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to resolve the current divide that they are experiencing. this is one of the reasons why we have been committed to this over the past year and why we continue to see the sense of urgency to try to do everything in our power to move forward. as the secretary's said a short time ago the critical step in that is getting the parties into a form of negotiations where we can address all of the critical issues that we face but also improving the situation on the ground. it is one of the reasons why we continue working with countries in the region to support the efforts of prime minister fayyad as he builds the institutions of government within the west bank, so that and you were saying that divergence. you are absolutely right that there is growth, measurable growth that is being achieved in

the west bank and we would like to see this situation expand so that more of the people of palestinian territories can enjoy these opportunities. >> on another subject, the star report i just want to make sure-- we did get some information yesterday but just to make sure we all get it. is it correct that after that spelling mistake was corrected within a couple of days that basically no one went back to check on whether he had a visa? pandith that is correct, until of course they found out on december 25th and if that is correct, at what level did that happen? we don't need names, but i mean, where did that happen in the process? >> it is something that we are still trying to reconstruct. and just to put this in perspective, obviously as the

president said yesterday, as deputy national security adviser john brennan said yesterday mistakes were made. this was a system failure. we are part of that system and as the report details, there were human errors that were made on our part. the ms. spellings spin the initial. >> of viper report was corrected within the nctc within a couple of days. the tuygan tree that was opened up on this particular individual had his correct spelling. as to whether or not any individual through this process check from that point forward to see if there was a active these up, we are still trying to sort that out. i can say we know that anybody did in fact from the point the

database was opened on him whether that was a factor. so, this is in fact something, this is a critical lesson learned. the steps that we have put in the process, beginning immediately after december 25 will in fact make sure that future reports do have these the information in them, so that this is more, this is inserted into the process right from the outset. you know, so it is one thing to say that the database is that we have that have these the information in it, all those databases are available to all of the relevant agencies that are involved in this process but we obviously recognize it is important to put this issue front and center as part of this process moving forward. we are also taking steps so that in the future some adjustments

within the databases can be made to account for variations in the name, whether in this particular case it was because of a misspelling but also in particularly this part of the world where you have a lot of different variations in terms of spelling, you want to make sure the system can't properly account for that. finally we are also focused on making sure that any kind of these action whether it is an initial action to grant a visa, it's an action to revoke cabeza we are looking to make sure whatever reporting goes out from the state department to the relevant agencies is done as rapidly as possible so we are looking at this system from start to finish. we have already given some revised guidance to posts around the world to make sure that seeing some of the errors of commission and omission that we

improve the system in line with the president's direction. >> under the regulations at that point, let's say you know before december 25th, was somebody's supposed to, after the father, let's say had given that information in your riding up the piece of fiber cable, with somebody supposed to under those rules and regulations check on the visa status? >> the way that the process has worked up to this point, there is a assessment of risk and then based on that assessment of risk, specific actions are available to the agencies that our case adjudicate visas, and in the case of other agencies-- as we have described before this

is in the context of combating terrorism and in integrative process. as i would describe it here, we have the father come to see the embassy in nigeria. we reported his concerns to all the relevant agencies. and, from that point forward what we were basically saying to the interagency buzz we have this information. is it of consequence to you? what other information might you have that we can marry up with this information so we make a proper assessment as to their risk that this individual poses to the amendment into our interests around the world and then from that their recommendations that follow in terms of the appropriate actions that not only the state department can take but other agencies of government can take. in this particular case we don't think the misspelling by itself influence the risk assessment process. that was stipulated in a report

that the white house released yesterday but we certainly understand in light of that this system failure, as the president clearly stated that there are things that we can do better and do more furtively, push the visa information into the process more assertively, so that it is evaluated along with other relevant information so that not only is there a proper risk assessment of the individuals that we think lead in some way to terrorism, but there is a stronger process of making sure that from that risk assessment appropriate action is taken. >> can i ask you one thing? >> try to make it shorter. >> this misspelling, presumably if the guy's name was misspelled, it didn't matter what database to put it into. was there any concern that the

