Canada demands Fox apology for 'despicable' comments
Because of this!!!!By By Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The Canadian government has demanded an apology from Fox News for "dispicable" comments made on one of its late-night programs.
The government was incensed by a recent talk-show segment on the American conservative cable network that poked fun at Canada and the Canadian military. A group of pundits took turns ridiculing Canada and its reliability as an ally in fighting terrorism last week as four more Canadian soldiers were killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan.
"These are despicable, hurtful and ignorant comments," Dan Dugas, a spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay, said Monday.
"No one is laughing and they owe Canada - and, more importantly, the families of each one of our fallen heroes - an apology for their ill-informed mistakes."
Canadian soldiers have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and have spent the last four years in the country's most violent region.
Canada has lost 116 soldiers in Afghanistan.
The country says it will pull out most of its 2,500 troops in Kandahar when its current combat mission expires in 2011.
News of that impending withdrawal, and the army chief's comments that the military would need a year's hiatus to regroup and refurbish, served as a launching pad for members of the Fox panel to mock Canada.
The five-minute Fox News segment aired last week on the late-night program "Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld" and it was later posted on YouTube.
The segment features American panelists suggesting Canadian soldiers need time off for "manicures and pedicures."
The item aired after Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, the Canadian Forces Chief of Land Staff, said the military would need a one-year break from operations after the difficult mission in Afghanistan winds down.
"The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white capri pants," Gutfeld said with a sneer, adding: "Isn't this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country? They have no army."
Another panelist, Doug Benson, said he was unaware Canadian troops were on the ground in Afghanistan.
"I didn't even know they were in the war. I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight - you go chill in Canada," he said.
The segment was posted online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?vtcJn5XlbSFk) under the title, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate Countries."
So far, more than 3,000 people have posted responses to the clip, which also makes fun of RCMP officers and their traditional red uniforms.
