talk about this and speculation about how soon. you know, a lot of it depends, frankly, on what kind of pretrial lotions are filed by the defense. i think the hope is that because this began in the military system and there were a considerable number of motions filed before the case was dismissed in january of 2010 that you don't necessarily have to, you know, re-litigate all those motions.

>> thankfully that or something educational convinced him not to go through with it, and we could avoid a tragic outcome then. unfortunately, in this case, this guy, or one of the associates proceeded with a koran burning smaller in scope, but this shows our concerns were well founded when we reached out last summer because you saw that it has sparked really violent reactions in afghanistan and some in pakistan that resulted in the deaths i think of more than a dozen people. it's tragic. obviously, this pastor behaved in a very reckless and irresponsible manner.

we deplore the fact he desecrated a holy book, and it was just disgusting it's resulted in the death of so many people. similarly, we deplore the violent reaction of so many people in afghanistan that have led to the killing of many innocent people including u.n. personnel who were, you know, committing their lives to trying to help the afghans to better themselves, so i just think defense a lot of reckless and irresponsible a behavior on both parts, and we deplore the burning and the violent reaction, and i think we're comforted to see though at least in the last day or so the violence has reduced in afghanistan. i don't think there was viability protests today, just a peaceful one at kabul

university, but peaceful protests are fine, obviously. it's bad when the mob takes over and turns tragic. we've been heartened to see frankly a lot of -- and i think this got crowded out in the coverage that a lot of religious leaders in afghanistan are stepping up and denouncing the vims and making the -- violence and making the point to their followers that the actions of this pastor down in florida are not representative of how america views them or views islam, and nor how the coalition countries view islam, so that is comforting to see that kind of reason taking hold and being pulmomull gaited and people i think are responding to it. >> can you follow-up on ksm real

quick? >> okay. >> given all the caveats about pretrail proceedings, i wonder nonetheless if you could tell us do you see it as conceivable that this trial might not yet have begun on the 10th anniversary of 9/11? >> i just couldn't tell you with any certainty. i just don't -- i'm not authoritative enough on how long these proceedings will take to give you an authoritative answer, james. >> do you expect it? >> i can't tell you that i expect it, but we certainly hope for it. ten years is a long time for victims to wait for justice. obviously, there's been some complicating factors, but i think that the decision has been made to proceed with adjudicating this individual in the military judicial system which is perfectly capable of doing so, and we will set about carrying that out as quickly as

possible. i mean, as you know, the secretary's belief on this all along is both systems are providing viable alternatives for prosecuting terrorists, and that frankly, you need options in dealing with sort of the complex environment that we're in and the complex legal challenges associated with the global war on terror and apprehending terrorists and murders different places around the world. he has said many, many times as you know that the federal system, the civilian court system, the civil system period is perfectly capable of trying, convicting, and ultimately imprisoning terrorist suspects. at the same time, though, he has full confidence in the military judicial system, and he is a

firm believer that it can bring ksm to justice, and that process will hopefully begin sooner than later. >> the ksm case, has the department made any sort of determination similar to the determination that doj apparently had when it was going to be tried in civilian court, what happened if any or if all the defendants are found not guilty? >> i'm not aware of it. i mean, i don't have the if -- he's hypothetical answers for you. this is something that's going to be handled in the, you know, the military justice system although it's part of obviously our enterprise. it is a separate, you know, independent body that is -- that can provide due process in a fair trial for the defendants, and that's where it resides at this point. i'm not going to speck cue late on what, if, how, and when and so forth.

>> general holder said if they were to be found not guilty in civilian court, they would still be in the custody of -- >> yeah, i don't have anything for you. yeah, let's go. i promised -- i didn't go to larry. larry, japan -- >> you never answered my question. >> i only have time for four more, so quickly, larry. >> secretary defense gates supported doubling the military. in the events of recent attacks in yemen, does the secretary regret that or feel it was a bad idea? >> listen, i mean, obviously the violent in yemen right now is deplorable. i think we all condemn that on both sides. the protests, the demonstrations need to be nonviolent, obviously, the government needs to respond to them in a nonviolent manner, so we are -- we condemn the violence all around.

that said, yemen is a major concern to us, has been for years because of the presence of al-qaeda there and the threats that come from there. we have worked hard over the past several years to try to increase the yemen's government capacity to deal with that threat in their midst. that's a prudent course of action given the fact that we knew there was or is still a very real threat coming from that small country on the arabian peninsula, so i don't think there's anybody here or anywhere else frarngly that is questioning whether that was the right thing to do and remains the right thing to do. obviously, the situation right now is a difficult one, the longer it festers, the more difficult it becomes. that's why this government has been urging a negotiation transition as quickly as

possible and hopefully as that takes place, we will be able to better collectively go after this threat that exists in yemen. >> was there any contract conditions on the aid to yemen about using it against yemen -- >> to suggest that the they are abusing protesters is a leap of faith for which there is no evidence to support. yeah, go ahead. >> any update on the teams dispatched to japan to help out with the nuclear? >> the management guys? >> right. secondly, the uss reagan carrier strike group is repositioning. can you tell us about that and why they are repositioning? >> i have heard -- i heard that just before i went out today that it was repositioning. we have the george washington still in japan, so there is another carrier there. we've had two carriers there for the past several weeks to be on

hand, to help with the humanitarian disaster relief. i got to go double check that that has been the decision that's been made to actually pull the reagan out and reassign it to another mission, but regardless, if that is the decision, we have a number of ships that will remain off the coast of japan including the carrier jornlings washington, and we'll retain that capability. i noticed that the minister visited the reagan yesterday and thanked them for their assistance and assistance of all u.s. forces over the fast couple of weeks, so i would not, in any way, interpret the reagan's reassignment as in any way a reflection of a lack of effort or support to the japanese government in this hour of need. we continue to have tens of thousands of forces, scores of

thousands of forces in japan. we have about 20,000 committed to this phase of the operation, the humanitarian assistance disaster relief. as i mentioned, i think we've got 20-plus ships and so forth on hand to assist aircraft as well. number of helicopters, aircraft that can monitor radioactive material in the air and so forth, so there is no lessening of our commitment to assist the japanese during this difficult time. i think you saw deputy assistant secretary went over friday and communicated that as well to his japanese counterparts. i think just the mere fact that the deputy admiral walsh has been based in japan really for the last couple of weeks running the joint task force there is a sign of the commitment and the

high level commitment to this problem, so we are going to keep the necessary assets on hand to deal with a whole range of scenarios and that's just the responsible thing to do, not just to meet our alliance obligations, but also because, frankly, we just don't know yet, although we've had a few encouraging days where the situation seems to be static that we don't yet know for certain how this will develop, so we need to retain the ability to respond in a number of ways. >> gw can provide stance in japan now because it hasn't done that since the disaster hit. >> it obviously left, dry docked, serviced, came out of dry dock, still is on hand with the capability to assist in the missions, absolutely. >> do you have -- >> i have don't have anything specifically on them. the whole management effort

continues to grow. there's 400 plus personnel involved here from across the united states government, department of energy, the nuclear regulatory commission, there are -- the state department, there are a lot of professionals who have been dispatched to japan with a lot of expertise to assist the japanese government deal with the range of possibilities associated with this disaster they are confronting, and that will remain so. i don't think this -- as i said, the reagan, and we'll check on precisely what the timing and mission is of the reagan, but i would not in any way view that as somehow us losing our focus on this mission. we remain very much engaged in helping our japanese friends. yeah, chris. >> just to follow-up on lair's question, you said no one in the government had a problem with the secretary approving $150 million in training and military

assets for yemen, but panetta and others raised concerns about that funding. i'm wondering with the instability there, what is the status of u.s. military aid to yemen? has it been suspended, and where does that stand right now? >> as far as i know, it has not been. obviously, we are monitoring the situation closely. it's fluent, and we are making determinations and evaluations based upon how it's developing. our focus right now though, chris, i think from the usg's point of view is working to try to help in the peaceful negotiated transition that i think all sides are hoping for, but, again, i think my colleagues across the river are better able to speak to that.

>> but, giving u.s. military aid to a government that may not even be constituted the same way in a few weeks? >> well, i mean, the bottom line is despite what is taking place, the fact of the life is he remains the president of that country, in control of the military forces, and although clearly our desires for the response to the protest to be nonviolent and that the grievances of the people of yemen need to be heard and be dealt with in a democratic way, we both still face a threat coming from yemen that needs to be dealt with, and so there -- you know, i don't think there's

been lack of commitment in the yemen leadership to con front that threat, and so we will continue to evaluate what makes the most sense for us in dealing with this threat, in terms of support for the yes , yemen government. it's a fluent situation, evaluate it, and make changes if necessary. the threat from yemen is a real one to be dealt with, and that's where our focus has been over the last several years. >> [inaudible] >> you had one; right? down the line, boom, boom, boom, go. >> do you have the approximate cost of that, and make sure any government shut down happens that will not affect -- >> i said that from the outset, that's a mission we would still retain the ability to carry out. i think there had been about $80

million for disaster relief, i don't believe we've spent all that yet. go ahead. >> operations turned out the largest joint operation in history. how do you estimate their long term impact on alliance and their reasonable civility? also, u.s.-japan cabinet meetings on schedule? it's supposed to be held later in spring. >> yeah, the second part first. i would say that obviously there is a lot going on for the japanese government, many challenges that they are facing, and we will continue to work with them on planning for a two-plus-two. we are both committed to engaging in that way, but we're sensitive to the needs right now in terms of responding to the immediate crisis at hand, so we'll work with them to figure out the timing that makes the most sense for the entire

japanese government. it's hard enough scheduling four principles to appear at the same place at the same time without a sis like this going on, but we'll work through it, and at the appropriate time we'll get together to engage in this fashion. to your first question, how does it impact the alliance? i mean, listen, crisis test everybody. this crisis has tested us, but i think it's made us stronger, and it's made the alliance more solid. the alliance is codified in a legal agreement, but where it's really put to the test is in real life scenarios like the one we face now and have been for the last several weeks. when a close friend and ally of ours is confronted with a devastating earthquake, a horrific sue tsunami with the

potential of a melt down, there was no doubt in our minds to respond aggressively with as much as we could bring to bear to help the japanese. we've done so, it's appropriated by the government, and i think we work together in new and different ways than we have before, not just on a military to military basis, but across our governments in a true crisis situation. we've had growing pains along the way, but that's to be expected in a very coalville situation like this, but i think all those involved would agree that we are coming out of this stronger. now, there are still tests to come because we're not out of the woods here yet by any means, but we're going to work through this together. last question. >> do you deal with the monitoring of the fishing activity of the mexican cartels, especially now that they are taking more control in central

america? do you have any additional concerns because of that, and on the other hand, i'd like to ask you, the adjustment to the budget of the dod can affect the mystery of mexico? >> if there were a government shut down? again, i'm not speculating on what programs may or may not be impacted. these are situations to be thought about. it would have been national security functions retained even through the shut down of the government. again, we hope to avoid that, but those determinations have to be made. to your first point, i don't have anything for you on that. thanks, guys. >> live coverage of israeli president shimon peres shortly. president peres will be interviewed by cnn's wolf blitzer.

