Flit

Any resemblance to my current office environment is entirely expected

A day in the life of a turret.

Manley Report: erm, read the whole thing

This is an excellent document. Everyone who cares about the Canadian Afghan mission should read it front to back. Wouldn't quibble with a word, really. It will be hard for Ottawa to swallow, though. Manley didn't even try and triangulate between the Government (stay) and Opposition (get out) positions on Afghanistan... he went way the OTHER SIDE of the Government, and implicitly criticizes them throughout for not yet doing enough for Afghans.

Most interesting quotes:

The take that, Robert Gates, moment: "Neither do we accept any parallel between the Afghanistan mission and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. To confuse the two is to overlook the authority of the UN, the collective decisions of NATO and the legitimacy of the Afghan government that has sought Canada’s engagement."

The we don't know what the hell Paul Martin was thinking, either, moment: "In 2005 Canada chose, for whatever reason, to assume leadership of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar City and the security obligations that went with it."