a seat in that old court house. unfortunately some many years ago they pitched it out with a bunch of papers. this woman who lives in florida got a hold of it. so all they have for those years is a facsimile. of course i talk about that little marriage license business in the book. this does not surprise me because i know they have been trying to get it back. i'm not sure what kind of legal maneuvering went on to get that because, you know, it is their own fault that they did that thing out. i would imagine they played upon her sense of history and would never end, perhaps, there was some money involved, i would think, writes, was always helps.

speaking of money, did any of you put a bid in on the billy the kid picture here in denver? i think it was two and a half million dollars. william coke bought it. a lot of big bidding going on. yes? >> one more question. >> let's let this lady come over here. >> sir, you did say something about up of the question. i hope that i can ask one. you and i come from very near the same place. i was bought -- born in st. louis. very much appreciate your presentation. the question comment combination. i have been a listener for some time. i heard it this morning and heard you. you seemed set apply your talent

to some pretty real people. you disparage some rightly. the hollywood fictionalizing of some of these people. i am a person who is very depressed with the way that our country is going. i just wonder if you could throw your astute observation about people and our politicians and our economy and the situation we are facing today. if you were ted say 50 or 100 years from now how would you reflect on the mess that we are in today. [laughter] well, it's interesting. some of the reviewer is of the crockett book, it actually got into some contemporary issues and talked about him and a reference some of the folks involved in politics today.

i mean, they even used his name with people like sarah palin's and folks like that. i can understand that to a certain extent, but not really. it is kind of what i said to him today. i'm not sure i even understand what i said there because it just came to my head, but he said, what about crockett today. i said, well, he would be kind of like a liberal to bagger, which doesn't make much sense to my note. but not really. he would -- he actually would be considered very liberal today. he became awake, which was the beginning of the republican party. solely not out of any desire to -- to really become of way, but really because of his problems with jackson who, of course, was

a democrat. they used crack it and even teased about running a president. some of them were very serious, but that wasn't to be. i think crockett was more genuine than a lot of the so-called down-home candid it's that we have today. and i'll tell you this. he was a lot brighter. [laughter] [applause] [applause] i think he would probably be astounded by the dumbing down of the country because he was always trying to improve himself. he really did. we found his copy. this guy, who has been trade as a bomb. really, there was something really very compelling about

this man. that is what drew me to him. but all of those qualities that i liked so much in crockett i find not an iota of them in the kendis it's that we have today, not an iota. yes. but you have to understand that i am a bomb throwing balls of light. [laughter] [applause] [applause] >> that was wonderful. >> i loved it. >> we loved every minute of it. >> i'm sure he would be happy to sign your books if you would like to form a line that way. you can come up. we wanted thank you so much for

coming, this wonderful evening. >> good to be with you. [applause] [applause] you put me on the spot, but i like that.useum in tucson for 40

minutes. >> welcome to the arizona historical society. i'm bruce dinges, director of publication and editor of the current journal of arizona history, and we are here to welcome jeff guinn, the author of the last -- "the last gunfight," the real story of a shootout at the o.k. corral and have it seized the american west. jeff is a former book review editor of the fort worth star-telegram and also the author of the recent best seller, go down together, that's true untold story of bonnie and clyde. welcome. at like tess start up the conversation this evening with the question that i'm sure is on everyone's mind in this room. there are basically three iconic events in the history of the imagination as the college.

one is the last stand, the alamo, and the third is the gunfight at o.k. corral. the question is why? do we really need another book on the gunfight at the o.k. corral. >> not only evidence why we need another book on the gunfight at the o.k. corral. them produce, if it had been written by critics who don't consider themselves experts in the subject of a tombstone or the gun fight or the american frontier. all claiming that it is a book of revisionist history by which they mean it is just shocking to them that these things in the book are actually fact. one reviewer said he was stunned to learn that the battle to and actually occur in the okay corral, but in a vacant lot some yards away. i think we can think bill

breckinridge and stored lake and some others for that. i think trying to write later about the gunfight at the vacant lot near but not at the o.k. corral doesn't have the same ring throughout history. [laughter] people also seem to be astonished that instead of talking about cardboard cutout participants we are talking about real human beings, men of their time who had good qualities and loss. everyone seems staggered by the fact that tombstone might have been something other than a dusty little desert hamlet. the fact that there are so many intelligent readers who would certainly say truthfully that they care a great deal about history don't know these very basic things, let alone the complexities of the place and the time. that is why we need another book about tombstone and the o.k. corral. >> i'd like to go back to your dusty little town comment.

i have lived in arizona for almost 35 years. i spend a lot of time in tombstone. i have the pleasure of reading your book and manuscript and rereading the town -- but this week. it struck me as i was reading it, it is very difficult for any of us in no tombstone today to amazing it in 1981. such an important part of the context of what happened there on october 26, 1881. it would be helpful if you could tell us what kind of a town it was back in. >> well, i'm willing to bet if i ask this audience today about my favorite character of my tombstone and o.k. corral cast was -- by the time they finish the book they might not guess it was the town of tombstone itself. it was such a vibrant place. sophisticated, not just in terms of a mining boom town, but in terms of the towns all around the country.

it had shops that sold the kind of fashions that you would see on the streets of san francisco. the people there bought them. gore may restaurants where for a few dollars you could have a meal that would rival anything you might be in new york city. the theaters offering will class entertainment. there were even a few telephones linking the mines to the mine exchange building. the town fathers were about to start debating putting in a sewer line on the main street of town. this is the place that simply is not given its proper credit and a lot of the film's and the essays and so forth today. it was much more, just like the history of southeast arizona and the history of the american frontier much greater than most people realize. >> the other important part of

the backdrop for this story is politics. they know that today at the very least complex. we sometimes think that issues are intolerable. yes, i think you will discover first of all they go back as far as we can imagine. the politics don't have anything on what they were in 1881. if he could give us the setting it would be helpful to set the tone of the book. >> there were very real, extended and intense. it was certainly felt that trading between americans and mexicans was something you would want. bandits on both side of the border parade on merchants. certainly some cattle rustling being done.

a lot of people tended to think it was one-sided. the cowboys faction would run into mexico and great indiscriminately. the fact remains there were mexican bandits he became march over the rio grande. fair to say that if some of you, i know, just back from the texas ranger museum in waco, wonderful place, and they have a lot of great history there. if you read the reports about the wrestlers that the texas rangers were trying to drive out of texas, they weren't trying to drive them out because there were stealing mexican cattle. there was a great deal of discrimination against mexicans in texas and in the southwest. it was simply not consider that much of a crime to go down there and take there stock. politically the earps beckham -- represented the republicans, big business men of tombstone and the area who wanted more law and

order to be firmly in place. this because they thought that was the best way to attract outside investors. at the same time a lot of the small ranchers who were not just represented by the clintons and the macquarie's, many of them southerners who had migrated west because reconstruction offended them so much wanted to get away from what they considered government oppression to be free to live their own lives as they chose. and we simply switch the political parties around today you can see that the themes remain with us as well as some of the ethnic press as -- prejudices'. >> it may seem strange on the face of it, but in reading this book something struck me that struck me in reading your bonnie and clyde book, and it's not just that it is about people, which it is, which makes it fascinating reading, but family

values play a big role in the relationships that play a big role in what occurs. i wonder if you could draw out some of the relationships that occurred, the families, what the family man to in this story. people sometimes forget that the gunfight actually involved three sets of brothers. and what that added to the next. >> in the frontier when you were prospecting, when you were trying to run a business or ranch, everybody else in the area, to a certain extent was a competitor. it was hard to know who you could trust, who would not betray you. for that reason family was so important. it was so critical. the herb brothers were desperately loyal to each other. they love each other. an insult to one was an attack on all.

but that is also true of the clintons and the macquarie's. he trusted your family. he defended your family. sometimes you might be a little too prone to defend them. but these are the time to five kinds of relationships that or import not there in a place where you are struggling to create yourself in the great words of french melon. the frontier of the west was a place where men can still dream of becoming. part of that dream was having your family there with you, right or wrong, to be at your side and always chesty. ..

when you think, this explains it. this helps me and explain it. one of the things that puzzled me when i first started writing this book, is how was it that wyatt earp and doc holliday or friends? for me think about it they absolutely should be. wade is trying to move up in the world by impressing his social who believes i'm not in order and talk, let's face it was a walking timebomb. all we know is their account through general differences in writing that wyeth said it found

ways.holliday had something to save his life. there is some new material in this book of mine, often gathered by tom block or rather by the billions, no more so in evidence than in meeting it collect dirt memorabilia into mark ragsdale who lives at the massachusetts and marquette in his his possession the original note taken by engineer john flood when he was interviewing wyatt in one of his earlier attempts. these notes are fabulous for any number of reasons. if for nothing else, to match a what flood is writing a detailed accounts of us to rethink what some years later. you can see why it is learning the way he goes along for certain things to have the

greatest impact. but flood took notes on wyatt earp's explanation of how he became friends with doc holliday. and we were able to actually put that in the book. according to wyatt, houston dodge one day. doc holliday who was an acquaintance, but not yet a warm friend is gambling along the main street where wyatt intercept some texans in town and celebrating a little too hard and the texans determined they're not going to be arrested in instead turn on earp. doc holliday in a civil and seized the history window, the game, borrows the gun, rushes onto the sidewalk, catches the cowboys by the surprise and holds them at gunpoint while wyatt can collect himself and make the arrest.

