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The unrelenting tide of anti-government violence in Iraq including targeted killings of protesters and gruesome reprisals hasn't derailed Canadian and NATO military training missions in the country, but it has made themmore challenging, a top Canadian general told CBC News.

"I'm concerned about what has been happening in Iraq over the last number of weeks," said Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, the head of Canada's overseas and domestic operations,in a year-end interview. "We'll be happy when the instability stops."

Canada leads the NATO alliance mission to train instructors at three Iraqi military schools and advise the country's defence ministry. Separately, Canadian special forces are partnered with Iraqis in the north of the country, providing counterterrorism advice and assistance in the ongoing mission to hunt down remnants of the Islamic State.

Rouleau said that, while he's not "overly concerned" about the ability of the Canadian military to complete its mission, he acknowledges the violence and uncertainty has forced it to call off some meetings and activities with distracted Iraqi government officials.

"There have been a number of meetings and engagements that have had to be cancelled," he said. "The lion's share of the business proceeds apace."

Still,Rouleausaid the crisis in Iraq has been the topic of conversations "every couple of days" between himself and his boss, Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff.

Reports published in the region quote Iraqi army sourcessaying two rockets were fired at a military base near the Baghdad airport housing U.S. troops on Thursdaythe 10th such attack since late October, when the instability began.

The Canadian military has not reported a similar incident,but Rouleau said the threat of troops being hit by "indirect fire" worries him.

Still, Rouleau expressed confidence in the security measures put in place to protect Canadian troops.

The Liberal government has authorized the military to deploy up to 850 soldiers throughout the Middle East. Mostof them have been assigned to the NATO mission and the separate U.S.-led counterterrorism campaign in Iraq.

Rouleau cautioned that social and political instability is something Islamic State extremists thrive on and could exploit.

"While they have been severely set back, they are still a threat. The political instability doesn't hurt ISIS," he said, using another common name for the Islamic State. "It potentially gives them gaps and seams and vacuums and that's one of the reasons we need to stay focused on it.

"I can say with high confidencethey will seek to exploit any gaps they find. The instability is not a particularly positive thing for the defeat-ISIS mission."

The spark that ignited the ongoing protests touches on some of the fundamental problems in Iraq the NATO training mission is trying to address.

The demotion of a prominent commander in the Iraqi counterterrorism service known as the Golden Division set off the recent unrest. Abdel-Wahab al-Saadi was relegated to a desk job in the country's defence ministry and it's believed nepotism was the reason for the order to sideline him.

Creating an impartial, merit-based Iraqi defence force is one of the key goals of an international community desperate to prevent a repeat of the disaster in 2014, when the country's army and police formations melted away in the face on an Islamic State onslaught out of Syria.

Continuing with the security sector reform is crucial, Rouleau said.

"We're not talking about training people to shoot rifles," he said. "We're talking about a pretty comprehensive effort to get a sustainable Iraqi defence enterprise on its feet."

The anti-government protests, which have grown in size and violence since October, have claimed over 400 lives and led to the recent resignation of the prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Last week, demonstrators lynched a teenage male they accused of attacking a protest camp in Baghdad. The incident happened in Baghdadand the body of the youth was hung from a traffic light.

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Violence in Iraq isn't stopping Canada's training mission there, says general - CBC.ca

WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pencemay be "purposefully misleading" Congress about a September conversation betweenPence andUkraine's president, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told Pence Tuesday.

In a letter to Pence, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., renewed the committee's request for the vice president to declassify information about the conversation that has been provided to the panel by Jennifer Williams, a foreign policy adviser to Pence.

Pence's office previouslyrefused the request in a Dec. 11 letter, saying it would serve no purpose.

But Schiff wrotethat if Williams' description of the Sept. 18 call between Pence and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is accurate, it "raises profound questions about your knowledge of the President's scheme to solicit Ukraine's interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election."

"And it would mean that the representation of your communications with President Zelensky, as described in your office's December 11 letter, may be purposefully misleading," Schiff wrote.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence wave to the crowd during the Trump rally in Giant Center in Hershey, Pa, Dec. 10, 2019.(Photo: Cameron Clark, York Daily Record Searchlight via USA TODAY Network)

A spokeswoman for Pence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, told MSNBC that "theres really not much value in releasing a transcript" of the call.

"We may end up releasing the vice presidents transcript," Short said. "But right now, why would we participate in this charade of a process?"

Live updates: McConnell rejects Democrats' proposal for Senate impeachment trial

Even as the House is expected to consider Wednesday whether to impeach President Donald Trump over the withholding of military assistance to Ukraine,House Democrats are continuing to pursue information they say may be relevant.

