On opium, I agree, and many militaries agree, that simply destroying crops is going to drive farmers into the arms of the Taliban, but the Afghan government is very clear that they wants drugs removed from the country. They believe it is very un-Islamic to do this, so it is their desire. It is a democratic country, so we have to support their views.
Second, if you do it as part of the comprehensive strategy with alternative livelihoods, effective law enforcement, effective justice, and a prison system, then you can actually do it, and that's what they want. I agree with you that if you do it wrong it has that effect, and that's why we're being very cautious. If you do it right, you can choke off a source of 90% of the heroin in Europe. That's point one.
Point two, we all agree this has to be tackled in partnership with the Pakistanis. They have to be part of this solution. It is very complicated. We can discuss offline why it is so complicated, but it is very complicated.
On the timetable for NATO troops--and then I'll stop--I have said this before. We must see this as a long-term commitment. Our interest in being in Afghanistan is the same as it was five years ago. It has not gone away. The shape of that commitment can change, of course, and that is absolutely a government decision, but it must be long-term. With training and equipping of Afghan national security forces, there will come a point where we can take a step back.
I can tell you that the Afghan National Army does not shy away from a fight. They are fighting for their country and they will run into the teeth of bullets. There are no cowards in this armed force. They will do it. In fact, many times we tell them courage is not running over the hill; it's waiting a week for us to bring in direct fire support. They are an institution that absolutely can be built, and we can take a step back, but our interest will be the same in 10 years as it is now.
So I believe we must look at this, without giving timelines, as a long-term commitment, and the message we give about withdrawal feeds those in Pakistan who believe they need to support the Taliban. It feeds the Taliban and it makes people in Afghanistan very nervous that one day we'll all be gone, and the Taliban guy is going to walk into town. Until we are consistent with that message, we'll be giving the wrong one.