U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates wasn't talking about Canada when he verbally attacked the skills of the allied troops working in southern Afghanistan, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates told the Los Angeles Times that he's worried about the training of soldiers serving in southern Afghanistan.
(Kevin Wolf/Associated Press) MacKay said Gates called him Wednesday to explain that the comments he made in the Los Angeles Times were meant to be a general reflection on NATO's shortfalls when it comes to battling insurgents.
"His comments were certainly not directed at Canada,'" MacKay told reporters in Ottawa, recounting the conversation he'd had with Gates five minutes earlier.
"He was extremely complimentary in what he said about Canadian forces and in fact expressed regret and embarrassment over those comments being in any way reflected towards our troops," MacKay said.
Gates's interview with the Times was published Wednesday. In the article, Gates says NATO forces in southern Afghanistan do not know how to properly combat a guerilla insurgency and that could be contributing to rising violence in the country.
The article notes that NATO troops working in the south are primarily from Canada, Britain and the Netherlands.
The says that other senior U.S. military officials have criticized NATO for an overreliance on heavy weaponry in the south, including air strikes.
Canada's Liberals were not as understanding on Wednesday. Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said the comments were insensitive, especially given that a Canadian soldier was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan.
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(Kevin Wolf/Associated Press)
"His comments were certainly not directed at Canada,'" MacKay told reporters in Ottawa, recounting the conversation he'd had with Gates five minutes earlier.
"He was extremely complimentary in what he said about Canadian forces and in fact expressed regret and embarrassment over those comments being in any way reflected towards our troops," MacKay said.
Gates's interview with the Times was published Wednesday. In the article, Gates says NATO forces in southern Afghanistan do not know how to properly combat a guerilla insurgency and that could be contributing to rising violence in the country.
The article notes that NATO troops working in the south are primarily from Canada, Britain and the Netherlands.
The says that other senior U.S. military officials have criticized NATO for an overreliance on heavy weaponry in the south, including air strikes.
Canada's Liberals were not as understanding on Wednesday. Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said the comments were insensitive, especially given that a Canadian soldier was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan.
Full story
How have you interpeted U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates comments?
More...