Photo-Op Frames a Shot at Iran

Please "have KBR re-bid," Pascoe said, "for the privilege to work in Indonesia again."

KBR's response: "Contrary to these claims," a spokeswoman said, KBR "had only a limited role in these projects," adding that the Navy was "extremely pleased" with the service.

And besides, we should note, that the food KBR provides in the dining facility in the Green Zone in Baghdad is generally regarded as nothing short of superb, maybe not the Inn at Little Washington, but we're told it's great variety and quality.

O Canada, Now We Won't Forget Thee

The Canadian government's three-week subway poster campaign to remind Americans of our northern cousins' military efforts in Afghanistan has been a success, Canadian officials said last week.

Lots of "positive feedback" to the $18,000 campaign, says embassy spokesman Bernard Etzinger , from U.S. military personnel, Hill folks and others. Posters showing a Canadian soldier with Afghans were put in seven area subway stops -- especially at the Pentagon -- and places where riders change trains.

Why did the Canadians think the effort, which ended last week, was needed?

"We often get overlooked in the media," Etzinger said, but "we're shouldering a serious load" in Afghanistan, with about 2,300 troops and lots of aid and reconstruction projects. So far, 11 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed there and 46 soldiers have been wounded, Etzinger said.

But posters and banners hanging at subway stations? A bit old-fashioned, eh? "This is a tough media market," Etzinger observed, and the scheme has worked out so well that they're thinking of doing it in other cities.

Who knows? Might make folks forget the Canadians aren't members of the Coalition of the Willing.

Taking a Page From a Presidential PR Playbook

Duke University lacrosse team backers, turning to someone with experience in certain matters, have hired Bill Clinton 's former lawyer in a public relations campaign to argue that team members did not rape a woman at an off-campus party, the Associated Press reported last week.

Bob Bennett , who represented Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, is the spokesman for a group called the Committee for Fairness to Duke Families.