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Canada is not known, at least not in popular culture, for its military might. Fewer than 100,000 active personnel serve in the countrys armed forces, whose size and strength have been mocked over the years by American and Canadian commentators alike. The United States, by comparison, has about half a million active soldiers in the Army alone, and hundreds of thousands more across the other branches.

But dont let those numbers fool you.

Despite its small size, Canada is known for producing well-trained, highly skilled soldiers, who have long fought alongside American and British counterparts in major world conflicts, including the current fight against Islamic State militants.

In particular, Canada boasts some of the best snipers of any military, and the world may very well have gotten another reminder of that last week.

On Thursday, the countrys military said that a Canadian Special Operations sniper had shot an Islamic State fighter in Iraq from more than 2 miles away, purportedly breaking a world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in history, according to the Globe and Mail.

An unidentified sniper from the elite Joint Task Force 2 made the shot from a distance of 3,540 meters using a U.S.-made McMillan Tac-50 rifle, according to the Globe and Mail. The newspaper cited anonymous military sources saying that the fatal shot, made from a high-rise in Iraq, was independently verified by video and other data.

If so, the Canadian snipers shot shatters the previous world record, held by a British soldier, by a staggering 1,065 meters.

It also fits a long tradition of expert marksmanship among Canadian soldiers.

During World War I, Canadian snipers were celebrated for their deadly accuracy. The late Francis Pegahmagabow, a First Nations sniper from Ontario, was credited with 378 kills.

Outdoorsmanship played a big role in how the Canadian military selected its snipers; the country had an abundance of farmers, hunters and trappers.

More here:
Canadian sniper in Iraq makes fatal shot from 2 miles - Press Herald

The continuing conflict in Iraq has brought destruction to many areas of the country. It also has had an extreme cost for families and children, as well.

The United Nations Childrens Fund, or UNICEF, says fighting has displaced more than 1.5 million children in the last three years.

Their stories are hard to hear.

Zamin Makhool is 28 years old. Last December, she lost two of her children in an airstrike in her neighborhood. An explosive struck her home, leaving it a pile of wreckage. It left a hole three meters deep.

Her four-year-old son and nine-month-old daughter died. Her son died while playing with his spinning top toy, she says. Her baby daughter was crushed in the collapsed house.

The attack took place at a time when Islamic State militants controlled the neighborhood.

Since 2014, UNICEF says more than 1,000 children have been killed in Iraq. The organization says Islamic State militants claimed territory -- including Mosul and other cities -- during that period.

Peter Hawkins is a UNICEF representative in Iraq. He said in a statement that, Across Iraq, children continue to witness sheer horror and unimaginable violence.

Families risk lives when fleeing militant controlled areas

The fighting continues in Mosuls Old City, the last place in Mosul where Islamic State still holds power.

Several families recently arrived at a field hospital near the Old City neighborhood to seek treatment.

One mother brought her baby, Saja, who is one year old. She told the doctors that the child had not been fed enough for months. The doctors tried to inject nutrients into her bloodstream with a needle.

Even the families of militants are trying to flee the Old City now, said the childs mother. Its too dangerous.

One day before she came to the hospital, she said, militants had heard that her family was planning to run away. They shot her husband in their house. She then took her children and fled the neighborhood.

UNICEF and fleeing civilians say militants are killing parents and children. They also are preventing families from fleeing and punishing ones that do.

Mortars, airstrikes and so-called improvised explosive devices are harming children and adults. But starvation and disease are greater threats to children.

Poor conditions exist at camps for displaced

Conditions for those displaced by conflict are extremely difficult. Families have gathered in refugee camps in the desert areas surrounding Mosul. Temperatures during the day can reach 40 degrees Celsius in the summer.

Living conditions in the camps in Iraqi-controlled Mosul are poor, with bad food and dirty water. There is also a lack of health care.

Major Mohammad Hassan Abdullah is a medical doctor with the Iraqi Army. He works at a field clinic near the front lines.

We have 500 to 600 people coming every day, mostly babies and elderly people, he said. The problem could nearly be solved with clean water.

Zamin Makhool has one daughter still living. The family lives in a refugee camp. She says they get their food from non-governmental organizations. But food does not come every day.

Makhools husband, Ibrahim, says violence against children will continue as long as Islamic State militants hold territory in Iraq.