and wyatt told john flood, from that moment i became the true and lifelong friend of doc holliday. say what you will about either of these men. and people have a lot to say. they were faithful friends to each other in step with each other in times and circumstances where others would not have done that. and i think that's a great attribute in anybody and i think it speaks well of wyatt earp and doc holliday. >> there's another character in here. when i first came to this job, the great folklorist showed me a letter he received in the 1930s when he was working on billy teams tombstone, wrote down a biography of wyatt earp and he received a letter from joseph theatre same sheet shows that no further book be written

about her has been. little did she suspect. but how does josephine fit into this mix? >> i think the most fascinating thing about josephine issue is such a world class enabler amtran -- fanatical or. it was hard to know if anything she said was true or not. that's why she's so much fun. we can say in modern terms that this was a woman who required high maintenance. [laughter] she was determined to control their husbands and then she was willing to do whatever she had to to make that happen. there is a manuscript, the product of two young women relatives trying to pry enough good stuff out of josephine that

they can get a book published, that parts of it have been for us around in the serbian tombstone in research community. the originals are actually in a safe deposit box, controlled by the four county historical society in dodge city, kansas. and i've gotten a fair and with the permission of the men who made the donation, clint bowyer, i have studied those manuscripts and i came away absolutely certain that josephine was just full of it. [laughter] much of which you see in my book is gathered from other public records and documents. and if it says it makes me for statements statements somewhat questionable, if josephine were here right now, she would you sobbing and throwing herself in

your mercy to be made by some evil outsider that only wants to make wyatt look bad and josephine looked at. and when it comes to the facts, josephine didn't need anybody's help in making herself look at. i will say that a wonderful writer named dan kershner is currently at work on a biography of josephine marcus earp and anne is braver than i. anne will find some things and wall learn a lot. >> one of the things your book is actual unfolding of the gunfight. you know, step-by-step fashion. it unfolds in a way that seems those inevitable and a total accident that makes sense. and you get to the final moment and has what seems to me and

zero moments, the same moment custer had when he got on top of the ridge and what looked like all of the indians in the world down there or travis had when he realized nobody was coming to save him at the alamo. he says holt, i don't mean that. what does that tell us about how this event has been? >> i'll repeat that i think something was bound to happen, whether it was going to involve the specific individuals or others. there was just too much tension and too much stress. genes earp said later he thought there was a certain amount of pressure put on virtual by some of the townspeople that had that happen, none of this would've occurred. i like virtual a lot and ended up feeling sorry for them. i think he tried very hard to be

a good mommy appeared in the eyes of average americans today, the gunfight at the o.k. corral and filed wyatt earp, doc holliday and the clantons. it seemed that sort of been dumped in the background as have tom and frank looked unsure and mcclory. he was very pragmatic about the way enforce the law. he gave people a chance to back away without embarrassing than for having their pride intact. he did his best that day to let the cowboys settled down and right on out of town and finally felt forced to act when he did. he called on the people he trusted most, his two brothers. and of course there was doc who would never miss an occasion like this. it is a terrible tragedy that this happened, and i think if things had happened differently

in one or two instances, if virtual hadn't been approached by a couple town leaders offering vigilantes, if the cowboys walking through the o.k. corral i think really meaning to leave town, but not wanting to leave too fast to kids they didn't want the onlooker steve inc. the earp had that been down and made them leave. any number of things might have prevented this. even if that up in the case, something similar would've happened sometime soon. >> unitas says after the gunfight, they could reasonably walk away feeling they were heroes. that didn't happen. what does that tell us about tombstone? >> first of all, i think virgil small made was when he settled i don't cannot. i think the earp's moment came the day after the gunfight when instead of being recognized as

heroes, which they were expecting company that 2000 mourners turning out for the l.a. kelantan and mclaury brothers. the tombstone leaders -- by the way, one of the things about historians like land is they don't just want to have a different opinion looking at the same set of facts. it's the open-mindedness that encourages discussion rather than arguments. i've learned so much from him. i think we all have. but what i thought i was talking about -- hang on to second. it's been a long day with all the sites. the fathers did not consider the earp's there equals. there were people. there were tools that could be certain functional things. after the gunfight, after public opinion began to say, sometimes looking like it's going against

the earp, town leaders think we've got a bunch of voters here who may not like a way this turned out and they are not supporting them as much. the earp's were disposable like disposable razors and a thinking time they came to resent it when they realized it. >> that leads naturally into something and i want to point out in your book. you said wyatt legacy was related to uncomfortable memories of a minor functionary who ultimately overstep himself and particularly violent regrettable ways. how do we get from that to you o'bryan? [laughter] >> delete history is remembered quite often is the way the general public describes it wanted to have been. at the turn of the 20th century, there's great american interest, intensified american interest in frontier heroes. you've got teddy roosevelt writing popular books about how great it is to be branching out in the west, the certain

lifestyle. you've got that masters and reinventing himself as a journalist in the east and writing magazine articles about the great heroes he wrote what, including wyatt earp. the silent movies, the cowboy traumas that are presented as we get into the depression, a complicated scary time. we want to think not long ago in her history things were simpler, where if there is evil, and it got out of thompson eradicated it. from there we get the talkies. we get the movies of the 40s and 50s. for some of us who are old enough to remember, do you remember what every second tv was a lack and white cowboy drama. gosh i wanted to be the lone ranger. it was simply an evolution of what we wanted to believe happened.

wyatt earp first is presented by bat masterson. then stewart takes the. and in the movies. don't forget for a while but tombstone was almost more popular in the movies and wider readjusting is doing everything she can, threatening not to us. don't sony wyatt earp's image. her idea of selling his image with a scene where he tried to do you obtain with my machine and. to josephine wyatt would never have got. it grew because it was with so many people wanted to believe. and that's that the sad thing is the truth, not as a saint, not as a career criminal, not the best of the western landesman, not every bit as bad as the cochise county cowboys. when we realize someone is an actual human being and not a cardboard cutout, when a person

becomes real, then the history becomes real. and don't all of this year, each in their own way think it's important to use the facts rather than the fiction? because the facts when they are presented with enthusiasm, with context, almost inevitably are better than the mess. >> you can't get away with saying that something changed the american west, particularly when it's the 32nd gunfight with fedex lady what she means. so i have to call you on the subtitle. >> , and where? >> sorry, i always like to say that to somebody. >> i think what happened that the o.k. corral had two specific changes, one short-term, one last romantic than the other. again, it is surprised so many

readers and reviewers already but after the gunfight, earp and doc holliday are put into a hearing to determine whether they should be tried for murder, but after the vendetta arrived, wyatt and their companions are indicted for murder. this is a message that any american west wanted will have to answer a court for their actions if they were not legal, that man claiming to avenge attacks can't take the law into their own hands and the greater way it changed was the perception of the american west. today we don't go a week without some politician who has won a close election, the football coach whose team had a one-point

win and said it was just like being in the o.k. corral. it's become part of our national vocabulary. and people use it to demonstrate that the last, that the frontier was a simple black-and-white plays. it was then. the history is so rich, so complex, so multidimensional, that it's given short shrift. and i think the more we write books and mine isn't the only one, wasn't the first, won't be the last, that tries to give context and help readers understand things that really happen. the benefit is greater understanding because what is the sense of writing a book or reading one if you're not learning something? i learned so much writing this book.

i hope that some readers, when they read it or want to know more and turned to the work of others. and if that happens, then i would say it was something that contributed to a change that needs to come. >> i think many of us in this room relies on this particular topic, research can be a full contact sport. so it's kind of surprising that you say we are to be a family of historians. what do you mean by that? >> first of all, i don't think family is always get along, but i do think we all have to realize that it's not so much any of this compete with each other as in the best sense we got to be complementing each other. the last gunfight -- sub tab is a book with my name on it. i spent a years of full-time

research going on over the country, trying to find new things, to figure things out, bring some new conclusions and concepts. but none of this click is about standing alongside other people who have been doing great and honorable and often unrecognized work. and yet, without these people, people like me don't read her books at all. and i think it's only appropriate, particularly with the folks in this turn to speak to that is maybe a way to close down this part of our program because i am sitting up here, but i'm office hitting the side so many people. when you talk about those who want selfishly research, devote themselves to try and learn things that help the rest of us understand better.

there are some folks in this room. there's tom colmer who keep saying, keep laughing. but he also keep sharing his research. scott dyke led me on a wonderful walk were accidentally sat on some barbed wire. what i think of scott and i think they're both with gratitude for his contributions to my book and some of the puncture marks in my butt. bob tom quist, and the only who could help me understand some of the intricacies of frontier loss. jim turner who helped me track down an army lieutenant and never asked why it mattered because once he started looking, he got interested in oils. the thrill of the chase. lynn bailey, who knows more about the history of this area then lynn bailey?

all of his work is so much to us. kevin and best balkans, owners of one of the greatest collections of western memorabilia in this country and to sheraton selfishly with anybody who asks. there's people who aren't here tonight, but they are in our heart, they are in her books. gary roberts. when i'm writing this book, i met gary and he makes the thank you jesus discovery, and original newspaper article showing that after wyatt earp was arrested for horse theft and misuse, wyatt didn't just walk away on bail, but that he had broken out of jail and was technically a felon for the rest of his life. gary called me up inside i know you're writing this book and i think this is interesting. when the end of the article. use it in your book. think about that kind of

generosity. paul kuhl, mark worked in, and collier. i met her being such a shy timid young lady. if were doing all the work, why do you write the book? [laughter] and you think you ask tough questions, buddy. pam potter, paul had come a great lady in texas named sissy vale who knows more about frontier women in their roles than anyone had ever seen. rob mckay then, even though he charged me for using a picture of doc holliday, i'm still grateful to god. just mori, the man who was so generous with his knowledge and doesn't get half the credit he deserves. then trawick said the first to me i'll tell you everything you need to know and then preceded to tell me about the wonderful feeling of the things he's written in today only.

