Mr. Chairman, I often say that the Vietnam war wasn't lost in Vietnam, but in the United States, because of people's perception of what was taking place in that country.
At this point in time, Canadians and Quebeckers believe that 95% of the mission is devoted to hunting down the Taliban, rather than to achieving security objectives. It's not that they object to our military hunting down the Taliban, they just don't want that to be their exclusive mission.
We should also put ourselves in the Afghan people's position. As a military historian, you know that the Afghan people have always resisted invaders. I'm not implying by this that NATO countries are invaders. On the contrary, I think of them as liberators. However, there is a risk that the Afghans may no longer look upon NATO forces as an army of liberation, but rather start seeing them as an occupation force. The fact is that they have not seen their day-to-day lives improve since the arrival of the ISAF.
Personally, I have some concerns about this mission. When we held a debate in the House of Commons last June, I recall that virtually all political parties stressed the importance of the reconstruction efforts, namely building hospitals, restoring infrastructures, building schools, and so forth.
Today, Canadians and Quebeckers have the impression that our forces are not involved in reconstruction. Moreover, you clearly described the military instruments in your possession. A growing number of people, myself included, are beginning to doubt if ever democracy can be restored and the country rebuilt solely by resorting to weapons.
I'd like to hear your views on the subject. My comments reflect what many of our constituents in Quebec are thinking. Some maintain that we need to withdraw our troops, while others say we must stay the course. However, we're not going to win over the hearts and minds of people by killing as many Taliban as we can or by hunting them down in Pakistan, if need be. I think we need to take another approach, but I'm not sure if we're ready to yet.