Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary posed a very good question and he worded it very well. He is absolutely right. We are actually scaling up the ability of the Afghans not only to have a constabulary force, but also an army so that we can be out of there and the Afghan people can provide for their own security.
In reference to the question by the NDP member, if we did not have a constabulary force in Canada, if we did not have an army to provide for our own security, what would we have? There would be anarchy. In countries without a proper police force, without a proper justice system, without a proper army, civilians are left to elements that are untoward and that can cause quite a bit of destruction and havoc.
We enjoy a secure country, so why on earth would we not enable other countries to have access to the same elements of a secure country? This involves a constabulary force, a strong economy, a strong justice system. It also involves the police which I would argue are more important, as the parliamentary secretary alluded to. At the end of the day the police are more important than the army in providing the day-to-day on the ground security for the people.
Once upon a time there was an Afghan domestic police force and remnants of it still remain. That grassroots police force which was driven from a tribal level had a great deal of respect. If the constabulary initiative we are engaging in with the Afghan national police can incorporate that historical element of a domestic grassroots, partially tribal-based Afghan national police force, we would have a culturally congruent Afghan national police constabulary force that could be secure and supported by the people in the long term.