I guess the MND will have to stay in Ottawa

Poor Peter, one more time:

U.S. backs Danish PM as next NATO chief: diplomats

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States has told NATO allies it will back Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance, NATO diplomats and a U.S. source said on Saturday.

Rasmussen already has the support of European heavyweights Germany, Britain and France for the post of NATO secretary-general, but Washington had been considering backing Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay.

A U.S. source close to the administration of President Barack Obama said Washington had indicated its acceptance of Rasmussen after U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones this month went to Denmark to visit him.

Rasmussen's spokesman Michael Ulveman said the Prime Ministry had "no comments whatsoever" on speculation the U.S. had decided to back the Rasmussen for the job.

Two senior NATO diplomats confirmed Washington had signaled to allies its acceptance of Rasmussen...

Maybe the Americans did some research on the minister's military knowledge. More here.

By the way, the Danes, with very little notice (except inside NATO circles I guess), have been doing a bang-up job in Afstan; rather more than us on a per-capita basis--see end of this post:

Denmark 700 [emphasis added-- fully in combat--more at Update here]