while we wait, president obama met with president peres today. the two had a extensive discussion about the unrest sweeping the middle east. president peres spoke with reporters in the white house driveway after that working lunch. >> i think we had a good meeting. the president, like myself, is convinced there's an awakening in the middle east is a call of history, that we shouldn't ignore, and we have to take all the necessary steps to make it a success for the world, for the muslim world, for their world. i told the president i was listening carefully to his address in cairo, and i understand exactly what he said, and i feel like what the president said was he wants to improve his relations with the muslim world to enable the muslim world to improve itself.

we do. we don't want to be struggling with muslim world. we want to make friends with them. we want to have peace in spite of different traditions. i thank the president for his support. the president told me that as long as he is president, the security of his will be on top of his political considerations, and i must say that our relations in there, the president is true to his promise. i thank him for the veto that america's introduced at the security counsel, and america is going to go on. he said it's not a true story. it is an attempt to belittle without reasons. i thank him for his position,

and it came out that the united states was right in its appreciation. both of us feel that the new situation calls for the renewal of the negotiation of the israelis and palestinians, and negotiations must be direct inspite of the fact that -- i think sooner is better because the time of the open window is limited by time, and we have to act very decisively and very promptly, so i would say the conclusion is there's many things that should be done with great courage and the sense of fairness. >> leaving this earlier today from the white house to go live from the institute of peace to

hear from president peres interviewed by wolf blitzer. right now, some introduction remarks. >> to stay in the white house during his visit to washington this week. to illustrate the richness of the wisdom and experience of president peres, it is important to note that shimon peres first stayed at the blair house 50 years ago this month working on behalf of american-israeli relations. [applause] as we begin, if i may, i'd like to pay particular recognition to my former colleagues in the united states congress, speaker nancy pelosi joined us earlier, senator chris coons, and senator

frank lautenberg. members of the house -- [applause] members of the house which i'm sure all of you know is the much more important and powerful body. [laughter] members of the house gathered, shellily burkely, dan burden, steve cohen, ted deutsche with big shoes to fill, jerry nadler, and deb bi. [applause] i'd like to recognize and also thank the representatives who have joined us this evening from the following countries, bulgaria, sigh price, the czech republic, egypt, france,

georgia, germany, israel, of course, jordan, the netherlands, poland, switzerland, the united kingdom, as well as the european union, and the palestinian authority. [applause] i would be remised if i did not pay special tribute to our middle east team showing devotion, thank you, all, very, very much. [applause] most especially, most especially, i want to applaud a atree yachtic -- patriotic and selfless american, a world war ii veteran, a visionary for peace in the middle east, and above all, a

lifelong z ionist, danny abraham. [applause] with that, i will turn the program over to a gentleman who is, i would respectfully suggest, in fact, the most trusted name in the news, a talented journalist and newsman who was not only kind enough to join us this evening, but when asked said it would be a privilege, and it is my privilege to introduce wolf blitzer. [applause] >> it is my privilege to introduce the president of israel, shimon peres. [applause]

♪ [applause] [applause] >> mr. president, you should know here in the united states, when a president is introduced, we don't have long introductions. we basically say, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, so i took that privilege to introduce you, the president of the state of israel. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much. [applause] i don't think shimon peres needs a whole lot of introduction. let's point out he was twice prime minister of israel and winner of the nobel peace prize, comes at a issue with an enormous amount of history and great deal of credibility, so let's get to the questioning because the viewers here in this

room and around the country on c-span as well as on cnn, we're all interested in knowing what you have to say. this is clearly, mr. president, a historic time in the middle east. we're seeing great change, many comparative to what happened with the fall of the berlin wall in europe in the late 80s, early 90s. let's talk about egypt right now. the change, the dramatic change president mubarak no longer the president of the region. is this good or bad for egypt? certainly the largest of all the arab countries. >> i wouldn't fair out president mubarak. i have to be fair and say that president mubarak played what we appreciated very much, and that is to prevent another war in the middle east. i should never forget it, but i think the fact that the younger

generation in egypt and tried to get the people to join, the new age, the modern alike, and we cannot go on with corruption and division and dictatorship. i think it's a good opening. it's needed for the egyptians, and we are -- we will comment very much. >> are you confident, mr. president, the next government in egypt honors the peace treaty with israel? >> i do believe there are many reasons for it, but it tells and depends upon what happens between us and the palestinians. i think it enables thedown generation to take over and go their way. we have to find a solution between us and the palestinians. i would like to see that our

conflict will go along with the nature of the awakening, be free of it, i do believe, that we shall see in egypt more successful. >> i want to get to the peace process and get to that in a moment, but continue on egypt for a moment. i was just there the other day with secretary of state, hillary clinton, and walking around cairo, tahir square, i got a sense it was by no means resolved who emerges as the real leader of egypt. how worried are you the muslim brotherhood could emerge in free elections in egypt as the dominant player as the next government? >> i wouldn't exclude it, but i wouldn't take it as the only solution. i mean, the real problem with

egypt is poverty to start with. in 1952, when there were 18 million people in e just a minute. today, 50 years later, there are 81 million. egypt growing in population five times, nothing else grow in the same pace, and the little problem is how to enable egypt to escape its poverty. egypt is not a country without a leader, but it's a leader that fits a country that knows how to grow five times. it's a desert, and really the only compensation, and i think israel can escape poverty if they join in the modern age which means an economy that doesn't hang on the rivers and land, but on science and technology. the young generation are

educated people. they cannot find a job, so it's a combination of young people and women. women, too, thatments to have -- that wants to have their freedom and equality, and i think the real -- even if it won't succeed the first time, they won't give up. they opened their eyes thanks to modern communication, internet, facebook, smart phones, so they see the corruption, the ugliness of the division, and they will not close their eyes. now, the muslim brotherhood, 15%-20%, they are not the majority of the egyptians, but depends who is better organized and who will go to the ballots, but generally, they are not and will not be in the majority,

neither will be the solution. >> because when i was in cairo a couple weeks ago, several people said to me don't be surprised if the muslim brotherhood in new elections get more than 15%-20%. >> they maybe get -- they may get more, but they don't have a solution to the egyptian poverty. that's interesting. suppose they pray ten times a day. will this solve the problem? the problem is not prayers, but poverty, and many of the young people understand it, and they may overplay their hands too. you know, one of the solutions in life is the vicious side is perfect and the right side is imperfect. it's nonsense. the vicious side is imperfect as the right side, and we shouldn't

take -- we are talking about destroying all those people who are fanatic and extreme. they are not perfect, and they don't carry -- >> talking about syria. i spoke to an israeli the other day who said as much as israel's had problems leaders, there hasn't been any violence along the heights for 40 years or so, and as bad as the relationship might be between israel and sierra, they are worried what happens next. are you worried from israel's perspective? >> well, war is not a policy. you have to ask yourself what can be done. suppose what that means. i believe that finally a democratic system in syria is our best bet.

i wouldn't make any confirmations. the president of syria was self-assured that the people are in live with him, a marriage is an illusion. when in politics, you have to distinguish between support and supporters. support exists as long as you are the government. the support disappeared, and for the first time in 40 years they are not supported. today, we didn't do it, neither can we stop it neither can we change it, and i believe that if democracy of freedom will take its place in syria, this is the best for the future. >> and next door in lebanon as well? >> yes. lebanon was taken over by a

various group of people, the hezbollah, but they are not so religious. there's missiles against israels, they are extreme. this lebanon was a peaceful country. they want to control the government, but, again, what for? what is their message? they are getting a billion dollars a year from iran. iran finances them. they are serving the iranians more than they are serving the lebanese. i know basic facts. we would like to see lebanon free, united, democratic. this is the best solution. we have to make any other calculations. >> how close was israel on a peace deal with syria?

>> if syria is with hezbollah, we are close. if they want it both ways, nothing will happen. >> you were in deep negotiations through turkey and others and syria. you almost had a deal. >> yes. the problem is if they're really ready to make a choice between the iranian way or the peaceful way. >> is israel ready to give up the heights? >> all prime ministers in the past said so, and prime minister left the pulpit with the united states saying it. we are ready to change the situation, but not to the point where the iranians take over. they are not sufficient to have them so close to israel. >> you would insist on a demilitarization if they withdrew?

>> the double policy, it's either peace with israel or serving the iranian and the hezbollah way. that we cannot default because this will be an imagined piece. if the syrians want peace, we are willing and ready to have it, but not in the imagination, something that is not real. if they make a choice, we shall make a choice. >> i want to get to that issue in a second, but on jordan, checking in on all your neighbors, are you worried about what's going on in jordon right now? >> i'm worried about everything. [laughter] i don't know. i think what we have to do is help the king. he's a responsive leader.

he is trying to serve his people. he is in a very difficult situation economically, and if they are really serious, we have to help him overcome the economic difficulties. i think that we have to help him to overcome, and when i say we, i don't mean israelis. i think we should keep ourselves there, but not in the front, but others can help him, and for example, the nongovernmental companies today in the united states were being run by intelligent people and responsible people, and the great united states and they educated their own foundations to give back the money to the people. if they will do it, not in a way of charity and fill lain trap

pi, but in the way of politics namely, instead of just helping sick people in a country, to help sick countries to be able to cure themself, and they will take care of their own sick people, that can be a great change. we have to act positively. feelings, moods, are important, but you have to make timely a choice. >> how did your meetings with president obama go today? >> very well. i trust the president. i think he's serious. i think he has a dilemma that all of us have. the dilemma is between the following, the core values, the moral choice, and the realistic situation which is not necessarily as moral as we would

like to be, and to be honest, whether you can have these all in supreme consideration, do it. if you don't have a moral call, but you have to choose between difficult and complicated situations, the least vishz -- vicious is the best one. i think the president does it, otherwise it's time for the least damaging choice does depend on him. he cannot control the world. i don't think the united states has declined. i think the burden upon the united states has increased. we have this same shoulders, but the world is larger in numbers, complicated in nature, different giants, and i think the united states remains zeal and

responsible type. the uniqueness of the united states in my eyes is that this is the only great power in history that became great by giving not by taking. you're helping other people to get in the game and gain their independence, their future, you send your boys to fight for other people, some of them lose their lives, you won the wars, you got territories. you didn't keep anything for yourself. you gave to the japanese and improved, gave to germany and improved germany, and you are there all the time. using generosity is the soul of historic policy. i don't know any other. >> what do you say to those israelis who don't consider president obama a friend of israel. >> i'm saying they are

mistaken. >> give me an example of why they are mistaken. >> from my degree, for example, they didn't believe the united states would use its power and security. the president said and told me several times that as long as he's president, the security of israel will be on top of his political consideration. he does it in fact of the military are their best. the united states was the only country that didn't take the report about gaza as a true one. now, the united states was justified, so whatever went down, i can see we have a

response. the president is not always flowering in his language, and occasionally, we too don't go to the end. for example, if i take his cairo speech, the united states wants to improve our relations with the muslim world. what for? in order to enable the muslims to improve their own places. now, we also would like to improve our policies with the muslim world. they are not our enemies. we want to live in peace. we would like to achieve the same thing, so i believe that we have to build some more balance, and i couldn't recall a town to the president which he says no i'm not interested.

