National Defence committee  One of our challenges is internal. I will say candidly, it is communication and the flow of information, so we get visibility and we're able to give visibility to all the amazing work going on at ground level. I'd like to share with you a piece that appeared in the Moncton Times & Transcript today, which was a letter written by an officer, a Major Blair Baker, who just came back from Afghanistan.

National Defence committee  “Throughout Afghanistan”, and this is at the Kandahar level and the regional level...this is Major Blair Baker: ...there have been five million refugees repatriated and over five million children are now enrolled in primary schools, many of whom are girls. The efforts and sacrifices --and these are the poignant parts of what he says-- made by Canadian soldiers and aid agencies on the international stage in the province of Kandahar has led to significant contribution of funds from several nations to assist in many projects that aid in development and are improving the life of the Afghan citizen.

National Defence committee  You're suggesting that reconstruction and security are mutually exclusive. I don't agree with you there; I think that they are quite complementary. Our conceptualization of the mission is based on the complementary nature of reconstruction, capacity building and security. We are servicemen and women, soldiers; that's what we do.

National Defence committee  General David Richards, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, explained — and I think the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Minister of National Defence basically said the same thing — that there may be as much as 60 per cent of the Afghan population, especially in the South, which still hasn't decided if it will support the government or the insurgents.

National Defence committee  I missed the last part of what you said.

National Defence committee  I'm not aware of something like that being said, but clearly if it was, I think from a soldier's perspective they would just ignore it, quite frankly.

National Defence committee  There you go.

National Defence committee  That's an interesting question. I would have to think about that one a little bit, because to be perfectly honest, in my day-to-day job I'm just not that focused on Iraq, but on Afghanistan and the other 19 missions we have around the world—3,000 soldiers, sailors, and airmen and airwomen deployed around the world.

National Defence committee  I suppose it's possible. It's not something that I honestly have watched that closely, and therefore I can't give you a really helpful answer to it.

National Defence committee  No.

National Defence committee  I think, irrespective of your view of what the specific solution might be to the narcotics problem in Afghanistan, everyone will agree that it is a huge problem. It's a huge challenge. You're talking to a soldier, again, and I will try to stay in my lane as a soldier and say to you that we do not get directly involved in eradication operations and so on.

National Defence committee  What is in place in Afghanistan before they leave?

National Defence committee  There are actually few things I am more proud of than the way we are able to look after our men and women in Afghanistan when they fall victim to an ambush, or an IED strike, or whatever else it might be. It starts with having trained an appropriate number of soldiers—not medics, but soldiers—in tactical combat casualty care, which actually has proven to be life-saving.

National Defence committee  A short response? I was hoping to give a long one. On two or three visits overseas, on the day I landed there was a situation where Canadians were either killed or seriously wounded. I had an opportunity to go, literally within hours, to the place where it happened and talk with soldiers, to see how they react and how they reacted to what are extremely traumatic incidents.

National Defence committee  What are the biggest challenges we are facing? I think the first challenge actually is from a Canadian whole-of-government perspective. This is our first experience collectively, the Department of Foreign Affairs, CIDA, police forces, the RCMP, and there are other government departments involved as well, engaged in a concerted, relatively coherent approach to stabilizing, securing, reconstructing, and developing in an active war zone, which is effectively what we have in the south of Afghanistan right now.