he was still grinning when he pocketed my check. rainman via, who has researched so much property in tombstone, who paid well, what the taxes were. bob alexander, johnny b. hann has a defender for life and this a great example of how he can disagree with someone into a pleasantly. jim donna van, who is doing a wonderful book about the battle at the alamo. other offers, tcp for keller, paula mitchell marks and a special man i still haven't met, but i am grateful to them because they read his books and articles, bill schilling berg. two people that although should recognize for their contributions to their knowledge, even though there's

controversy involving them, maybe deservedly, but tonight luscious credit them for things they've given us. carl chieftain and glenn boyer. some of the people who contribute most are those who don't necessarily to do research or writing themselves, but they do the things that make it possible for the rest of us. when i met bruce dinges, i wanted him to read me trainee sketch because i knew he would give me a fair and objective opinion of what i was doing well and what i needed to do better. there's a special woman named christine rose and under her direction, the cochise county recorder's office is a place for anybody ought to start if you're trying to do this research. and learned from all these folks and as a gesture towards that, i am contributing all of my research materials, all my notes, interview transcripts, document copies, every day that went into the "the last

gunfight" to the arizona historical society said the next person who wants to write a book on this topic will have immediate access to everything i had. [applause] here's what i'd like you to apply because it's approved rio. i'm making this contribution in honor of bruce dinges and christine rose, these two. [applause] >> thank you, jeff. i'm having a nosh asked volunteer, but were kind of limited. and the last unsung hero, a great friend to readers everywhere, but a great friend to writers, too. with all that bad, that conclusion. i didn't write a book without everybody else's help. let's all work together. and when we do that, i think

everybody benefits, most of all the people that need to know the things, the history we believe is so important. thank you. >> that's a nice place to wrap it up. we do have a little time for questions. what i ask you to do is come up to the microphone. please keep your questions brief and to the point so that everybody has a chance. >> you first. >> didn't allie earp say wyatt earp is that robbing stages and status keeping modern order? at number two, who killed johnny ringo? [laughter] >> who planted this woman? in search of the first one. there is a great deal of question whether allie earp said

many of the things that frank waters reported that she said. giving probably there were tensions between allie and why it's certainly. did watters probably exaggerate those tensions? i also think that the fact because they frankly don't trust what the watters wrote. hukill john ringo? somebody. maybe even john ringo himself. a little mystery and history is okay. yes, ma'am. >> on the subject of josephine marcus, i was intrigued by your referring to wyatt earp as it has been. it is my impression that there's no evidence there is a very legal marriage between whites and josephine. can you speak to that? >> certainly. a lot of marriages on the frontier where the common law variety, where there was no legal ceremony and were frankly

other power lay with the man rather than the women. when somebody got tired of it, it was dissolved. there was no legal basis for it. wyatt earp i believe was married once to a real in his youth. i think in between her and josephine, to other, my wife's for a certain period. when i say he was her has been insane that in the accept it front of the frontier when they would enter into a common-law marriage. you are certainly correct that i don't believe there was a legal union. yes, you stranger. >> you look familiar. do you have a favorite movie about the gunfight? and can you comment on some of the strengths and weaknesses of the various movies more recent and older? >> actually, my favorite o.k. corral film is star trek at this

episode. i think all the films that have been made and have been popular have some entertainment value. i think more recently the film tombstone tried to stick a little bit closer to the facts than the wyatt earp film, but that's a personal failing. whether there's any film that stuck to the facts and try to show this is more interesting and entertaining than the mythology can't name one yet. i can think of a candidate down the road. >> you mentioned that to the extent that tombstone at that time extended to the newspapers and if so, which went through the website would be on? >> thank you for that question which we can answer without anyone arguing about it. it was democrats and the epitaph was republican. in the political tensions were carried out in print and certainly contributed a great deal to the hostile atmosphere

between the two political parties. but i also will say that a lot of people thought that was what politics is supposed to be played. then and now. of course he tried to use innuendo and slurs. why wouldn't you if they worked? will have one more and then will probably close that. >> jeff, congratulations on the next book. after all your research, all this delving into everything, i want to know what you think of wyatt earp. another author has said he's cheated the underworld all his life. after all your research, what do you think of the guy? >> i think wyatt earp was a man of his time. and in those times, young men trying to make a living, trying to establish themselves, operated somewhat on both sides of the law. i do not achieve a sustained.

i don't think he was evil. i think he was like all of us, a flawed human being he made some good decisions and plenty of bad ones. i did not in any way find myself disliking him. i don't find myself wanting to put a pin above him on my wall. but i'll tell you this. he was a interesting man. >> thank you, jeff. i know jeff is exhausted, but he'd be glad to sign books over at that table. books are available for purchase over there. also, we have -- it doesn't come out very often. we have far collection of earp memorabilia, it's going to go back in the vault, so take time to look at that. and again, jeff, thank you.

you've got a real treat in store when you read this book. >> thanks for coming, everybody. [applause]5

>> and as is inevitable in a sad story and fable of this nature, as you can well imagine, over time the people that eventually took over the process by which

this product was produced and then transported and sold in the northern kingdom were criminals. and what happened, ladies and gentlemen? i would like to offer you my only three visual aids in my presentation this morning, if i may. maestro, may i have the first map, please? what happened, now you can see i've given away the surprise, but most of you probably had already figured out where i was talking about in my story and my fable. if you had asked me, ladies and gentlemen, 21 years ago in 1990, what is my calculation in terms of how illicit drugs are moving from south america to north

america, i would have said to you, the overwhelming majority is moving through the caribbean. sometimes the western caribbean, sometimes the eastern caribbean, sometimes by sea, sometimes by air. i would have acknowledged small arrows but that is not the only route, but that would be the dominant route. what happened? as you can well imagine, those in south america and in north america and in the caribbean took steps, countermeasures, made efforts to shut down this route of transportation. so how would things look 10 years later? i would suggest -- i'm going to drive myself this time -- it would have looked more like this. notice several things. one, the big thick arrow has moved to the west and is moving up the eastern pacific.

second, there is a new arrow that you're beginning to see in the year 2000. that is an arrow which symbolically represents the movement of the product across the atlantic to new markets in europe and elsewhere around the world, and please note that the other two errors have not disappeared here i am not suggesting that no product moved 11 years ago through the caribbean or through central america, but they were no longer the dominant routes. and, finally, may i note as well, because i do see the distinguished defense attaché from colombia in the room today, the fact that i start my big arrow in colombia is not my assertion that all of the product comes from colombia, but my acknowledging i do not have a map big enough to show all of the point of origin from which the product is moving. so, by 2000 we were confronting

a different situation. and the response was, in the year 2000 of plan colombia, a colombian plan that strongly supported by several other governments, including my own, to address, stop, reduce and eventually eliminate the flow of the product from colombia. greater efforts with a number of governments to interrupt the flow of narcotics through the eastern pacific. and what do we see then 10 years later? we see something, ladies and gentlemen, that looks very much like this. as result of the efforts and northern south america, in the caribbean, and in the eastern pacific, you now see the overwhelming majority of the flow of narcotics products through central america on its

way to the north american market. and, i might add, making in the year 2007 you see a squeeze at both ends of the central american business. not just the efforts under plan colombia and its successor plans to the south, at the beginning of an impact of the effort to put the squeeze on the routes to the north in mexico under the initiative. ladies and gentlemen, i give you this long saga, and i will not attempt to shut off kashmir is what i would do. not to show you how skillful i am with maps and with powerpoint presentations, but to give you some understanding of how we got to where we are today. and where are we today? let's ask ourselves the

question, how serious is this threat that is affecting, and in my opinion, threatening the very core institutions of central america today. first, we calculate that more than 95%, let me repeat that figure, more than 95% of all illicit drugs that entered north america from south america have transited central america. 95%. what impact might that have on the region? here is a statistic. dates from 2010, the last year we have full statistics. in 2010 the homicide rate in honduras was 82 per 100,000 population. in el salvador, 65.

in guatemala, 41. to put that in some perspective for you, here in the united states, a society not known throughout the world for its pacifism and a lack of violence, our homicide rate is somewhat below five. more than 70,000 youth in the seven countries of central america, and overwhelmingly focused on the northern three of guatemala, honduras and el salvador, are calculated to be members of gangs year i say calculated because of course they can't do not participate in official censuses. do not register their members and do not provide their statistics to local governments and institutions. but the calculation is about 70,000. the entire population of central

america is about one seventh the population of the united states of america. if you played assistance to go game and say what would this correlate to in the united states, it would be half a million gang members on the streets of the united states cities. ladies and gentlemen, central america in a very real sense is a victim. it is a victim of geography, and it can do nothing about that. it is an outcome always have been, and i presume until the end of the world, will be located between the two large continents of south and north america. it is a victim of the fact that there is a large demand for a particular product, and illicit product, in north america. and a large capability to supply

that demand in south america. it is a victim in a very real sense, of progress elsewhere in the region. progress in colombia, under plan colombia where, thanks to the heroic efforts of a large number of colombian citizens, the problem has been squeezed down substantially over the last 11 years. and the progress that we see beginning, i submit more on that later, in mexico with the mexican government's efforts to retake control of its own communities, its own streets, and its own borders. and central america, to a very real extent, is a victim to those factors which it cannot control. it is also a victim of some

internal factors, which perhaps it does share responsibility for, and more on that in a moment. ladies and gentlemen, several members of the media, and, obviously, none of those who are present with us here today who are far too brilliant to make this sort of assertion, but in recent months members of the media have discussed and suggested that we have discovered the crises and the problems afflicting central america today. we have not discovered them. it is not as though we were oblivious to what was happening. i suggest to you that this is a natural and inevitable progression. we knew it was happening and we knew it was going to happen. if i can use the metaphor of three houses located side-by-side on a street.

