Equating the Candian mission in Afghantistan with the second world war is intentionally misleading and unhelpful. Yes, the Taliban were a bunch of repressive nutters and getting rid of them certainly seems like a good thing…but the fact of the matter is we are now embroiled in what is unlikely to be a cleanly ‘resolveable’ situation. When the Harpotron and his ilk glibly say we need to stay until the ‘job is done’ what they really mean is ‘as long as we can earn political credit’ for supporting the mission. In the real world this would mean we’d be hanging in there for about twenty to thirty years to help stabilize the situation. Maybe that should be a new policy…each of the wealthier nations involved in NATO commit to sticking with one trouble spot for decades, lending security forces until such time as the local antagonists are understood to be detrimental to local happiness.

At the very least I suppose I should be grateful that our military folks aren’t under the Bush-like delusion that you can simply march in somewhere and blow up the bad guys and then be showered with Rose Petals for your efforts. Wakey wakey!