misspelling might have prevented the intel people from realizing that this was a guy who should be put on one of the list or was it only the visa? >> the ms. delling was our fault based on our initial report, but within a couple of days, our report was combined with other information that was within the intelligence community. the itai database that was opened up on this individual had its correct spelling, so it probably did the fact the recognition within the system that there was a valid visa and this individual had a valid these up. it does not appear as the white house reports that yesterday this affected the risk assessment. >> the other thing you said is to mention something about the variations in names in this part

of the world, right? >> yeah, i mean for example-- >> he is nigerian. they speak english. it is not their beck. >> there are people who isbell i qaeda another way and another way so to the extent that in a different case, it might have had an appropriate spelling but it might have not necessarily represented what was on a document or a piece of information so we are trying to make sure that in this particular case, quite honestly the nctc corrected the initial error. it was in the state department these of viper report. so, we don't think in this particular case it had a specific impact on judgments that were made after the error was discovered. that said, we recognize that this could happen at any time not based on the mistake but

certainly based on variations in spelling that people have come so we are trying to make sure that we have a system that is nimble, that is adaptive and account for when you do a data surge of a particular individual it will bring all of the relevant information that we think might be resident in the system where there is based on the al qaeda with an ae or al qaeda within ni. >> are you suggesting before december 25th the system was so rigid that-- >> i'm not suggesting that it all. what i'm saying is to the extent people are focused on the issue of the misspelling in this particular case, we believe that was corrected fairly promptly ended did have a broader impact on judgments made, but it does bring up an issue that i think is very relevant and we are going back and making sure as in terms of how we do data searches

and to make sure that in line with what the president said when we are focused on an individual who might be associated with terrorism we want to make sure the system if it queries different databases to find them, to bring all the relevant information together so the proper risk assessment can be made and we are taking into account there might be variations in terms of spelling of names. is that because of human error or is that is because of different ways individuals-- >> it seems to me if you are starting with a long name in the first place, whoever typeset the report needs to be little bit more careful, no? i mean, if you are starting with the wrong name, with the wrong data input from the beginning you are never going to get success. >> actually in this particular case we started with a misspelling and a system corrected it within a very short

period of time. >> but just to be precise i thought yesterday we were told that the person who did this checked on a relatively limited database which did not have the ability to query. spellings of names, that actually you do have the system unless it's not correct, that can other databases that can actually ping around-- >> correct. all of that is true so which is why i mentioned what i mentioned which is we want to be sure that as we strengthen the system we strengthen the ability of the system to be able to successfully pull and relevant information and take into account variations in spellings so your basic point is right. that the initial search to determine if there was a visa did not-- when did not show expressly because of this misspelling.

there was a clash before yesterday between the muslims and christians in egypt and seven coptic christians got killed. do you have any reaction to that end with secretary clinton discussed this issue with mr. abdul? >> let's have the meeting, which is happening in about 20 minutes. let's have that meeting and then we will let you know of this issue came up. >> no reaction on the clash? >> i will take the question. i don't have anything in my book. >> do you have any plans to send ambassador came to north korea? >> ambassador king? he doesn't have-- has no plans to go to north korea. >> do you think ambassador kaine will attend the future six-party talks? >> ambassador king is our ambassador at large for human rights in north korea.

obviously ecolab rates vary closer with ambassador steve bosworth and ambassador sung kim where they have very complementary roles. they are in the region on a regular basis consulting with our partners but his role is different than the six-party process. >> when ambassador king visits south korea next week, wilham besser king discuss with the south korean government about the north korean human rights issues? >> yes. >> also, he will have an interview with the north korean defectors and south korea? >> yes. >> and also he will have an interview with the north korean defectors in south korea? are you concerned that this airstrike and the recent announcement of the construction of new neighborhood in east jerusalem will somehow limit your efforts to relaunch

negotiations? >> as the secretary talked about in your media at daily short time ago we obviously are always concerned about the dynamic on the ground in the region, and the impact that that can have that any particular time on our efforts to get in negotiations started and move aggressively towards peace in the middle east, so yes absolutely. any violence in the region has potential as it has in the past due debris of the process. that is why george mitchell is going out first to consult in europe but then in the region and why we have the kinds of meetings here at the state department we have today, to try to assess where the parties are, refine our ideas, evaluate steps that we can take and others can take to move the parties to

