Post-2011 AFG Mission: Civilian Contractors Helping Hunt IEDs?

Kudos to David Pugliese with CanWest/the Ottawa Citizen for spotting a tidbit from the U.S. military’s info-machine, leading to this story:

Canada is sending two surveillance aircraft to Afghanistan in a move some defence analysts see as laying the groundwork for a military mission in Kandahar beyond the announced 2011 pullout date.

Although the federal government has not made any details public, the U.S. army issued a news release on Monday that an American company had been awarded a $12-million contract to modify two aircraft being provided by Canada. Work on the surveillance planes is to be done in the U.S. and in Afghanistan and completed by June 15, 2011….

Similar planes are already doing low-key but interesting work over Afghanistan helping track down bad guys and IEDs.

I'm looking forward to hearing more, especially about the potential for civilians flying these planes, but IF this is what the Canadian government has in mind, this would be a good way to contribute if it does end up being "no more troops left in Afghanistan outside the Embassy in Kabul" by the end of 2011.

Now, all we need is someone to say it out loud.

A bit more here.