National Defence committee  There are two parts to the motion, or two directions for the Canadian Forces. First, the Canadian Forces will leave Kandahar in 2011 and, second, the military mission in Afghanistan will end.

National Defence committee  That is not the interpretation that the government provided to me. The government clearly told me that the end of the military mission truly meant the end of missions for men and women in uniform. The Canadian Forces participate in military missions. So there are two parts. All t

National Defence committee  The military mission in Afghanistan will end in 2011. Aside perhaps from those working in the embassies, we will be leaving.

National Defence committee  Sir, the mandate is clear to us.

National Defence committee  Could there be a translation problem?

National Defence committee  Could the attaché still be there? The problem isn't the military mission. When we ensure the protection component of a development project, our duty is to defend the people involved and ensure security, whether in a development mission or while training Afghan forces and Afghan p

National Defence committee  I would say from my perspective—and again, I'll ask General Lessard to weigh in—I think we've provided them hope. They've gone through 30 years of war. They used to be a quite civilized culture. Thirty years of war is almost two generations, and all they have experienced is confl

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I have not had the opportunity yet to sit down with Admiral Mullen, my U.S. counterpart, and General Dave Petraeus to actually understand from a U.S. perspective their full plan in 2011. You'll be aware that right now they have in the order of 67,800 soldiers on the gr

National Defence committee  Thank you. I just saw the soldiers' notes in The Globe and Mail yesterday. I'll just say that I wasn't on the ground on June 11, 12, 13, 2006, and neither was Colonel Noonan, neither was General Deschamps, and neither was the military police corporal. He wasn't there at the even

National Defence committee  I'll just say to you, Mr. Chair and ladies and gentlemen—I don't want to boast, but I'm very proud of our men and women—that you have one of the finest forces in the world. You do because the men and women of the Canadian Forces have rotated through one of the most difficult and

National Defence committee  Again, I'll start and I'll ask General Lessard to add to this. I do know, having spoken to General David McKiernan, who was the commander of ISAF until June, and to General McChrystal, how absolutely impressed they were by Canadian leadership in Afghanistan. That leadership g

National Defence committee  I was the vice-chief as we worked from the first agreement, in December 2005, through to that second agreement. The agreement with regard to detainee transfer was a best practice. We worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and other justice colleagues so that we came up wit

National Defence committee  I would say your assessment is very accurate for the detail. Again, we're just developing the plan, so we're not at the point of having a detailed schedule yet, but certainly I know that General Lessard and General McQuillan will probably share their initial assessments with you.

National Defence committee  It is at the operational level. At the operational level it's actually General Lessard, and General McQuillan's headquarters are in support of General Lessard, who is the one person responsible for Afghanistan, as he is with the Congo, the Middle East, Cyprus, Haiti. It's General

National Defence committee  Again, the Canadian Forces are in a specific area in Kandahar City and to the south of Kandahar City, and our area of responsibility has been condensed to allow for a significant concentration of forces that we've never had before because of the reinforcement by our U.S. allies i