>> did the president ask you once again today to freeze all settlement activity? >> the president told me this is the policy of the united states, but i told him this is the policy, but there was also a problematic situation over the ordeals. no israeli government whether from the right or the left build in the 21 suburbs, arab suburbs. we are going to continue, so the united states officially didn't support it as pragmatically accepted. the same is about the settlements in the west bank. the united states is against building more or building new settlements. we are a democratic country, and

the best the government can do is not to build new settlements and to limit the building on existing settlements in the buildup area. >> do you support that? >> if i support it, it's elected government and that we have the will of the people, and we respect the will of the people so i suppose the democratic system and under the president's consideration, this is the best we can achieve, and why the united states will not change its prince. s, they -- its principles for the transition period, they can be as pragmatic as all of us are. >> is the united nations general assembly going to vote to recognize an independent palestinian state in november? >> it's a possibility, and as you say, mistake. >> why? >> because peace must be a result of an agreement. >> but you do support a

palestinian state? >> yes, 100%. >> you support a two-state solution? >> yes. >> everybody knows what the outlines of the palestinian state will be. >> yes. >> so what's the problem? >> the problem is their designation of the borders, aid, and how to answer the security needs of israel, itself, being alone in the middle east because the palestinians are split. you have abbas, the president who is for peace and the other who wants to destroy. while we want very much the position, we cannot close our eyes of the danger of hamas. we left them out of our own free will. we said and repeatedly said it, we don't want to down from

gaza. we left gaza and all the settlers, modernized 75,000 policemen. we had to pay $2.5 billion compensation. we left gaza, and how much to cover gaza, and they start shooting at us. we can want understand to this -- we cannot understand to this very day why they are shooting. we love gaza, you are not going back. what is the purpose? >> the question is if the vote is happening in september of the general assembly of the ung to recognize -- u.n. to recognize palestine, do you think israel will vote against that resolution? >> yes. >> did the president of the united states tell you how he would vote? >> i didn't ask him.

>> did he raise the issue with you? >> i dropped that the united states did whatever they can to have a preference of an agreed peace. the united nations can vote. now, i'm asking myself, can they answer the danger of a free hamas? what does it mean to have a resolution? who will answer those dangers? the united nations give them the blanket? you must be responsible. you cannot solve the problems just by issuing declarations. you have to relate to the real problems. >> is president abbas the leaders of the palestinian authority committed to the peace process? >> in my judgment, yes. i think this is maybe the best group we could have. >> you should tank advantage of that opportunity and negotiate peace with them. >> right, yes.

they, too, have their own conditions, and the israel has their own conditions too. the get these maybe more psychological criteria, but the psychological itself is a problem, went we are handling it in a fluent matter. i hope it's possible to bridge the differences between president abbas and prime min steer. i won't go into details and i won't give up the hope that we can reopen the negotiations. >> have you seen this initiative, this israeli peace initiative that # 00 israelis signed including former leaders of the military, security services calling for palestinian state basically in the pre-67

borders, including the capitol in east jerusalem. >> yes. >> do you support the initiative in >> i have to support the policy of the government. it's a democratic country, and it's my dear respect to their position. i have to respect the majority, and the majority today is for a two-state solution, but with a very heavy emphasis on security and mutual understanding and agreement. >> and as part of that agreement, would you be willing to give up land of pre-67 israel to the palestinians in exchange for some land in the palestinian territory that would become part of the state of israel? >> you mean -- >> as part of a final peace settlement with the palestinians. >> we are willing and ready to go for a swap. i mean, if you need some for

secured borders, we shall compensate with other land. >> in other words, parts of galilee? >> no, no, what is decided is decided. i don't believe that israel would like -- for them, it's their basic right to live where they used to live, so i wouldn't force anybody, and peace must be done by agreements, and i think it can be achieved in that agreed manner. >> how close in your opinion, the government of israel, is iran to building a nuclear bomb? >> i really don't know. i mean, there are different ideas. some say a year, two years, three years. it's very hard to know because it's very hard to measure where

exactly today they are financed, but they do believe that a nuclear iran is a problem for the rest of the world. i think a more mobilized iran -- i mean, a nuclear bomb in the hands of fa fanatic and iranians -- irresponsible people, and i believe all of them, and i think the russians understand that the nuclear bomb in the hands of fanatic people is the greatest danger to the peace in the world. >> is it your opinion that iran recently suffered a major setback in its nuclear weapons program by cyberwarfare, the worm that has been widely reported.

>> i know what i read in the papers. >> i think you know more than that. [laughter] >> well, what i know is far from being written, but i don't think i have to take a position on intelligence, and i don't have to worry about figures and numbers which are uncertain. >> without getting into who was responsible for that, did that seriously setback iran's nuclear program? >> i don't have a good answer to it. i don't know. >> you want to tell us who was responsible for it? >> what? >> want to tell us who was responsible for that? >> why it is it needed? [laughter] >> i'm a journalist, i'm curious. >> you're a journalist, i'm a politician, i don't tell everything. [laughter] [applause] >> i didn't expect you to tell me. >> okay. >> i asked the question. [laughter] how much of a role is iran

playing in your opinion in the middle east and north africa right now in this unrest that we're seeing? >> by the way, loses balance of consideration from venezuela up to iran. oil is not being produced, oil is being discovered. it's easy money. they don't need the agreement of their people to spend it, and to spend it frivolously. to give billion dollars to sustain hezbollah while 50% unemployment in iran, to take away that from the youngsters and invest in enriched uranium is a scandal, and i do believe the best way to change the situation in iran is to support

the iranian people who are ashamed of their own government. i believe that dealing with iran, the economic sanctions are important, but what i feel is missing is the moral call. of all corporations, the moral corruption is the most dangerous one. today, iran is the moral cruchtion, misuse of money, calling for terror, for death, for hatred, without any message neither for their own people or for the rest of the world. they spend money in iran, in lebanon, in sudan, in hamas, and also are trying to arrive at south america. what for? what is really the mission of ahmadinejad? what does he want? he's the leader, but what does

he want? what they want is to be greater than they are. they want greatness. greatness is something which is very hard to achieve if you don't have it. you cannot do it either by calls or decisions, so i think we have to understand that our holiness begins to such a extreme degree, it goes to an unknown expected level, and that's a problem. it became dangerous since we have nuclear bombs because for nuclear bombs, people can carry them from one place to another place, and that's the great problem. ..

everything carefully bacall and besides i respect. but there was a foul, there was no consideration is, human suffering, the state of health and that's what i asked.

i didn't ask that the united states would change its mind about, but would consider the human consideration. >> and what did he say? >> i didn't expect him to answer my question and somebody would tell me make a i just have to see carefully the president to be allowed so by request simply the consideration and that's what's happened. >> we are out of time and i believe this felt there are people here and watching on television right now that within the next few months george mitchell consider a state hillary clinton how the president, someone can really

break through and help the israelis and the palestinians achieve a peace agreement. >> seriously it's a possibility of certainty. i wouldn't exclude it. i can say that there was already achieved because all of us including the palestinians and the israelis would know that to move ahead calls for taking risks and people don't feel easy with taking risks. it's not only a game, you may endanger your life by giving it. but not to take a risk is even more risky to not try to make peace. i spoke with president abbas and

said for years and years and years would have helped us to hire peace. now that egypt has providence we have to come on their side, too? not great enough to answer that but we can do this to take out the conflict between us as a reason for what will win the confrontation between the generation that wants to introduce freedom and all the gentlemen to continue and there were going to be elections and it will not be on top of the

consideration then they can consider what is good for egypt and the president of the palestinian people let's take it out when, let's bring an end to the conflict. all of them realize this occasion and have to make a choice between the considerations. one is to make the necessary concessions bring an end to the conflict and the conflict may call out of the liberal to the young generation. i don't join him the idea of the clash of civilizations i think there is a young generation that must enter a new age of freedom

were the of honesty and meet may be different from that concept democracy isn't just for the expressionless self expression. they went to the university and felt they cannot find jobs the problem is can egypt poverty or not by answering yes is the problem just financial or not? the problem is to understand today there is no longer a nation of the economy but global economy and of the way to introduce the economy is not just by continuing the land and cultivating the land, but by hanging on science and technology.

and i can't we have to fuel them from the old prejudices. people remember rather than to think, but when they remember they forget other things. they remember only the side. but they don't forget our prejudices. it's hard to get rid of prejudice that we have to. we are facing a new era, a new world that doesn't hang upon the land but hangs upon the science. science can be achieved by armies, cannot be controlled by police. the meaning of democracy today is not just the right to be equal, but the equal right to be different, and we have to enable the arab people to join in the new world.

only the new world can help them to escapes. >> would it be smart for the president of the united states to to do what jimmy carter did and invite the israelis and the palestinians, camp david negotiated peace agreements? >> the president tried to do it -- >> which president? >> obama. he met with the israeli prime minister and palestinian president. i think the president is ready to do it but wants to make sure that in the wake of such a meeting there will be dark negotiations and if they would agree for the negotiations despite the differences, then president carter invited the prime minister and mr. sadat said that was an exception of

statesman. it was the only arab breezily can think of the -- result i can think of. what we have more sadats than the president would have more. but even now, i think the president is ready to make the necessary steps, provided it won't be just a show that in the wake of the meeting there will be dark negotiations between the two parties. he doesn't want to impose a solution. he really thinks, like all of us, the solution must result from an agreement and that is one of the reasons why i respect the president and i believe he is trying to do the right thing

and not to create solutions are something which is imaginary. so it's a different situation because the different parties. it is a possibility and we have to work very hard and very serious to make this possible the into a reality and that should be the tasks. espinel on that note, thank you, mr. president, on behalf of all of us. good luck to you and all of the people and palestinians and the region. thank you. [applause] [applause] i want to thank president

peres red wolf licht search and polis for missing an earlier. i believe desert is being served please enjoy, and most especially, think you very much for joining us this evening. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

to the head of the military africa command and the head of the transportation command appeared today at a hearing of the house armed services committee. hearing covered with trees aberrations in libya and the logistical needs of troops in afghanistan among other topics.

this is an a hour and 45 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> i apologize for tardiness. we had a vote and then a suspicious package and i didn't think they were ever going to let us back. the house armed services committee meets today to receive testimony from the commanders of the united states transportation command and the united states africa command on the posture of

the respected commands. although these are to combat in the areas that sometimes fly beneath the radar with this hearing cannot be more relevant than it is today. in africom's area responsibility u.s. forces have been conducting of military operations against forces loyal to the libyan dictator. there is a strong possibility of a strategic stalemate emerging in libya. i fear we may find ourselves committed to an open ended up obligation for participation in nato operations and that poses a real opportunity costs given the volatility of father and a stable more strategically important countries in the region. beyond libya, this weekend, as many of our -- as many as 1,000 civilians were massacred in the

ivory coast as that nation's political standoff escalated violently. this brutality could be ominous for shuttering a fence and sudan as the southern portion of the war torn country becomes an independent nation in july. further east, somalia continues to be a source of instability, posting both al qaeda and affiliated al-shabaab terrorist organizations and various piracy networks that have been intensified the attacks in the gulf of aden and beyond in recent years killing four american citizens aboard a private yacht. just as it was virtually on possible to force the united states to become militarily involved in libya have the staff last year's posture hearings, this congress may be called upon to fund a number of possible contingency operations or humanitarian missions in africom's aor.

