I'm certainly happy to address this issue, because I think it's fundamental to the team effort that's ongoing within Regional Command South, which is commanded by a Dutch general.
We are all working to the same framework. We all have the same relative campaign plan, a three-pillared plan based on security, development, and governance, as you're well aware.
We all share the same risks in Regional Command South and we have the same aspirations and the same approach.
You can look at the composition. Each country has sent a fighting battle group and a provincial reconstruction team. That construct is the same in all the provinces.
The challenge we have in Kandahar is that we're operating in the historic heartland of the Taliban, and the region's most important town in the area is Kandahar city, where we operate.
So we have little control over where the Taliban might choose to attack ISAF and local Afghans. The Taliban have the ability to shift their operations. We're facing a determined foe there who looks to disrupt our efforts.
Certainly our activities for Operation Medusa were at the request of the Afghan government, and the British and the Dutch are also poised to do the same thing, if they're requested. And if the Taliban choose to engage in combat in a similar way that we would where we are, I think the British and Dutch would face the same challenge.
But let me reassure you that we're all trying to maximize the same thing, which is development in that country. We all want to see an improvement in the development and the governance. We are in a different area, a different tribal structure, and, as I've mentioned, in the heartland of the Taliban. And the Taliban have chosen to engage us and engage local Afghans in that particular area.
Sir, that would be my response to your question.