Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, General Jeffery, for clarifying that the tanks are not being deployed to destroy civilian infrastructure but rather to protect our troops. And welcome back; it's as refreshing to hear from you today as it was when you were a commander sitting as a witness.
Indeed, I wish this committee had had the opportunity to ask questions, the types of questions that the first member of the opposition asked, prior to the initial deployment to Afghanistan. Perhaps we wouldn't be going through this information exercise with the public, and asking the question of why we're over there in the first place, had we had the opportunity to debate the deployment in the first place and have a vote on it, the way this government has provided for the extension.
It is to the credit of our superb training and the professionalism of our troops that they're performing so admirably, despite the lack of proper equipment they had initially when they were deployed to Afghanistan. Is the Canadian Forces equipment being used in Afghanistan today adequate for the mission, in your opinion?