Your hypothesis draws apocalyptic comparisons to the Vietnam conflict of over 50 years ago. I don't know if the Americans--or anyone else, for that matter--are drawing any analogous information.
There have been numerous reports that track both the level of violence and the level of public confidence, as we have done in our own report tracking the indicators of progress in terms of education, immunizing children, and infrastructure investments. Those are the ways in which we are making a real and tangible difference in the day-to-day lives of Afghans. Those are the harbingers of progress, in my view.
It's difficult to quantify hope and optimism for the people of Afghanistan, but anecdotally, as I mentioned earlier, we are seeing increasing evidence of Afghans cooperating with their own security forces in identifying threat and pointing out where the bombs are being planted. The Taliban themselves are being informed upon, if I can use that term, as far as who poses threats to villages and communities that we are sworn to protect, and we are working with the Afghans in that regard.
Reports such as the one you and Mr. Bachand have relied on heavily in your questioning give us a snapshot in time. I think of General Natynczyk's very sage words about the increase in the physical number of soldiers that we now have engaged in southern Afghanistan in places like Panjwai, where we know the Taliban were deeply rooted and embedded in communities. This is, after all, the spiritual homeland of this terrorist group. There's increased contact because the contact has been initiated by more soldiers.
The reference to an increase in violence in France on the beaches of Normandy is analogous. I think those are historical lessons that we can look at. When we attempt to liberate communities and villages and engage in military operations to remove the Taliban from the battlefield, inevitably this will be gauged by groups such as the one you've referred to as an increase in violence, followed by, we hope, an increase in sustained peace and stability.
After these clearance operations have occurred in some villages, we can put forward the very real attempts at building their infrastructure, asking them--as Canadians do, which I think is a uniquely Canadian attitude--“How can we help? What do you need? Do you need a school? Do you need a new facility to treat people who are ill? Do you need water? Do you need electricity? What are the programs that we can bring to you? Do you need seed for crops to replace poppies?”
All these efforts that Canadians have made--