Ibrahim says he was trying to sell his car when the familys two young children were killed in the airstrike. The target of the attack was likely nearby Islamic State bases, or a house next door where militants were living.

It wasnt a mistake that airstrikes hit our neighborhood, Ibrahim Makhool said as he showed a picture of his destroyed home. There were three IS (Islamic State) bases in the area.

They live between families to try to stay safe, he said. Then when we are hit, they move on.

Im Mario Ritter.

Heather Murdoch reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

What do you think can be done for families in Iraq? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

sheer adj. complete, total

front line --n. an area where soldiers are fighting

elderly adj. old, aged

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Iraq Conflict Deadly for Children, Says UNICEF - Voice of America

Readers sent these letters to the editor for the July 3 issue of Army Times. Have thoughts you'd like to share on Army Times stories or letters? Send them to armylet@armytimes.com. Include your name, address, phone number and rank. Submissions may be published in print and online. A worthy dress uniform

I've been reading the service and dress uniform debate since 2001. While I'm not in favor of issuing pinks and greens uniforms to the whole Army or even making it optional, I have no problem with Pentagon staff being issued them.

Soldiers today only need a dress blue uniform (Army Service Uniform) for ceremonies and military balls. I would love a change with our current blues.

Many Soldiers are starting to catch on with another uniform that few know of. Soldiers I have shown this uniform love it. I think it would be an improvement over the current blue uniform. It's the Army 1902 Model Blue Uniform (enlisted version).

Could you please bring this uniform into the debate. It would be nice for Soldiers to know there weresharp-looking uniforms before World War II as well.

David Craft Arlington, Ohio

Screening officers for cognitive ability

A problem plaguing part of the Officer Corps in todays military is the low cognitive ability of some officers. There is no doubt that in order to be a successful leader in the military, you need to be an above average individual. This includes possessing an above-average cognitive ability to effectively solve the complex problems the military faces today.

In order to commission as an officer, there are many physical requirements an individual must pass, including a medical examination, and a physical fitness test. The military also requires that an individual be a college graduate. The military accepts that an individual who possesses a college degree also possesses a high degree of cognitive ability, and this is a mistake!

An individual who has a college degree does not necessarily possess the cognitive ability to be a successful officer.

There is a significant difference in academic rigor among todays colleges and universities. The academic challenge that a person faces at a service academy or an Ivy League school is much different than at less prestigious community colleges and state schools. The military, however, does not address this difference and values both degrees as equal when it comes to meeting the requirements to commission.

I am not arguing that individuals who attend community college, or smaller state schools are not capable of serving as officers in the military, I am arguing that because these individuals did not face the same academic challenges as their peers, that it is possible that they do not possess the cognitive ability to perform the job of an officer.

We need to administer a test that measures the cognitive ability of every officer entering the military. We already screen enlistees who are entering the military with the ASVAB, so why do we not do this with our officers? If we continue to associate a college degree with cognitive ability, we will continue to fail the enlisted ranks, as well as the country, by putting individuals in leadership positions that do not possess the tools necessary to succeed.

Capt. Robert Welch Fort Hood, Texas

Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, demonstrate squad movements and room clearance procedures to Iraqi army soldiers with the 75th Brigade, 16th Division, at Besmaya Range Complex, Iraq, April 8, 2015. The demonstration was part of training led by coalition forces under Operation Inherent Resolve to aid the Iraqi army in its fight against the ISIS. Photo Credit: Sgt. Deja Borden/Army Iraq at crossroads

The liberation of Mosul and the wider Ninevah province from the Islamic State group and its brutal Salafist jihadi doctrine is the subject of many Iraqi conversations. To capitalize on the lessons learned from the bloody three-year battle, Iraqis must take stock of the political process.

Liberation is not a solution in itself and fundamental questions need to be asked: Do Iraqis want a united or divided country? What is better, a federal system or a confederation? Should there be a state dominated by the center or decentralized provinces with new and broad powers?

Was ISIS occupation of large swaths of Iraqi territory a sufficient warning of the fragility of the countrys political system, governance and social cohesion? Or do Iraqis (God forbid) need another horrific wake up call that will lead to the end of Iraq as we know it?

Have Iraqi parties failed to learn from the lessons of the crisis? Different factions have used the state to service their own narrow interests, taking advantage of the chaos when Iraq faced its greatest existential crisis.

What are the doses of antibiotics required in the Iraqi body so that terrorism departs for good? This is an urgent question that all Iraqis need to answer.

