OTTAWA — NATO has the political will and the military muscle to stick it out in Afghanistan, even if it takes a decade or more to rehabilitate the country, says the Canadian general who heads the alliance's military council.

Gen. Ray Henault says the commitment to rebuilding Afghanistan is strong within the 26 NATO countries and its other partners, including former eastern bloc members.

"The will is there, there's no doubt in my mind," he said in an interview.

The alliance has already agreed that it will take at least 10 years to get the troubled southwest Asian country back on its feet, Henault said.

The alliance has pledged billions of dollars and thousands of troops and reconstruction experts to the cause.

"The international community is very intent on helping Afghanistan."

Gen. Lance Smith, an American air force general who is a top NATO commander in charge of joint operations, said Afghanistan will be a tough job for the alliance.

"The will of the people is going to be tested," he said.

However, he added, NATO works on consensus and the 26 members are agreed on Afghanistan.

Henault, chief of Canada's defence staff before he became chairman of NATO's military council last May, is on his first official visit home to Canada for meetings with Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Canada has 2,000 troops in Afghanistan and is supporting a provincial reconstruction team in the perilous country around Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

Canada's involvement in the region since 2002 has cost the lives of eight soldiers and a diplomat.

O'Connor, in his first major speech since being appointed as defence minister, said Canada will follow through on Afghanistan.

"We will stay the course because our mission in Afghanistan is important," he said. "It's important for the future of Afghanistan, it's important for the stability of the region and it's important for international security."

Henault said NATO is changing its military structures to make it easier to move troops quickly and to improve the ability of soldiers from different nations to work together. That means new equipment such as radios and computers that can talk to each other, as well as new common tactical doctrines.

Smith, the American general charged with overseeing NATO transformation efforts, said Afghanistan is a kind of proving ground for the alliance's reshaped armies.

Once, NATO focused on fighting a European Armageddon, a great clash of armour against the Warsaw Pact in Germany. Those days are over.

"Clearly, going from a Cold War military to a military that is capable of fighting irregular warfare is a huge transition," he said.

"That is a huge change from fighting a tank war on the north German plain. Yes, it's a challenge, but there's nobody that's not up to that challenge and frankly, I think that's what Afghanistan is all about; the future of warfare."

He said armies are learning that they can't do everything and that other skills, such as diplomacy and reconstruction efforts, also have a role in modern conflict.

"You've got to be able to apply all the different aspects of national power."