when we make new year's resolutions this year we didn't foresee egypt, libya, all of the other things to happen in. wherever the u.s. forces the operator of the next year, trans com will be charged with getting them there. sustaining them throughout the operations and getting them home to their families. s general omar bradley famously said some amateurs talk strategy and professionals talk logistics. but even that the past 18 months or an instructive example as for the relevance of that today. not only did transcom have to respond to the surge of the forces in afghanistan, while they simultaneously orchestra did the drawdown of the forces in iraq but they also had to respond to the devastating earthquake in haiti. things haven't gotten any easier for the men and women of mcnabb transcom as they are supporting libya in addition to operations in iraq and afghanistan and are working desperately to assist the people of japan following the horrific

earthquakes of the past month. what the do isn't easy and it's oftentimes and noticed that the capabilities of transcom are truly unique among the nations. we are fortunate to be joined here today by the two officers with long and distinguished records of service to their nation. general duncan mcnabb, commander u.s. transportation command and general carter ham, commander of u.s. africa command. gentlemen, thank you for appearing before us today and think you for your lifetime of service to the nation. please come convey our thanks to those who serve with you in your combat areas. we look forward to hearing your testimony today. ranking members left. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome, general mcnabb congenital ham to testify this afternoon according to your comments and answers to the questions to a very important commands in the montreal transportation command first has an amazing job for the chairman

referred to as logistics coming and you can imagine all the capabilities we have and where we would like them, but general mcnabb has to make sure the two things matchup and it's not an easy job and when you consider the interest throughout the world and where we have had to move equipment in recent years to do an outstanding job as to the men and women who serve in the transportation command. we have the c-17 up of a joint base we are a big part of that so we are profligate as well. going forward i think in this hearing a number of issues are going to be interested in the in particular as we figure of how to downsize and iraq moving equipment out of there and how does that work in terms of getting back to the states were getting back to where we want it, how was that process progressing, but contingencies to you have in place if for some reason sometime in the next seven to eight months it turns out we are going to be leading more equal than we expected it to make a request and are unable to grant for a continued u.s. presence of some very limited scope i would anticipate but

still that will complicate the transportation of the equipment. and second of course the ongoing challenge of providing for the war fighter in afghanistan there are many logistical challenges we bring a lot of our equipment to pakistan, not always a very stable place. the country number of afghanistan also have their challenges as we have heard. so i would be interested in your feelings about how we are doing on that and what the major challenges are going forward and how we can better make sure we get the equipment to afghanistan that we need an africom. we have a fair number of challenges in the region and the best way to summarize them is the instability. certainly there's a lot of political unrest and a number of nations across the top of africa and to the varying degrees from tunisia, egypt, libya and morocco and also further down the ivory coast there are major challenges right now. the democratic republic of the congo has ongoing challenge particularly in the eastern congo maintaining stability. and that instability could have a very real impact on the

national security interest in al qaeda is present both as aqap al qaeda arabian peninsula and al qaeda in the land of the islamic aqim which is through the area so they feed on instead of the become faster uncovered spaces they can operate without people being able to control them. so africom has a strong interest not just in hog libya where we are aware of what's going on throughout the continent in trying to figure out how we combat political unrest and poverty which drives instead devotee to make sure that these unstable and uncovered areas to become a threat to us and we can help make sure the continent is more peaceful and prosperous for those who reside there. so i appreciate the opportunity to have this hearing today and i look forward to your testimony and with that i would yield back to the chairman. >> thank you. general mcnabb, your full testimony is without objection

inserted into the record so you may tell us whatever you feel most appropriate. general? >> german mckeon, congressman smith and distinguished members of this committee, it is my distinct privilege to be here today with you representing more than 145,000 of the world's finest logistics professionals. throughout 2010 and continuing today to u.s. transportation command team of active duty guard reserve, civilians, merchant mariners and commercial partners accomplish credible feats in the face of historic challenges. we have a saying at the u.s. transportation command. we view our success through the eyes of the war fighter. we've always been about support for the six regional combatant commands and joint task force commanders. working with of the defense logistics agency, the joint staff, the services and the combatant command staff our nation and translation teams have provided unparalleled logistics superiority to the

regional combat commanders. from the services in the joint forces commanded forces ready to go to the transcom team delivering the first of the theater commanders receiving the force, this is the best overall performance i've seen in almost 37 years of service. sitting next to me is one of our finest war fighters and my good friend, general carter ham. i was proud to support him as he commanded military operations over the skies of libya and operation odyssey don and i look forward to continue to support him as he takes africom to new and higher levels. it is he and the other combatant commanders always supporting and we view our success through their eyes. i feel blessed to be the custodian of one of the nation's greatest asymmetric advantages of a our strategic ability to move. the seeking command of the u.s. transportation command in the fall of 2008 and i've been amazed to see some of the unique capabilities inherent in this

command. first and foremost, the power of the total force team. nobody matches of our active duty force with guard and reserve partners like the u.s. transportation command. when we call for volunteers to relieve some of the suffering and death last january the men and women of the guard and reserve stepped in huge fashion has included the contingency response from the kentucky guard the was just coming up to speed. jogging the surge of the forces into afghanistan we relied heavily on activated's and kc cruz, maintainers and a real porter's and they were crucial to meeting president obama's deadline to complete the plus up by 31 august of last year. most recently we saw the patriotism and action in responding rapidly to the refueling requirements in support of the libyan operations i'm also in all of the power of the u.s. flag fleet in the air, on the season over land. the maritime fleet and their

outstanding merchant mariners stepped up during our historic surge last year into afghanistan and out of iraq, and we didn't have to activate one shift for either operation and they delivered. they continue to be the key to supply in the forces in afghanistan. we are coming up through pakistan over the northern distribution network. in the air our commercial partners have continued to meet the demand of the surge in afghanistan and most recently responded brilliantly to bring americans home from japan following the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident. we know the combatant commanders around the world depend on us to deliver the forces and their sustainment day in and day out. we supply the south pole to a airdropping food water and ammo to the operating base in afghanistan to delivering fuel to the fighters and bombers and forcing the plebeian no-fly zone u.s. transcom delivers. if we do this right, the war fighting commanders do not worry about the logistics lifeline. this is what the secretary

defense intended when he meets u.s. transcom the distribution process owner or dpo in 2003. he gave the dpo influence of the entire supply chain from factory to fossil and we constantly look for more effective solutions for the war fighter while also been good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. since its inception, the dpo realized for $5.3 billion of savings and we are still counting. last year alone that savings was $1.7 billion. a big part of that savings is taking advantage of lower cost surface transportation whenever possible. when we match the surface to air and commercial to military modes of transportation, we are leveraging of enterprise to the maximum advantage for both the war fighter and the taxpayer. we recently saved over $110 million a month moving life-saving mine resistance altering vehicles to the forces in afghanistan using a combination of commercial service and military air. we continue to look for every

opportunity to use multi modal operations throughout our global enterprise. my final call out as to the cover of the interagency and a joint team. president obama and ordering the plus up of forces in afghanistan and drawdown in iraq said a tight timeline for the execution. we knew we would need some help increasing capacity on our existing supply lines and helping establish the new supply routes. we took our recommendations to the interagency and the whole of government came through with excellent results, the national security council, and investors around the world, the state department, the office of the secretary defense, the maritime administration, the combatant command and the location and the translation teams came together to make logistics' magic. this was a time we asked to expand quickly and redirect flow due to earthquake in the caribbean that devastated pt which the chairman he alluded to. a volcanic eruption that shut down european aerospace for three weeks, the coup in the country where we have our main

passenger transfer operation, the deep her eyes and oil spill in the gulf and the worst floods in pakistan history during the last month of the plot and we still closed everything by 31st of august as the president asked us to do. and operations continue today at record-breaking pace. we continue to support forces in afghanistan and the draw down in iraq. we picketed the transportation enterprise rapidly to support general ham and implementation of the no-fly zone over libya and we moved of urgently to help with disaster relief in japan and provide immediate responses to the nuclear incident with special equipment and nuclear specialists from the united states. i couldn't be more proud than the men and women of the united states transportation command. i've flown with the crew and loaded and moved containers. i walked through the palace holding areas with reporters afghanistan and explore the cargo hold of the ready reserve fleet of merchant mariners. daily i am amazed and humbled by what our people accomplish.

chairman mckeon, congressman smith and all members of this committee, thank you for your continued superb support of the u.s. transcom and men and women in uniform. it's my distinct honor and privilege to appear before you today to represent the men and women who are the u.s. transportation command and to tell you their story. again, think you for taking my written statement for the record, and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. general ham? >> thank you mr. chairman, congressman smith and members of the committee and thinks for the opportunity to discuss with you today the accomplishments of the men and women of the united states africa command at i would like to introduce to the committee the command chief master sergeant jack johnson, the command senior enlisted leader he and i have only just begun our service together africa command but i see already that he is exactly the right person to lead several important initiatives and to ensure our

service members and their families are well trained and supported and i am indeed honored to appear alongside general mcnabb joint force leader. this isn't a historic time for the united states africa command. we completed a complex short notice operational mission in libya and have now transferred control of that mission to nato. the situation in libya and the conduct of operation odyssey done highlights important matters about africa. first, this event illustrates the dynamics of the african political military environment. one that has seen the growing threat of transnational the extremists in somalia, election crisis, southern sudanese referendum, the resistance army to name just a few of the challenges to the security on the continent. in order for africa command to reduce threats to our citizens and interests both abroad and at

home, we need to contribute to operations, programs and activities that help african states provide for their own security in a manner that is consistent with the rule of law and international norms. we must continue efforts to enhance regional stability through partnership not only with african states but sustained report to the africa regional organizations. africa command as programs are designed to help prevent conflict while simultaneously insuring the command is prepared to respond decisively to any crisis when the president so direct. as demonstrated in the conduct of operation odyssey dawn. second, building the coalition to address the situation of libya was greatly facilitated for the benefit of the longstanding relationships in the inner obra ability this time within nato. this is the kind of regional approach the security u.s. africa command seeks to foster

on the continent. u.s. africa command priority efforts remain building the security capacity of our african partners. we incorporate regional cooperation and pursuit of interoperability in all programs and activities and exercises so that our african partners are postured to readily form coalitions to address african security challenges as they arise. everything u.s. africa command is accomplished is the result of the professionalism and dedication of the uniformed u.s. civilian women and men of the command and many teammates from across the u.s. government. they're dedicated efforts are a testament to the american spirit and determination and reflect our commitment to contributing to the well-being and the security of the people of africa. our guiding principles are first come safe, secure and stable africa is clearly in the best interest of the united states and second, that we seek to help

africans find solutions to african challenges. i am cognizant that the command is only able to accomplish its mission is with the importing support of this committee and i think you for that and invite you to come visit us at our headquarters or better yet, come see us at work in africa. mr. chairman, i would welcome your questions. >> thank you very much. general mcnabb come the ongoing operations in afghanistan and iraq, the response to the earthquake in japan and the president's decision to engage combat forces in libya for undoubtedly straining the mobility force. have you reached or are you approaching any red line in mobility capabilities? what areas of operations concern you the most and are there any additional resources or assets that could alleviate the stress on the forces and reduce your operational dress? >> search comer right now i think one of the things that

hits me is our ability to pitch at the transportation enterprise and expanded and contracted using our u.s. flag carriers and total force. at this point, we've gotten tremendous support from the guard and reserve, a lot of them had volunteered to help wherever they can. what i would do next if we ended up if that's not enough to handle what we are being asked to do worldwide is than i would have to mobilize some folks and it is time we do not think we have to do that at the present level. what we have been able to do is as we have looked at the kind of urgent requirements that we had for libya and the urgent requirements we have for japan we basically stated to be to stay in close contact with centcom and looked for ways of things we could slow down that they could take a little risk primarily sustainment. decisions were made by general petraeus and general mattocks to increase the sustainment stocks in afghanistan and then gave a

little bit of room to be able to say can be slow this down a little bit until we take care of these emergencies and then we will get right back to you. that is the same way we handled haiti. so the ability to mix and match as things we bring to the table. at this time, i will say that the reserve air fleet stepped up to anything that we have asked. i would say this last couple of weeks i didn't quite understand how much spring break affect some excess capacity but i will say that that one hit pretty hard next to christmas and thanksgiving, spring break is the busiest time for the carriers out there. so as we brought the departure coming out of japan in support of admiral willard getting them that their home was worked well with transcom. right now i think as the operation unfolds we are watching that carefully.