We shouldnt forget that when the liberation of Mosul is complete, the eyes of the international coalition will turn west toward Syria. Iraq is not immune from what is taking place next door. The government, NGOs and the international community must create a new environment in the liberated areas for social justice and work on a new formula for co-existence.

Despite all these challenges, Iraqis have shown the rest of the world that they have the strength of character to develop the countrys social and political fabric. Once Iraq has addressed the grand questions of rule of law, governance, revenue distribution and identity, the focus must then shift to defining a new political culture in Iraq and creating a roadmap for a confederation with the Kurdistan Regional Government, the most viable formula for co-existence with the Kurds.

Decentralization has to be accelerated, corruption addressed, a population census long overdue must be conducted for countrywide planning.

It wont be easy, but these are urgent and important moves for the people and future of Iraq.

Governing Iraq after liberation will be the real acid test of Iraqi leadership. The liberation of Mosul must be the start of the nations recovery, otherwise, warlords, camouflaged by different names and fronts, will prevail.

It is important to remember that the presence of ISIS militants in Mosul created a new generation of young supporters. It is necessary to admit that a new mutation of the group will be no less evil and acts of terrorism will continue. The threat has the potential to move inside cities, as well as some areas that remain outside the states authority. Let us not allow the liberation of Mosul to be a stopgap before the next wave of extremism.

Leaders must lead, and not be led.

Lukman Faily Former Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S.

Col. Mohammad Haroon (left), Regional Military Training Center-Kandahar commander, and Maj. Gen. Abdul Hamid (front), 205th Hero Corps commander, inspect Afghan National Army soldiers at Camp Hero, Afghanistan. According to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the U.S. has wasted millions of dollars on an ill-suited woodland camouflage pattern for the Afghan army. Photo Credit: Sgt. Ashley Curtis/Army Controversial Afghan camo

Note: Hundreds of readers commented on Army Times Facebook page responding to new woodland camouflage uniforms costing American taxpayers $28 million, though the camo was chosen by an official browsing online. Heres a sample of the comments:

Some Senator or Congressman should definitely throw a fit about this needless spending! Dear President Trump I just found a way you can save $28 million and it's not by switching to Geico.

Corey L Mclinko

They want to cut benefits to veterans injured in the war, sometimes by the very people we gave the uniforms to, yet we just keep dumping money into this bottomless pit called Afghanistan!!

Larry Hearold

Hey, they Army put me in a pale blue uniform that didn't work anywhere except grandma's couch so why should they have been any more diligent or less wasteful when in came to the Afghans?

Douglas Boyle

At least somebody besides Joe is mad about that stupidity. I love how the inspector explained it. "What if they liked pink uniforms!?!?"

JR Morris

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Letters: Sharp-looking uniform; screening officers for ability; Iraq at crossroads; Afghan camo - ArmyTimes.com

BEIRUT Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that a future war waged by Israel against Syria or Lebanon could draw thousands of fighters from countries including Iran and Iraq.

His comments indicated that the same array of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias - but not countries - currently fighting in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad could take part in any future conflict with Israel.

Tensions have risen between Hezbollah and its longtime foe Israel in recent months since Donald Trump became U.S. president with his tough talk against Iran. Israel's air force chief said his country would use all its strength from the start in any new war with Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy must know that if an Israeli war is launched against Syria or Lebanon, it is not known that the fighting will remain Lebanese-Israeli, or Syrian-Israeli," Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

"This doesn't mean there are states that might intervene directly. But this could open the way for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of fighters from all over the Arab and Islamic world to participate - from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

Nasrallah has repeatedly warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Shi'ite group is based, and from where it sends fighters to support Assad against insurgents.

Experts on the group say the warnings are part of a policy of deterrence that has also included revealing some of its military capabilities.

Nasrallah said in recent months Hezbollah's rocket arsenal can hit any military target in Israel, which is Lebanon's southern neighbor.

He said any Israeli war with Lebanon or the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, would be "very costly" and that Israel would not be able to win.

Israel has targeted senior Hezbollah commanders in air raids on Syrian soil. But there has been no major confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon since a month-long war between the two sides in 2006.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam and John Davison; Editing by Gareth Jones)

MARAWI CITY, Philippines Fighting between government forces and Islamist rebels holed up in the heart of a southern Philippine town eased on Sunday as the military sought to enforce a temporary truce to mark the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday.

