ground, it's probably good,
especially in today's day
and age.
The more that's known, the less
effective they're going to be
at their job.
[gunfire]
>> Bob: The key part
of the Canadian job here is to
be military mentors to these men
called the Peshmerga which
translates to those who face
death, the legendary Kurdish
fighters from northern Iraq.
And while Canada's military
refused to talk to us, the
Peshmerga were pleased to do it,
especially about the important
tactical role of the Canadians.
The Peshmerga invited us to the
front within sight of Islamic
State territory.
They say the Canadian special
forces are a regular presence
here not only for training but
also to direct bombing runs.
It's here at the Peshmerga
operations centre that they plan
their collaboration with the
Canadians.
General Nour Al-Deen Hussein is
the commanding officer.
>> They come here and discuss
with us the targets and they are
help us in the train, the advice
to how to get targets from the
enemy and how to read them.
>> And how much do they help
you, in fact?
>> Many times.
Twice in a week.
We thank them every day
because they coming.
We need the coalition here.
Without coalition, maybe we
can't do what we do now.
>> Bob: And the crucial aspect
of that partnership is the
high-stress job of directing
airstrikes, identifying
targets by laser.
[gunfire]
It works like this,
a laser beam is aimed at a
potential Islamic State target.
When the laser makes contact,
which requires a direct line of
sight, it pin points that target
for aircraft above
with missiles or bombs.
For Canada's soldiers,
it is unquestionably a
high-risk assignment.
>> Canada is doing the mission a
little bit differently than the
other countries and in an
important way.
>> Bob: Matthew Fisher
of Post Media is Canada's
longest-serving foreign
correspondent.
In the past 30 years, he's
arguably been to more war zones
than any Canadian journalist
ever.
He says Canada's targetters were
closer to the front than anyone
else in the coalition.
>> The risky part comes when you
go forward to teach the
Peshmerga how to laser target
and when you laser some targets
yourself because to do that, you
have to have a direct line of
sight on the target and have a
direct line of sight, you have
to be pretty darn close.
And that puts them within great
proximity of Islamic State
forces.
>> Bob: But remember back then,
the Tory government insisted
this would not be a combat
mission for Canada's ground
troops.
>> Canada is joining our allies
in providing critical advice to
forces in northern Iraq as they
continue to hold back the
terrorist advance.
>> Bob: Initially, they also
claimed none of the soldiers
would operate at the front.
But on march 6th, when sergeant
Andrew Doiron was killed in a
friendly-fire incident on the
front lines, it made clear the
Canadians were right in the
middle of it.
General Michel Gauthier was
commander of Canada's military
operations worldwide until he
retired in 2009.
Is something like painting a
target with a laser a combat
role, in your estimation?
>> It is no less a combat role
than dropping a bomb
on an enemy target.
They're both combat.
And clearly this whole debate
and tap dancing around combat,
I suppose I understand just by
virtue of, you know, political
dynamics and so on, but the
reality is it's combat mission.
It is.
And you can't escape that.
>> Bob: And General Gauthier
says whenever Canadian combat
troops deployed under him to
Afghanistan, for example, he was
concerned by one potential
problem beyond all else.
>> And top of that list was
civilian casualties.
Explicitly, where everybody is
sensitized to this, so when you
ask how sensitive a subject is,
it's enormously.
>> Bob: That's because
collateral damage, especially
civilian fatalities, can
profoundly alter the course
of a war.
>> The challenge, of course, is
every time you kill a local
who's not a fighter, an innocent
civilian, woman, child, and so
on, you're creating ten or maybe
hundreds of new enemies.
[explosion]
>> Bob: This is official
coalition video
of the bombing campaign.
We wanted to find out how much
of an issue civilian casualties
have been during this air war.
In an exclusive interview via
video link from Kuwait, we spoke
to the Canadian commander in the
coalition, Brigadier-General
Lise Bourgon about the Canadian
airstrike so far.
How would you evaluate the
effectiveness of those?
>> Our CF-18s have accounted for
12 per cent of all non-U.S.
coalition strikes so it's quite
an accomplishment for Canadian
participation.
>> Bob: How important in an air
campaign is the issue of
civilian casualties?
>> The safety of the Iraqi
population is extremely
important to us.
When we develop those targets,
we spend hundreds of hours
looking at the ground, making
sure that we have a full picture
of what's going on, and we
really do our utmost to really
ensure that we don't target
civilians, that we only go
against ISIS capabilities.
>> Bob: In other words, with at
least 181 airstrikes by Canada
since the start of coalition
bombing, the Canadians claim no
civilian casualties whatsoever.
Quite a record, if true.
>> August 24, 11 more civilians
from one family.