formal negotiations. that remains our core objectives. >> staying on the middle east, first question, is some sort of reunification between fata and hamas necessary for the peace process to go forward? >> i think we recognize the value of the unity government, but tweet wants to see a negotiation begin as soon as possible, so is a unity government a prerequisite, it is not. >> does that imply any talks say if they were to start tomorrow would be extensively with those who represent fata and not hamas? >> well, we are focused on working with president abbas and recognize his leadership, his

historic interest in pursuing merely sfius, his acceptance of the fundamental principles which include israel's right to exist, it's right to security as well as the rights of the palestinians to have a state of their own yet as we have always said anyone who commits to these basic principles can play role in these negotiations, but that is a fundamental element in president abbas has accepted those principles and hamas has not. >> before the minister also use the word when he talked about the creation of a separate palestinian state, one that is contiguous and i notice the secretary did not use that word. what is the u.s.'s position on contiguous in terms of somehow uniting the west bank and gaza? >> this is the fundamental

challenge of negotiation, which is to determine the borders of a state. we recognize that any state that would be formed for palestinians has to be viable and it has to be based on agreed upon borders, so the foreign minister, what we really want to do is get the parties back into a negotiation where you can actually put these questions before them. the united states will continue to play a role at various times. we may offeror own sites as to how to resolve these very kinds of questions, but let's get to that negotiation. that is why we are continuing to push as hard as we can to get this started as quickly as possible. >> thank you.

>> i am always concerned about the potential the unforeseen consequences of the regulation. deregulation or regulation of any kind act as a tax and when you tax air regulate something you tend to get less and tend to diminish it. >> this weekend republican fcc commissioner robert mcdowell on efforts to create a national broadband plan net neutrality and the wireless industry saturday at 6:30 p.m. eastern on

c-span. preston obama's sending agriculture secretary tom

vilsack to afghanistan to promote stability there through agriculture reforms. he will be joined by special representative richard holbrooke. they spoke with reporters thursday for about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon and welcome to the department of state. i think we have an unusual if not an unprecedented line up for you this afternoon. we are thrilled to welcome the secretary of agriculture, tom vilsack to the department of state. we are also thrilled to have on hand are newly minted administrator of the u.s. agency for national development, and of course our intrepid special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. we have travel plans for these gentlemen in terms of heading to the region in the very near future, but we thought it was a good time to talk a little bit

about where we are in the civilian component of the strategy that the president has announced last month, and in particular the centrality or the corp. aspect of helping to rebuild the agricultural sector of the afghan economy. so we will start this with secretary vilsack who represents really the whole of government approach to our strategy as the secretary and the president have emphasized and then raj shah will come in and talk a little bit about the eight component and then richard, i know we are trying to squeeze in this briefing before the president speaks but we will this kind of put this in the broader perspective of our strategy. gentleman, thank you for coming. >> i appreciate the opportunity to be here with sam besser holbert i think is fair to say

agriculture is the top nonsecurity priority for the united states government in afghanistan and i'm looking forward to traveling to afghanistan to visit with officials of the afghan government. 80% of the afghans are earning an income from agriculture. 35% of the afghan gdp comes from agriculture. 50% of their arable land is currently under cultivation so there's a tremendous opportunity not just in the growing of wheat but also horticultural crops for this economy to be strengthened and for greater stability to be created as a result of a stronger agricultural presence. we see the focus on agriculture achieving for specific goals. first it is obviously going to create a stronger rural economy in afghanistan the great jobs for the unemployed. currently in rural afghanistan the unemployment rate can be as high as 40%. it will increase confidence in the national government to be able to deliver key services.

