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Armaments await to be loaded for the next Air Task Force-Iraq (ATF-I) CF-18 Hornet mission during Operation Impact 28 November, 2014.

No matter what happens in the course of the Canadian mission against Islamic State, no matter how events turn on the ground in Iraq or Syria over the six months before an election here in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has an indispensable political tool: his coalition allies.

This is no small thing. Canadians are reassured by the idea this country is doing what others like us are doing, not just the United States, but also non-superpowers such as Britain, France and other European nations.

That's why Mr. Harper and his ministers slip in references to the broad coalition when they discuss how the mission might play out. On Monday, the PM said he wouldn't put a timeline on success, "but obviously that's of great concern to our five dozen allies who are there as well."

It's also why the opposition argues the Canadian military is doing things most allies won't, on the ground in Iraq or in the air over Syria.

But the allies will surely help Mr. Harper retain public support for this mission for many months to come. There are dozens of "like-minded" nations that have joined the coalition. Their governments have invested political capital in it. They have an interest in dismissing any problem as a setback that will be overcome, and predicting success. There's a global chorus.

That will remain true despite setbacks – and there is plenty of potential for those. Six months from now, during the election campaign, this mission will be one year old, and the situation on the ground might seem more worrisome.

Look at the most crucial battle under way now, for the city of Tikrit. Coalition air strikes have hit Islamic State, and Iran-backed Shia militias are the ground force trying to take the city. There are fears that if Shia militias take Tikrit, there could be bloody abuses of the Sunni population – further stoking resentments that aided the rise of Islamic State. Will Canadians feel as much support for the mission if they see its backdrop as grisly sectarian fighting? Those doubts are less likely to spread if allies keep reinforcing that the plan is working.

Right now, there's no doubt the mission is popular, as Canadians feel outrage about Islamic State's atrocities. The Conservative majority in the Commons approved an extension and expansion of the mission Monday and they're winning the political debate – arguing that striking genocidal terrorists makes everyone safer.

The opposition, meanwhile, has struggled to make a clear point. Justin Trudeau's Liberals have been stuck on the fence, arguing it's okay for Canada to send special-forces advisers, but other countries should send jets. The NDP says Canada should do non-military things such as provide aid, but it is not against the coalition.

Politically, the opposition parties are trying to wrestle the Conservatives to a draw. They've raised qualms about mission creep, the lack of exit strategy and the fear, now raised by organizations such as the International Crisis Group, that the coalition will destabilize Iraq rather than strengthen it.

And they've emphasized that other countries aren't doing the same things. The NDP argued other coalition countries don't send advisers to the "front" like Canada, and no other Western country, apart from the U.S., conducts air strikes in Syria.

Canadians care about such things. They have in the past been more likely to support missions when countries such as Britain and France were onside.

But it's Mr. Harper who can count military allies as a political asset. Each Western coalition country is what marketers call a validator, providing a testimonial that Canada has made the right choice. The details are details.

Britain isn't conducting air strikes in Syria, but the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, happily cheered the Canadian decision to do so. "We're delighted that others are able to do the lift in Syria that is equally required," he said when he met Canadian Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson last week. The U.S. will welcome it, too.

Around the world, dozens of coalition countries will talk up the need to fight Islamic State in coming months. There may be emerging questions about the long-term strategy. But Mr. Harper can offer potent reassurance to voters that Canada is not out on a limb, bolstered by the supportive voices of countries much like ours.

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