>> Bob: The Fifth Estate set
out to discover how diligent our
military has been in
investigating these cases.
Canada is the only coalition
country to post detailed
bombing records.
We reviewed those along with
reports of civilian casualties.
And this Pentagon document
listing dozens of coalition
airstrikes with possible
collateral damage.
Our research first led us here.
A location in northern Iraq
called Kisik Junction.
>> It would have been deployed
by then.
>> Bob: It was January 21st, a
bombing run by Canadian jet
fighters.
[gunfire]
Below, a battle raged
for Islamic State
controlling a key highway and
the Peshmerga fought to take it
back.
(Gunfire)
The mission for
Canada's jet fighters, take out
a rooftop position housing I.S.
snipers and a heavy machine gun.
It was mission accomplished for
the CF-18s.
The gun placement destroyed.
But according to the Pentagon,
after that airstrike, a local
Peshmerga soldier gave
information to the coalition
special forces alleging Canadian
bombs had caused
civilian fatalities,
as many as 27 of them.
The Canadian military looked at
aircraft video of the bombing
and concluded allegations of
civilian casualties were not
credible.
From Canadian headquarters in
Kuwait, we asked General Lise
Bourgon how they could be so
sure about that.
>> We also were able, with the
amount of data that we had, to
ensure ourself that there was no
civilian casualties, no civilian
presence around the target.
We had video of almost two weeks
of coverage of that compound, so
we had seen who came in and out
of that ISIS compound and there
were no civilians.
>> Bob: Now in the case of
Kisik, the original allegations
came from Peshmerga soldier
passed on by coalition special
forces operator.
Did you speak to both of them?
>> No, we did not speak so the
coalition, they did a review.
Canada did a review, and both
side concluded that there was no
evidence of civilian casualties
or disproportionate
collateral damage.
>> Bob: Did you speak to anyone
in the vicinity to find out if
there were reports of people
being killed or wounded?
>> No, we did not speak again,
when the review is conducted, we
just look at the -- our own
platform.
>> Bob: When the General refers
to a platform, she's talking
about whatever video they had
available from the air.
The Canadians admit they
consulted no one on the ground.
So The Fifth Estate did what
the military didn't.
We contacted the hospital
near Kisik.
We were told that on the day in
question, January 21st, doctors
there saw nine victims of
explosions, eight of whom died.
Now, we can't know if they were
casualties of coalition bombings
or not but we do know the
Canadian military never even
contacted the hospital
to try to find out.
Lawyer Chris Jenks served in the
U.S. army for 20 years, 11 as a
judge-advocate investigating
collateral damage.
He says he can't comprehend why
the Canadians didn't interview
the original sources of that
civilian casualty report.
>> It's hard to understand why
you wouldn't want to and be able
to talk to if not the Peshmerga
ideally the person -- the
English-speaking allied soldier
who made the report or at least
the U.S. army
special operator who
conveyed the report so it's
tough to understand why you
wouldn't want the context.
>> Bob: As we continued to comb
through bombing records, our
research would raise questions
about the Canadian airstrikes
that Justin Trudeau has pledged
to end.
And it would lead us to this
mysterious woman from
inside Islamic State territory
risking capture, torture,
execution to tell the
world about the other side of
what the coalition calls
precision bombing.
As you will see
when we come back.
[♪♪]
>> Bob: It is week four
of our communication with Rami
in the occupied city of Deir
ez-Zor, Syria.
The young man behind Islamic
State lines who's been telling
us about life under I.S.
Rami and the group Deir ez-Zor
24 have continued to smuggle
video to us.
Capturing the reality that
Islamic State doesn't want
to get out.
He knows they're
looking for him.
I.S. has banned wi-fi,
fighters scour his neighbourhood
and troll the Internet
searching for anyone
in touch with the outside world.
>> Islamic State is looking for
people who work against it.
They are looking for me and the
others who put their lives in
danger to deliver the truth
to the world.
>> Bob: In the summer, we
received this smuggled video of
aircraft overhead.
Coalition bombers, Rami says.
He's told us he hopes the
western world eventually will
come to the rescue.
Now it seems they're
finally here.
>> Yesterday, coalition planes
flew over Deir ez-Zor
without attacking.
I feel a little bit happy when I
hear the coalition planes.
They may kill some Islamic State
fighters.
I hope the coalition
will kill them.
>> Bob: But when the airstrikes
begin, Rami is no longer so sure
about the outcome.
>> The coalition airstrikes are
good when they target Islamic
State, but they are not when
they kill civilians.
>> Bob: He tells us about
civilian casualties.
A family killed in what he
believes was a coalition bombing
of a city in the Deir ez-Zor
region called Bukhamal.
For him, too close to home.
>> I also have nightmares of
airstrikes bombing my home.
