The journalists on the leaders’ tours seem to agree that Stephen Harper’s commitment to bring our troops home–IN THREE YEARS-has taken the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan off the table for the duration of the election campaign.

The leaders need to think again, because this war is widening.

Under the direct orders of President George W. Bush, according to a story in the New York Times, U.S. commandos are carrying out cross border incursions from Afghanistan into Pakistan to go after the Taliban. Admiral Mike Mullen, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff signaled yesterday that Washington was adopting "a more comprehensive strategy" to combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The government of Pakistan sharply responded to the new U.S. strategy in a statement that insisted that "no external force is allowed to conduct operations…inside Pakistan." In addition, to commandos, the U.S. has begun deploying pilotless drones inside Pakistan. The timing is instructive. Just days ago, Pakistan’s new President, Asif Ali Zardari, was sworn into office, a further step in the return to civilian rule. Washington is now pushing Zardari around, an exceptionally dangerous tactic in this volatile country and one calculated to undermine the forces of democracy.

A year ago, Barack Obama was foolish enough to say that he would favour U.S. incursions into Pakistani border regions to go after Al Qaeda leaders with or without the authorization of the government of Pakistan.

The Canadian units in Kandahar are in the middle of all this, continually being hit by Taliban fighters entering Afghanistan from Pakistani territory. The solution for us, though, is to end a mission whose purposes and trajectory Canadians do not support.

Widening the war is appallingly dangerous, with potential consequences far greater than those in the Afghan conflict.

Canada’s political leaders need to speak.