National Defence committee  Mr. Bouchard put a very important question, and we must understand the answer. People are not withdrawing and leaving. Various countries are rallying to the cause. We must not confuse the situation in Irak with what is happening in Afghanistan. The United Nations see a very clear

National Defence committee  Thank you. With respect to diplomacy in Afghanistan, and as an instrument to resolve and overcome the obstacles we are dealing with, all of the key partners of Afghanistan could play a big role. We need to have an enhanced dialogue on security not only with Pakistan but with all

National Defence committee  You're absolutely right that there's room for debate about the effectiveness of aid, and let that debate take place, but let it not convince anyone that nothing has been done. Quite frankly, those donors who have been most principled in their approach, who have chosen implementat

National Defence committee  With respect to what would happen if Canada and other countries were to withdraw their mission from the NATO mission in Afghanistan, as James just said, Afghanistan would be plunged back into civil war. The investment and achievements of the past five years--institutional achieve

National Defence committee  Yes, I thought that was the question. With regard to the impact of pictures of the Taliban distributing food, obviously someone was--

National Defence committee  I'm not aware of that report, so I can't really comment on its significance. We welcome debate about the insurgency and about drug policy, but the United Nations is not going to countenance any move to make opium poppy cultivation legal in Afghanistan or anywhere else. It simpl

National Defence committee  Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting us here today. I would also like to thank you for the serious attention that you have paid to the Afghanistan file. The time was right and also crucial for the plight of this country. Following a quarter century of confl

Foreign Affairs committee  I give one line to each, Chair. On balance, you're absolutely right, the ratios are what they are. Everyone feels the paradox that this represents. But I have to emphasize that the sort of commitment that Canada has now made and that other countries are starting to make in devel

Foreign Affairs committee  Very quickly, the balanced approach, three-D development in concert with security, is not really debated with regard to Afghanistan. It's the consensus view that we need both. And after 2006 and early 2007, which saw impressive increases in the military commitment, everyone came

Foreign Affairs committee  In the South, where the Taliban is present, production continues. We therefore have to deal with the problem of security before implementing our eight-pillar strategy.

Foreign Affairs committee  On the question of governance in Kandahar, it's absolutely crucial to the success of the campaign today. I think a key observation is that those who have been involved in governance, to date, over the past four or five years, are not necessarily those who will serve the governmen

Foreign Affairs committee  Despite the scope of the measures undertaken in Afghanistan to support development and reconstruction, those measures have been insufficient to date.

Foreign Affairs committee  That is clear to everyone. One can't draw too many comparisons between Afghanistan and Bosnia. The situation is different. The international community took the responsibility for the administration of Bosnia, which entailed costs far beyond those related to our responsibilities

Foreign Affairs committee  We tried that strategy in 2002. Producers gave us, with open arms, a crop that was double the size of the previous years, while asking twice the previous year's price. Therefore, buying crops does not work. What has to be done is to implement the existing strategy for eliminatin

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for both questions. Pakistan, I think both of us noted, remains the partner of Afghanistan with whom we all need to work most intensively to solve some very key outstanding problems. Key to the solution is a recognition that the Taliban represents a threat to