Late yesterday, US vice president Joseph R. Biden placed a call to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper to inform his ally about US plans for Afghan policy.

In lieu of a call from Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden placed a call to Harper about the Afghan mission, a White House official told Canwest News Service.

Meantime, the leaders of France, the UK, Italy, Afghanistan and myriad other states received calls directly from POTUS.

What's the deal? Did Mr. Harper not merit a call from the president himself?

There are a few ways to look at this.

First, this could be a slight. It could be a poor decision by an administration which has made a habit out of mistreating its allies. (Damned-near insulting gifts to the UK prime minister, playing with Israeli-Palestinian policies willy-nilly and without resolve and firmness, screwing the Czechs and Poles out of the BMD system they were promised, implying Canada is soft on terror, etc.)

Second, it could be a pointed message that the US is not happy about Canada's firm refusal to commit to an extended combat role after 2011.

Third, it could be something different altogether, and I suspect it is.

Obama reportedly pressed all leaders with whom he spoke on the subject of enhancing their presence in Afghanistan. All other foreign leaders, reports indicate, were asked by the president to enhance their presence in Afghanistan as part of a revised coalition strategy to neutralise the threat posed by insurgents and terrorists in that region.

My guess is that the president directed VP Biden to call Canada as a means of achieving a few things. First, it would indicate to other countries that the US is grateful for the incredible work Canada has done in Afghanistan and the enormous sacrifice we've made there. It indicates that we will no longer be pressed to extend our stay in the combat zones.

Relatedly, having Biden call also lowers the profile of the telephone call and enables Mr. Harper to not have to field a fresh round of questions from reporters regarding the nature of a conversation he had with Mr. Obama. This protects the Canada-US relationship from some further public discussion about Canada's refusal to acquiesce to US requests on Afghanistan. It helps keep Afghanistan out of the Canadian news cycle, which helps Mr. Harper and the government he leads. This is courteous.

To me, having Biden call Mr. Harper instead of Mr. Obama calling himself signals the US administration's willingness to put this baby to bed and accept the fact that Canada has done its bit in Afghanistan and that we're going to absent ourselves from direct combat after 2011.

Deft move by the administration.