National Defence committee  This question concerns me directly because I am the spokesman responsible for promoting support from the people and the parliaments of every country that contributes to the mission. Therefore, I am highly aware of this issue. As we already heard, this is a great challenge. The p

National Defence committee  Can I add one thing? Everything Chris has said I agree with. You did refer, sir, to one point about the military having cash in hand and the effectiveness of that. I can tell you that the strongest, clearest impression that we in NATO have gotten, and certainly I have gotten fro

National Defence committee  On opium, I agree, and many militaries agree, that simply destroying crops is going to drive farmers into the arms of the Taliban, but the Afghan government is very clear that they wants drugs removed from the country. They believe it is very un-Islamic to do this, so it is their

National Defence committee  At 11:45 we have to be somewhere else.

National Defence committee  I'll do the NATO stuff. General Richards referred to a large percentage of the population looking to which force to back. They're not sure who's going to win. The Taliban is from there and we are not. It is very important that we continue not only to think but to express our l

National Defence committee  Of course.

National Defence committee  I could take three minutes and run through a few of them. Do you want to go first?

National Defence committee  I'll very happily leave the detention issue to my colleague from the United Nations. I'll only say that NATO's policy is 96 hours maximum, and then anyone detained is handed over to the Afghan authorities, with full notification to the International Red Cross. So there are no bla

National Defence committee  Thank you. Chris led an hour ago, so I'll take my turn. I hope we can both stick to 10 to 15 minutes, and then we'll have some time for questions. I will be brief. Let me thank you, at the outset, for inviting us. It's a real pleasure to meet with you. This is my first experien

Foreign Affairs committee  Chris has said most of it. I would say one thing. I think this number of 9:1 military spending to development is a red herring, because militaries cost a lot of money. It doesn't mean that you are necessarily disproportionate. Basically, to fly an Apache around and fire off weapo

Foreign Affairs committee  The number as of today would be around 37,000. I can tell you that the number in the south, where Canada is, has grown over the last 18 months from 1,000 to 12,500. There's been a 12-times increase in 18 months in the south, where Canada is deployed. They all support each other.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, in two sentences. NATO's view very much is, yes, no development without security--that's true--but also, no long-term security without development. For us this is absolutely primordial. We will not achieve mission success until the civilians manage to do what they have to do

Foreign Affairs committee  I would just like to make one comment. The elected Government of Afghanistan wants nothing to do with this. It is their country, and the President has stated clearly that this is counter to Islam—

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, but obviously—

Foreign Affairs committee  Theirs is an elected government, and we have to respect their right to decide how they are going to eradicate this. Mr. Chairman, may I respond briefly to Mr. Ignatieff?