National Defence committee  Well, it depends, because—

National Defence committee  There are things that are legal yet are immoral.

National Defence committee  The international system set up an international organization in 1945, the UN, to manage issues of peace and security pursuant to certain criteria as defined in the Charter of the United Nations. As a general rule, the charter encourages the peaceful settlement of conflicts, but

National Defence committee  It is true that in any military intervention, there is the development aspect, the population assistance aspects, that are all part of everyday reporting. Very often you don't see this: why is that? That's because what you and I retain is what is going wrong. If a soldier gets ki

National Defence committee  I think, sir, that you are pinpointing one of the most fundamental questions when it comes to peacekeeping operations. Actions in peacekeeping operations seek most of all to maintain peace, to bring peace rather than wage war. So the military's position and the objective of the

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I believe that we have, nonetheless, tools to respond to these non-state players. First, unlike what some may believe, the fight against terrorism is working. It is not because there was a scare in New York or a passenger gets on a plane—one out of three billion passe

National Defence committee  I could start with part of the answer. I think the international system has developed a lot of instruments to make sure that we can intervene when we need to intervene with the right tools. If you recall, at the beginning of the nineties, Iraq invaded Kuwait. We went to the S

National Defence committee  If I may, Mr. Chair, I would like to answer that question, since it is to some extent the subject of the study I tabled in January and February. Part of the study dealt in fact with the way that governments, journalists and even experts inform the public. I noted an inability or

National Defence committee  I believe, with regard to military intervention, that the greatest success perhaps was when Rome destroyed Carthage. That was a success, since the objective was reached, Carthage was destroyed and the war was won. Another example of a success was when the United States obtained t

National Defence committee  There was not only the Katanga secession. There was also Kasai, and there was, I think, another province, Equateur or something like that, that also seceded.

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I will try to respond on the issue of non-state players. First, historically, non-state players were not present in Bosnia or Somalia. During the war in the Congo from 1960 to 1964 there was a legal government, but there were also rebels in various provinces throughou

National Defence committee  I don't have anything to add.

National Defence committee  I'll start, and I think Doug could answer on the doctrinal aspect and perhaps on the rules of engagement. I'm not military, and I think he has a better understanding of that than I have. So I will make my comments in French. First, I would like to remind all MPs that, during a

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I agree in part with my colleague Doug's definition, but I do not want any generalizations to be made regarding peace operations. There are dangerous peace operations, and we know which ones they are. When the United Nations Security Council or other organizations adop