National Defence committee  There is no foolproof device you can use against IEDs, and I'm not suggesting that these vehicles will completely eliminate the threat. But where we use them, this will allow the soldiers to deal with IEDs, which they might detect earlier on. Typically these are around populatio

National Defence committee  I am not exactly sure, but since it is a relatively off-the-shelf buy, I think they will come in relatively rapidly. I don't have the exact dates. I could get that information and submit it to the committee.

National Defence committee  I think that over the length of the mission since we have been in Afghanistan, since 2001, the support we've received from Canadians and the governments has been first-rate, to give the soldiers what they need on the ground. When I was in Kabul, I know the things that were going

National Defence committee  Certainly over the last several weeks a fair degree of work has gone into the policy regarding post-transfer of detainees, and there are senior officials who have been intimately involved. You'll know that on May 3 an enhanced arrangement for the transfer was signed between our a

National Defence committee  The details, though, of that activity I think are best addressed by the senior officials who put that together, and I would encourage the committee to bring those individuals back. I'm not an expert on the post-transfer piece. Certainly Canadian Forces are not going to be involve

National Defence committee  I think it's not for me to comment on how folks might necessarily look at the mission. Canadians can be proud of what their Canadian Forces are accomplishing there, each and every soldier—and that's the strength of it: those individual soldiers who are working their buns off, if

National Defence committee  No. I would simply say that is done at multiple levels. We're looking for a clear level. Certainly the senior commanders will have established what the protocols are, but it is the people on the ground who need to make the call. They need to decide whether that area is safe to go

National Defence committee  Again, I think this is an excellent question. I can only go so far in an open forum. I think we are very concerned on this issue of arms flowing into Afghanistan. We certainly have a lot of focus on Pakistan. I mentioned in my briefing some of the border meetings, us trying to

National Defence committee  You've seen open press reporting on concern with Iranian weapons. We do need to watch that closely. We do want to give Afghans a chance here to stand up as a country, and the flow of foreign arms into the country is not going to be helpful in that regard. I really can't go much f

National Defence committee  No. The Taliban are indiscriminate in their use of these weapons. If we were to track IEDs, for example, more local Afghans than ISAF soldiers are killed, maimed, and wounded by these weapons. Typically, if an IED is exploded within a city centre, many local Afghans are hurt.

National Defence committee  Certainly. As I've mentioned to you several times, the challenges in Afghanistan are immense. I try to bring to the committee some positive light on what is going on there. The first tragedy is that Afghans and Canadian Forces soldiers lose their lives and are maimed. Without d

National Defence committee  I think your question is very important, and as a military officer I can say it weighs on us all heavily as we conduct operations to ensure the safety and security of Afghans. I might suggest that from a NATO perspective you ask General Henault, as he comes forward, to address th

National Defence committee  The investigation into the Chinook helicopter has already commenced. It is a very difficult endeavour to determine what happened. We must get on the ground, and I would anticipate that in the weeks and months ahead there will certainly be a preliminary report that we will use int

National Defence committee  Those specific levels of detail, the numbers, I don't have at my fingertips. I could certainly take that on notice and commit to report back to you, but I don't have the specific numbers on hand.

National Defence committee  I will start again. The addition of this ANA capability will complete the force generation requirement of the Afghan National Army to sustain two operational kandaks and a brigade headquarters on a full-time basis within the Kandahar province. This will considerably improve the