I've been to this country, as I've pointed out, on numerous occasions. When I was there in 2003 in Kandahar, there was virtually no justice system. Justice was cutting somebody's throat and hanging him from a bridge with a sign saying not to fire rockets at the camp. We don't have that now. We have pretty much clean streets, with street signs, in Kandahar. That didn't exist before. The irrigation systems I've seen up in the hills have dramatically improved since I was there in 2003.
So I can see signs of progress every time I go over there. But they're incremental. And again, we're dealing with a Canadian population that wants it now. We want success now, so we can get out of there now. Well, it's not like that there. The concept of time in Afghanistan is completely different from the concept of time here. To try to force aid down people's throats--and I've watched this--is extremely counterproductive. There has to be some form of natural evolution, given existing structures. This has me greatly concerned because there are a number of organizations, in Canada and elsewhere, trying to accelerate development of this country. It's their country, and they should be the ones deciding how far that progresses, and when.
We actually assist it. You never hear about this. The media never reports about Strategic Advisory Team - Afghanistan, and how Canadians have been able to assist the Afghan government in creating the Afghanistan national development strategy, which was critical for the buy-in of the IMF, so the IMF could provide money. But you know, having SAT-A's influence in the course of Kabul was dependent on the blood of our guys on the ground. It all works together. We wouldn't have that influence if we didn't have guys on the ground down south, or people in the provincial reconstruction team, or special operations forces, whatever. The package gives us the influence to do that.