Disgrace

Defense Minister Peter MacKay has been struggling for the last two weeks with his NATO partners to secure helicopters to transport Canadian troops in Kandahar.

You'd think that it would be a relatively straighforward thing to find. After all, there was unanimous consent from NATO countries to undertake this mission into Afghanistan, and a few pilots and helicopters are hardly what you would call a big commitment.

Yet after two NATO meetings, it appears that Canada will have to rent from the Russians. Both the French and the Germans armies possessed exactly the right equipment, but it was just... impossible.

You know, I find this absolutely scandalous. I mean here are two countries who each have armies among the largest in the world, and they can't even lend us a few helicopters. The majority of Canadian deaths in Kandahar are due to roadside bombs, a threat that could be overcome with helicopter transport. But that just isn't enough.

When the Europeans needed help in the two world wars, Canada was there from day one with hundreds of thousands of men. Yet when Canada needs help in Kandahar, a few helicopters are too much to ask for.

Maybe Merkel and Sarkozy should stop parading around the world as the defenders of morality and human rights and help the allies who fought twice for democracy in Europe.