BBC: Canada divided as losses mount

[tuvor]

Some international perspective...

Canadians are becoming used to the sight of coffins coming home from Afghanistan.

Each grief-stricken ceremony, almost always accompanied by the mournful sound of military bagpipes, is given extensive coverage by Canada's TV news.

On Sunday, four Canadian soldiers died in a major Nato-led anti-Taleban campaign called Operation Medusa. They were killed during fierce fighting with Taleban insurgents.

Then on Monday, another group of Canadian troops preparing to launch operations from a temporary camp, found themselves strafed, without warning, by two American A-10 Thunderbolt warplanes.

In the so-called "friendly-fire" incident, one of the Canadian soldiers died and 30 more were injured, five of them seriously.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5319310.stm