Mr. Speaker, the member's question illustrates my point very well. Nobody, except privy councillors who have been briefed, knows if there has been real progress in Kandahar. Therefore, the idea of finding that out before we commit to another 33 months seems to me to be absolutely important.
He asked if we could learn from history and it is true that invaders of Afghanistan have had very poor results. The Afghans can be great fighters and they have fought off almost everybody who ever went there. The difference is that we have been asked to go there by the new Afghan government. Whether or not one agrees with that government or the president, officially they have asked us. It is a slightly different thing.
The other thing is we are not just an invading army. We are doing diplomacy and development work. We have all kinds of non-military people over there trying to accomplish that.
I do not know if there is progress in Kandahar. We know there is progress in Kabul, that people in Kabul feel a lot safer today than they did before.
About learning from history, some people keep saying that great military action is such a strong part of Canadian tradition. They thump their chests and quote their great-grandfathers. I think that is when we have to say that was then, this is now and ask, have we not learned anything since? These aggressive military actions--