TG reporting from the Sandbox--plus "a weird strip-tease" and more types of dancing

Mr Glavin may be a bit over-optimistic militarily; he is spot on about the utter inanity of Canadian political consideration of our mission:

Clear, Hold, Build: The End Of The Beginning In Afghanistan.

...our "combat role," whatever that might mean, is supposed to come to an end by 2011, and it's still unclear just what Canada's military and civilian contribution in Kandahar is going to be after that. This is inexcusable. What Canada does next in Afghanistan should be the subject of an open, vigorous debate among Canadian parliamentarians, and especially among ordinary Canadians. Nothing of the kind is happening. Nobody knows what's going on.

Talking to Canada's senior military and civilian officials in Kandahar, as I've spent the past few days doing, what was clear is that they had a far more precise understanding of what to expect from Obama's long-awaited announcement, before Obama made it, than they have, even now, about the implications of the House of Commons resolution from way back in March, 2008. The resolution ordered the "redeployment of Canadian Forces troops out of Kandahar" by 2011, by which time Canadian soldiers are somehow supposed to be replaced by Afghan soldiers...

The long-overdue and welcome attention the United States is now paying to Afghanistan has changed everything about the context that prevailed in March, 2008, when the Liberal-Conservative consensus was forged. It's a new day. Canada's political leaders should be talking about this. They should be showing some leadership. That's what they're there for.

But they're not.

More on the mind-reeling Canadian government dance. Almost like a weird strip-tease in which clothes come off and then are put back on again. Sorry to be silly, but I no longer want to dance--note that President Obama has made a major, serious, decision, more here, under far more pressure and with much greater consequences, than our government has yet: