Thank you, Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for coming this morning.
I want to add my voice, on behalf of the Liberal Party, in congratulating the military on a mission well done.
The point of any military mission, particularly in a responsibility-to-protect mission, is the projection of one's values. In this particular case, the value was that we as a civilized nation will not stand around and watch another nation slaughter its own people, regardless of the issues of sovereignty. In that respect, because the military mission was so well executed, Canada gained a bully pulpit, for want of a better term, and an opportunity to speak into the formation of values in Libya.
The first event post-conflict was this very bizarre exercise with the death of Mr. Gadhafi. The means of his death was bizarre, first of all saying it was crossfire, then it appeared to be assassination, then it appeared to be torture prior to assassination, and then we had this even more bizarre spectacle of his body being displayed over a number of days, which I believe offends Islamic traditions. Yet Canada did not use its authority—hard-won authority—gained by the military to speak loudly and clearly into that obvious breach of the rule of law.
We're off to a bad start. If this thing keeps up, this Arab spring may well turn into an Arab winter. You hate to think so, but you would like to think that the military mission not only accomplished something but will accomplish something in the long term.
My first question has to do with why it is that Canada, particularly the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but the Prime Minister as well, didn't speak to the NTC in particular, to Jalil in particular, loud, long, and hard that this is unacceptable behaviour and that it needs to be reined in and reined in quickly?
The second question has to do with what resources the Government of Canada is prepared to put up with respect to any inquiry there may be. One would not wish to have this inquiry as a pseudo inquiry, a fake inquiry, a predetermined-outcome inquiry, if in fact we are hopefully encouraging the people of Libya to go on towards the rule of law. I'd be interested in your comments.
The third question, directed to Brigadier-General King and Ms. Martin, is that there is some discussion as to whether Canada will be asked to extend its mission. If so, what would be the conditions of extension? I don't think we want to be in a situation where we're just supervising egregious breaches of the rule of law.
I appreciate that's a bit of a complex question, but to me these are the issues that need to be resolved. As you transition from a military mission to an aid and diplomacy mission, it's just as important to get it right; otherwise all your efforts are wasted.