Canada Braces as More Troops Head for the Perils of Afghanistan

TORONTO, Feb. 17 -- When Glyn Berry, a Canadian diplomat, was killed by a suicide bomber last month in Afghanistan, many here saw it as a sign of more bloodshed to come.

Canada, which has stayed out of the Iraq war, is ramping up its forces this month to patrol the most dangerous area of Afghanistan and to assume command of 6,000 NATO troops as the United States turns over more of the fight to its allies.

The handoff coincides with a spike in Iraq-style roadside bombs, ambush attacks and suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Military and political leaders here worry the Canadian public, already sour on America and the Bush administration's "war on terror," is not psychologically ready for news of casualties.

And some predict that Canada's higher profile in Afghanistan may bring attacks home, as in London and Madrid.

"I don't think it's sunk in to the Canadian public how the world has changed. There is a high likelihood we will have significant losses of our troops," said John Watson, head of CARE-Canada, a relief agency that has operated in Afghanistan since 1961.

"There is also a chance that we will have an attack in Canada. Unlike the States or the United Kingdom, we haven't had to deal with that kind of incident" in more than 40 years, he said.

Canada's military brass has stepped up the blunt rhetoric in a campaign to prepare the public. Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defense, has called the Taliban in Afghanistan "detestable murderers and scumbags," unusually crude language for Canadians.

"This is a dangerous mission. There is an enemy. We have had casualties," Hillier said by telephone Thursday. "But what we want to achieve there is worthwhile. Things that are worth doing are sometimes dangerous."

Some see this as a shift in the mission of the Canadian military. Since the Korean War, Canadian forces have been deployed almost exclusively for peacekeeping. Canada stayed out of Vietnam, played a support role in the Persian Gulf War, and is proud of its image as a neutral party.

"We're not really aggressive. People around the world know us as peacekeepers, not as people who go out and seek conflict," said Marcel Durette, 52, as he ate lunch in downtown Toronto. "Canada going after the Taliban? I find that hard to believe."

"I think there will be more of an outcry if people start seeing body bags and coffins," said Andy Cherniak, 41, a counselor eating at a nearby counter.

Joel J. Sokolsky, who is dean of arts and teaches at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, said he thinks there will be public support for the Canadian mission "as long as the government is clear about what it is.