obviously if it expands in any way that would be one where we would be looking to say do we have enough? right now we don't see that. obviously there are some other places where there is turmoil. i will bring the ivory coast, you can bring yemen, all of those operations we work with centcom or africom to see how we going to do this together doing lots of what ifs. at this point i am looking forward to afghanistan and iraq making sure we can meet time lines coming out of iraq as the congressman smith asked me about how we do that i would see coming down from 130,000 to 50,000 that work with general austin and his people in iraq, the material command under the general, really that team worked super bringing up the extra a corporate through kuwait into jordan getting it washed up and then putting on commercial vessels that's what i was

mentioning that we didn't have to activate any shifts to do that. i'm confident that system is working well, and in fact making sure which stuff we will leave and which we will bring home and sent to afghanistan is what we went through last year but i will tell you this team i think did a superb job and moving it wasn't the hardest part of all of that. when i think about afghanistan, i would say that we found the power of the intermodal operations i mentioned being able to take it by surface to the ports much closer to afghanistan and then just jumping the last part using the airlift. we are looking for the same capability to be able to bring stuff out of afghanistan and in the same we bring it out by air to nearby and bring it by surface mode from their. we would like to get -- people to go both directions on the northen distribution network. right now we can only take stuff in.

some countries haven't yet given us permission to bring stuff out of afghanistan through the northern distribution network so the interagency and the whole team is working that. i continue to look to say i'd like to make sure that i have lots of options, the number distribution network, the pakistan lot working with the general and the pact military to make sure we do everything we can to make the pact mill or pact bloc as smooth as possible, but our ultimate we are trying to make sure we've taken for the advantage of that working closely with general petraeus and his team. so i think that kind of puts it in a nut shell but i think we are getting there. >> thank you. >> general ham, despite the briefings we've received regarding military operations in libya, i think many areas of uncertainty still remain. one question i have is where africom fits into the command and control structure of the force of the no-fly zone and the

attacks on the regime ground targets. general, does africom have a role in the chain of command or targeting the boards of operation odyssey dawn, or are you with the joint task force unified protector at this point? and what has the reaction of libya's's african neighbors than to the intervention? will be operational from our partnership efforts in the region and in particular abrasion in doherty freedom and efforts against al qaeda and the monrad? >> chairman, first of all on the command and control side, at present with the transition of the operation from u.s. africom to nato the of the full operational control of the forces that are actually conducting the missions over libya commesso u.s. africom is presently in a supporting role

to the admiral and general boushard. there is always the potential for some u.s. unilateral military missions. one could think for example of the personal recovery of a downed pilot or something like that. and if that were to occur, then that would fall to the u.s. africa command to execute those responsibilities with regard to the regional reaction, it is frankly next. as we see that particularly played out in the african union, many members, many states in africa have voiced their support for the united nations security council resolution 1973, the imposition and the execution of those responsibilities but frankly there are other states who did not agree with that security council resolution.

i think frankly as we proceed i'm going to have the responsibility as i engage with our african partners of just having a very frank discussion about what u.s. africa command's role was, what we did come and just be as truthful and forthright as i can come and just try to maintain the relationships we have with most african states as we move forward, but you're point is valid, there is an impact and there will be an impact within the region. >> thank you. ranking member smith. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first question if you could play out a little bit, general mcnabb, how things are going in the logistical challenges i guess about earlier working to pakistan and the other areas are we able to get what we need and i know there is major movement now of equipment for the afghan national security force, how is

that working and what are the challenges going forward? >> we presently take about 35% and everything that's high value we taken by air. sometimes its short-haul i was mentioning before from the port that is close and. sometimes that is the state's depending on the nature of the stuff coming in. it's about the surface side about 45% coming through the pakistan block and about 55% of the surface move coming through the northen distribution network. we've adjusted more of the flow to the north but we are not able to bring military equipment through. we can only bring that to the pakistan lot which gets to the question about fms for the nma. we've been working with the pakistan military to make sure that we -- i stressed to them how important it is to maintain the velocity going through the

pakistan lock. i continue to work with them to say we can identify if there is any pilferage or attacks and show them where that is taking place and work with them to respond quickly. we still are at less than about 1% and so i would say that of course if it is your stuff 1% is way too much, so we continue to work that hard with the task force doherty in which general petraeus and mattocks put together. general thurmond made sure, he's the army force command, he made sure the discipline of what goes on the ground is maintained. for my standpoint i say if it is important to you we put that on. >> has the security situation in terms of the pakistan routt gotten better or worse? i know there's concerns about attacks against our supply line coming to pakistan.

what's the update on that? >> its kind on -- there are periods it goes a little higher i will say in december of 08 is the time all of us very much worried we didn't have the north and distribution network at that time. was 11% was the pull french attack rate. since then it's come down below 1% pretty much for the calendar year, but to give you the sense in july last year when the floods were all happening things started to get stacked up that's when you slow down the verbosity and become more vulnerable. we went to about 2% during that month. but overall for the last year it was less than 1%. but again, we keep working at that and making sure we are looking for every possible way that we can smooth that. a lot of it is maintaining the velocities of it doesn't slow down and become vulnerable. >> and created bigger target. >> a quick question about africa. i mentioned stability is a main challenge there and in making sure that we do what we can to

help create a more stable but mr. that is a strong interagency approach if necessary standiford mechem usaid in particular and elsewhere. i've done a trip across africa to a variety of countries a couple of years ago and i know that it's critical to be able to be successful to leverage your assets and cooperation with the state department. can you talk about how that interagency process works from country to country in africa and how you see that as part of your mission? >> yes, sir, absolutely. the design of the u.s. africa command there was a recognition i think early on that the problem set see just identified was key. it's about instability and it does require a whole of government approach to advance the u.s. interest and with that in mind, the command headquartered was designed as or with a considerable amount of interagency support.

so we look at our headquarters which is not suppressing the overwhelmingly the department of defense but we have 12 other government agencies represented at some pretty senior levels to include a deputy commander who is a very experienced and senior foreign service officer, former ambassador. we have senior representatives from usaid, the treasury come from the commerce and many other organizations to help us look at the security challenges in africa through more than just a military lines, and that helps us to first of all better define the problem so we can then in concert with our interagency partners bring to bear ideally the whole of government, the various assets the different branches bring to help the african states build the secure environment that they need to build. our aspect of that is again,

very largely weighted toward the military, but the other aspects of the government party. the second point, congressman, i would say is we work very closely with the chiefs of the mission in the country's, and of course they are the senior americans in each of the countries. we make sure all of our efforts are nested with the ambassador and the country team which are inherently ander agency and we think that works to our best affect. >> nma very much. i yield back. >> mr. bartlett. >> thank you for your long service and a stellar performance. i have a lot of questions about our libyan involvement which i believe is both unconstitutional and illegal but these are policy questions and i know that yours isn't the reason yours is put to you and i. i will avoid the temptation to ask you questions of which you cannot answer, but yielding my

time to the most junior member here which is mr. west. >> thank you mr. bartlett and also mr. sharon and mr. ranking member and general, it's good to see you and general ham always great to see. general mcnabb, the maneuverability has always been the great thing about the force and the country. what i would like to do is look out ahead about maybe five years, and when you look at the fact we are moving more so from a forward deployed type of military force more so to a power projection of the forcible entry type of force where do you see the challenges five years and beyond for the transportation command? one of the things i'm very concerned about is the c-17 fleet. >> , grossman, thanks for that. i couldn't agree more with the value of the strategic mobility qaeda devotee, and i would say

that we are being pushed especially as you think of the global operations and we think about how we are headed as a department. i would tell you first and foremost the new tanker was my number one acquisition priority, and the fact that it allows us to put global on the global mobility reach and power is what that is all about and that new tanker will allow us to make sure that we can extend out and really change the way we do our concept of operations and be much more efficient so that's a huge and the faster we get on board, the better for my standpoint. right now we do things by force for instance using the c-17 is, moving pellets and people and that is and what they do best. they do assault for the air drop and that has grown a lot as we've gotten into afghanistan. we've gone from 2 million in 2005 to 60 million pounds last year and we are headed towards

100 million pounds of air drops and what that allows us to do is get out there to the operating basis and make sure they get what they need without having to put the convoy is at unnecessary risks. i think we are pushing hard to be able to have some of these multi modal locations, please says mike sood to -- souda bay and djibouti. the same thing, guam, singapore, diego, garcia coming and if i have those places i can get large stuffed into and then have the theater response whether that is the joint high-speed vessel or the c-17 or the 130 or even as we look at the hybrid is a shift if we can get to the point we can get that stuff to the major ports by surface and have the option for the theater commanders out there depending on the nature we will have gone a long way.

that's the part i'm looking at now because that is the big dollar savings and it's also very, very fast. that includes not only the prepossession in but what are we prepossession on the land so you can imagine giving the options to the commanders out there and i think that would be very useful to them so those are the things i'm looking at and really asking all of them where do you want to look at those locations and let's work those now. the investments in places like diego garcia, light souda bay have paid big dividends and we are finding that the power of that has actually increased the velocity into the war fighter because oftentimes in those small places it is in the number of airplanes but it's what we can get in the throughput into the small pieces and that is where the c-17 as you mentioned has paid and has really played well. i get to fly the c-17 and i tell you it is an awesome air plan. when i fly with those young guys

and young instructors i have got 1500 hours and days to come over here let me show you how we fly this year plan and so they have taken this to a whole different level. so lots of great opportunities. it's performing very well. that is the engine c5 and as we get them on board on the modernization program you know, you have set us up with modern airplanes we can really throw very quickly and can make a difference. >> thank you. if i could ask one other questions, general ham, as we sit back as the ranking member smith talked about the unrest and the political instability in africa, do you see an encroachment of any al qaeda type of elements and also i would like to get your assessment of china's interventions into the african continent as well. >> thanks, congressman if i could take the second piece first, the chinese are very active across the continent, but

primarily in an economic way, and i'm learning more about that as i get further into the command and i would note that tomorrow would be four weeks so i have a lot yet to learn about this, but i see that the chinese influence primarily in and economic vein with construction and oil and the like. door first point about al qaeda and more broadly violent extremist organizations in africa is indeed the number one security challenge we face in africa, and i would say most notably in east africa where we see the efforts of al-shabaab in somalia and attempting to expand the reach more regionally with linkages with al qaeda and the arabian peninsula in a jam in and potentially the linkages

with al qaeda and the land of the islamic mog -- mahgreb are of strategic concern to the united states and people and interest both abroad and at home. i take that as our number one mission and our number one area of emphasis. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mrs. davis. >> thank you mr. chairman and both of you for your distinguished service. i want to follow a little on the ander agency question because i think over the years we have acknowledged the military operations and interface probably will always overshadowed to a certain extent in many of the areas in which we are engaged, we are involved. are there some metrics? are there some areas that you are looking at to see whether in fact that has changed dramatically?

