Canada in Afghanistan beyond 2011

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says her government would like to see Canada stay in Afghanistan longer than Parliament has planned.

"We would obviously like to see some sort of support continue," Clinton says in a CTV interview.

Jack Granatstein, a senior fellow at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, says with our troops burning out, the Harper government might be looking at a different kind of commitment.

"Keeping the provincial reconstruction team, helping in training, helping in the military academy in Kabul. There’s any number of things we could do," offers Granatstein.

He points out a new type of mission could be a popular option, given that a lot of lives and a lot of money have been spent on the country, for it to be abandoned before things really improve.