one house erupts in flames, and the community, due to resource and budgetary issues, has only one fire truck. where does the fire truck go? it goes to the house that is burning. well, sure enough sparks passed over to the third house. it starts to burn as well. the fire truck goes to the third house. it knows perfectly well that the house in between is eventually going to burn, but you've only got one fire truck. you are watching that housed in the middle. you not some point in time he will have to go after it, but you've got one truck and you're going to focus the truck on the house that is actually burning. and it is burning today, ladies and gentlemen, and i suggest to you that what we will talk about for the remainder of this morning is where to put that fire truck, what equipment to

put on that truck, how many people we can put on that truck, and how we can get maximum value out of that truck. i addressed and assess this problem in essence as a pyramid. here's how my thinking goes. at the top of the pyramid are those threats that are concretely and actively attacking the institutions of the seven states of central america. i identify too from a security front. remember, i am the assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs. one threat of the international drug trafficking organizations, and the other threat are the gangs. now, i'm fully aware, ladies and gentlemen, there's a great deal of overlap between those two institutions. but all games do not traffic drugs and ultrathin organizations do not use games as their implementing operators. so there are two of them and they are actively attacking the

institutions of the states of central america. the next level of my. but are the vulnerabilities. what do these gangs and trafficking organizations use in order to accomplish their business or other purposes? there are many. in fact, if we are 20 hours we could probably come up with a 500 page book. i will offer just six or seven that come immediately to mind. one, a culture that tends to accept violence as a matter of the history of the last 35 years. second, prisons that operate in such a way as to actually allow the recycling of people that go in to the prison system for whatever offenses or crimes they may have committed. third, borders which is to say borders that provide opportunity as opposed to obstacles to people who wish to move product

along the land route, if you will. forth, widespread corruption. corruption and institutions, corruption in government, corruption and businesses. fifth, weak institutions generally. corrupt or not an institution can be week. it can be weak if it is poorly educated, poorly trained, poorly paid, poorly motivated. sixth, disaffected youth. hundreds of thousands of young men and women who do not see a prosperous future for themselv themselves, and, therefore, are looking for alternatives. finally, poverty and unemployment, the too frequent go hand in hand, although they are different issues. and the fact that a community and a society that does not offer economic opportunity to its people has to assume that its people are going to try to take care of themselves and

their families through some other means. so that is the second level of my. me. the threats, vulnerabilities that they take advantage of, at the third the third and final level, therefore, would be the programs, the activities that the government themselves, that their international partners, that the international community writ large, governments, organizations, ngos can try to support that would reduce and eventually eliminate those vulnerabilities. because once you remove those vulnerabilities, the bad guys at the top of your peer made have no basis upon which to operate. if they don't have lots of poverty and unemployment which produces disaffected youth and a culture that accepts violence, weekends institution, porous borders and prison systems that do not work, they will find it far, far more difficult to

operate either as again or as a trafficking organization. so that is the concept. and who endorsed that concept, ladies and gentlemen, in march of this year in the city of san salvador, the republic of el salvador, the president of the united states, a very wise man, stood with the president of el salvador and said, there is a threat that is affecting central america. it affects all of us. we need a new partnership, which he calls a partnership for citizen security in central america. and ladies and gentlemen, i endorse, support, applaud and then prepared to do everything in my power to follow up on the president's amendment to move this partnership forward. i will do so, together with all

other parts of my government, based upon some very simple principles. and some of them are difficult principles. for example, number one, we have limited resources to work with. on the 23rd of june in the city of guatemala, the secretary of state committed $290 million fund united states government to support this effort in the course of this year. not 2.9 billion, not 29 billion, 290 million, and have to be honest with you, ladies and gentlemen, to get to this number i had to offer her some old money that was still available for spending this year, a little bit of new money and some creative thinking in terms of how we can recycle existing funds. i do not see, and lets you think i'm missing something, i do not see the likelihood of a fast

infusion of new funds coming from that element of the united states government that is constitutionally entitled to fund and appropriate the taxpayers money and the united states in the foreseeable future. so my first principle is, we have to have an approach that accepts the reality that we have limited resources. second principle, if you've got limited resources, how can you expand your resource base? how can you build on a number of donors that are prepared to support this effort? there are some that are already very much, and in some cases heroically engaged in this effort. in no particular order, i would mention the government of canada, colombia, spain, the european union and its commission. the answer american development your this is a core group that

has already, along with a government that i represent, committed its resources and its efforts to address this threat. our challenge, principle number two, is how can we build on and expand that donor base? vince vaughn number three, where we have fewer resources, can we by reorganizing our efforts, disturbing the workload, single signature the way, expand the impact of the limited resources that we have. this is complicated stuff, ladies and gentlemen, because a governments usual approach to this sort of problem is let's throw money at it. and without naming any of the locations in the world, be they located in central asia or the middle east, but i will name none, we have a very different set of realities that we must

deal with in this complicated situation. and it does require an approach that is almost unprecedented among governments, international organizations, and even, if you'll permit me to suggest an opinion, ngos. the fourth principle, our starting point is that these are regional threats. they are not country specific. that affect the entire central american region. therefore, the solution must be regional as well. this becomes complicated as i will explain in a moment because again, the world for the last 60 or 70 years has been set up on the basis of bilateral relationships for the most part. if you've got a problem, government a works with government be to solve the problem. it is rare, not unprecedented but where that government a works with government b., see, d., e., f., g. collectively and

together to solve the problem at the same time. principle number five, the threats emanate from central america. the leadership in the process must come from central america. it cannot be an externally imposed solution. that does not work. it especially doesn't work when you're dealing with a limited resource base. fortunately, we have an institution established by the seven governments of central america themselves that already exist and that is created and designed to accomplish just exactly this coordination purpose. it is called sica. [inaudible] gracias. [laughter] and it represents all seven of

the governments of central america and provides if you will regional leadership and buy-in to what the larger international community could do. six and five, and i'm fairly emphatic about this point, that are to partners who must be partners in this effort. for geographic regions, for political reasons, for socioeconomic reasons, for law enforcement reasons. we talked about this as the central america initiative to in many ways with osha talk about it as the mesoamerica initiati initiative, because, ladies and gentlemen, you cannot address this issue involving the seven governments of central america without incorporating the government of colombia and mexico into the solution. to countries that are in very different positions in terms of their historical department in addressing these problems, and

by no means do you treat them as exactly the same sorts of government in terms of their contribution but you have to acknowledge, you cannot solve, that is the word i eat wish to use, central america's crises without incorporating colombia and mexico into the solution. and there is finally a lesson that i submit we have all learned over the last 30 or 40 years, but we had better remember it today. there is no silver bullet solution. there is no one single program, one single project, one single operation that if we do it and do it correctly it will solve the problem. know, ladies and gentlemen, it took us many, many years to get into this mess. and it is going to take years to get out of it. and we have learned over time, starting if you will in the

1970s, but as you address these law enforcement and drug related threats, you have to have an approach that addresses all outlets of the problem. from education treatment and rehabilitation at one in, the demand side, all the way down through interdiction, money laundering and financial crimes, precursor chemical, production capabilities, cultivation on the supply side. you cannot focus on only one element. if you do, the criminal organizations have proved to be masters at developing a workaround, and actually using your focus and priorities as the means by which they facilitate and improve their own networks

and their own operations. so, what is this initiative? i'm going to give you and gary barest outlines -- the very barest outlines, you will follow-up with questions which i'll attempt to answer. the merida initiative were four pillars, seven countries in central america so they deserve at least five pillars. here are the five i suggest constitute the core of this initiative, this approach, this policy, this strategy. call it what you wish. for lack of a better term, face street. this means that the mother is terrified to let her children to play outside the home, you have a community security problem. you have to solve that problem at the retail level. how can you get a community, a small society sufficient confidence in their security that they feel comfortable playing, living, working in their own neighborhood and in

their own community. second, disrupt the traffickers. i have suggested to you one of the two core threats to the institutions and to the states of central america are the trafficking organizations. there must be an element that attacks them directly. whether it's interdiction, strengthen borders, whether it is eliminating or at least reducing their ability to launder money or transact financial crimes. there must be an element that attacks the organizations themselves. third is strong and accountable government. this in many ways is what we refer to and have for 30 years institution building. and institutions, ladies and gentlemen, are not just law enforcement, although clearly they are a key component to it. it's also corrections and prosecutors. it's courts. it is all the institutions that constitute the rule of law

continuum in any country comment any society, any country, community, around the world. and in essence the objective is to make each of those institutions sufficiently strong, transparent and accountable, that they not only can do their job, but they have the respect and the support of the communities and societies that they serve. fourth is the strong communities. strong communities move this into what is the traditional economic and social development sphere. this is what developed agencies do. data employment generation, and business generation. they build basic public services that makes them function. they support education systems and health care systems that provide a community a core. and a communities citizens, a

stake in the future of their own community. a desire to actually make the institutions work. because they see a future for themselves and their families in that community. and the fifth pillar i suggest to you, required by the circumstances that we deal with in terms of resources is enhance cooperation. cooperation internally by which i mean the seven governments of central america, their own institutions and capabilities to work among themselves to address this regional threat. but also cooperation in the external sense. of operation, potential donors. governments, organizations, and ngos to support the strategy,

the policy, the initiative, the effort in central america. ladies and gentlemen, i conclude with a sobering observation for you. we have thought for the last 11 years or so that the big initiatives that we have been working in this hemisphere, plan colombia, which i use of january 2000 as the kickoff take of all the truth of the matter is we were working fairly aggressively with the government of colombia since 1999, the merida initiative of 2007. we regard these as being complicated, but also models for how to cooperate in a multilateral way to address multilateral threats. i submit to you that central america, despite the fact that we're dealing with states that are smaller in terms of population and geography. central america in a very real way is more complicated than

plan colombia, more complicated than the merida initiative. because we have seven different governments and societies and communities, each of whom have hundreds of years of history, hundreds of years of developing their own mindset, their own attitudes among themselves and between themselves and their neighbors, and we must work in a way that links them all together in a positive way. we will make mistakes. please make sure you've got that on record. brownfield acknowledges that we will make mistakes. there will be missteps. we will learn from those mistakes and missteps. they would not surprise me at all if i were to learn from some of those from you this very

self, same morning. i will listen carefully. i actually believe it is possible to learn from your mistakes. but one mistake we don't need to make, we do not need to learn a lesson that we already know. we cannot hear in the united states of america, ignore what is happening in central america today. because, ladies and gentlemen, the decision is very, very simple. if we ignore these threats, these problems and these crises in central america today, we will address them on our own front porch is tomorrow. and with that sobering thought, i think you, dr. farnsworth. i turned his back over to you. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you, bill. as promised those were terrific remarks. congratulations and thank you for taking time to make them today. and as promised to the audience, certainly lively and sometimes provocative. so thank you for joining us as well. we have about 15 minutes for follow-up questions. i want to ask the first one, as you are formulating your own question. we have circulating microphones for you as you recognize, we ask that you please identify yourself by name as well as your organization. but bill, you laid out a comprehensive strategy which makes a lot of sense. you touched on a lot of points.