and what has contributed to that change? are we in fact seeing that military operations or the activities are really not getting in the way of some of the diplomatic efforts that we have had ongoing? >> yes, ma'am. for us in the africa command, the operations in libya or a different nature and different type of the operation and overwhelmingly military aspect of the u.s. application of power. more commonly throughout africa, u.s. africa command is operating in a supporting role. in most cases supporting the chief of mission initiatives or department of state led initiatives. it is principally through the department of state authorities the building partner capacity security institution building is

done through state authorities so dod and u.s. africa command has a supporting role in that regard. a good example is the development of forces for ugonda in the african mission in somalia under the state department program that the u.s. africa command supports. we have the balance about right in terms of who's in charge of the department of defense and u.s. africa command we bring a lot of capacity and a lot of ability to enable those programs that by and large we are doing so in support of others and for most of the programs in africa. >> are you checking frequently to make sure that everybody agrees i think that that imbalance where it is

appropriate obviously there are erie as you pointed out of course the balance is not appropriate but it's the trips i took with the chairmen despite the fact we talked about and house -- how the people engaged in this effort didn't feel they had the same seat at table. >> i think that is a very real concern and something that i would say that i will take a look at as i get my feet under me in this new command. i will as i told assistant secretary carson of the african bureau state department that most of the time when i come back to b.c. i will make an effort to see him as he has placed to come see me on the content or in germany. i think it's very important we have that strong linkage to make sure that all of the assets of the government get a voice and

an important voice as we move forward. >> thank you. may i just -- your note to i think two areas in which you are reaching out to military families particularly i think where they've had some questions and some problems. how else are you able to make certain that our military families feel they have the support they need in that command and some of those are accompanied and the majority i suspect are probably not accompanied in djibouti where we have some forces. >> the quality-of-life for the service members who are at the headquarters and in our service component commanders who are largely based in europe with one here in the u.s. those families have excellent support. i do worry more so about the small contingents that are

either in our embassies kind of separate it a way that the military service members and families have the programs that they need but generally that is pretty good and that please is a camp that is a pretty large the planet of unaccompanied service members again thanks to this committee they actually have some very good quality-of-life. it's never as good as being separated but it is quite good. >> thank you. mr. wilson. >> thank you, mr. chairman and general, thank you for being here today. general ham, i'm very familiar that the southern command is located in miami and we know that the people of my birthplace have a keen interest in the potential of africom being located in charleston and i would ask my colleague, chris

mant space and clyburn were here they would want to make a few points to you and that is charleston is the transportation hub to the united states transportation command as well as the primary port for the container traffic between the united states and the south atlantic. the charleston air force base provides all the strategic airlift support for africa for the government to include embassy support. the leading provider for the command control and communications for the role in africa. the relationships for the charleston medical community which would be so helpful in the event of an emergency in africa, the medical university of south carolina is located in charleston, the war class facility. we know that most of the rapid deployment forces that would be used in the african operation include special operations that are in the southeastern part of the united states. charleston is the hub for all military transportation, air

lift, sealift and repositioning to africa and then there's an extraordinary cultural linkage i had the privilege of visiting on liberia and the great cultural association of west africa to charleston is very clear it is a shared culture. in fact, we have the same accent, and i felt right at home when i was visiting with the people and then i found out, to my pleasant surprise, that the diocese of the african-american methodist church for south carolina is actually south carolina and liberia and sponsors the university. so with that in mind, the decision citric gates indicated to be made for moving africa command or maintaining that what would be considered until next year but when the decision is

made what are the considerations will be made as to the quality-of-life or the dependence access to schools, jobs, medical care, what do you see? >> .. accessibility to the area of responsibility. a whole host of requirements that we would like the station are headquarters. so that process has begun.

we will look to versatile make sure we've got the methodology right and then we will look at a wide variety of locations to see which we think would make the most suitable for the command to accomplish its mission. but it will take us a little bit of time to do that study. >> welcome you've indicated you visited charleston once. you're welcomed back obviously. and you will see such a symbiotic relationship with west africa to the low country south carolina and the people there are very proud of the shared culture. but then, obviously all the other features i told you. i know that if constant scots in constant hybrid were here they would want to make that statement. with pretending railcars as opposed to buying new? >> yes, sir comer service

deployment and command has been looking at that it is basically decided that refurbishing makes more sense from a business case. right now we have been asked by osd to take a look and save given everything going on, what should the number be, 4000, 5000. and right now they are doing a study with osd. >> and to conclude, there's a bit of history there, too. where retrofitting occurs in south carolina. hamburg, south carolina was to save the free schedule rather than the vote between charleston and hamburg in 1832. thank you. >> thank you. mr. johnson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. anja mr. wilson, i would comment that it would not go to south carolina, charleston, i've enjoyed myself in that area, but i would also point everyone out

or point everyone to the fact that i live in the atlanta, georgia area, which is the transportation hub of this out east. we've got the world's busiest airport. high capacity. we have approximately quite a few military aviation facilities we've got one of the country's largest dias perera communities are not prepared. superb infrastructure to support the military communication needs world-class educational institutions. georgia tech, emory, atlanta university center, high quality of life for personnel who were assigned or who would be assigned to that area.

and i think that it would be a great thing. i know that ambassador andrew young is very much interested in africom choosing to locate its headquarters in atlanta and i certainly join in that desire. if not atlanta, someplace in georgia would be great. but i want to also congratulate you, general ham for your new assignment for weeks in. i know that you are still trying to get adjusted and it seems like you came in at time of great action going on in africa. the libyan situation. we fight situation in the ivory

coast. i understand not the president benbow has resigned and is asking for you in a cyst in or u.n. protection actually and that is good that he will be moving on. i would like to ask you, are u.s. personnel or equipment taking part in the u.n. operations in the ivory coast? >> congressman, we are not. we are in very close dialogue with the u.s. embassy and also with the french do have a large price and in cults of water as we typically do in the u.s. military, we plan for a possible

contingent fees. and as the chairman mentioned, the security situation had been deteriorating for some period of time, so we look at a whole range of possible military action they might be necessary, but we have the people at the embassy are present. the ambassador has asked for is not remaining team just to maintain communications and we've got that available to him as well. your information is probably a little more current than mine. but as i was departing the pentagon to come over here, we are at the situation where mr. balboa had indicated his apparent willingness to turn himself over, but that is not yet been accomplished by the time he left. hopefully that will be accomplished in a calm returned to aubuchon into the country is sorely needed. >> thank you, sir.

and would you also update us on the progress towards increasing the professionalism and accountability of the force is in democratic republic of congo? >> yes, sir. it is an ongoing effort. we have trained one battalion. we think the one battalion were performed pretty well, but we think there's more that we can and should be doing to help congo becoming more professional military for his uncivil control and responding under international arms. but initial indications are pretty good, but still there's certainly some work to be done. >> thank you. general mcnabb, it questions for congressman wilson threw me off track there, so i will get

back to you at some point in the future. thank you, gentlemen for your service to the nation. >> thank you. the chair recognizes mr. klein for five minutes. >> with all apologies, most everybody knows that minneapolis/ st. paul is the transportation center of the entire world. john mcnabb, i've got a copy letter you sent to exposed rule that will affect caressed for a commercial partners. could you briefly outline what your concerns are and what impact this will might have on our ability to move troops and personnel? >> sure. actually, mr. babbitt did come out -- administrator batted to come out and visit with trance, and the air mobility command and we chatted about what the impact

would have on the air fleet, especially the nonscheduled carriers. legacy carriers are a separate issue, but not scheduled primarily due to charter work, not only for us but for others. as i mentioned to him, i said atheist current. there is no question >> the biggest concern has do with that tour u.k. modern airplanes, as you think about basically one size doesn't fit all. when you talking about long international legs, they have different levels of fatigue and may require different approaches. when you talk about the nonsecurity is, tickets to friends united states and ideally going all the way to afghanistan. not stopping on the way. it's taking advantage of that. ideally i've been pushing hard for the modern airplanes about the longer range that increases

velocity. it also means we don't have to worry about stopping at some of those locations and allows us to go very rapidly. i asked them to take a look at that take a look at facilities and better operational risk management type things for sale at look at this kind of unique part of this mission to make sure that we enhance safety and look at other ways we can do that. >> if i may interrupt again for a minute, this rule would take away the flexibility. when i'm trying to get at is the impact would be we would move fewer troops. we would take more time. we could move less equipment. but with the impact of the role? >> certainly at this time is certainly at installers. what i am probably the most -- what i want to make sure his or u.s. flag fleet stays competitive. we don't take advantage, especially in the international market, we will find ourselves not in the market and in very worried about that because i depend on those. >> i am, too. if there's anything the

committee can do, i trust you will communicate that to us. general ham, i want to go back to the command structure for operation unified protect her and i have a little thing here from admiral st. s., i think a nato sort of a command structure outline. and it says that we've got apparently lieutenant general joe does, and american, vice admiral rinaldo barry. i should put my glasses on. and we've got canadian lieutenant general and they are reporting to admiral st., supreme europe. you should have lobbied for a title like that. the question is, do you see your relationship as commander of africom the same as general mattis, general petraeus and admiral st. s.?

the chairman asked you about the relationship. you said there might be a uniquely american operation where presumably you insert yourself into this chain of command and take u.s. forces in use them for your example a pickup of a down pio or something else. help me understand what your relationship is to this. i or you don't have this, but the nato command structure. >> stair, it is quite analogous to what you described in afghanistan. afghanistan in his nato role, overseeing general petraeus, a nato commander supported by general mattis, a united states geographic combatant commander. so the relationship is very similar to what we have here.

