IF ONLY THEY WERE A SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH NATION TO BE WORTH DESPISING:

Forces refused U.S. Request out of Iraq fears: Illustrates politicized military, defence analyst says (Chris Wattie, September 10, 2004, National Post)

Canada rejected a U.S. request to send a squadron of CF-18 fighter-bombers to Afghanistan last year because of concerns that it might free more American forces for the invasion of Iraq, according to internal Defence Department documents.

In documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, the two top generals in the Canadian Forces agreed that a six-month deployment of as many as 18 aircraft to the air base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, was "deemed feasible" but recommended against the proposal because of concerns over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. [...]

[D]efence critics called the decision questionable and decried it as an example of the politicization of the Canadian military.

Gordon O'Connor, the Conservative defence critic, said the Canadian fighters would have been a valuable addition to the campaign to root out the last holdouts of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

"Our guys are very good fighter pilots," he said. "They have an excellent reputation.... The U.S. wanted the Canadians there because they knew they'd do a good job."

Mr. O'Connor said that both the Liberal government and the Canadian Forces appear to put political considerations ahead of military ones. "It would seem they're more concerned about appearances than fighting the war on terrorism."

Not that their appearance is so hot.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 10, 2004 2:34 PM