it is a complicated issue, and with commitment to the highest levels of not just our government but other governments as well. but it's a strategy that's going to take time to implement. and i guess the question would be, is the situation on ground right now is pretty bad in some locations. so there may be a disconnect in terms of getting active drug trafficking authorizations and the gangs who are causing trouble right now as well as allowing the possible disconnect in terms of allowing that strategy to fully be implemented and take effect it i guess the question would be, in the interim who keeps the peace? and referring specifically to proposal that the outgoing president of guatemala made about the idea of a some sort of a regional security force, something like that. i'm not proposing that necessary but their ideas out there. i would just like to get you reaction to, who keeps the peace today in those circumstances to?

in the interest of time as opposed i did not board the audience by going through point by point, country by country program by program what we are redoing. but if you want to to make it clear to you, and to avoid else in the room, that we are not starting at .0. we do have a program, they are bilateral programs, programs between the united states and el salvador, united states and guatemala, united states and costa rica, nicaragua, panama and belize. those programs have not disappeared. they give us at least a starting point so that the simplest answer to question, what are we doing in essence while this larger initiative it eventually takes form and begins to have an impact, we have a bilateral approach that continues, as does spank him as this colombia which by the way is doing heroic service, in my opinion, in terms of assisting in the training of

thousands of law enforcement personnel in central america. as does canada, as does the european union. in other words, we are not in essence waiting before we get started. now, the president has made, i would call them work on his phone out some ideas for consideration. and that is how you develop, improve, fine-tune an approach. my own view and belief is, is what we'll have to do, our challenge both within the seven governments of central america as well as the international community that chooses to support them is to reach common agreement and understanding on the basic elements of the strategy. and i was just we are pretty close to being there. that was what they seek a summit on the 23rd of june was all

about. in about two weeks time, most of the major donors plus the sica executive secretariat will need, and what we will do is try to take this strategy on this set of objectives, divide it up into more or less individual bite sized chewable parts. and then in essence decide who is in the league, who will have lead responsibility for this part, and how will we sequence it, if i might paraphrase, the 16th president of the united states, you can do somethings all the time and i'll think some of the time but you can't do all things all the time but i know he didn't ask or say that the concept is the same. and innocent that's what we have to address in this central america initiative. where do we start? where do we put our initial focus? what is her thinking in terms of how this would sequence out over the next one to five years? and then who was in the lead?

which country, which element of which country? and in the lead means among the donors but it also means within the central america seven as well. that's my suggestion as to where we are. if i could close with a baseball metaphor, don't hold me responsible for not yet having all details of a fully fleshed out plan. we are in the first inning of a nine inning game. we hope it's only nine innings and doesn't go into extra innings. and we are at this time still sorting out pashtun we have our lineup more or less but we are still sorting out how the flow of the game is going. >> very good. let's take around the question. i'm going to start way in the back. let's start in the back with this young woman right here. >> thank you for calling me a young woman, that's great.

ambassador president, thank you very much. i have three question. i will try to state them briefly -- >> can you turn the microphone up? is it on? >> hello? >> much better. >> i want to know if your strategy is, this partnership for security, is that the same thing as the central image in -- that's a factual question. but i've been working, my second point is the partnership for growth is something and el salvador than working on quite a bit. a lot of the economic competitiveness our economic growth initiatives that are part of that have a lot to do with security and crime. and while we do -- my point is and i hope you comment on this, they need in government and deny states where we're coming up with a strategy for how to deal with central america, could we get the greater cooperation or sharing of ideas between various

groups that are organized to address these challenges? and i mean the intelligence, your group at stake, and other organizations. i often do we address problems with different stovepipes. that's an internal question. >> let's break it there. when you get of people into the conversation. thank you for those. and it was question right here on the aisle. right here, this gentleman here. >> richard, st. louis committee on foreign relations. you mention very briefly problems with the courts and prosecutors. i think we need to look at that more closely. it's one thing to train police but when the courts to work how do you expect the police to her? when the public has no confidence in the courts how do you expect them to her? and when the governments have a demonstrated inability to protect those who actually take a stand against the cartel, who

try to dispense justice, how can you expect the courts to work? how do we deal with these kind of basic issues? >> thank you very essence of genoa did stand up, let's go further questions and made we can take them. >> thank you very much. >> could you identify yourself? >> i am going steady, a retired foreign service officer. u.s. domestic demand is certainly a considerable problem which you have noted. i'd like to know what is being done, what can't be done, and what coordination exists among various u.s. governments, state and local agencies to do with domestic demand. thank you. >> very good. i will try to respond in the order in which the questions came forward. and i actually wrote and translated vague recollection of what was supposed.

first, carsey versus the security partnership. you're absolutely correct. that is complete interrelation, although the way i would differentiate is to say what the president is proposing in march, president obama, in march of this year and el salvador was the collective multilateral international community effort. that was the citizen security partnership. carsey, if you will, would be the central american regional security initiative would be the u.s. components from the security and law enforcement side. some answer to question is cast, if that's what we call the seat citizen security partnership is the large umbrella that covers the entire international community that is attended address these issues, and carsi is the u.s. law enforcement rule of law side and contribution to that effort.

now i need my glasses to see what a row. the partnership for growth. you are correct in noting there is some danger i guess in having him proliferation of initiativ initiatives. and the partnership for growth, and i'm fully aware that for much of this week, members of the department of commerce as well as the department of state were, and i think in some cases still are, in el salvador working this economic business, commercial trade, prosperity driven agenda and initiative. and it is obvious overlap between that and a citizen security partnership, as a speaker so brilliantly articulated a few minutes ago. one of the core pillars has to be building strong and resilient communities. and to do that there must be

economic growth. there must be jobs. they must be business opportunities. now, there has to be cross communication between the two sets of people. there are now, always have been and i suspect to some extent always will be different community institutions between those responsible for law enforcement, rule of law and citizen security on the one hand, and those responsible for economic development, economic growth, fiscal policy, budgetary policy and business development on the other. but that does not mean that the two groups do not talk to one another, because if i might close this particular question with something that is so obvious it is almost a cliché, you're not going to have security if you don't have economic growth, and you ain't going to economic growth if you don't have security. i think we're probably learned that lesson over the last, shall we say, 2043000 years -- 2000,

or 3000 years. next, a very valid point about the difference between training police which is almost a numerical issue, how many police candidates can you run through a basic course, or a more sophisticated course to get their skill level to the point where they can do their job well. and that after is something we have become much better at. the international community. over the past 20 years. and part of the rule of law, but separate there from, prosecutors and courts. we have learned by the way on that front something with also been working or attempting to learn from for the last 25 to 30 years, that in some with prosecutors and courts, which is a word i'd avoid by saying judges, are more complicated in the sense that it is kind of a

common global standard by which police are supposed to operate. judicial systems and legal systems are inherently sovereign and inherently different. we, for example, have a common-law system in the united states of america, except for louisiana. and that certain traditions in terms of how our laws, our courts, our prosecutions are done. other countries of the world, including i believe six of the seven governments and legal systems in central america have a code-based system. it's kind of difficult to give it all to fit into one category. i will offer by way of response my own observation, based upon i guess i started doing this in el salvador when i was a very, very young foreign service officer between 1981-1983. it is easier actually to work with prosecutors that it is to work with judges and courts.

because when you move into the judicial front you are truly moving into a nation's absolute sovereign territory, where there is just an instinctive resistance to any other government or institution. not just the u.s. but any other one, coming in and in essence trying to tell them how to run their judicial system. prosecutors are a little bit easier in that there are certain skills and talents that should in essence be applicable to a prosecutor anywhere. the process by which an individual attempts to convince an adjudication mechanism, call them a judge, called a mature, call them fred, i don't care what you call it, but this individual has in fact committed a crime and be sanctioned therefore. and we have learned over the last 30 years that there are certain common themes or threads that you can bring to bear upon

prosecutors almost anywhere. you are correct, however, and your underlying assumption. if that element of the rule of law continuum is not also addressed, this initiative will not succeed. finally, u.s. demands. i've got to tell you could have asked this same question as you perfectly well know in the year 1965, or 1955. in many ways the fundamentals of the question have not change. i suppose the simple answer to your question is we have not yet solved the problem of demand in the united states of america. i do not want to oversimplify the matter to suggest it is only a problem in the united states of america. i would suggest to you, for example, that the demand in the united states for cocaine has probably dropped. i would put the figure as much as 50% over the last 10 years. cocaine production after south america has not dropped 50%.

it has gone to other markets, mostly in europe, increasingly in south america and elsewhere in latin america itself, which is to say demand is elastic both in terms of how much or have little demand there is, and where the demand is located. what is the cooperation between elements of the federal, but please remember, we are a federal system, state, municipal and local government. i would give you almost a facetious answer. someplace it works very well, in some places it doesn't work very well or at least not as well. i am not the right one to give a detailed answer to that question because of course i'm the assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs. the director of the office of national drug control policy, sometimes referred to as the drug czar, is the position which for the past roughly 40 years has had the responsibility of linking all of these elements

together into a common strategy and a common approach. and may i say, and i'm often at personal opinion, i'm a great admirer of the drug of national drug policy. i believe he does bring can remember he has an extensive law enforcement background, having most richly serve as a place achieve in seattle to has an academic background, but he brings to the job a commitment that demand has to be an essential and perhaps the most important element to the long-term solution. and if you attack the problem that way, i am optimistic that eventually you will see a good outcome. >> i think that's a terrific note to end on. the fact over our out of time. i know there are a lot of questions out. i have shown more i would love to ask, given the opportunity. i want to thank again the strategic for international studies, the institute for national strategic studies and

also the center for hemispheric defense studies for the cooperation today. i want to thank all of you and most particularly, i would ask all of you to please join me in thanking ambassador brownfield for his outstanding comments this morning. [applause] >> all, you shouldn't. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> secretary of state hillary clinton spoke today to the international food policy research institute about the ongoing famine in east africa. according to the institute, 29,000 children have died there since may, and 12 main people are in need of assistance. secretary clinton announced $70 million in new aid to the region bring the total u.s. aid

to $580 million for the year. this is 35 minutes. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. and thank you for coming. my name is shenggen fan, director general of the international food policy research institute. and it's my honor and a pleasure to welcome secretary of state hilary rodham clinton, who joins us today for special presentation. what brings secretary clinton here is a grave and urgent concern that we deeply share. the famine in somalia and

humanitarian crisis in the horn of africa, and more importantly, short-term responses and long-term solutions to both. our mission at ifpri is to research sustainable ways to eliminate hunger, and reduce poverty worldwide. we have studied agriculture, food production, drought, and famine in east africa for years, and are deeply concerned about the slow transmission of research into policy actions on the local, national, and international scale. the latest information coming from the horn of africa is nothing short of shocking. more than 12 million people in need of life-saving care in ethiopia, kenya, and somalia.

