As inside sources have reported over the last few days, Amazon is closing in on possible locations for its second headquarters — and Arlington’s Crystal City neighborhood appears to be at the top of the list. There are plenty of reasons for Washingtonians to dread the arrival of HQ2. Horrendous traffic will turn positively infernal. Rent, already mind-bogglingly high, will become unconscionable.

But Amazon’s HQ2 won’t just bring higher rents and more gridlock — it could unintentionally make a national security workforce crisis even worse.