we believe by increasing agricultural productivity and income we will reduce poverty in that country and we also believe we will respond to the needs of the food security that the country currently has. to basic principles that will be operating under the trip, the supper test of the afghan lead and it has to be a whole of government approach which is why the reasons roz shop's presence today is so appreciated. we will line our assistance and help with the agricultural framework that has been recently announced by the afghan government. we look forward to helping increase agricultural activity regenerate in agribusiness economy rehabilitate natural resources with particular emphasis on irrigation systems and we hope to be able to assist the afghan government in their change management effort to build capacity. this obviously will result in our view in stabilizing the country, making opportunities

outside of illicit activity more meaningful and greater availability. we hope to look forward to working with experts not just in the usda and the usaid but also land grant universities as well as some of our foreign partners to facilitate targeted investments in farming, increased productivity with nuc technologies, expansion of markets building of the appropriator infrastructure, all of that certainly important for this trip and we look forward to making a difference in afghanistan. appreciate the confidence and our ability to get this done and we look forward to working in partnership with raj shot and usaid on the development side. >> thank you secretary vilsack and i appreciate the chance to be here and speak with you. i am in this job very new.

i was sworn in earlier this morning and i had the opportunity at that swearing in and i appreciate the fact that secretary vilsack was able to be there, i had the opportunity to talk about some of the principles that we hope will define usaid. two of the most important principles are engaging our work and the partnership, a partnership with countries, partnerships or countries have stood up and offered leadership and made political commitments to a sector like agriculture and would then allow us to provide support, so that those plans are locally owned, those programs are implemented by local capacity and in doing this work together we build a strong and sustainable agricultural sector that will help our new economy for afghanistan. a second principle is results, and we will be very focused on identifying what are the quantitative goals in each of the four areas the secretary outline so that we know what our

targets are for agricultural productivity for export-oriented agribusiness development and hopefully that links back to job creation and employment in some of the sources of economic stability for rural afghanistan. this is a wonderful example of those two principles. usaid is proud to work with usda in pleased to support secretary vilsack's porton visit. agriculture is the most important nonsecurity sector in afghanistan or all of the reasons the secretary highlighted in this serves as an example of how we are working together. we have coal located our staff in afghanistan. we have a strategic approach where we work together to develop a common strategy with the government in with the ministry of agriculture and irrigation and livestock, and we have the joint framework for assessing results in ensuring accountability as we spend precious u.s. tax dollars on the

school. i will just conclude with a brief comment on the vision of success. the vision of success is to have a vibrant and the versus agricultural economy, a more productive agricultural sector opportunities for small farmers in afghanistan, the average farm size is quite small, opportunities for those farmers to engage in higher value production so they have sources of income and wealth and can begin to rebuild their economies and their communities. this is a unique situation where secretary tom vilsack's commitment to food security in the deep expertise that usa brings is very important for achieving the developmental objectives and we are proud to be working in partnership with the secretary. thank you. >> i want to thank secretary tom vilsack for adding this difficult trip to his busy schedule.

the origins of this trip light in the significant revision of the administration's policies towards afghanistan in the last 11 and a half months. when we took office, we did a full soup to nuts, and a twosy mac caribe-- reevaluation. public attention was focused on focusing on the civilian issues, and as we focus on them, we came to some pretty obvious conclusions. why were we spending more money on poppy eradication then we were on supporting agriculture? why were we were keen on helping afghanistan restore its agricultural export markets, and in the same time doing great damage to the taliban's recruiting base. the two agencies which verse contributed staff to where interagency effort were aid and usda and representatives of that

include auto gonzalez and there are other people currently in the field with the great agricultural development economist john miller during an additional study for as. secretary clinton, president obama in the review process endorsed the idea that agriculture would be our number one nonsecurity priority. for all the reasons we have just heard. and this trip, which was previewed by secretary clinton and the trilateral summit in may took a long time to plan. it is very beneficial and it takes place after the political situation has settled down in kabul. we are very grateful to tom vilsack for doing it and we are thrilled that this takes place only hours after rajiv shot takes office says the aidid administrative. thank you. >> we will take questions for the benefit of our ministry