29,000 children dead since mid-may, just two or three months. three consecutive poor rainy seasons lead to reduced harvests, and it is projected that crop yields will continue to be weak later this year. food prices throughout the region soared. for example, the price of maize rose by 125% in mombasa, an 89% in ababa. during the first half of 2011 alone. adding to that the ongoing political conflict in somalia, and the crisis was born. as far back as last summer, however, fewsnet, supported by usaid, issued an alert that back

to back we could rainy seasons were expected in east africa, and that food emergencies were possible. what was missing, however, was the action and political will required to put this file information to use. a strategic plan needs to be developed so that when an alarm is sounded i fewsnet or other notification systems, such like ifpri's early warning system on excessive food price variability, it triggers specific action to be carried out by designated organizations. so what must be done to end the famine and prevent it from ever happening again? in the short term, international donors must scale up their contributions to humanitarian relief efforts. most of this money will go to

much-needed food, water, and medical aid. but it should also be used to protect the few remaining assets of the poor, particularly livestock. the protection must focus on vulnerable groups like women and children. in the medium-term, policymakers must ensure that trade stays open. national governments should eliminate export bans in ethiopia and tanzania, and refrain from imposing the once. these restrictions lead to tighter markets and exacerbate crisis. in addition, efforts to establish and properly managed strategic regional grain reserves for humanitarian purposes must be accelerated. again, clear channels to trigger the release of these reserves

during emergencies are necessary, as our ways to ensure the food actually reaches the poor. in the long-term, to prevent future famine, we have to help smallholder farmers and herders build up their resilience by promoting their activity. the african government must meet their pledges to allocate 10% of their national budgets to support smallholder-based agricultural growth. under the comprehensive african agricultural development program. smallholders will also need access to a wide range of risk management tools, including climate change at detonation techniques and drought resistant crop varieties, and whether base insurance that protects against drought and other shocks. ifpri and its partner research

centers within the cgiar, the consult of group for international agricultural research, can provide evidence needed to guide sound policies and build strong programs in foreign of africa. but to turn the evidence into policy and action, we need dedicated, engage policymakers. with that, i turn the platform over to the secretary of state hillary rodham clinton, whose tireless efforts in fighting global humanitarian crises need no formal introduction. so you're excellence, secretary clinton, the floor is yours. and you. [applause] >> thank you so much, director general, for not only those remarks but for the work that is done every day here at this premier organization decide to

come forward with sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. and i want to thank international food policy research institute for hosting me today, and for the leadership you show in a key area of global development, helping government design and implement successful policies for reducing hunger and undernutrition. this is an issue that is on your minds every day, but it is now on the minds of many people because of the crisis that is raging in the horn of africa. it is, first, food crisis, a severe drought has put more than 12 million people in ethiopia, kenya, djibouti, and somalia in danger of starvation. it is also a refugee crisis, because at this point, hundreds

of thousands of people have left their homes in search of food and safety. some are walking more than 100 miles with their children in their arms to reach refugee camps, which are so overcrowded that thousands wait outside the fences, and more arrive every minute, many close to death. what is happening in the horn of africa is the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world today, and the worst that east africa has seen in several decades. the united states and our partners in the region, including the world food program, the u.n. high commissioner for refugees, unicef, ngos, and donor governments, are racing to save as many lives as possible. fortunately we did come as the director general just said, have a bit of a head start because of

the famine our warning system network, known as fewsnet. the united states supports it along with others. it monitors drought and crop condition, and alerts governments and aid groups when crises are coming. this network, along with the analysis from the un's food and agriculture organization, enabled us to begin pre-positioned food in key locations throughout the region starting last year. but a great deal more must be done, and it must be done fast. famine conditions in somalia are likely to get worse before they level off. and while we hurry to deliver life-saving assistance, we must also maintain our focus on the future by continuing to invest in long-term food security in

countries that are susceptible to drought and food shortages. it is this connection between food emergencies and food security that i would like to speak to today. because our goal is not only to help the region comes through this crisis, but working with organizations like ifpri to do all we can to prevent it from ever happening again. food security is the key. let me just briefly summarize our emergency response today. ..

available an additional $105 million in emergency funding. today, i'm announcing another 17 million on top of that with 12 million designed specifically for helping the people of somalia. that brings the total u. s. humanitarian assistance to the region to more than $580 million this year. we are reaching more than 4. 6 million people with this aid. it helps to pay for food distribution; for therapeutic feeding for those who are severely malnourished; for clean water, healthcare, sanitation, protection, and other services for those in need. and let me say how grateful i am to the aid workers who are delivering this assistance, swiftly and effectively, in extremely difficult and often dangerous circumstances. over the course of this crisis, u. s. officials have made multiple trips to the region, including just this past weekend to kenya, a delegation led by dr. jill biden and joined by former

senator dr. bill frist; usaid administrator raj shah; eric schwartz, our assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration; and gayle smith from the white house. they saw the best and worst of what is happening on the ground. they visited the kenyan agricultural research institute, a top-notch facility long supported by the u. s. government. and i had the chance to visit it on my trip to kenya two years ago. i was very impressed by the work that i saw there by scientists who are cultivating crops that can thrive in drought and are enriched with essential nutrients. these breakthroughs have already saved lives and i'm sure will save many more in the future. but the delegation also visited dadaab, the refugee complex in eastern kenya. even before this emergency, it

was the largest refugee camp in the world. some people have been living there now for 20 years. it was originally built for 90,000 people. twenty years later, more than 420,000 live there, including thousands of third-generation residents. so the current refugee crisis is taking place against the backdrop of a prolonged refugee crisis. the united nations is working as fast as it can to build new facilities, but well over a thousand people arrive every day. most - in fact, the vast majority of those arriving - are somalis, because somalia is the epicenter of this emergency. southern and central somalia are the only places in the region where famine has been officially declared, because unlike ethiopia and kenya, somalia has no effective national

governance. and the terrorist group al-shabaab has prevented humanitarian assistance from coming in. it has killed and threatened aid workers. there are also credible reports that al-shabaab is preventing desperate somalis from leaving the areas under its control. nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of somalis, largely women and children, are managing to flee to the north or leave the country altogether. they are pouring over the borders into ethiopia, kenya, and djibouti. that, in turn, severely strains the capacity of those local communities and countries. the united states is now providing $92 million in emergency humanitarian assistance inside somalia. to facilitate aid within somalia's central and southern region, we have recently issued new guidance about the use of u.

s. funds to help aid groups working with the united states government try to save more lives. still, a great deal depends on whether al-shabaab is willing to let international assistance be delivered. and so i once again urge al-shabaab to heed the calls not only of the international community, including the arab league, but of the cries of their own people, and allow the secure delivery of relief to all those who are afflicted. the united states will continue to work with somalis in the international community to bring the hope of peace and stability to somalia, and we join all somalis in hoping that there will be a future with a functioning government that can protect the somali people against famine and help to build a sustainable agricultural sector. these are the steps we are

taking to address the immediate crisis. but as we proceed, we must not forget we have seen crises like this before. first comes a severe drought, then crops fail, livestock perish, food prices soar, thousands of people die from starvation, most of them children, and thousands more pick up and move. every few decades, the cycle repeats. and it would be easy to throw up our hands and blame it all on forces beyond our control, but this cycle is not inevitable. though food shortages may be triggered by drought, they are not caused by drought, but rather by weak or nonexistent agricultural systems that fail to produce enough food or market opportunities in good times and break down completely in the bad times. in other words, a hunger crisis is not solely an act of god.

it is a complex problem of infrastructure, governance, markets, education. these are things we can shape and strengthen. so that means this is a problem that we can solve if we have the will and we put to work the expertise that organizations like ifpri possess. we do have the know-how. we have the tools. we have the resources. and increasingly, we have the will to make chronic food shortages and under-nutrition a memory for the millions worldwide who are now vulnerable. and while some might say that this is a conversation for another time, that we should worry about preventing food crises only after this one has passed, i respectfully disagree. right now, when the effects of food security are the most extreme, we must re-dedicate ourselves to breaking this cycle of food shortages, suffering,

and dislocation that we see playing out once again in the horn of africa. we must support countries working to achieve food security. we owe it to the people whose lives we are trying to save, and frankly, we owe it to the donors and the taxpayers who make our work possible. investing now decreases the chances that americans or others will be called upon in the future to face these same challenges in 10 or 20 years from now. and i will argue that we will be investing in our own security by supporting political stability and economic growth worldwide. for the past two and a half years, i have traveled the world from kenya to india to italy, talking to everyone from farmers and agricultural scientists to aid workers and heads of state, about feed the future, the u. s. food security initiative and a centerpiece of the obama

administration's foreign policy. the united states has pledged $3. 5 billion to support rigorously developed plans to fortify the entire agricultural chain of our partner countries, from the fields and grazing areas where crops are grown and livestock raised, to the markets where farmers sell their wares, to the tables and hearths where people receive the nutrition they need to stay healthy. to name just a few of the things that we are doing through our feed the future initiative: we are helping farmers gain access to fertilizers and improved seeds. we are setting up extension services to teach methods of conservation agriculture. we are supporting the creation of cooperatives so farmers can gain more purchasing power and a greater political voice. we are spreading the tools for reducing post-harvest losses so

after months of hard work and good harvests, farmers don't lose 40, 50, 60 percent of their crops and the nutrition and the income they offer because of inadequate or poor storage. we've also helped create a global partnership called 1,000 days to improve nutrition during the critical period from the start of pregnancy through a child's second birthday. nutritional deficits during those 1,000 days lead to permanent stunting, reduced cognitive function, and a greater susceptibility to disease that cannot be reversed by improved nutrition later in life. two of our partner countries in feed the future are ethiopia and kenya. and even amid this crisis, they prove that progress is possible. the last time a drought of this magnitude struck ethiopia, in

