From the Canadian Press: NATO’s secretary general, who recently ruffled feathers by urging Canada to extend its combat mission in Afghanistan beyond 2011, quietly scuttled a planned visit to Ottawa that was supposed to take place over the last few days . . .

Alliance officials were not immediately available for comment. But Canadian government officials, speaking on background, said the cancellation happened at the last minute after an air force Challenger had been tasked to pick up the secretary general in Norfolk, Va., where he was participating in a change-of-command ceremony.

In Norfolk, Fogh Rasmussen lamented the growing backlash to the war in Western countries . . .

“If we were to walk away … soon there will be terrorists in Afghanistan and attacking from Afghanistan, profound instability in Pakistan and in Central Asia. This is simply not a future we can allow to happen.”

Such remarks – especially if they were repeated in Ottawa – would likely have been incendiary in the current political climate, where the Conservative minority government’s fate hangs by a thread.

His earlier musings about Canada staying in the fight drew swift, firm responses from federal cabinet ministers, who insisted the July 2011 deadline remains firm. (photo: Department of National Defence, Canada)