Foreign Affairs committee  I'll be very brief. When we talk about a classic counter-insurgency model, that does include this hearts and minds and development and economic aid. In that way, I completely and absolutely support that type of counter-insurgency model. I think what concerned people in southern Afghanistan is more this special forces headhunting with some bombing roped into it that really is not working...it's working militarily, but it ruins our relationship with the rest of the community.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm so sorry.

Foreign Affairs committee  On why Canada should stay, Afghanistan is now effectively our own backyard. The last time we let the Taliban run Afghanistan they gave a home to al-Qaeda, a global terrorism movement that is dedicated to the destruction of the west. They planned and executed their attacks against the United States from there.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. In Kandahar, because the economic situation is so desperately bad, I can just say that CIDA's efforts, despite good intentions and particularly good efforts from those who are actually in Afghanistan, we're just not seeing any impact. We have to see a dramatic impact to support the military, so the idea of appointing a special envoy is to get past some of the structural issues that seem to prevent CIDA from delivering in Kandahar, to set up a new system, with a management system that actually is focused on seeing the results in the very near future and providing the development and aid that will support the military efforts.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll be short. Well, we have to succeed, and Canada--

Foreign Affairs committee  We have to. Canada is a very privileged and wealthy country that can, if we organize ourselves properly and put the resources and management into it, make a much greater difference in Kandahar. We have our three-D approach. We're doing very good on one D and very badly on the other D.

Foreign Affairs committee  We wanted to play the two-minute video, if you don't mind.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, it's just coming up. Pardon me.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. Good morning. And I apologize for my inability to deliver any part of my presentation in French. For those of you who don't know us, the Senlis Council is the security and development and counter-narcotics policy group. I'm the president, founder, and lead researcher for the Senlis Council and Senlis Afghanistan.

National Defence committee  Not that I saw, because a lot of them that were originally in Kandahar left because of the security situation.

National Defence committee  If I understand the comments from all of you today, it is about an evolution of the three-D approach, and to make it work in the reality of Kandahar. I can see you all struggling with some answers to this today. It's like you have an approach that seems like a sound approach, and then it has to be applied to the reality of Kandahar.

National Defence committee  Thank you. It's okay.

National Defence committee  It's a war zone there. There's bombing and fighting all the time, and that's a regular occurrence. There's an Afghan code of hospitality, so if you're there they protect you, and if they can't protect you, they warn you and you have to leave. So if we were in a village, and people arrived that they were concerned about, they would say it's time for you to go, in a very polite way.

National Defence committee  I would contact the Canadian military and tell them that, of course. My concern is for the Canadian military and the Afghan people.

National Defence committee  The former Canadian ambassador, Chris Alexander, is no longer the ambassador but works as the deputy chief of UNAMA. I saw the results of his work often and I think he exemplified the best of the diplomacy in the three-Ds and set a really good example of exactly what we would want for Canada in Kandahar.