Foreign Affairs committee  I can't give you a detailed answer, Madam, except to say that my understanding is that the 3,000 marines who are going in now for a seven-month mission are the ones who are scheduled to come out in November also.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, first of all, I would say that we, as soldiers, but then we as part of the whole-of-government approach from Canada, working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and CIDA, work with the government structures inside of Kandahar province right up through to the national level in Kabul all the time.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sir, there are actually two pieces. The first part is that the 3,000 divides down. There's a manoeuvre group. They will work for NATO, and then there are about another 1,000 out of that 3,000 that are actually going to go directly into training the police organizations, and that organization is still under OEF but is actually training police as opposed to conducting operations.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, sir. Can I just say, first of all, that I think the opening of the joint intelligence centres is actually an excellent move. It's a step forward. I was in Pakistan on the last day of the week that I was in Afghanistan, and I had the opportunity to talk to their chief of general staff who runs the army, General Kayani, and the head of their intelligent services, both of whom are much engaged in this.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sir, Madam, what I would do is quote President Karsai, who said that Kandahar province is “the centre of gravity” for his country. There is where the Taliban first developed. That is their homestay, if you will, and that is where the threat is most significant. That is where the efforts are required, because as Kandahar province goes, so will the rest of the country.

Foreign Affairs committee  Unfortunately, I did not understand you completely, Madam.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sir, I'll start with the second question first, if you don't mind. There are two military missions in Afghanistan: the OEF and the ISAF mission. The key issue here is to ensure coordination, so that we don't have a conflict during operations. We work with the ISAF mission under the control of NATO.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, thank you for that welcome. I've been called many worse things than bookends, that's for sure, so thank you for the opportunity to be here. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your invitation to appear here today. But I have to tell you that it is difficult for me to see where I can be of service after seeing how Canada's mission in Afghanistan has evolved since the beginning of the year.

National Defence committee  I would say, in addition to all that the minister has said, there are three things. One thing is clearly identifying post-traumatic stress disorder and the mental challenges that our soldiers face. They are not new to us, but we simply need to recognize that. Two, leadership has a key role to play here in supporting, sustaining, and helping people recover when they have those challenges.

National Defence committee  It's the judge advocate general.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Minister, and thank you, Mr. Chair. We are looking at this, obviously, as something to fill the gap between vigorously waving at people who are suspected of being a threat and shooting them. So we are actually looking at this as a way to protect the health of people who are around our soldiers on a high-risk mission as opposed to endangering their health.

National Defence committee  Minister, thank you. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the apology for handling General Atkinson with slight difficulty, but let me just say that we brought General Atkinson here at your request, on the direction of the minister, to provide a briefing to you. If he shows up and is told he's wrong, we're wasting his time, my time, and your time in having him come here.

National Defence committee  Mr. Coderre, I met with representatives from that group. I don't remember the name, but I think there were five or six of them who met with Mr. O'Connor and me, yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  In fact, I have not received any reports myself, Minister, or we would have acted on them.

Foreign Affairs committee  In fact, Minister, I would second that by saying our troops have already acted. I think you saw a TV clip about a year ago, maybe a little less, when one of our non-commissioned officers in the middle of a combat operation with Afghans had some concerns that the safety of a detainee was at question, and he acted.