Thank you.
We were first of all seized with the ability to succeed in the mission defined for us there, which in order to achieve the development objectives required an improved security situation, and that required the additional troops. The organizational structure of Operation Enduring Freedom prevailed until NATO took over, but at an operational level, if I understand correctly, it has been a long time since we have put our troops under the direct command and control of another country. We had a rather unfortunate experience with that at Dieppe, and we've sought to maintain our own command and control of our forces since that time. I think what you point to will inevitably be an issue around coordination of effort.
Clearly, we think Canadian Forces should be going toward a greater effort on training and development of the Afghan security forces. That is going to require coordination in order to make sure the hold and development efforts are proceeding apace. But there will need to be a coordinated effort.
There are command structures for the regional command south, which we're part of. Currently it happens to be a Canadian in charge; prior to that, it was a Brit. But that doesn't mean they tell the Canadian troops where to go or what to do or how to conduct themselves.