I absolutely agree with that. I think you've asked, what is an appropriate role for parliamentarians? Let me simply say what I think is not appropriate, and that is to question tactics, to question operations even, to a certain extent. I think your role needs to be at the strategic level. You should be looking into resources. You should be looking into personnel policies. You should be looking into post-action medical services, such as whether the people who are coming back are getting enough psychological counselling. All of that and on a regular basis--on a regular basis. What I call strategic questions are: Is the overall political mission still doable? Are the conditions that led us there in the first place still in place? In other words, do we want to continue to achieve the political objectives we set out for ourselves in April of 2005? Are those political objectives still worthy?
The most important question that I think your committee should be asking itself on a regular basis is, does the government of Hamid Karzai still have the support of the people of Afghanistan? For example, if that government loses support, how do we measure that? Should that not be the time for us to rethink our mission and our presence there? Those are the kinds of questions that I think you should be asking.
I think you also need to know...I have great regard for the Canadian Forces and for its high command, but let's face it, they play politics as much as anybody else does in Ottawa, and sometimes you need to question some of the statements they are making about accomplishments and achievements. I don't say in any sense that I don't believe what they're telling me--I tend to believe what they're telling me--but it's your job, as parliamentarians, to challenge them on it.