Jordan Michael Smith is a writer living in D.C.

For Lieutenant-Colonel Doug Martin, the idea was perfect. The Canadian military attaché wanted to set up a mock Afghan village in front of the Canadian embassy in downtown DC. There would be simulated IED blasts, armed soldiers, and Afghan actors faking critical wounds. And the blasts would first go off  in the middle of the day, just in time for lunch. “I came up with it on my own,” Martin said. “It was all me--all me.”

Martin hired Lockheed Martin to transport a virtual village used by Canadian soldiers in training into the courtyard of the Pennsylvania Avenue embassy. According to the official schedule, the improvised explosive devices were intended to “cause havoc in the Village.” The Taliban was going to attack a souk and injure a civilian, who would be cared for by a Canadian medic. “It would have given people an example of what our soldiers face,” he said.

The event was part of a two-day forum yesterday and today at the embassy on Canada’s contributions in Afghanistan.  “Americans often hear about coalition soldiers dying, but nine times out of ten they don’t know it’s a Canadian dying,” Martin said. “We’re so close in our relationship that it’s important for them to know what Canadians are doing.”