Our own quagmire in the making

At the same time as top defense officials suggest that Afghanistan will likely be a 20-year mission, word comes out that civilian defence employees may face extended tours of duty:

The president of the Union of National Defence Employees said Monday that the chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, told him during recent talks that civilian support personnel on bases across the country could be called upon for extended overseas deployments.

Remember that the long-term international presence in Afghanistan is largely in response to the U.S.' need to withdraw troops in order to send them to Iraq. The effect is that the same problems facing the U.S. (overuse of military personnel, increased danger to troops and resulting recruitment difficulties) will now spread to Canada and other states. Meanwhile, the unstable situation in Afghanistan will get all the worse now that it'll be monitored by troops from less powerful states, supported by employees unaccustomed to being overseas.

Just a couple more ways in which the Iraq invasion has made us all less safe.