Is Jack on medication?

How can the NDP have any credibility if they can't even support the mission in Afghanistan?

Roughly 2,000 combat troops are headed to the war-torn country over the next couple of months. While the NDP supports the current mission, "there should be no new troops beyond what has been scheduled," Karl Belanger, a spokesman for NDP Leader Jack Layton, told reporters in the back of the campaign plane Thursday night.

The statement contradicted the party's position earlier in the day, which favoured a halt to the deployment while Parliament debated the matter.

The reversal could does defuse potential international concern about Canada's commitment.

Ottawa approved the mission in southern Afghanistan months ago, involving troops from several NATO countries.

Layton was asked directly during a campaign stop in St. John's, N.L., why he favoured an immediate halt to the build-up of Canadian troops.

There has been no formal public debate - or declaration of war, he replied.

"Canadians need to have a debate on whether they want Canadian service personnel to become deeply involved in an initiative that's pressed forward by (U.S. President) George Bush," said Layton.

He said he doesn't want the country to drift into a war blindly or secretly.

The confusion over whether the party favoured a halt to the current deployment prompted a 20-minute delay in Layton's plane from Newfoundland as he sat in his car in frantic cellphone contact with party's war room.

At first, staff, including Belanger defended the position, until strategists sorted out what they meant by "new troops."

The initial deployment of Canadian soldiers to the region was mostly a humanitarian mission under the umbrella of the United Nations, but Layton said the nature of the mission has changed.

They aren't sure what they support, they can't be sure what the party position is, and yet they claim they can make Parliament work.