>> Bob: In fact, the first
reports of what happened on July
30th in Bukhamal were these
photos of the alleged victims,
children, posted online by none
other than Islamic State.
But we checked with the
respected Syrian network for
human rights which examined and
verified the accuracy
of those pictures.
It claims coalition airstrikes
on July 30th wounded 17 and
killed 2, among them this child.
There were numerous bombings in
the Deir ez-Zor region that day,
including by Canadian planes.
But the coalition says it's
assessed this allegation and
claims it's not credible.
And as our investigation
continued, we were drawn to
another airstrike.
This one in the central Iraqi
city of Fallujah.
According to this internal
Pentagon document obtained by
 The Fifth Estate, the incident
took place on December 21st.
The bombing of a suspected
Islamic State weapons facility
by Canadian and Australian jets.
After the bombing, aircraft
video showed two possible
civilian casualties,
a woman and child.
But that Pentagon report
concluded a lack of urgency
indicated their injuries weren't
life-threatening.
Further inquiry was deemed
unnecessary.
Former U.S.
judge advocate Chris Jenks says
the wording of that reflects a
common military response to
collateral damage
investigations.
Avoidance.
>> I don't expect you to be
happy about investigations but
recognize when you are
essentially blowing things up,
when you are breaking things and
wounding and killing people,
investigations are going to be
part and parcel of that
equation.
>> Bob: But, in fact, there
seems good reason to have
investigated possible civilian
casualties after the Canadian
airstrike in Fallujah on
December 21st.
We found this BBC Arabic story
reporting 7 civilians wounded
and 13 killed in shelling or
coalition bombing.
Why didn't that spark further
inquiry?
>> Is there a way of getting
time to line
up with those names?
[speaking alternate language]
>> Bob: We also contacted a
doctor from the Fallujah
hospital who confirms he saw
some casualties on that date,
though he stresses his records
show them admitted earlier in
the day, before the airstrikes
were said to have taken place.
And it's not clear if there were
other casualties or what
happened to the woman and boy
mentioned in the Pentagon
report.
What is clear: The Canadian
military never contacted the
hospital or the doctor.
Presumably, they never saw that
BBC article and apparently they
also missed the allegations
about Fallujah in the Pentagon
document on civilian casualties.
Though Canada's role in the raid
was on a detailed list of
airstrikes that DND posts
online.
We asked General Lise Bourgon
how that was overlooked?
Now, that is an event that's
documented on the DND website as
involving Canadian aircraft.
>> Well, again, I'll go back.
I'm not aware of any other
allegation of civilian
casualties.
>> Bob: In fact, in the
coalition bombing campaign, our
research found nearly 50
documented allegations of
civilian casualties involving as
many as 600 possible fatalities.
Other independent observers and
analysts put the civilian death
toll even higher.
Yet publicly, the coalition
admits to only 2 civilian
casualties.
That's out of a total of almost
8,000 coalition airstrikes in
Iraq and Syria.
>> It does seem to strain
credulity, recognize that,
again, when humans are involved
and all it takes is a wind gust
or I never expected someone on a
bicycle to ride through while
the missile or the bomb was in
air, inevitably, you're going to
have some civilian casualties no
matter how many precautions
you take.
>> Bob: Let us be clear, Canada
and the rest of the coalition in
Iraq and Syria are fighting a
formidable and brutal enemy.
In the past two years, Islamic
State has killed tens of
thousands of innocent people,
maybe more.
And the coalition maintains it
wants to minimize civilian
casualties at all costs.
But the questions are: Is that
really possible in a war where
I.S. is using civilians as human
shields and if something does go
wrong in an airstrike, what can
or should countries like Canada
do to stop it from happening
again?
Canadian journalist Matthew
Fisher is skeptical of many
collateral damage claims.
But says this is a crucial part
of Islamic State strategy
against an air war.
>> The Islamic State, and they
have made this clear, they are
in more and more with the local
population because the few times
they haven't been, they have got
whacked, so of course they hide
among the local population.
Not that the local population
probably wanted them, they would
take a house over with guns, and
that is happening in spades in
Iraq.
The whole strategy of Islamic
State now is to disperse among
the population.
>> People just don't know that
bombing means killing civilians,
people just don't know.
>> Bob: German author and
journalist Jurgen Todenhofer
spent time in Mosul and
witnessed the bombing
devastation.
He says civilian casualties are
the inevitable result of the
coalition air war.
>> If you want, for example, to
eliminate all the I.S.
fighters in Mosul, between 5 and
10,000 I.S.
fighters, you would have to
destroy the whole city of Mosul
which has still at least 1.5
million inhabitants.
It's not possible to destroy a
guerilla force like I.S.
with bombs, and it is not
responsible.
