Mr. Coderre, one has to look at the situation in context. When you state that the Taliban control the territory, you have to be careful about the word “control.” In the Kandahar region, the Taliban do not control the territory. Just look at the Taliban presence. If you compare it to their presence during Operation Medusa, when there were between 500 and 600 insurgents, you will see that you will not find that number in the Kandahar region.
Let me go back to the situation at the Sarposa prison last year. We were told then that there could be somewhere between 500 and 600 insurgents. Even the Afghans thought that we were looking for somewhere between 500 and 600 insurgents. Now we are not necessarily looking for such large groups.
On the other hand, if you don't mind, I would like to say that when people are talking about security and the perception of security, it's a very positive sign when an insurgent is unable to bring together a group of this size. He has to do things differently and use small groups of five to ten insurgents, or perhaps just two or three insurgents. He has to resort to assassinations, intimidation and IEDs in order to make the people feel that security has not been achieved. To me that means that he does not control the territory.