Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for being here.
I agree with the distinction between short- and long-term solutions. In the short term, one of course being security and stopping ISIS, stopping the killing and so on.
So initially for that, Mr. El Shafie, I agree that the air campaign is an important contribution, but it can't succeed on its own without boots on the ground. In my view, and I think most views in Canada, those boots should not be western boots: American, Canadian, British, or whomever. Canada has a lot of experience and is very good at training. I'm told by folks who have experience in this that there is about a 20,000-person cadre of the Iraqi army that is very trainable and is/was at a fairly high level, and within about six months, with about 350 or so professional trainers, that division could effectively be in the field.
Do you have any thoughts on that?