Mr. Chair, the member opposite obviously ignored my first answer. I guess I will have to say it again.
We have about 1,000 soldiers involved in the battle group protecting the entire province of Kandahar. There are 400 or so soldiers involved in the PRT, along with diplomats, policemen and people from CIDA. As I have said before, from our point of view, the main function of all of that military effort is to support development work. Development work is going on throughout the entire Kandahar province, as it is throughout the whole country.
It is not a military oriented mission as such, but we have to do what is necessary to bring the Taliban under control. We cannot allow the Taliban to win and take over. Remember what kind of murderous regime there was before NATO and the alliance moved in. The Taliban was running the country, executing people, suppressing women's rights, et cetera. I could go on but everyone knows the story. We need the military there to suppress the Taliban so we can get on with development.