[Cicero]

How could this happen, that Canadian officials were caught so completely off guard on such a critical issue?

Chretien was playing golf with bill clinton in the Carribean?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

What did the US have to do with a Swiss agency's decision ?

[meenie]

It could be as simple as the reason Canada was caught off guard because they were not on guard. I love these expressions that diplomats and bureaucrats use. The tendency of nations throughout the world is to stretch the fabric of truth until it rips.