i do not have the day-to-day operational role, that libya is in the area of responsibility of u.s. africa command, so we have obviously an enduring interest. and when the unified character is complete, when the alliance decided that it missions have been accomplished, then that libya is still in africa command area of responsibility. so i remain very closely connected with admirals to greet us, locklear and indeed the canadian bouchard who is a combatant commander. >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes mr. ashworth admitted. >> thank you, mr. chairman. general mcnabb, i think many of the purse non-us commander or something of unsung heroes. they do it all from the intricate and complex delivery supplies across the globe to air

refueling, to deployment and redeployment and then you have to disaster response and all the aeromedical assignments you have. i don't think you get enough kudos, so my hat off to all the personal u.s. and transportation command. i know that one of the primary issues for trance comp -- transcom has been the ongoing saga of the ap asked air refueling tanker. we finally reached a point now where we can all move ahead and they can focus on actually building -- engineering and building aircraft. how do you keep the kc x on time and on budget? >> yes, ma'am, first of all obviously the air force -- depend on the air force to be able to be overseen that in making sure that it stays on

time and on budget. >> you can bring added attention to the air force and the air force and i want to hear whether or not you have the ability to do that. >> yes, ma'am, i think right now that was their number one acquisition priority, just like it was mine. i really do appreciate the tremendous report on both sides of the hill i'm getting asked that new tanker. and i am not totally excited about what it will bring. i think that the fact that it was primarily off-the-shelf in general, taking advantage of what is already a commercial market, making sure we're not asking for things beyond the reach of technology. a lot of the things that usually will try something to increase caused for a time delay in time. most of that has been worked out. i'm pretty excited about that and it seems as long as as long as we keep a stable program that will be able to deliver that on time and hopefully be cranking a

set of 15 plus year and began to replace the 135 cents on such a great job. >> the mechanics that continue to work on some of the eisenhower era tankers are magicians i think sometimes. what role has transcom played in row of the humanitarian relief of the victims japan? could you give us a summary i'm not and whether or not it has placed stress on our mobility system? >> yes, ma'am. we've had 512 sorties mope about 610 packs to move those radiological teams and other teams that win in. then i tried these teams announced that in that area? could you distinguish? how far are you having to travel? you have the ability to respond with assets that are closing? >> certainly come admiral

willard is using his own forces in theater in you see man. using the amphibious groups. you've seen marines, from good enough. using the seventh fleet, navy assets command. we have a number of airmen over there at different visas and he's taking full advantage of all of that. where he has asked us to help his stuff coming from the continental united states or for emergency movement in theater if they can't handle themselves here to be of for this rescue trains from here. the l.a. rescue team and this is not only to go into.teams that deployed with them. remove the emergency generators as they were taken out by the tsunami for the nuclear plant. we also moved planeload of boron to neutralize the radioisotopes.

we've been doing things like that, kind of the emergency staff. a lot of radiological teams, whether survey teams or chemical biological radiological teams. we brought those fine. basically what northern command when this came up and said here is teams they might need. we leave that to admiral willard. i make sure that airplanes on standby alert and refueling assets to take it as soon as it's identified piermont is identified is identified, we picked him up and take them. we also aided in the voluntary departure of all of the u.s. people. >> hasn't provided any kinks in your ability to complete missions anywhere else? >> man, the only thing we had a bit of discussion is how quickly they need to voluntary departure. we decided we would do that all commercial. we went for a u.s. flag carriers like you were mentioning. spring break did have a plate and there is excess capacity in

the basically responded very quickly. that allowed us to keep the details supporting general ham and africom and centcom at having details available to take any of that emergency nuclear response to immediately in there. again, our commercial partners really stepped up and instantly and by the time it brought out about 5000 passengers, over 400 pet and we also got commercial ticket on the schedule missions coming out of japan to get the folks home and we worked with north conjugate them to their final destination. >> thank you for that. >> general and from colorado, mr. coffman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first of all, general mcnabb, thanks for the job you're doing is commanding general for u.s. transportation command. the question about afghanistan and that is he mentioned that you want to get the c-17 mourn its primary mission is to define

it, to do the airborne drops or logistical support. but i understand there have been some problems with accuracy, giving that inside the traps them? could you respond to that? >> sera come i think are probably talking about the precision airdrop system where we dropped 10 or 15,000 feet of the gps receiver and a square sheet that comes in. the biggest issue with that was the terrain and the wins. i'm not a sales guy to be able to keep up with those kinds of things. we work with industry to make sure we continue to drive in the accuracy they need on the ground. because of the commissions, primarily we been able to do visual drops. low altitudes, disposable shoes. that is been the primary amount we have done a normal container delivery system is the primary way that we have been doing that. i actually got to fly an air dropped 40 bundles, where we

dropped from ec said teamed up in the mouth instead night. the use night vision goggles. they worked out very well with folks on the ground. when you come in at 1,002,000 feet, the accuracy is within the standard set any. so we've been -- you know, 93 to 94% accuracy and putting stuff on target. we are even looking at doing low altitude high-speed airdrop, much like the special operators do. the c-17 and 130 jay are stressed to be all to do that enough for you, 250 knots and 300 feet. but we have to make sure we design and are really looking forward and ability to size this and keep the costs down. but it obviously has to do with the parachute is the opening shot. those are the kinds of things we continue to work in city can can redo it as cheap as possible depending on the threat all the way to putting a precision air

ideally would like to recover. >> thank you. general ham, thanks for your service to a country and congratulations on your recent command for taking over u.s. africa command. first of all, can you just share with me what the rationale was for putting in zug archer mini when central command was your predecessor and details of an area geographically further away than africa. and yet, they are in florida. >> yes, sir. africa had been divided between european command, which had the bulk of africa, central command which had the horn of egypt and the horn of africa and pacific command, which had the island nations in madagascar. so they were actually three geographic combatant commands previously that divided the continent. but the majority within european command. and so when the decision was made to stand at africa command as a separate geographic

command, the bulk of the resources were already in a stuttgart. so for purposes of getting the command off to an expeditious start, that to make a lot of sense. >> i understand. now, in the situation in the ivory coast right now, where you have a constitutional elected government that is not being permitted to assume the government and you have a president-elect there that is not going to be allowed to assume his position in the government, that there is not then a peaceful transfer of power. were there any communications between that president elect a new in your command in reference to any assistance cleric's >> no, sir. only to the u.s. embassy,

specifically focused on u.s. missions. for example, playing for noncombatant evacuations. >> iac, virtually no communication whatsoever from this constitutional elected government that was not able to assume power to provide in a system with the weather. >> now with africa command to the best of my knowledge. >> well, you know, how would you define your mission in africa? if you not influenced a situation anyway, you know, tell me how you define your mission. >> and cultivar, there was already a very large united nations presence that focused on this. clearly there were efforts underway through a variety of international and regional organizations to try to seek a solution to this other than through the application of military force is. my sense is that preceded for

the past couple of days as violence escalated. we saw the united nations take a more forceful role in a think that's what perhaps compelled mr. bow bow to decide that it was time to change. i think the best role that africa command plays in these situations is to try to prevent them, to try to work with the military and security forces of africa in the state so that they are loyal to the duly elected and constituted government, which is not something we saw play out in the situation where we had forces loyal to the duly elected president and to the man who would not relinquish power. so i think we can be more prevented, rather than the application of military power to displace the application of u.s. military power, to displace someone in the african day.

>> thank you, general. gentlelady from hawaii's wreck nights for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, generals for being here. general mcnabb, i was wondering because those others who testified before as, there always seems to be this interesting relationship between the national guard and reserves as making up your forests. do you also have that combination? >> yes, ma'am. >> you know what your numbers are? in terms of how many are at it in the reserves and national guard supplement you? >> it's about 60% in the guard and reserve and about 40% of the active would be a rough dependent on one weapon system. of course you got a great team out there in hawaii. general long and his team have been superb in figuring out new ways we can take full advantage of sharing airplanes in figuring out the best way to the car did

not duty. >> thank you per se not. i'm really curious about whether u.s. had any problems with a think in article x or title x and turtle 32. the guard really is a state function reports appointed by the general and the governor. how do you work out the chain of command for lack of better description? >> when they fly a description, they didn't pay for that. when they do that, they can't do our orders and move the normal chain of command. they do some guard missions in which they stay under the governor's command and control. i would say especially on mobility side i am happy with how that all works, but it's fairly simple given the mission they fly it and get paid for that. it works out well overall and it

is a little easier for us, especially on the air lift side. the tanker is the same way. for the most part company tens of a national emergency, and never once had a governor sam holding the tankers back with the 130s or the c-17, not once. they always know that this is part of where we really get into -- were you really see the valley is for the domestic disaster, like katrina. and that point, how do we make sure we are using not only the guard hero, but our support to north com and making sure that all comes together. i would say that it's gone very well. we saw that in haiti, really some very, very good work in making sure that general mckinley as the national guard hero achieved and eyes, working through that really has not been a problem. >> so what about -- you testified earlier about japan and the amount of support your

pet to courtney. is any of that support to the respective guard units and or reserve units? >> ms -- we definitely have had some of the people flying that fly in the missions, but they are flying mare, flying back and it's a specific mission in which they are doing that. the rest of them i am not sure how much of the guard would be on the come up logical, biological and radiological teams to north com has that we moved. i'd have to get that for the record for you. >> have you also have occasion to call into service like commercial planes were commercial ships or anything like that? what is the process to go through to do that? >> we had a very robust process. in fact, if we can go first were commercial industry from a u.s. flag fleet, that's what i will do. they can do it cheaper than we

can do for the military side. so i try to focus the military in places where the threat or conditions required military type lift. .. and that has allowed us to

handle of the surges you all have asked about is the fact we brought the u.s. flag fleet tabare. we basically can't touch with them. >> and it is u.s. flag? >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you. >> the gentleman mr. scott is recognized for five minutes. >> general mcnabb congenital ham, i represent robins the air force base and to the south of meat i have moodie and just to the west from fort benning, to the east, stuart. both of your air force extremely important to us and as you look for additional commands i think georgia -- you'll find open and welcome arms. i want to ask a question, the joint future feeder, is that going to be vertical lift craft? >> congressman, we are looking at all parts, one is the fixed wing was chairman of the command brought in kind of way much more

modern c-17 130 type aircraft. we also are looking at a shift sundered that to say how does that fit into the overall enterprise we have and what we are trying to do this sort that out and i would say we are going to look at what is the cost per pound delivered and how does that fit into the rest of the fleet and i will use surface and rail, airships to see how that fits into the rest. vertical lift is one of the ways, vertical lift in the past has been the most expensive way. so when we think about ways we can help general petraeus and general mattocks, one of the things is if i can free up the assets to the operational only they can do by giving whether it is the air drop or air land and that's what i try to do because historically that is a much more extensive way. >> when i look for the future that may change, the dynamics takeover and that is why we are

looking for. >> just looking in the history of things, it never made sense to me why we cancel the f-22 before the 35 score ready and the tanker takes us a decade to get through that and now we have the c-17 and stopping the purchase of the c-17. >> and all the decisions i've seen and again, i don't pretend to think that i know as much as you do, general, but of all the decisions i have seen made, the one i question the most as far as our ability when forward is canceling the c-17 and if it's not manufactured in my district, it's not, this is my question, cancel the c-17 altogether, knowing the history of the

procurements and that it may be 20 years before there is an alternative to the c-17 that actually works we've already paid for the technology cost of the plane, will terms the you see future airlift production if the last remaining wide-body military production program shuts its doors and closes and how we'd replace those aircraft if we end up in a situation where they do come under fire and we start to lose some of them? >> i would say the c-17 performed magnificently and it has changed the way we have done airlift because it can swing between strategic and theater roles and as you mentioned it has been tremendous. right now we are set to have 222 c-17 is. i would say that when we did the

nclr as we figured we need about 300, it was 304 large strategic airlifters and right now that was made up of the c-17, c-5m that had the modernization program and what i basically from the transcom standpoint we need about for and as the air force looks at what is the best mix of those airplanes that's where the c-17 makes came up. from my standpoint, one of the things i'm very excited about as we get the new tanker and right now why use the c-17 some ways i would rather be using the tanker and that would free up the c-17 to do some of the other work. i think that is going to be a positive by yourself and it's one of the things folks don't realize the impact we have on having the new c-17 to transfer load from the reserve air fleet