2002 and 2003, more than 13 million people faced starvation. today, fewer than 5 million do. now, that is still an unacceptably large number, but it is also an astonishing improvement in a relatively short period of time. and it is evidence that investments in food security can pay off powerfully. in 2005, the ethiopian government established the productive safety net program with support from international donors, including the united states. it helps small-holder farmers diversify their crops, create local markets, better manage their water resources, and increase the nutritional content of their own diets and those of their children. more than 7. 6 million farmers and herders have now been helped by this program, people who are not among those in need of emergency

aid today. in kenya as well, people who were greatly affected by the last severe drought are now safe, even thriving. paul weisenfeld from usaid, who is here today, shared a story with me about a woman farmer he met last month from the northernmost arid part of kenya. it has been the hardest hit by the current drought. she lives on a communal farm made up of former livestock herders whose animals all died in the previous droughts. today, thanks to help from international donors, she and the other farmers raise various vegetables and fruits, including mangoes, and her crop is so abundant that she is not only selling them locally, but exporting them to the middle east. in both ethiopia and kenya, the united states is helping to carry out comprehensive strategies that were designed by the countries themselves to suit

their distinct needs and strengths. in ethiopia, a top priority is strengthening the value chain to help small-holder farmers sell their products at local and regional markets. in kenya, supporting herders is a leading concern, so usaid is working to connect them to markets, improve animal health services, help local institutions lobby for better livestock trade policies. both governments have developed country investment plans; both have committed to invest at least 10 percent of their national budget on agriculture. kenya is nearly there and ethiopia has exceeded that goal. and in both countries we are paying special attention to gender, to ensure that the women who do a significant amount of the planting, harvesting, selling and cooking are effectively supported.

and we're also paying attention to the environmental impact of our programs to protect the water and the land for future generations and to help farmers adapt to the effects of climate change. our goals are ambitious. in the next five years, the united states aims to help more than half a million people in ethiopia permanently escape poverty and hunger, and more than 430,000 children benefit from improved nutrition. in kenya, we aim to raise incomes and improve nutrition for 800,000 people. but there are still millions of people in these countries and certainly throughout the world who need emergency help, and they need it now. and yes, we are trying as hard as we can to reach them. but it is also important to recognize that there must be concerted efforts by governments and people to help themselves, and there is no question that

ethiopia and kenya are moving in the right direction. now we must help them continue that progress, and that is a job for all of us. the primary responsibility naturally does lie with governments and with the people of countries like ethiopia and kenya. i have reached out to the leaders of these countries, and they know the kinds of changes that they still need to make. they need to move toward free trade in grain imports and exports. they need to improve credit and land-use policies to support farmers and herders. they need to ensure that public grain reserves are available when shortages loom. and they need to welcome new technologies to bolster drought tolerance, disease resistance, and crop yields. these can be challenging policies to get right, but they are absolutely essential for ensuring wise stewardship of the land and sustainable economic opportunities for the people.

meanwhile, the countries that pledged their support for food security at the g-8 summit in l'aquila in 2009 must make good on their commitments. i certainly understand the difficult budget times we are living through. but we have to rededicate ourselves to doing development differently, as we said we would. new donor countries have gotten involved to end the current food emergency. i urge them also to join with us in helping to create lasting food security. a year ago, the united states led the g-20 countries in establishing an innovative, fund-based program at the world bank called the global agriculture and food security program. by pooling our resources and our efforts behind country-developed and country-owned plans, we can reach more farmers and more villages and multiply our

impact. this fund shares many of the characteristics of our own feed the future initiative, including a strong voice for civil society and rigorous systems for monitoring and evaluating results to make sure contributions are making a real difference in people's lives. with support from seven donors - australia, canada, ireland, the republic of korea, spain, the united states, and the bill and melinda gates foundation - the fund has already awarded nearly half a billion dollars to 12 countries, including a $51. 5 million grant to ethiopia. we are also looking to the private sector to contribute, especially in coming up with innovative ideas for reducing hunger and food insecurity. to offer two examples, we are working with a tech company on the ground in africa called souktel to text life-saving information to people across the

region, so they know where relief can be found nearby. and we are supporting a partnership among general mills, cargill, and the dutch company dsm, who are assisting food processors in kenya and other countries improve their ability to produce high-quality, nutritious, safe food. this will benefit local consumers and prepare local food producers to compete in regional markets. and i've said before in many settings, particularly at agoa conferences, africa must drop its trade barriers so that the african people can trade with each other. sub-saharan africa has more trade barriers and they are more limited in inter-country regional trade than any part of the world. finally, we need the contributions of caring individuals here in the united states and around the world. we have seen this in previous crises, from the indian ocean

tsunami in 2004 to the earthquake in haiti; individual donations can have a tremendous impact. even just a few dollars can save lives. and the heroic organizations operating in the horn of africa right now need all the support we can offer. the usaid homepage provides access to information about several groups, so it's an easy way for people to help. just visit usaid. gov. another way to help is through mobile giving. one program that supports life-sustaining efforts in the horn of africa is the united nations world food program. you can give ten dollars to the world food program usa by texting a-i-d to the number 27722. humanitarian assistance is in the american dna. it is one of our core values,

and the american people have shown time and again that we will give to help people in dire circumstances. we are inspired to see the outpouring that has already begun, and we hope it will continue and grow. additionally, the state department is working with the american refugee committee and the design firm ideo on the "neighbors" campaign to engage the somali diaspora, not only the united states but around the world, to help raise awareness and funds for the relief efforts. and we are working with the white house to mobilize churches, mosques, and synagogues to support this effort. we must remember that time is not on our side. every minute, more people, mostly women and mostly children, are dying. they're becoming sick. they are fleeing their homes.

we must respond. we need to rise to the level of this emergency by acting smarter and faster than we have before to achieve both short-term relief and long-term progress. think of what it would mean if we do succeed. millions of people would be saved from this current calamity. millions more would no longer live tenuous existences, always prepared to pick up and move to find food if drought or conflict or other crises occur. parents would no longer have to endure the agony of losing their children when the food runs out. and food aid from countries like the united states would be needed much less frequently because we are now supporting agricultural self-sufficiency. this would be a transformational shift for the people of our

partner countries. it would be a new era of security, stability, health, and economic opportunity, peace, and stability. and it would signal a new chapter in the world's relationships with the people of these countries. as they become themselves able to care for their families, they will become real models and examples of prosperity and stability and they will become partners to do even more to help people live up to their own god-given potential. if we achieve that future, we will have done something truly remarkable. just as the green revolution made such a difference, what we are trying to do now is to get back to what worked then, focus on the basics, focus on the work that is done by ifpri. i had a change to meet the directors, and they're working

on how you enhance nutritional substance with micronutrients. they're working on how you provide better seeds for crops, how you help herders whose natural desire is to hold on to their livestock because it represents to the rest of the world their significance. all of this is in the tradition of the green revolution, which made such a difference. but then the world moved away, thinking that our work was done. and in fact, it was not. and we got very good at delivering emergency assistance when we put our minds to it, but we lost our way. and we have to do both, both the crisis and the future investments, so that we can see progress in very tangible ways. and history will record that as

being a significant accomplishment for all, including those of you in this room, who played your part. so we have a lot of work ahead of us, but i came today to make sure that in my own country and beyond, people know we have a crisis and we must respond. we must try to save those lives that are being lost in those brutal marches to try to get to safety. we must support the refugee camps and do everything we can to provide the immediate help that is needed. but let's not just do that, as important as that is. let's use this opportunity to make very clear what more we need to do together to try to avoid this happening again. and i could think of no better place to come to make that plea

and to issue that challenge than to the international food policy research institute. thank you all very much. [applause] [applause] >> today the u.s. commission on civil rights look set domain abuse and its effect on

minorities and the poor. legal experts and civil rights activists hold a briefing on history of the problem and what legislatures are doing to counteract it. live coverage begins at 3:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2 and c-span.org. >> this weekend on booktv frederick law all stat is remembered for designing the u.s. capitol grounds and central park but justin martin looks at his life as a journalist and abolitionist. also from washington booktv stopped by a launch party for one williams's muzzled:the assault on honest debate and on afterwards the skull and crossbones on long gone. pirating in the twenty-first century is the home of night vision goggles and gps units. we go inside the pirates of somalia. sign up for booktv alerts with weekend schedules in your in

box. >> the defense department created the ministry of defense advisors program to assist the afghan government in building its own military and defense capabilities. at this conference hosted by the u.s. institute of peace military officials discuss how the program is working and attempts to train the afghan army. this is just over an hour. >> new and permanent headquarters of the united states institute of peace. i am tara sonenshine, executive vice president and it is my pleasure to welcome you to today's moda program event. those of you joining us from home or on line who are wondering what moda is i will read you the official moda description. it stands for ministry of defense advisors program and it is really about building

effective and accountable defense institutions overseas in which our government partners with american defense civilian experts from washington and around the country going to afghanistan to work with foreign counterparts to build sustainable peace. it is a great privilege to be here today with some of the people who actually participated in the moda program. i am told i should tell you a little about the united states institute of peace. i have a sense everyone in this room knows it quite well but for those hearing about it for the first time we are an international conflict training center that is absolutely devoted and committed to the prevention of, management and resolution of the international conflict.

