Mr. Speaker, quite frankly, he is wrong. It is simply not true that these kinds of discussions are not taking place in other parts of the world. The reports and the quotes very clearly indicated that the same discussions are taking place in other democratic venues for the simple reason that people can read the facts.
They can read the facts, they can draw their conclusions, and we need to look at alternatives of how to accomplish the ends that I think all of us seek in Afghanistan.
He cited the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom defence minister said in July 2007, “The solutions to narcotics, security and establishing the rule of law are political, not military”.
I believe he cited the Dutch. Lieutenant Colonel Tak, who is the Dutch commander in Uruzgan said, “Talking to the Taliban is essential”.
I have quoted the president of the European Union and the NATO secretary general as well. I can cite quotations that go exactly in the same direction as what the NDP has proposed for the rest of this evening.
It is simply untrue to say that other countries are not having these same discussions and other countries are not having these same proposals. We are having these discussions and proposals in various parts of the world. That is the reality and that is our goal as democratic legislators, to have that kind of debate.
I hope the evidence I presented convinces the parliamentary secretary to understand that this is not just a debate taking place with the NDP but in various democratic bodies around the world.