National Defence committee  I would just add that from my experience working with the Afghan national security forces, it starts with the leadership. That's the essential element. The Libyans are also going to face other challenges as they develop their security forces. It's a tribal mosaic there, as I know you appreciate, sir.

National Defence committee  That's a question we've asked specifically in light of recent allegations regarding the nature of that death. It is too early to tell right now, but clearly it exacerbates a circumstance in the country, as we've already discussed in terms of the way ahead. I would say there is the potential there, sir, and we're watching that closely.

National Defence committee  Thanks, sir. Concern for our families is a very high priority, one of the highest for us. I can answer your question briefly, as Barbara did the last one. It will be as soon as possible. But yes, we've already started planning, reconnaissance has been done on the ground to see exactly what we have to do to get everybody recovered, so we're well postured to be able to act rapidly.

National Defence committee  There are certain advantages, in terms of the redeployment now. Clearly, air elements can self-deploy and redeploy, unlike army units that are dependent on strategic airlift. It's much the same sort of thing that we're doing to recover our assets from Afghanistan, as you were briefed in the last session.

National Defence committee  Could I just add to that? We're not seeing any specific threat right now to western folks in Libya that would cause us to have any concerns at this stage.

National Defence committee  Sir, there are a lot of munitions in Libya. General Bouchard in his statement over the weekend alluded to the scope of the problem, and it is large. Colonel Gadhafi, before his demise, did a very good job of amassing quite an arsenal, and through a series of steps and processes that have been described we are coming to grips with that collectively as an international community.

National Defence committee  Are you asking me, sir?

National Defence committee  I'll speak to that generally, ma'am, if that's all right. We have a very elaborate process, which we refer to as targeting. That takes into account the definition of a legitimate military target and it does a very thorough assessment of collateral damage. I don't mean to dehumanize this in any way, but it takes into account the potential in a strike for civilian casualties and the expected degree of infrastructure damage we would cause by striking that target.

National Defence committee  I can certainly address that. Ma'am, I've got to tell you, I haven't heard any criticisms of the Canadian participation in the operation, or any suggestion that our contribution to the mission was insufficient in comparison to others. The first point I'd like to make is that as we go into these alliance operations—and we've been in NATO from the outset—we approach these in a team environment where everyone contributes.

National Defence committee  I've been called a lot of things....

National Defence committee  Right. Thanks, sir; that's a good question. I appreciate your invitation to provide my personal reflections. I'm always sort of careful when I do so, because I've fulfilled a number of jobs over the years. When I was in Croatia, for example, as part of the United Nations force with the 2nd Battalion of my regiment I was a company commander, so I was seeing things from a very tactical perspective.

National Defence committee  You raise a good point, sir. The Canadian Forces has a lot of capacity. But the last time I was in front of the committee I was talking about some of my experiences in Afghanistan, just as we were talking about the security force development. My own personal experience is that if you're talking about civilian police forces, it is best done civilian police force to civilian police force.

National Defence committee  It's difficult to respond, because there's quite a lot of speculation. I guess, sir, I could probably respond best in terms of the principles. Clearly we are in a situation, if we go back to the genesis of Unified Protector and Operation Mobile, of an external agency—NATO, in this case—having a mandate to come in and protect Libyan civilians from the stated designs of their own regime.

National Defence committee  Thank you, sir. It's good to see you again. With respect to your first question, on resources, I would just refer back to my opening statement. In the Royal Canadian Navy, HMCS Vancouver, there were about 275 personnel deployed on that vessel. In the air operations, the fighters that we have, the seven CF-18s, the two maritime patrol aircraft, and the Polaris and the Hercules tankers that we have been using, and then we have about 80-odd people, so that is about another 275 folks there.

National Defence committee  Again it's a good question and one we're carefully monitoring. I think this is the substance of the debate we were referring to earlier, in terms of where the discussions are going. What we've said and General Bouchard has said in his comments over the past weekend is that there is no organized ability for the pro-Gadhafi forces to mount a concerted threat to civilians.