Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to welcome General Atkinson and I wouldn't want him to get upset by what I will be saying in the next few minutes.
As much as I was very strongly in favour of the Standing Committee on National Defence receiving regular updates on the theatre of operations in Afghanistan, I think that this is a complete waste of our time. You might ask whether I still want such information sessions. I no longer want to hear such presentations, because I already know everything that has been said today. We are also being given a blue-sky view that is intended to convince the committee that everything is going well, when in my view nothing is going well.
I would like to read a few paragraphs from the Senlis report, which you have just described as being very well done.
In September 2006, Senlis Afghanistan released a security assessment report detailing the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan, pointing to the increasing hold that the movement has on southern provinces. Some 14 months later, the security situation has reached crisis proportions. The Taliban has proven itself to be a truly resurgent force. Its ability to establish a presence throughout the country is now proven beyond doubt; research undertaken by Senlis Afghanistan indicates that 54 per cent of Afghanistan’s landmass hosts a permanent Taliban presence, primarily in southern Afghanistan, and is subject to frequent hostile activity by the insurgency. The insurgency now controls vast swaths of unchallenged territory including rural areas, some district centres, and important road arteries. The Taliban are the de facto governing authority in significant portions of territory in the south, and are starting to control parts of the local economy and key infrastructure such as roads and energy supply. The insurgency also exercises a significant amount of psychological control, gaining more and more political legitimacy in the minds of the Afghan people who have a long history of shifting alliances and regime change.
I could go on like that at length, Mr. Chairman. That is completely at odds with what the general has told us.
Of course, I am very disappointed by the turn of events. Especially since we had asked his predecessor, Mr. Howard, to show us photos of clinics, hospitals, schools, roads and wells that have been renovated, all those things that we need to see. But that's not what we have been shown.
Among other things, we were shown C-17 aircraft that were sent to Afghanistan. What a surprise! Did you think we didn't know there were C-17s in Afghanistan? Do you think that I am surprised to learn that the aircraft's hold can contain so much cargo? I am not at all surprised, because I boarded a C-17 and I know what it can transport. That is not what the Standing Committee on National Defence needs to know.
So I cannot ask the general to respond. I know he had a presentation to give, and he did a good job. But that's not what the committee needed. We need to know more about what I have just read is happening on the ground. Such information is not only contained in the Senlis report; it is being disseminated by others as well. This proves that there's still a culture of secrecy at National Defence.
I do not want to endanger the lives of our soldiers. I can understand that the general public cannot be informed of the kind of operations that will be carried out tomorrow. I am fully aware of that. But we, the elected members of Parliament, are not receiving more information than is being given to the public. There was nothing here that could not be made public. We could bring 5,000 people here without endangering our soldiers or ourselves. We would be treated the same as the general public, but as the Standing Committee on National Defence, that is not what we are looking for.
Therefore, I have no question to ask. However, I want to point out to my opposition colleagues that we should demand to know more, rather than waste our time with such briefings. We will have to get our information elsewhere. I, for one, am not at all satisfied with what has been presented to us and I think that this has been a complete waste of time. I have nothing further to add.