First of all, thank you very much for appearing before the committee. I particularly like your frankness, it is like a breath of fresh air today. We like getting this type of answer.
I'd like to talk to you about decompression. We see in today's newspapers a report that Canadian soldiers administered a beating to someone living in Cyprus. Of course, this is an isolated incident. If appropriate, justice will take its course.
There was a time when people were sent home immediately after their mission. There were some rather pathetic cases. Does decompression really work? What actually happens? We hear that PTSD does not appear overnight. During the decompression period following a mission, it is impossible to tell whether a person will suffer from PTSD.
How do assess what is done during the decompression period? Is it possible to determine whether there will be more cases? It is true what there are some stressful situations in any mission. However, the mission in Afghanistan is a new situation for our troops—they are experiencing a different kind of stress.
During the decompression period, can you determine the number of cases of PTSD that will emerge?