Mr. Chair, that is a great question, and, yes, I was involved at that time, as were others in this room, with part of a NATO training mission in Afghanistan.
I refer back to my notes that I journaled at the time, and the Afghan national security forces at the time were missing a number of things—logistics and the ability to plan and sustain themselves; higher-level planning capacity and the ability to plan and sustain operations; personal management; and the ability to properly manage the progression, the pay and the welfare of their people.
Could they fight? It depended on leadership. I saw Afghan units in the fight who performed very well based on the leadership they had. They would take the fight to the enemy, and they would prevail. In the case of others—and I go back to my comment in the earlier section—if the leadership was not in place, no, they wouldn't fight.
As is the case with any war, the decisive element is leadership, that will to win, that desire to be successful, and I think that was the part that was lacking.
Yes, the training that was provided was good training, and the equipment that was provided was good equipment.