both cargo and the tax because we can't take him all the way forward. when i think about the future and to make a very good point. one, they are planning to make sure they keep the tooling. it gives you a hedge. the other i would say is we look at these new -- as you mentioned we look at the new study, what are the other things we need to do and again how would that mix and match? when i first was working as a major talking about when we needed that that point we were going to buy 210 c-17 is to replace the see 143 we read to 22 now and i would say we have the numbers most of the places we go now i would just say we are not impacted by the number of airplanes it's how many number can i get in there so that tends to be wary look at the c-17 fleet and first pilot has been approved. the other portion i think we are doing better than ever is using the modern airplanes and making

sure we are using those to the maximum advantage and we free of the fleet to make sure they do that but i don't understand your concern and i would say that i have the same concern to make sure we have hedged those debts and had options to bring them back if we need to. >> my concern as we start finding stress fractures and other things that it takes us longer to repair them and at the same time we can't bring you your equipment in. thank you. >> the gentle lady from guam is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mr. turney and i would also like to welcome general mcnabb and general ham. thank you for your testimony. well, earlier you heard my colleague speak about the great attributes of the state's. i represent a beautiful island of guam and if i were telling you about the advantages of the tropical island, it would take all day so we will put off for another time, but guam is the

home of the anderson air force base. i have two questions for you, general mcnabb. the first is for you it referenced to the repairs in the u.s. shipyards. in the may 2004 report to congress, nsc assured congress it was firmly committed to conducting the maximum amount of repair work, practical, and domestic shipyards and ensuring that the nsc ships are prepared in the foreign shipyards only come only when detected by operational necessity and allowed by the law how does transcom ensure operational necessity exists before authorizing repairs and the foreign shipyards? and an annual report to congress indicates that there are still a tremendous amount of ships being repaired in hong kong or singapore? what more can be done to comply with the congressional intent?

could you answer that for me? >> one of the things the military sealift command as only take care of the ships they also take care of the navy fleet and the ships that they have forward for instance in the pacific are primarily under the chief of naval operations, in other words in support of the navy. the ships they take care of for me are the large ships we would activate if we can to get the commercial left to be able to do that. and right now we have had to be activating these large ships because the commercial capability has been there. i know they are committed to using guam and the commander has i believed talked with you and has gone through this with you and it had to do with the dry dock and we have to do what we can to get the dry dock because that is what i understand the

concern in 2011. we do $40 million, guam is probably -- he does most of the work but not under my umbrella. >> i am very concerned because we have about 350 workers, employees. it's a private shipyard and it is one of the things i fought for a few years ago by america so i want to be sure that it's being carried out. my final question is also for you, general mcnabb, and it's in regards to the rotating aircraft support on guam. a rotating aircraft which in the past has been called the patriot express to enhance morale and welfare for service members by offering them flights to say japan or hawaii. what steps is transcom talking with either the needy or the air force to bring back this capability to guam and can you explain to me what is necessary to revisit this issue and

validate requirements for this important capability? >> yes, ma'am. on the express what we have done with that -- and that primarily is to move the u.s. military members around and their families when they are moving back and forth. it also has the other benefit if you have it then there is the opportunity for dependents and families which i think is one of the real advantages to that. when we actually increased the number of expressed missions adding back korea and the promise i've had with the commanders in those areas you've got to make sure we fill those airplanes because we have to break even at the end of all of this. guam is slated to be -- and i have to get to whether it is next year, again it's probably 12 but it might even be 11, but we said especially as the marines would come down and we got an additional number of

military folks on guam then it will have patriot express come in rather than the commercial traffic. so right now i've told them that is what we want to do as soon as we have enough military presence on guam and then the patriot express. >> when you are saying is that by 2011 possibly or 12 this capability will be -- >> i will give you the exact date because it had to do if the movement of the marines coming down. >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman. sitting listening to some of my colleagues talking about the time warp when earmarks were okay and you're mark requests going on for the command so i will refrain from doing that, general mcnabb, the requirement under the to the dark for some 330 plus planes and was 111c5.

the list of what is 36 that either have or will go through the program. 52 b's an c's have gone through what are the other 23? >> right now we are asking for the ncrs said we needed 37.2 million-ton miles which plans to about 301 total bigger plans. that's 222 c-17 is a, 52 c five ms -- >> sing would be supportive of -- i suspect of the 23 that are missing off the list they are part someplace and may never get off the ground again and we are maintaining airplanes that in a commercial and you you never do for a variety of reasons so we are hoping for is as we bring on the additional c-17 that we can put them in places like charleston, ticker fielder si

seventeens and replace some of the older c-5as a different basis to get them airplanes and extend the service life on the c-17 -- >> the operation tempo that you are correctly experiencing, the next five or six years given each plane has a useful life of a period time what impact does the current operation have on that fleet and will it last until 2025, 2030, whatever it is when we replace the c-17? >> we bought the c-17 for 30,000 -- 3,000 hours and plan to do 1,000 hours a year so basically 30 years is what we are trying to get out of that asset. i would say we were overflowing that especially early on oif and oef and this committee helped us with that. we said we need seven to ten airplanes to make that up to get

-- >> the operational issue with respect. >> we may have to address it again if we just keep -- we stay at this tempo but as i mentioned before, we are using a lot of commercial -- >> i understand that but at some point in time if you come back to the new c-17s it's going to be a lot more important at that point in time. congratulations on the new command. just a quick inference, when he was here last week he said that none of the core missions of nato would be the search and rescue and maybe i misunderstood you to say that was an ad hoc thing that may occur but it seemed to me we were going to provide the search and rescue for the work. did i misunderstand that? >> you understood. it falls under the category of what we call unique u.s. military capabilities. >> are those your assets? >> for the most part they are. special operations command

africa. >> the request for 2012 just hundred $89 million. how much is the libyan operation going to cost you, assuming it goes past september 1st? >> congressman, financially it won't affect the headquarters very much. but whether the cost is borne with the service components in this case particularly the air force and navy service component for africom we have the aircraft and personnel at a rate higher than they were anticipating too. >> so we have to figure out some way to pay for that. that's not necessarily your responsibility. >> that burden worked through the service component to fall back. >> one of the advantages we were told about is that you would in effect create long-term relationships between the male

to male kind of things that go on in the developing countries. given it is a relatively young command at this point in time are you experiencing a kind of opportunity available to assume the expected the same countries on the basis we are building relationships that can be used in a crisis if we need them? >> i'm just learning about this but in my first two trips to the continent which were ed medically far too short, but to djibouti and kenya i found that circumstance where the u.s. service personnel had been back for the repetitive assignments and they are very welcoming of that because its people they know and understand. there's probably more we can do in the future and i will look to do just that. >> thank you congenital. you have a much deeper bench than we do. so i'm going to be very quick on just a couple to follow-up

questions. general mcnabb come if i could follow on a question that mr. klein asked. if the faa goes forward on the rule requirements will it affect the transcom's ability to execute the mission? >> as mr. babbitt went through, he said he would consider what i was worried that is one size doesn't fit all and our nonscheduled carriers are a bit unique to make sure we've built in the proper safety program for them. if they do the one-size-fits-all it will impact us in how quickly we can do it and velocity and drive up the cost for our u.s. carriers dramatically to the point where i start worrying about the competitive they will have on making sure they can to get in touch of modern airplanes. that's probably my biggest concern and between the orm facilities and making sure what commissions are like it is a little different than the legacy

carriers and i just hope that they would consider that there is a difference. >> can i just natural down on that question just a little bit more? i'm aware of the air force instead of technology study that found that up to 70% of the missions found for you by the civilian carriers may be impacted depending on how the rule was implemented. that seems substantial to us given how much you rely on them, can you put it in context so the committee has a good feel of where that falls? >> sure. when we set of our cops how we are going to base their plans when you talk to a far off place like afghanistan and if you have to drive some additional crew it drives and some perplexity into the system and becomes a little bit tougher to manage. right now we have that and we have been driving very hard to get those modern airplanes and like i said 70% are affected means they would have to have additional stops and have to leave in additional crew.

the rhythm, the issue of making sure that as you're traveling around the world afghanistan is 12 hours out from here so if you have -- when you think about domestic here in the u.s. leave to deal with each weld our changes circadian rhythm every day. what we have to do is make sure we think through all of those parts to the puzzle and insure one size doesn't necessarily fit all. foot he will affect everyone the but you need to come up with programs that the trust to that reality. i've thrown lots of missions and have 5600 hours. i will say that there's a big difference flying four to six in the u.s. very quick stops dealing with air traffic all of the problems you have on the ground floor in a one hop on the same crew day to day and going all the way, for instance, and stopping for the night. i would just say the level was

different and it takes different approaches is my recommendation. >> thank you congenital. the general ham, just a couple questions for you. just a few weeks ago i had the privilege of being over at the europe command and i got back from visiting several countries in africa and one of the things on every briefing you would find is that there would be a host of errors the would be drawn from all of the different operations that are going on, some of them by the state department, some of them by the dod and the question that puzzles me is who is managing? who is the one authority that is making sure we are not overlapping and that those missions are all coordinating in the right fashion. can you shed light as we see the overlap between the states and the dod and the various operations that we have going on in africa? who is ultimately managing that

to make sure that it's done right? >> while there isn't an overarching command that is in fact directing that, this is our interagency process at work and each of us who participates in that has a responsibility, so me at the africa command certainly assistant secretary car singh at the state, the folks at the office of the secretary defense and usaid and other agencies, what i think we have got to do is make sure we have a forum through which the most senior folks can collaborate and insure we have synchronized our efforts to the highest degree possible, it is this same as yours at least my initial military side i'm not sure that is quite tightly as wound as it perhaps ought to be and it's something i

would like to look at as i begin my tenure. >> if you do take a look at that and would give your information back and examine it, to other questions. one of the other concerns i had was talking to the various players over their one of the players we heard from from the state department is the defense doesn't do anything unless we okay it. that gave some of us just a little concerned as to the will but the state department had and the role that the department of defense had. can you tell us and explain a little bit about those two functions and how they are collaborating? >> nist sergel certainly. we would all agree that it's far better when state and defense agree on the way ahead in a particular, any particular matter but sometimes that isn't the case. we have a mechanism through

which interagency process through the national security staff for the various departments to bring forward matters where there is perhaps some agreement on the way ahead. i'm confident as i'm able to get started in this command and build relationships with secretary carson and others and the interagency that those times will be few and far between where we will have very strong disagreement. but where we do, i don't feel any reservation whatsoever about saying i'm sorry i just can't get to agreement on this. we need to take into the interagency deliberative process to have disagreements adjudicated. we know how to do that. we do with all the time in our government and by injury comfortable inside that process. >> last question. what are the authority is granted to the u.s. chief mission regarding the combatant command activities in the countries to which they are posted and do you believe these authorities are sufficient?

the senior representative is the representative of the president in those countries and so our countries are nested with the chief of mission there may be unique circumstances where there will be in a letter river that might require an authority under than the chief of mission those are probably addressed not in open session. thank you for the service to the country and your patience today and sharing your experience and expertise with us. this hearing is adjourned.

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