Under the heading of what Canada can do in Afghanistan, I had these, of course: continue to train Afghan forces, which is the main mission of the Canadian Forces there now; continue to strengthen Afghan institutions, which is a job in part that has to happen in Kabul. And that's where I got into the business of appointing a special envoy contact over there.
I think the issue is not diplomacy vis-à-vis Afghanistan. I think it's a question about what's going on among our allies, what's going on among the countries in the region. There used to be a six-nation group trying to supervise, or handle, developments in Afghanistan. It was, if I remember correctly: United States, Russia, China, Britain--I'm not quite sure anymore. But it's clear there won't be a solution to the Afghanistan issue without some kind of resolution or some kind of better outcomes on Pakistan.
It's also clear that the relationship with Iran can be very important. It can be constructive or it can be destructive, depending on how things are going. By the way, I don't think we're being excessively critical of Iran and I think we should find some way of re-engaging with Iran. I'm perfectly aware of Madam Kazemi's situation, how completely corrupt the Iranian response to that was. I don't have any doubt about that. I also don't have any doubt about Iranian influence in Iraq. But at the same time, we have interests in Afghanistan, and I think engaging with the Iranians, for example, is one part of the diplomacy.
I think the other part is, among the major allies, to try to play a role to get engaged and influence their thinking. That's also part of diplomacy: influence Washington's thinking, influence the British thinking, influence the Germans and the French, and so on. Somehow we have to also make an impact in Pakistan, as I was saying. That, I find, is the most difficult problem of all. If you asked me exactly how to do that, I'm not sure I could answer it. I just do think that without some sort of better relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, this can go on forever.