Williams, a State Department employee on loan to Pence's office, initially testified during a Novemberclosed-door briefing that Pence's Sept. 18 conversationwith Zelensky was a "very positive call." Pence reiterated to Zelensky that the delayed military aid had been released, according to Williams. She also testified that there was no discussion of the investigations that Trump had asked Zelenskyto undertake in aJuly 25 conversation.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in Warsaw, Poland on Sept. 1, 2019. A Washinton Post article published on Oct. 2, 2019 reported President Donald Trump used Pence in his attempt to pressure the new Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, but is not conclusive on how much Pence knew about Trump's efforts.(Photo: Petr David Josek, AP)

When Williams was preparing for her Nov. 19 public hearing, she recalled additional information about the Sept. 18 call that she wanted to disclose "for the sake of completeness," according to the Intelligence Committee. But Pence's office told her the additional information was classified.

While Williams submitted the supplemental material to the committee in writing,it can't be publicly released unless it is declassified.

Jennifer Williams, a foreign policy aide to Vice President Mike Pence, 2nd from left, and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine expert for the National Security Council, arrive to testify on Nov. 19, 2019 before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in a public hearing in the impeachment inquiry into allegations President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)

Schiff wrote in Tuesday's letter that the information is directly relevant to the two articles of impeachment the House will considerand is relevantto the committee's ongoing investigation of Trump.

In the hot seat: Democrats in Trump districts wrestle with vote of conscience on impeachment

Pence's unwillingness to declassify the information, Schiff wrote, suggests he's protecting not just Trump, but himself.

Schiff asked Pence to respond to the letter by Thursday.

Democrats have so far not subpoened Pence for any information, despite their complaints that he has yet to provide a single document they've requested.

How much did Mike Pence know: Testimony suggests effort to flag concerns

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Democrats suggest Mike Pence may be 'misleading' Congress about his call with Ukraine - USA TODAY

President Donald Trump faces imminent impeachment by the House of Representatives, but that doesnt mean hell be removed from office. For the president to be ousted from the White House via impeachment, the Senate has to convict him with a two-thirds majority a tall order, given that its currently in Republican hands.

On Wednesday, the House will debate and likely vote on two articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee approved last week. The articles charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both of which are tied to the Ukraine scandal and Trumps urging of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden.

The House is widely expected to pass those two articles a handful of Democrats are expected to deflect and vote against impeachment, while Republicans will likely hold the line. But impeaching a president doesnt immediately result in their exit from the White House. (Remember Bill Clinton, anyone?)

Once the House votes, the matter moves to the Senate, which will weigh whether to convict the president. There will be a trial, over which Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will preside.

Beyond that, theres still some wrangling over what, exactly, the trial will look like. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to have one thing in mind, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants it to go another way. And, of course, GOP senators are dealing with the presidents wants (and tweets), too.

Voxs Matt Yglesias and Andrew Prokop laid out what is and isnt delineated by law in the Senates role in impeachment and the trial:

In this trial, the House of Representatives acts as a prosecutor and chooses certain impeachment managers to argue their case in the Senate. Then, the presidents lawyers are the defense team the president does not have to appear in person and historically has not. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides and is responsible for making procedural rulings during the trial, but the Senate can vote to overrule his decisions.

Now, though this is referred to as a trial, it is, again, a political and not legal process, so it doesnt have to follow the ordinary rules and practices of a criminal trial. Again, its up the Senate to decide how to structure it for instance, they can call witnesses to give live testimony (as they did for Andrew Johnson), or decide not to (as they did for Bill Clinton).

However the trial is structured, it ends with senators voting on the two charges and Trumps removal from office would require 67 yes votes on one or both articles.

There are currently 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents (who generally vote with Democrats) in the Senate, meaning 20 GOP members would have to defect to convict Trump. Thats ... very unlikely to happen, to put it mildly. Multiple Republican senators have signaled that their minds are already made up on impeachment, and its unclear whether any, let alone 20, are going to vote to convict.

If the president were somehow removed from office, the line of succession would be as follows: Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. (That last scenario would mean a first lady Louise Linton.) In October, Yglesias went over nine possible impeachment scenarios, including the line of succession.

Conviction in the Senate is one way to remove the president, but its not the only one. Another option lies with the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, which would require action from the presidents own Cabinet. Earlier this year, Prokop explained how the 25th Amendment works:

Specifically, thats Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment states that if, for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people the speaker of the House and the Senates president pro tempore.

Then the vice president would immediately become acting president, and take over all the presidents powers.

Let that sink in one vice president and any eight Cabinet officers can, theoretically, decide to knock the president out of power at any time.

If the president wants to dispute this move, he can, but then it would be up to Congress to settle the matter with a vote. A two-thirds majority in both houses would be necessary to keep the vice president in charge. If that threshold isnt reached, the president would regain his powers.

If removing the president by impeachment is unlikely, this is an even more improbable scenario. Only two presidents have ever been impeached by Congress: Johnson and Clinton, neither of whom were convicted and removed from office. Richard Nixon resigned prior to his impeachment in the House, though he likely would have been impeached and later removed from office.

But the 25th Amendment has never been invoked to remove a sitting president. In other words, if Trump goes, it will probably be the result of the ballot box in 2020.

