"Troops best as peacekeepers, Canadians say"

Read the comments by E.R. Campbell at Milnet.ca on this CP story . Here's the start of the story:

A majority of Canadians still view their soldiers as peacekeepers and would rather see them helping disaster victims than fighting, an internal poll prepared for National Defence suggests.

The results of the exhaustive survey, obtained by The Canadian Press, come despite the best efforts of both the Conservative government and the military to rebrand the Canadian Forces as a combat outfit...

A military that is not primarily a combat force is not a real military. I love that "rebrand"; far too many Canadians really do live in a bubble world.

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail gets the inside story from the Taliban at second-hand and uses it virtually uncritically. Great journalism Mr Smith:

Inside the Taliban's deadly ambush
Using heaviest weapons in their arsenal, a specially recruited squad lay in wait for Canadians near site of fearsome 2006 battle

The CDS expresses his worries (I wonder if the Taliban are getting improved training from foreign al-Qaeda types):

Sophistication of deadly Taliban attack concerning: Natynczyk
3 Canadians killed, 5 wounded

MND MacKay, for his part, has misplaced hopes I fear:

MacKay hopes election won't fuel Taliban

More on the Taliban, Western journalists, and public opinion here.