Afghanistan committee  Based on my responsibility to make the decision, I did not make a blanket decision. Each and every detainee was special. I looked at it that way and wanted to make sure that the right decision was taken at the time. I can't speak for the whole of government, but I can speak for those I knew in theatre.

Afghanistan committee  I would say no one was taken arbitrarily and no one was taken for the purpose of information gathering. Soldiers were trained. They needed to ensure that their environment was safe, and where there was doubt, through the tool of tactical questioning, they were able to determine if an individual posed a threat to them and to the Afghan civilians in the area.

Afghanistan committee  If you go back to the three scenarios that I described, the first one is the conditions of the incident. So is it after a firefight? Is it after an IED or a suicide bomber? The soldiers would look at the conditions of that incident and then they would look through a series of indicators, and gunshot residue was but one of them.

Afghanistan committee  It would be.

Afghanistan committee  He started working in Afghanistan while I was still the commander, and I believe he translated for me once. I wasn't comfortable with him, so I went back to another individual. If I had known he was preaching in the mosque, I would have put an end to it, because I don't believe that would be appropriate to do.

Afghanistan committee  Not at all. In fact, I would say the paper trail from that point in time became larger. We put in place at that time a formal piece of paper, a process that would clearly capture the commander's decision-making process. I think that's the paperwork that was discussed yesterday at the MPCC that can't be found, or can't be located quickly.

Afghanistan committee  I believe so, but I would have to see it to be sure.

Afghanistan committee  If I could just ask for clarification, I think you said it's based on the article of April 2007. Is that the timeframe we're referring to?

Afghanistan committee  Right. The bottom line is that we did take action. We took very swift action when those series of articles were printed, were made public. So from that standpoint, absolutely, we acted on the ground in a responsible and swift manner. As to the issue of whether I was able to make a decision to transfer or not transfer, absolutely, that was my decision.

Afghanistan committee  I have no idea. I saw Richard on numerous occasions, both when he came to Kandahar to visit and when I went to Kabul on business. Unlike General Gauthier, I don't think I scared Richard, but at no point did he come and say, “General, there is an issue”.

Afghanistan committee  I met with the ICRC several times in 2007.

Afghanistan committee  I'm afraid I probably can't shed any light on it. I have not had access to those documents. I read General Natynczyk's letter back to this committee, I believe, but other than that I can't remember over three years ago.

Afghanistan committee  Yes. The representative would come to visit me and visit the detainee centre on a regular basis.

Afghanistan committee  I will tread lightly here, but the fact is that what I was provided by the ICRC representative gave me a level of comfort that the Canadian-transferred detainees were not being tortured and not subject to abuse. While that information may not have been transposed from Geneva ICRC to Ottawa, the level of information I was getting from the folks on the ground was much more significant.

Afghanistan committee  I would say those comments are nonsense, quite frankly. As I said, I met with the local representative from the Red Cross early in my tour, and I met with him often. He had free access to the base, which he exercised on a regular basis, and he visited the detainee facility. The only issue that ever came to my attention about information flow was in fact about information that did not get to ISAF headquarters.