George Bush's General?

Globe and Mail at it again:

...
Gen. Natynczyk, who will take over formally in early July, has rare battlefield experience for a Canadian soldier, having fought in George W. Bush's U.S.-led war in Iraq...

It's not the facts, it's the phraseology, stupid. Check the comments to see the foreseeable result. I do think though it was ill-advised of Lt.-Gen. Natynczyk to say:

In a brief encounter with reporters Friday, Gen. Natynczyk said that what he learned in Iraq is instructive for fighting in Afghanistan, where Canada is battling the Taliban just as the United States wars with insurgents in Iraq.

“The tactics and techniques and procedures are exactly the same – so are the risks.”

I would also argue there a large differences between Iraq and Afstan. Unlike Iraq almost no combat in Afstan has been in urban areas; in Afstan there is not large scale sectarian-motivated violence; in Afstan suicide bombings are much rarer and on the whole less deadly than in Iraq; the insurgency is generally much more geographically confined in Afstan than it was for a long time in Iraq; I don't think there have been any brigade-level operations in Afstan; air strikes are used much more frequently in Afstan; etc. But much US counterinsurgency doctrine, developed in Iraq over the last couple of years, is very relevant--see here and here.

Lt.-Gen. Natynczyk's remarks also opened the door for St. Steve Staples--retch!

...
Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute [see the second part of this post], remains worried about what Natynczyk may bring to the job.

"In his comments he said he saw the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan as exactly the same and that the solutions would be the same," said Staples.

"The last thing Canadians want is to see a U.S.-style from Iraq transplanted onto Canada's forces in Afghanistan."

Expect quite a bit more comment like that, at least for a while. And this will sure upset some people:

Natynczyk promotion to CDS popular with U.S. commanders