What, Smitty was washing his hair this afternoon?

Paul Koring, whose total weeks on the ground in Afghanistan in the past couple of years could be counted on, at most, both hands, is going to be answering questions on whether our Afghan mission has gone horribly wrong.

Meanwhile, another G&M reporter, Graeme Smith, who has spent more than an entire year embedded with our troops, has operated an office in Kandahar, and has spent more time on the ground in-country (embedded and unembedded) than any other Canadian journalist, is sitting on the bench.

Why the foreign desk editors have chosen Koring over Smith to educate their readership is somewhat murky. Unless, of course, you're willing to concede there's an agenda at play, in which case the motivation becomes quite clear.