Really... that's a different take on Afghanistan

I was happily (well, as happy as I can be at 5:30 a.m.) driving to work this morning listening to dw.world on CBC when mine ears were tweaked by this story on the debate in Germany over whether to agree to NATO's request to send combat troops to Afghanistan.

The debate itself was not what caught my attention but the last couple of sentences where the reporter said that Hamid Karzai, the big man himself, had questioned the efficacy of having more foreign troops present and that opinion polls in Afghanistan had shown a growing lack of support for this same presence.

Reeeeeaaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyyyyyy?

Last time I checked, we were being told here in Canada that there was unflinching support for our troops by Afghanis and that more troops were needed. Didn't Karzai just issue a statement in the last couple of months that our troops were essential to stability in Afghanistan and that *any* troop withdrawals would cause serious problems? Wasn't there just something in the Manley report about requiring more troops from NATO in order for our troops to stay?

I guess they don't want just anybody's troops, just ours. Gosh, I feel all warm and fuzzy.

Oops, but wait, perhaps there has been a shift in Karzai's position. Here is a report from Australia today confirming the German report. It'll be interesting to see what kind of play the story gets here in Canada.

Interesting how stories are reported in different countries. I highly recommend the CBC between 5 and 6 a.m. - news from Australia, Prague and Germany followed by the Business Network. The most useful hour of radio that I've found.