Not Good

History Repeats Itself:

Sept. 4 -- U.S. jets mistakenly strafed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan on Monday, killing one and bringing to five the number of Canadian troops killed during a major push against the Taliban this weekend.

The deaths come as domestic support for the war is sliding and political opposition is growing, and the fatalities are certain to fuel the controversy in Canada over this country's role in supporting NATO and the United States in the five-year-old Afghan war.

Four of the battlefield deaths occurred Sunday as the Canadians attempted to sweep Taliban guerrillas from Panjwai, an area of farms and poppy fields in the southeastern province of Kandahar that has been a staging area for attacks against Canadian troops. The operation, code-named Medusa, met what commanders acknowledged was surprising resistance...

...In a similar incident earlier in the Afghan war, four Canadians soldiers were killed in 2002 when a U.S. plane mistakenly dropped a bomb on Canadian forces as they trained. That incident caused bitter feelings for many in Canada and has lingered as a rhetorical touchstone for those who oppose the alliance of Canada with the United States in the war in Afghanistan.