Readers of CQ know that I follow Canadian politics and have become something of a Canada-phile ever since the Gomery Inquiry. Canadians, I have found, are friendly, gracious people, and their country has a well-deserved reputation for hospitality. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the Canadian military, which has a long tradition of honorable service, and they are currently adding to and enhancing that reputation in Afghanistan in the fight against radical Islamist terrorists.

Too many Americans seem disinterested in our northern neighbor and close ally. I'm always delighted when Americans take an interest in Canadians -- even when those Americans are Democrats. Michelle Malkin reports that the Democratic Party made a big show of "supporting the troops", and to be fair, they didn't specify their nationality:

That picture looked pretty strange to one of Michelle's military readers, and a little poking around turned up where that uniform is worn -- in Canada:

When looking at the two pictures, one can easily see that the devices worn in both photos match, especially the red wreath. The second photo is found on the Canadian Army website and is a picture taken during Remembrance Day in 2005. The beret color seems a giveaway as well. Rifle-green berets are worn by the US Army Special Forces groups. No matter what color beret worn in the Army, however, the beret itself will carry the insignia of the unit, and this beret has a strange lack of insignia. It almost appears to have been photoshopped out. Also, take a look at the soldiers in the background. I'm not as certain about this as I am with the soldier in the foreground, but the uniforms worn appear also to be Canadian Army. The shade of green looks wrong for American uniforms, and I'm not familiar with the red border on the collar in the US Army.

If the Democrats can't tell the difference between American troops and foreign soldiers, perhaps we have to wonder whether their support means much in any circumstance. We certainly have to wonder whether a political party so out of touch with the greatest military force in human history has any business leading it. However, if they wanted to just show a little love to the excellent men and women in the Canadian Army, I'm on board.

UPDATE: Charles at LGF found the original photograph, and confirms that the insignia got photoshopped out, and rather crudely. Note the crop job that attempted to turn this proud Canadian into an American (hat tip CQ reader Michael G).

The Democrats have some explaining to do. All joking aside, this is a pathetic embarassment, and especially the obvious photoshopping of the insignia. They can't argue that they support our troops when they can't recognize them.

UPDATE II: It's a poppy, not a red wreath, as at least a couple of e-mails have pointed out. As Bar Code King points out in the comments (and I forgot), Commonwealth troops traditionally wear these on Remembrance Day.

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