Mr. Chair, for my colleague across the way I would suggest that there are two things that are regrettable, one a small regret and one a rather large regret. The first regret is the fact that Canadians needed to know and should have known what was going on when our troops were going to Afghanistan. I commend him for having obtained some first-hand information but the difficulty was that his government did not follow through and make clear what Canada's commitment was to the people of Afghanistan. The former Liberal government had that responsibility, which is one regret.
The most serious regret is the fact that as Canadians we live in a democracy and our proceedings are going out on CPAC and may end up on national television which, I can guarantee, will end up being seen by the fans of Al Jazeera, who are the Taliban and who are watching our proceedings here tonight.
I find it really regrettable that the defence critic from the NDP would have made the statement, “the uncertain prospects for the success of this mission”. I wonder if my colleague would agree that the sense of defeatism, the sense of backing off that is being expressed by the NDP is not getting in the way of the valued soldiers who we have on the ground. Believe me, the Taliban themselves said over the weekend that they were watching.