Report: Canadian pilots trained in Iraq

OTTAWA, April 22 (UPI) -- Canadian air force pilots flew missions in the war in Iraq as part of training on new Boeing C-17 aircraft, a leaked memo said.

Despite Canada's refusal to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, the chief of Canada's defense staff, Gen. Rick Hillier wrote in May 2007 to then Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor to say Canadian pilots would train on the massive U.S. aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Canwest News Service reported Tuesday.

"The overall risk associated with allowing (Canadian Forces) aircrew to operate on USAF C-17 missions to Iraq is low," Hillier's memo said.

That didn't sit well with Dawn Black, the defense critic for the opposition New Democratic Party.

"Canadians have been very clear from the beginning that they wanted no part of George Bush's war on Iraq, and they certainly don't want to see Canadians getting involved through a back door," Black told Canwest.

The Defense Department couldn't provide the number of Canadians who participated in the training exercises the military calls "seasoning," the report said.