LONDON Britain said 34 high-rise apartment blocks had failed fire safety checks carried out after the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze, including several in north London where residents were forced to evacuate amid chaotic scenes.

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Hezbollah says future Israel war could draw fighters from Iran, Iraq, elsewhere - Reuters

ISIS, through its news agency, said US warplanes were responsible for the loss late Wednesday of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri and its leaning minaret. US officials told CNN the ISIS claim was "1,000% false."

Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the ISIS act amounts to "an official announcement of their defeat." His military commanders said militants blew the mosque up after troops closed in.

The destruction could amount to a war crime, according to the UN Human Rights Council.

"Such intentional destruction is an attack on the religious and cultural heritage of the Iraqi people -- and the whole world," the UN said Friday. "International humanitarian law clearly prohibits such acts, and perpetrators who target these objects while being aware of their religious and historical character may be held accountable for war crimes."

It's difficult to overstate the symbolic importance of the Old City mosque, whose landmark minaret rose over the city for more than 800 years.

Baghdadi's declaration effectively broke down borders between Syria and Iraq, creating a magnet for foreign fighters wanting to join ISIS' cause. For years, the militant group's black and white flag fluttered from the minaret, a symbol of ISIS' control.

But in recent months western Mosul has witnessed fierce fighting between ISIS militants and coalition forces who are determined to liberate what was the country's second-largest city.

The Islamic complex has been very much on the mind of the Iraqi forces, who believed taking control of the mosque would be a highly symbolic victory. Federal police earlier this year said they looked forward to praying in al-Nuri -- but the resistance continued.

Now the centuries-old mosque complex lies largely in ruins.

Several US officials have told CNN in recent days that US and coalition officials had been observing the mosque in recent days and saw fighters and explosives at the site. The Iraqi military said "ISIS terrorist gangs" blew up the mosque as Iraqi forces were approaching.

The UN children's agency, Unicef, said Thursday that children in west Mosul "are being deliberately targeted and killed to punish families and deter them from fleeing the violence." In less than two months, at least 23 children have been killed and 123 injured in just that part of the city, it said.

About 100,000 civilians remain in the complex battlefield.

Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, commander of Iraqi counterterrorism, said Wednesday that he was shocked by the destruction of the mosque but it was not the first time ISIS had targeted Iraq's cultural heritage.

"ISIS had prepared to blow it up, they were only waiting to see how far our forces can reach," he said. "We are no more going to drive them out of the Old City, we are going to kill all of them in the coming days."

American military officials deplored the destruction of the mosque.

"As our Iraqi Security Force partners closed in on the al-Nuri mosque, ISIS destroyed one of Mosul and Iraq's great treasures," said US Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top US commander in the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, said: "I was just in Mosul Wednesday afternoon and close enough to see the mosque and its famous leaning minaret. Little did I know it was for the last time. This is just another example that ISIS is a cruel, heartless and godless ideology that cannot be permitted to exist in this world."

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jan Kubis, said Thursday that ISIS fighters' destruction of the mosque was a "barbaric act" which "shows their desperation and signals their end."

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's Director-General, Irina Bokova, tweeted that the loss of the mosque was "a cultural (and) human tragedy," adding: "We must protect heritage to protect people."

Bokova also issued a statement deploring the destruction of the ancient structure. "The Al Hadba Minaret and Al Nuree Mosque in Mosul were among the most iconic sites in the city, and stood as a symbol of identity, resilience and belonging.

"When Daesh targeted the mosque and minaret a few month ago, the people of Mosul formed a human chain to protect the site, proving once again that the protection of heritage cannot be delinked from the protection of human lives," she said.

"This new destruction deepens the wounds of a society already affected by an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy, with 3 million internally displaced persons and 6,2 million in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. This calls for immediate and strengthened international mobilization."

Fighters also destroyed Iraq's ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in March 2015.

Earlier that year, militants shoved stone statues off pedestals in the Mosul Museum and took sledgehammers to them and other artifacts. In July 2014, extremists in Mosul also destroyed what was believed to be the tomb of Jonah, a key figure in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Iraq's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in 2015 that it had received reports the ancient Assyrian capital of Khorsabad had been destroyed.

CNN's Arwa Damon, Ryan Browne, Nick Paton Walsh, Paul LeBlanc, Jennifer Deaton and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.

See more here:
US, Iraq say ISIS blew up famous Mosul mosque - CNN.com