garan guest. identify yourself and your organization. >> just to questions. what has happened with the trade transit agreement between afghanistan and pakistan which is key to moving those high-value products to india and secondly, success said you had in convincing farmers to switch from-- to we products? >> on the first question, which has been under the goshen-- negotiation for 44 years, including as i have been administrator. >> that is true, is ned raj? >> started in 1965 this negotiation. we are down to about two remaining issues. mary beth goodman, who may be you know is working on this very actively. secretary clinton and i talked about it this morning. we are in touch with the governments in islamabad and

pakistan. you are quite right about the agricultural components here and it was rather interesting to us that about three weeks ago with great fanfare in afghanistan, the ministry of agriculture air shipped 12 tons of apples to india and afghanistan been famous for its apples. that was a very interesting harbinger of what is possible. your second question was about crop substitution. we phased out our support of poppy crop eradication, although individual governor's of afghanistan may continue to do it. the idea that we would spend money to victimize farmers who are growing the best cash crop for them in the area, instead it was only alienating them, driving them into the hands of the taliban. we know from much information we receive that we have heard the taliban recruiting and we did it

by doing this and we did not hurt ourselves at all, because it was accompanied by an integrated plan with general mcchrystal and general petraeus to focus on interdiction and drug czars. some of you may have seen the cnn pieces of the explosions, the drug paraphernalia. we are heavily focused interagency effort to go after the traffickers, the big drug lords. two of them are about to stand trial i think in the u.s.. this isn't about controversy and we interviewed a lot of people in this but i'm glad to say the head of the united nations drug organization called it a correct and courageous move. and we look forward to secretary vilsack's prussians when he returns on this very critical issue. >> what are the two issues? they could be too big issues?

>> wine is a technical issue and the other one is a complicated issue. it is just better to let it go until it works itself out. and i don't want to predict a date certain for the conclusion but we are working very hard on it. >> but it was meant to be december according to the document. >> yes, you are quite right in the reason that we did meet in december is self-evident. the government in afghanistan is changing in key personnel who were doing the negotiation were given new mandate said exactly that time so we all recognize that the maryls stopped the clock. >> a compelling case can be made based on the history of afghanistan and can in fact be the breadbasket of that area but also a compelling market case can be made based on statistics. roughly $2,500 is generated from the sale of poppies but at that same hector was put in a table grapes it could be as much as

$18,000. if it is put inapposite could be somewhere in the neighborhood of three to $4,000 so part of our challenge is to not only educate farmers about those opportunities, but also create the credit and the transportation infrastructure that allows them to take full of vintage of those markets but we can make the case that these markets are far more beneficial for them. >> yesterday's administration said it was going to be increasing civilian presence in afghanistan. i'm wondering from the usaid standpoint how many more boots on the ground to expect to be putting down? >> we currently have 54 people in the country and another ten on the way. and will have an opportunity after this visit not only to thank those workers but also two of the dewhite with additional assistance may be necessary. it is ways in which we can partner with other universities that are providing assistance and help as well as working with

the usaid. so we are going to have a significant presence i suspect and know that over the short time it is going to increase and i also know there is already significant work being done from planting additional trees up to 3 million additional trees in a forestation effort to building storage facilities to improving productivity. there is good work being done. >> i think from usaid's perspective the way we try to think about civilian presence on the ground is really a whole of governor approach and as you perhaps know we expect to have approximately a thousand civilians on the ground across the government. there are, for us, an important concept is what kind of impact you were getting and what those people are able to do. by working with local partners and by focusing on building local capacity in the execution of these programs in agriculture and other sectors we believe each one of those individuals

leverages themselves perhaps tenfold with local afghan capacity in support. >> i want to just clarify something that barrage said on the thousand. we are just building out the projected numbers the president approves in the spring of last year. and that is just short of a thousand, but we have all agreed that concomitant with the additional troops will be additional civilians. jack lou, raj and i and other members of government are looking now at the exact numbers. there have been some numbers and the press which are not inaccurate, and i want to say this particularly because one prominent newspaper wrote in an editorial saying we had captor civilians that a thousand and that is simply not true. >> as important development is

