Afstan: Strange stuff from the CBC's person in D.C.

Henry Champ today on Newsworld was saying odd things (can't find a video link) about Canada's being critical of the US for slacking off on ground combat in Afstan out of fear of casualties. He never mentioned that the US are doing the great majority of fighting in the east, he just said we are not happy with their "boots on the ground" effort in the south. Especially odd thing to say since this is the final paragraph of the CBC News story on Foreign Minister Bernier's visit to Washington today:

An analysis done by ABC News in November showed the death rate for U.S. troops in Afghanistan is now nearly twice the rate for those in Iraq.

What Canadian was Mr Champ talking to and what was Mr Champ smoking?

Note the kind words from the secretary of state and the president:

Rice called Canada an "extraordinary partner" in the NATO-led war in Afghanistan.

While there has been concern about some NATO countries not taking on their fair share of responsibilities in Afghanistan, Rice said this is not the case with Canada.

"Canada is sharing in that responsibility. Canada is pulling its weight," the secretary of state said in Washington, D.C. "The contribution of Canada is both invaluable and effective."..

A few hours before Rice spoke, Bush held a news conference, during which he called Canadians and other allies in Afghanistan "brave souls.

"I would like to praise the Brits, the Canadians, the Dutch, the Danes and other countries for their contribution," Bush said in Washington.

"These are brave souls. They're working side by side with the Afghan forces and the U.S. forces to deal the Taliban a blow, and I've only got praise for them [he also mentioned the Aussies]."..

Pity he didn't mention the Poles, Romanians and Estonians.

M. Bernier was to my mind hopeless. He didn't answer questions, just regurgitated talking points of dubious relevance.

Update: Mr Champ was just on Newsworld's "Politics" and repeated (17:40 Eastern) the claim that Canada thinks the US is not fighting hard enough on the ground. He said he had it from both Canadian and American sources. Weird. The video should be available here fairly soon.