Australia: catch all

[Rex Brynen]

I remember how--in the run-up to OIF--some (although by no means all) folks in the Canadian Department of National Defence were so eager to get into a "real" war that it blinded them to the probable longer-term operational challenges and strategic costs of intervention in Iraq. Indeed, I would argue in this case that cooler heads in civilian institutions (DFAIT, elsewhere) and the civilian political leadership called the situation much better.

This doesn't speak, of course, to the frustrations of Australian infantry deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan who then find their roles and potential contributions there excessively circumscribed.

[jcustis]

I heard this repeatedly from our liaison officer while down under for Talisman Saber last year. The whole matter was pissing the majority of them off to no end.