to the region everybody right now is worried about pretty much what the president is going to talk about, the security situation. and besser holbert how much pressure you willing to put on the folks in the region and especially pakistan to address the security issues we all know and have a long history? >> let me duck that because they are just into those questions up brookings. >> but you didn't answer those questions that brookings. you got them there as well. >> this is a unique collection on this podium designed to talk about the issue that we believe this critically important, long term, to security and there is a clear correlation between secretary vilsack's trip and american security interests. here is an example of the whole of government activity which addresses the underlying issues then there is one more point that tom and raj did not make. we are working very closely with general mcchrystal and his team

and secretary vilsack will see them. they have spent a lot of money on agriculture out of the cerp funds. verify the agricultural development teams, national guard from nebraska, texas and california, ms. surry and one other state that slips my mind right now. and, so that is directly related to security but your question for is another time. >> thank you and welcome administrator shop. i was wondering if you could talk about the regional countries and the neighbors in terms of how you are going to help afghanistan position itself as possibly an exporter. i understand in pakistan for existence-- and since since there is no refrigeration afghanistan they sell to pakistan, pakistan refrigerates it then sells it back to afghanistan and a greater price so are you going to put pressure on other countries to try and

help afghanistan develop as an exporter of agricultural products? or any of the? >> let me start by saying we haven't had an opportunity to meet with afghan and pakistani in a trilateral effort to identify common issues in common problems, reducing border disputes sirleaf free flow of goods can be made more easily. making progress on trade agreements and things of that nature so there is a process and a structure at least as it relates to agricultural for us to work through whatever issues might separate the two countries and i think there is a real desire on the part of both administers to be cooperative and i think what our job is to help facilitate that to show an interest which is one of the reasons why i am traveling to afghanistan, is to show that interest. >> if i could quickly follow up. understand the kind of trade issues are those kinds of things but you think there is a desire

on the part of the neighbors to kind of help? there is always so let's talk about afghanistan needs to get its security situation together but here is an example of how they could help to that in a way that has nothing to do with security by helping it kind of as the market. >> i think it is everyone's security interests that we promote agriculture in afghanistan and we make it grow and make it prosper. the same thing is frankly also true for the challenges that pakistan agriculture has. there are serious issues with water, serious issues with arrogation that to be discussed involving both countries and the trilateral process allows us to have those conversations, those frank conversations that lead to better results. and i will tell you, the egg minister is very well respected and very well thought of by our country, by the afghan government and by the pakistani government. he has the right framework, he has the right approach and i

think he brings credibility to this effort. >> raj, in addition to the public sector there is the private sector component and there are a number of activities that helped develop private business, supply chains buildout coletrain systems but to do that within the sustainable economic the secretary talked about so that is an important part of answering a question in terms of how this afghanistan develop its own capacities to never let our cultural value chance. >> charlie wolfson with cbs. within the breakout of the money pot for afghanistan how much is going to the agricultural sector? >> the 2,009 number was roughly 300 million. i can't give you a specific number in 2010 but i think it is safe to say that it will be an increase over that amount. >> that doesn't count the military expenditures. charlie-- that doesn't include

the cerp funds, the evra cults roque development teams of the military. all of you who have talked to mcchrystal rodriguez and general nicholson all know that they share this priority. >> i have a question about the security situation for civilians, u.s. civilians in afghanistan. to what extent are they able to get out of their compounds and meet with afghans and going to villages and with made to protect them? is it the u.s. military or is it private contractors and to what extent is security in beating any of these efforts? >> that is a real issue. there is no denying it and is any of you who led been out there understand it. first of all civilian serving out there are extraordinarily brave and because they are not in the same secure environment as our military colleagues and you saw tragical though a unique

example of that with their cia colleagues in cost in the last few days. secondly, they have to get out to do their work. they have to get outside of the why are comment when you go down to a place like shellmont and see someone like rory kelton, who has been there three years, who knows the area, and aid worker knows the area up better than any of the american military and is committed in takes enormous risks, you see that. now what we doing specifically to deal with it? there is a constant province by province negotiation on how much support the military will give the american civilians from aid, usda and other agencies as the move around. and that depends on the promises. if you are in mazar-i-sharif, as

