I'd like to thank and congratulate you for the work you have done and the effort you have put into this very exhaustive report. I'm sure it was very tiring. I understand you travelled into some of the remote areas to do this, so I congratulate you on it.
I want to comment on one part of the report where it's talking about a premature military withdrawal or an ill-prepared partial withdrawal.
Ms. Wallin, we had a conversation just before the committee began, and there has been some talk of negotiating with the Taliban. My concern is that you never negotiate from a point of weakness; you negotiate from a point of strength. Wars come to an end, and many who were the enemy are brought into the friendship of the government if they're willing and able to participate--not all, but most are.
On the concern about this negotiation or leaving too early, what is the feeling of the women of Afghanistan, the parliamentarians, about this issue of the Taliban? Are you convinced that they, to a person, do not want to return to the old regime of the Taliban? Is this something that is just not negotiable to them? Where do you start? Do you remove women from Parliament? Do you take away women's rights?
So are you convinced that from a woman's perspective there is much work to be done yet, and it's just too early to leave that issue until that part of it is complete?