Lots of talk about stable vs unstable, all very true: here is what it means in practical terms:
If the design is statically unstable, meaning the CG is aft of the mystical Aerodynamic center, meaning that when the nose pitches up (as in combat maneuvers) the tendancy is for the nose to pitch up further. So then canards would actually require a downward force to prevent the aircraft from continuing to pitch up into a stall. This may explain why they look like they are at such a low angle of attack. They may be trying to pitch the nose back down.


As a side note, planes like the F-16 (conventional config) require lift on the tail to counter this pitch-up tendancy, which actually adds lift when you need it most.

cheers

John