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Trump is likely to be impeached, but he wont be removed from office by the House impeachment vote - Vox.com

Vice President Mike Pence is expected to visit Israel in January for a ceremony marking 75 years to the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, an event that is expected to draw other world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Israeli officials hoped to see U.S. President Donald Trump at the event, but since he is expected to be in Europe for the World Economic Forum, there are ongoing talks between American and Israeli officials about Pence being the senior American representative instead.

The event, set to be held on January 27, is jointly organized by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial organization. In recent weeks, however, the event has become the center of tensions between the offices of Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over who will presented publicly as the "host" of the foreign dignitaries.

Rivlin's office is reportedly unhappy with Netanyahu's attempts to take over the international event for his re-election campaign. In this year's previous election cycles, Netanyahu has highlighted his diplomatic experience and rapport with Putin and Trump. According to sources, he finds it important to appear side by side with world leaders just one month before Israel's election onMarch 2.

The Trump administration is also aware of the political tension surrounding the event, and doesn't want Pence's visit to Israel to appear as an attempt on its behalf to help Netanyahu's re-election efforts, according to two people who are involved in the ongoing talks over Pence's visit.

Washington has been frustrated by the fact that several gestures taken by Trump toward Israel over the past year have been presented in the American and Israeli media as politically-motivated attempts to help Netanyahu. This includes Trump's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in March, exactly two weeks before this year's first Israeli election. Despite the timing of the announcement, the White House denied claims that it was tailored to suit Netanyahu's political needs.

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Pence expected to visit Israel next month for anniversary of Auschwitz liberation - Haaretz

As the House Judiciary Committee gaveled a rare prime time impeachment hearing inside the vaulted hall of the Ways and Means Committee Room on the evening of December 11, Donald Trump stood at a lectern in the White Houses East Room, lavishing praise on his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. I love Jared, Trump told casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer, and other high-profile guests attending the White Houses annual Hanukkah reception. A few hours earlier, at Kushners urging, Trump had signed a controversial executive order that classified Jews as a nationality for the purposes of enforcing anti-discrimination laws on college campuses. That morning, Kushner defended the policy in a New York Times op-ed. The flurry of activity reflected an emerging truth: As Trump ends the year by becoming only the third president in history to be impeached, Kushner is completing what is, by any measure, an unexpected comeback.

A year ago, it was conventional Washington wisdom that Kushner could be indicted in the Robert Mueller probe. Trumps previous chief of staff John Kelly effectively marginalized him during pivotal domestic and foreign policy debates. Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani even told Fox News that Kushner was disposable. Today, Kelly is gone and Giulianis fate is uncertain, while Kushner is exerting influence over virtually every significant White House decision, from negotiating trade deals to 2020 campaign strategy to overseeing Trumps impeachment defense. Jared is running everything, a former West Wing official told me.

Inside the West Wing, Kushner has both eliminated opponents and installed acquiescent officials. Jared was very frustrated with [Reince] Priebus and John Kelly, a Republican close to the White House, said. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was Jareds pick, the source said, and has allowed Kushner to function as de facto chief of staff. Mick has decided not to be in control, a former West Wing official said. Jared treats Mick like the help. Theres no pushback, a prominent Republican said. John Bolton, who recently mocked Kushner in a private speech, has been replaced by Robert OBrien, a Kushner ally. Sources say that Vice President Mike Pence and his advisers dont challenge Kushner after a string of leaks that Kushner wanted to replace Pence on the ticket with Nikki Haley. Pence people look at Jared apprehensively. Pence treats Jared as a peer, said former Trump aide Sam Nunberg. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.)

One remaining opponent is Kellyanne Conway. Kushner has so far unsuccessfully lobbied Trump to fire Conway because of her husbands attacks on Trump. Kushner, though, recently prevailed over Conways objections that Trump didnt need to set up a White House war room, a source told me. Trump brought on former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi and Treasury Department spokesperson Tony Sayegh to run a daily messaging operation from a basement office underneath the West Wing. Kellyanne hates Bondi, a Republican close to the White House said. Jared pushed to get a war room because congressional Republicans said they needed it. (Reached for comment, Conway said she and Bondi "have been friends for years and years.")

Kushners survival owes a lot to the Trumpworld truism that family comes first and last. The family has a larger degree of trust and protection that no one else enjoys, the former West Wing official said. Trump has adopted Kushners view that the White House is winning the impeachment fight. Jared thinks Nancy Pelosi is running away from this as fast as she can, a prominent Republican said. But its also true that, at this point in Trumps term, Trump cant find anyone actually qualified who wants to work for him. Compared to everyone else, Jared has proved to be competent, Nunberg told me. It may be a low bar, but hes an asset there. As much influence as Kushner has now, some critics fear what a second term would look like. Theres no pushback now, said the prominent Republican. As they go into the second term, theyll be able to do whatever they want.

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Jared Treats Mick Like the Help: Its Jareds White House Now (Trumps Just Living in It) - Vanity Fair