i was the contriver without any escort from the airport into town and drive around and get out but in kandahar does not quite the same so it is a province by province issue. i can give you a defining answer on this but it is of great concern to us, because in every american civilian who goes out there knows, is knowingly assuming a risk and this is one of the reasons why secretary clinton and i and my colleagues are so deeply moved by the outpouring of volunteers to serve in afghanistan since january of last year. we only had 300 civilians and afghanistan when we took office. we have over 2,000, and now we have tripled that and as secretary vilsack and administrator shah have said they are growing but it is not without risk and we really

understand that. also those 300 civilians were mainly in six months tours. we are drilling down this constantly. >> ambassador holbrooke you brought up the cerp funds. was curious if the administrator shoket alder's this also about whether there's an idea to adapt that idea to development, the availability of funds that can be used on a much quicker basis? >> well, that is a very specific program with its own rules around disbursements that are quite unique in tailored to their capacities. certainly usaid has a broad range of tools and techniques and capacities we can use for programming resources in different ways. some resources can be programmed to directly to governments then there is of course a lot of accountability and ricci wendover site in the context and that is part of the case in the

situation where there is an attempt to build capacity. their efforts to use different programs that do have more flexible resources, the ability to do contracts differently in different framework for oversight that allows them to move quickly into adapted different environments without the same comprehensive level of programmatic process that takes place in other parts of the program so we are developing a range of tools and applying them to where i believe they are the most appropriate. >> would you like to tell us about them? >> no. [laughter] >> d.o.t. isr most flexible response a program. >> that is the office of transition initiatives as i mentioned. it is by far our most flexible tool and it allows our folks in the field to be out making rapid decisions in determinations

about which community groups and beneficiary groups to work within two very quickly both the spurs resources to them into have local capacity development and local contractors working in a focused way as if they are part of the village councilor part of the local government structure, so we actually learned a lot from the national solidarity program. >> there is one other thing we are trying to do. we can't replicate sir. it is a unique fund that saved american lives, but there are specific things that we can do, and as you may have heard yesterday when secretary clinton talked about development, she talked about her frustration with these contracts and how we want to cut them off. i was under direct instructions from her and from the president to try to minimize these, because the contracts of long wait times. first to identify the program and then you write a request for

the proposal and then for five companies are ngo's bid on them, then they pick. this whole thing is done anonymously and it gets really locked in. two years up to you identified the need people are carrying out a rigid format and reporting that they are for filling it and it doesn't just to local conditions. let me give you an example which i think response to your point and which is directly from a it and which jim beaver and i worked up. we have programs for women, we have women's programs and afghanistan, about $33 million. they were all done through contracts. we eliminated the contracts, which immediately saves 50% overhead at the top, turned it over to the ambassadors and ambassadors fund for women and gave them much greater discretion and then it ministered it unfortunately as partially ministered to an outside group because aip doesn't have the manpower yet

but we are going to fix that. so the ambassadors now is not locked into turning the money over to some ngo's are contractors and the arlington area. where they carry out designs, programs which were laid out two years ago. go to a village in you can go to a province. you can see an issue and give them money. it is not cerp but it is a long step forward and we are trying to proliferate that and now that raj has been sworn in this is going to be one of our major efforts. the secretary of state is so interested in this that we will see if what we are doing in afghanistan and pakistan can be applied elsewhere. we have had extensive talks with particular attention to things like food security in africa. >> "national journal," a kid you tell us when secretary vilsack is leaving for afghanistan and also could you give us some

thermation on how agriculture reckford is organized and afghanistan? is there one person in charge of this effort for the u.s. government, and aid person or a usda person? you talked about a lot of different things but i don't get a context for how it is all put together. >> the answer to your first question is soon. [laughter] the answer to your second question is, there is a division of personnel. we think is important to the people in the field so the majority of our workers, usda folks are in the field, paired up with afghans and working on a variety of issues, some of which i have already mentioned. we have folks were working in the capital, who are working closely with the agriculture ministry, and pairing up in the categories that we are focused on, agricultural productivity,

regenerating agribusiness, natural resources enhancement and working on the change management. that structure seems to be working well and seems to suggest the partnership we are trying to create an understanding this has to be afghan lead. we will. partnership obviously with usaid. we are looking to ambassador holbrooke for the leadership interaction. we see ourselves as a vital partner in this process. >> i am really glad you asked this question and i want to apply to things. when, secretary vilsack's numbers were only u.s. department of agriculture personnel. there's also a very substantial aid complex. secondly when we got into office there were 12 egg people in the country. there was no central coordination at all. there are now, we are heading towards 100, is that a fair number?