[♪♪]
>> Bob: Which brings us
to this journalist who resides
in the occupied city of Mosul.
We'll call her Laila.
At great personal risk, she
managed to make the treacherous
journey from behind Islamic
State lines, much of it on foot,
taking an over land route to
meet us near the front.
Mostly she lives in the shadows
because her mission as a
journalist is to do what no one
else is: Investigate airstrikes
and document civilian
casualties.
>> It's my territory.
I'm working in my territory, in
the war that's taken over my
city.
The city that's become victim of
the Islamic State and the
airstrikes because I want to
make our voices heard.
>> Bob: We've talked to the
coalition.
They deny that civilian
casualties have taken place.
They say it's their
highest priority.
>> On the contrary.
That's not true.
It's not true at all.
I can show you the names of the
people killed.
They were all civilians, and I
have records and proof for that.
>> Bob: Laila provided us with
what she says are firsthand
details of bombing by coalition
and Iraqi government planes in
Mosul and surroundings.
She maintains she's seen the
bodies of hundreds of civilian
casualties at the Mosul morgue.
She has names of many she says
were killed, including entire
families with children.
We could not independently
verify her work but Laila says
she gets her information from
people she trusts who feel the
same way she does.
>> My sources include military
and police people, medical
people, and I know them
personally, and all they care
about is to show the reality of
airstrikes and civilian
casualties.
>> Bob: When we return, a new
government in Ottawa vows to
change the mission and end
Canadian airstrikes.
And in enemy territory, a young
man ponders his future under
Islamic State occupation.
>> I've seen way more
than I was supposed to.
I want to live as a human.
>> Bob: One Prime Minister sent
them in, CF-18 jet fighters for
the coalition air war against
Islamic State.
And on the ground,
Canadian special forces along
the front line.
The question facing the next
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
What to do about Canada's
military role in Iraq and Syria.
The commitment ends in march.
What then?
His campaign promise was to
dramatically decrease Canada's
contribution to the war.
>> We are going to withdraw from
the bombing mission over Iraq
and Syria, and we are going to
shift towards a training
mission.
>> Bob: So what does the
coalition think about that?
The next day in Washington,
the arm twisting began.
One of Trudeau's first official
calls came from Barack Obama.
The president's position
conveyed by White House press
secretary Josh earnest.
>> We certainly are hoping that
they will continue to be -- to
play that important role that
they have played thus far.
>> Bob: Whatever form Canada's
future participation in Iraq
takes, virtually no one predicts
a defeat of Islamic State soon,
the conflict likely not measured
in months or years, but decades.
Meanwhile, this week, more
smuggled video arrived.
A chilling scene from the city
of Deir ez-Zor in Syria.
A woman in a niqab publicly
flogged.
According to witnesses, she was
accused of stealing from Islamic
State for removing a few
personal belongings from her
home after I.S. fighters lay
claim to it.
It's no longer just brutal
violence in Deir ez-Zor.
But also unbearable sadness.
What about Rami, the young man
recording real life under
Islamic State for us?
These days, he says his only
escape is in the thoughts of the
girl he wants to marry, but he
hasn't spoken to her for months,
and he's been told her family
has ties to Islamic State.
>> I haven't heard anything new
about my love.
I'm still afraid that her family
may force her to marry
some ISIS person.
That her uncle will offer her to
an ISIS fighter to get ahead.
>> Bob: Dreams are now
nightmares in the
Deir ez-Zor rubble.
And Rami is thinking the
unthinkable.
He can't foresee the day I.S.
will be beaten so he's weighing
the possibility of protecting
his family by joining up.
>> I don't blame some of the
people who did join ISIS because
I know the reasons that made
them do that.
If at some point I feel that my
family will be affected, I might
think about joining ISIS.
>> Bob: And what of Laila, the
journalist investigating
civilian casualties seems to
have a growing sense of
desperation, too.
>> Even though we should be
considered martyrs because this
is not life that we are living,
we are dead but alive, and I'll
be proud to be seen as a martyr
if I show the truth to the
world.
>> Bob: Despite it all, she says
she'll continue her work.
She believes the coalition has
to know the consequences of all
those bombs.
>> Unfortunately, the people of
Mosul are afraid of both ISIS
and the coalition forces.
>> Bob: Now Laila's among them.
She recently told us she has to
move after Islamic State brought
mortar launchers into her
neighbourhood, effectively
making her and her children
coalition targets, too.
Rami knows the feeling of being
torn between hopes for the
future and the harsh reality of
life under Islamic State.
>> I'm 22, but I feel like 100.
I've seen way more than I was
supposed to.
I want to live as a human.
We are dying slowly and nobody
is here to help.
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