Consensus reached at NATO meeting

The NATO summit in Wales has wrapped up with a dire warning from NATO’s Secretary General. Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the group faces its most dangerous security environment since the end of the cold war. And they made some key decisions on what to do about it.

60 world leaders were on hand for the summit which is being described as the most crucial in decades.

On the last day, the alliance approved a new rapid response force to counter the Russian threat to Ukraine.

The leaders are backing plans to position more troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe, headquartered in Poland.

The force is to include several thousand land troops and sea cadets. Canada has agreed to take part in the mission.

The leaders say they want to be prepared in case Russia tries to annex more territory from Ukraine.

Alliance leaders also took on the threat of ISIS today.

They agreed to offer training to Iraqi soldiers as soon as the new government is in place.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will be deploying Canadian Armed Forces to Iraq to work alongside the American forces in the battle against ISIS.

They will help security forces in the northern part of the country to be more effective against the threat posed by the Islamic state of Iraq.

Harper stressed that Canada’s involvement is not a combat mission. Canadian Armed Forces will provide strategic and tactical advice to Iraqi forces.

The initial deployment is scheduled to last up to 30 days and will be re-assessed after that.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “I know the Canadian armed forces have evaluated the risk. we think the risks are acceptable and manageable but risks do exist and the Canadian military personnel who join it do take on reasonable risks in the defence of their countries interest and that’s what they are doing in this situation.”

U.S. President Barack Obama: “Here in Wales, we also sent a strong message to Russia that actions have consequences. Today the United States and Europe are finalizing measures that deepen and widen our sanctions across Russia’s financial, energy and offence sectors. Pro Russian separatists must keep their commitments and Russia must stop it’s violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged leaders to form an Anti-ISIS coalition and come up with a plan by the time the United Nations Security Council meets in two weeks. Kerry said quote “We have the technology, we have the know-how, what we need is obviously the willpower.”