that doesn't count the military. so, the second point i want to make it goes with secretary vilsack guisseppe. we have issued an edict, don't identify yourself as a idea or usda. you are a u.s. mission. the model out there, i know it is corny but the model is one team, one mission and there is a senior ed person and although he is either usda or aeit i don't actually know which one it is a vital actually care. they all report in turn to our new senior director of operations and many of you know, who has been there for about six months so we are experimenting in pioneering new structures. thee aid director reports to ambassador wang candy ag sector integrated reports directly to ambassador wayne, not to the aid guy or the senior ag guy.

they were always separated and there's often a lot of friction or stovepiping and we are trying to break that down. is one of our major bureaucratic goals. >> the only thing i would add and i try to speak about this this morning and secretary clinton spoke about this yesterday when she gave a speech on your principles for development. one principle is to have to focus your resources on what you think are the transformative dairies of change for social change and improvement, has the focus on agriculture in this environment. the second is approaching this work is a hold government approached the plea coordinated agents that common strategy, and so the work the team on the grandest and to develop one shared strategy with a sense of shared goals and with a sense of clear responsibilities is what then allows you to do that so it is an import the example of the type of partnership that we are talking about and i appreciate that. >> we will take one last

question. kospi thank you. first of all congratulations mr. shah and happy new year to you. my question is we are talking about this mr. secretary or mr. ambassador green evolution of india and afghanistan and how long it will take and also how can you protect as far as security from the taliban and these crops and although once afghanistan was exporters of fruit and nuts worldwide? >> i think our first up in this process is to develop a relationship of trust and minority do that we have to have administrator shah suggested, we have to have concrete results. that is why we are spending time trying to create and trying to listen to precisely what the afghans need of us. in some areas that may be irrigation systems so we have got teams the people working on creating arrogation opportunities. during the soviet conflict the irrigation systems were destroyed and so they have to be

rebuilt. in some areas it may well be talking about crops in basically making the case that more resources can be earned by afghan farmers if they diversify their crops. in some cases it may be working with afghans to create some kind of a storage opportunities so that the markets can be stabilized, so there is a wide of the issues that we are working on. in some cases it will be focused on our forests because so many of the trees have been cut down. they need to be replanted, the need to return to the day when as you indicated they were a significant supplier. we know what the export opportunities are. and we know what has to be done. it is not just getting people focused in an organized and structured way and trying to address the fundamental barriers that exist.

as it relates to-- i think our challenge is if we develop these relationships with confidence in the approach then i think we take a very significant step forward in making areas of this country far more secure, and the give people a reason to resist the arguments and the activities of the taliban. >> before we leave i just want to close with our new slogan. we did? okay. go ahead. >> you have been talking since you took this job about reducing reliance on contractors and i'm wondering if you up had any measurable progress yet? are there any numbers to can give us? >> measurable but insufficient, and we don't have clear numbers yet. another thing we have done time and time again, we have been presented with situations where

we have wanted to contract because-- but we couldn't. these were three and five year contracts. we no longer do that. the contract is no more than a year. and thank god raj is here. i am going to have this problem off to him. i know of no more complicated-mexifornia mantra at least it is new for me is from a saying by norman borlaug, the great nobel laureate who died last year who won the nobel prize in 1970 i think for the discovery of ir8 merkel week. he said quite simply, if you desire peace, cults update justice but at the same time cultivate the fields to produce more bread. and that is, in that spirit on behalf of secretary clinton and all the rest of us in our office and in the department, and if i may rise chique for