National Defence committee  I just point out that our involvement in the mission was based on a series of UN Security Council resolutions and done in the context of an alliance. Those deliberations, as I mentioned, will be ongoing tomorrow within the North Atlantic Council, which will determine our posture from this forward.

National Defence committee  There has been a request to extend us for a couple more months. This is what is making this discussion, not only at the North Atlantic Council but at the UN, something that is being carefully monitored. This is a political discussion that will have to be resolved.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question, sir. Those are both really good questions. I'd speak to the issue of liaison. There is no liaison between the Canadian Forces and the NTC forces; however, there has been NTC military representation at meetings. Yesterday, the chief was in a meeting in Doha that was sponsored by Qatar.

National Defence committee  Clearly we're in a period of transition, as has been pointed out, and in a period of transition there's a lot of wait and see. But the indications we have at this stage are that the intent is to reintegrate the militia forces that coalesced to fight the Gadhafi regime and to professionalize them.

National Defence committee  Thanks, sir. Maybe what I can do is just address the military portion of that and invite Barbara to make any accompanying comments. Our responsibility as a military force is to be able to respond to direction that we receive from the Government of Canada, based on the requirements to participate in operations to enforce the goals of our country, and we maintain that posture.

National Defence committee  Thanks very much for the question. It's an excellent one, and it's one that certainly preoccupies someone like me in my current job. Before addressing some of the specifics there, I will say that in terms of lessons learned as a matter of process, it is quite normal for us to go through a very formal review process.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much. That's a good question. I will answer in my mother tongue. The Canadian Forces has not received any request to assist in the process that Marie has described. We're aware of the situation. If a request came, we would consider where the Canadian Forces would contribute best to the programs that are ongoing under the auspices of the United Nations.

National Defence committee  Thank you, sir. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to brief you on Operation MOBILE, Canada's military contribution to the international effort to respond to the crisis in Libya. You will recall that NATO's Operation Unified Protector and Canada's Operation MOBILE were initiated in response to United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973, enforcing the arms embargo on Libya and protecting civilians and civilian-populated areas through the creation of a no-fly zone over Libya.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks very much. What you're referring to is the process of targeting that the military forces use in considering the application of force, irrespective of the environment in which it occurs. For security reasons, I will not go into the details of that process. But I will tell you that it is an elaborate process with a number of mechanisms to ensure that the damage on the ground is no more than is necessary to achieve the military objective, that it safeguards civilian life to the fullest extent possible, and that our military pilots, notwithstanding all of those mechanisms, at the end of the day provide the final safeguard in the application of force by deciding whether to expend their ordnance or not.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, indeed.

Foreign Affairs committee  The Royal Canadian Air Force--absolutely, sir.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, sir, you'll recall we were involved in Kosovo as well.

Foreign Affairs committee  When the situation on the ground requires a suspension of the NATO effort, the commander who's directing the operation takes that decision, as he has done recently. Also, I would point out that the NTC, the anti-Gaddafi forces, have also put in place measures to pause the fighting to allow some of these activities to occur.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, madam. If you have no objection, I am going to reply in my mother tongue. Thanks for your question. It's a good one. We're closely monitoring the situation in Sirte right now. Sirte is a pivotal stronghold for the pro-regime forces. The fact that it's also Colonel Gadhafi's home town adds a certain symbolism to it.

Foreign Affairs committee  The situation is being managed by the commander on the ground. So where the pockets of resistance are--Bani Walid and Sirte--and where those civilian populations have been threatened, force has been applied. Given the situation on the ground, the commander will apply a level of force appropriate to the situation, so it changes regularly.