we believe deeply and passionately in building a local capacity overseas to stop violent conflicts before they start, mitigate against violence if they start and deal with the painful and often expensive tragic outcomes of international conflict once they are resolved. it is in that spirit of working toward solutions around the world that we gather here today. we also believe in the power of innovation. to innovate is to take ideas and turn them into action. that is what we have done in partnering with the moda program. let me give you a little history on the program before you get to meet the live human beings that participate in it.

two years ago conference organized by the center for complex operations and moderated by united states institute of peace expert who brought her talents and innovation to the notion of partnership. and so the united states institute of peace which had an academy of international conflict management and peace building generated with help from others a foundation of thought and a plan of action that would contribute to the now successful moda training program. as a result of that conference where people come together and share ideas we were able to produce an ideal curriculum and working closely with the moda team and with frank d. gee of

ronny with the personal readiness office this group was able to operational eyes curriculum into an intense preparation program preparing senior professionals to deploy to afghanistan to build and work on creating organizations to sustain the peace. the program has grown since the first class in may of 2010 with 17 advisers. and then 58 advisers train and a new class set to begin in september of 2011. these are individuals who commit themselves to civilian capacity building and security transition in afghanistan.

i want to thank nadia for all the effort and work that continues to go into this. i want to thank pamela awel and if jim scheerer from the pentagon and all the staff that comes with moda and of course i want to thank the individuals who give of themselves to be part of this program. today moda has the potential to be a defense institution building tool elsewhere beyond afghanistan. i now ask you join me in acknowledging and applauding the moda advisers and their families wherever they are stand to be recognized. [applause]

jim scheerer, the po as the leadership and trainer if you would stand and be recognized. [applause] the u.s. it staff, pamela, naughty and anyone else working on moda if you would stand and be acknowledged. [applause] the native training mission in afghanistan and a member of our board who was here, president of national defence university, senior vice president, ambassador nancy mcelvaney if you would stand with the command folks and those working in the field we want to thank you as

well. [applause] where do we go from here? i want to welcome the advisers back home who have been deployed for one year and thank those who have renewed their war for another year and recognize them for their service. prior to all of this gathering here today the advisers and some by teleconference from kabul had a very productive meeting with the key moda stakeholders as well as a group of u.s. government agencies who deployed their own advisers in afghanistan. there are other agencies of the u.s. government that go and

partner with agencies in afghanistan and we certainly acknowledge all the agencies for participating in such training. what is the hope of today's conference? i would boil down to four key objectives. we argued today to honor the achievements of the moda program, we are here secondly to learn from their experiences. third, to build a community of interest focused on strategic advising and lastly to attract potential moda program advisers so this will grow and expand and make an enormous difference. what i would like to do our is play a short video for you about the moda program which i think will give folks watching a sense of what it does and what it

achieved. play the video. ♪ >> welcome back. it is called moda for ministry of defense advisors program. the department of defense is looking for a few good men and women to volunteer for one year deployment to afghanistan. the commanding general there, david petraeus is already making a difference. ashley brian takes a look at this new program of the civilian expeditionary work force. >> the final two weeks of the seven week moda training cycle mirrors the pre deployment military units. >> facilities that are here our world-class and in many ways simulate the environment that advisers will experience on the ground. >> most of the civilians will spend most of their time not in the field but in offices helping

the afghans modernize their defense institutions. >> we have 700,000 civilian personnel in the department. about 150,000 of them are senior above the g s 13 level. it is a terrific talent pool to draw from. >> it is important that if you advise the civilian sector of the defense ministry you should have civilians perform a similar function in the u.s.. >> you can have an army but it actually takes government entity or ministry to make sure it is being provided over the long haul. make sure you have a budget and there is structured to support a large standing army. >> and then -- >> the first five weeks of training are held just outside

washington d.c.. intensive language workshops like this one with academic presentations and lectures by military, diplomatic and political figures. the volunteers come to saturate themselves in afghanistan. students like miley parker are experienced professionals in their own field. >> the bureaucracy of the united states government here. we provide technical experience that is current and practical, improvise mentorship and services to the afghan government. >> i will be senior acquisition adviser to the ministry of the interior so i will be working on their contract in program. >> i will take on a position of information management advisor within the ministry of defense. >> volunteers have a variety of motivations. >> i have no prior military experience. i didn't have that opportunity to deploy in the past. it made sense for me to say it

is my turn. i can't really justify asking young men and women to go into the deployment situation that i myself am not engage in. >> miley parker's from a military family and work overseas frequently as a civilian. >> civilians have an opportunity to serve as well alongside our military brothers and sisters and willing and able to support that. >> derrick came into government service shortly before the 9/11 attacks. >> it is a generational challenge. this is one small thing i can do to be part of that struggle. in support of my country. >> the volunteers are committed to one year deployment after training and to extend for a second year. up to 100 more may be needed. i am mary sergeant ashley blake. >> you can get more information on line.

the to defense.gov and type moda into the search window. ♪ >> welcome back. >> welcome back. it is not often that i get to introduce and acknowledge two presidents in one day but i would like to acknowledge the presence of the president of the united states institute of peace, richard solomon in the back. [applause] and bear with me while i do an introduction of another president, the president of national defence university. i have long to give this introduction and today is my day. i get to introduce someone who is not just president or vice admiral, not just a director of

the board of directors of u.s. it or just a doctor, ph.d.. you can call her doctor admiral. not just a pilot of private aircraft. you are not leaning forward in your seat now wait until i get to the next paragraph. someone who has been involved in an anti-submarine warfare, air operations, operations intelligence, maritime transportation and sea lift strategy and policy, training and education, business enterprise and installation. ann rondeau is a major force to be reckoned with in military and professional training. a leader in defense policy and academic thought leader on war and peace and expert in the sociology of conflict, political science and history of that,

practitioner and wonderful human being. join me in welcoming admiral rondeau. [applause] >> with that kind of introduction, let me tell you it is a privilege and a pleasure to be in front of citizens of america who have decided to serve in the way that you have. our stand here as president of national defence university. wearing the cloth of the nation saying thank you. thank you to the civilian partners and counterparts and teammates forging a new way ahead in how the united states looks at conflict around the world. the fact that we at national defense university and center of complex innovations are in

support of the united states institute of peace, the great honor is that we have. also one of the great symbols and great initiatives to what frankly will mark america for the rest of our time as a country. we used to talk about all manner of things that the department of defense should and should not do. today we are talking about the department of defense and what we can do and must do so we have come as a nation into something very different of ourselves. that is to think of ourselves as a whole nation. to think of ourselves as department of defense team in support of conflict resolution and peace. after world war ii we famously had the marshall plan. it was intended to rebuild

europe. the world today is different. with structures of formal organizations are important but the impetus of human beings and individuals is key. we do this through the information age and we do it now, we have individual volunteers saying count me, i matter, i am and i might serve. the institute of peace practices fact in the notion that every individual matters to the conflict, the resolution of conflict and to the making of peace. we in the department of defense think of it as a resolution from the conflict and then toward peace. but human beings do not go to war who are good human beings because they are in essence evil. yes, evil does exist and evil people go to war but so often

conflict is trying to figure out how to make things better and somebody is denying that. what happens here is if you have people who cannot invest their money, if you have banks that don't work and financial systems that do not support, medical systems that are nonexistent, agricultural systems that don't work, props but no roads and road but no crops, people but no education, no aspiration towards something better than where they are we will have more conflict. we in the department of defense understand that. we have the opportunity and privilege to think about this differently. we have the opportunity to think about that we hear matter and it

is to be resolved that we can make a difference. you will hear stories about the individuals who say i am frustrated today but yesterday was good and tomorrow will be better. those individuals stories about what the afghans teach us, and that is this. the matter with the we have marshall plans or massive bureaucracies in the end relationships are what truly matter. in tribal civilizations of afghanistan much as we learn in philadelphia and los angeles and seattle, dallas or florida, it matters that we are trusted. it matters that we listen. it matters that we are learning to contribute and be part of a team that makes things happen. we will hear from mr. lumpin how

that matters to the nation. if that matters, if not now when? if not this new approach that truly accentuate what the american values are, individuals matter, individuals have dignity and individuals can make a difference and the moda team shows that. the ministry of defense advisory shows that individuals matter and whether or not we where the cloth of the nation or the mantle of the nation as our civilian force that we are a force for good. that is our moral obligation in the department of defense and what makes us as a nation great. we in the department of defense can say what makes people hungry? what makes people yearning for something better? how can we make a difference for a better world?

we at national defense university are proud, please and honored at this mission in support of the core mission of u.s.i.p. to help conflict become the cause of solutions and not the cause for work. we consider this partnership important. it is unique and our privilege and pleasure. i thank you very much for this honor. i thank you for what you are doing every day to make the world writer place. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, admiral rondeau for those powerful words. it is time to meet one of these moda advisers we have been

talking about. i am pleased to introduce david clifton, former moda advisor, deputy director of the facilities division, installation and logistics' department at the u.s. marine corps. i should tell you david clifton has served a marine corps for 38 years including 29 years' active duty as a colonel of marines active duty assignments including artillery officer, maintenance management officer, coordinator of matters with congress, coordinator of the review process and program analysis evaluation department, battalion commander and installation commander, controller, so many things. i am pleased to introduce a moda former advisor, david clifton. [applause]

>> it is difficult to stand here, one person representing 17 planed holders at moda and the other 41 advisers have already gone over there. what my role is to try to tell a story from the advisers perspective. you will hear a little more about the program. you have a really good description. if you haven't picked this up i highly recommend it. it will tell you about the program. i want to spend 15 minutes talking to you about how that works out and why. most of it will be my own experience which is humble compared to other advisers who do a lot more than i do in afghanistan but to tell the story and to weave into call the program works from an individual perspective. in december of 2009 and was

working the navy annex across arlington cemetery where the air force memorial is and an e-mail came across my desk that said we are looking for people to go to afghanistan. being 60 years old i am pretty sure they didn't mean me but i read the e-mail and it said these are the kind of skills we are looking for and i realized it was me. i went to had and filed the e-mail away and a couple days later for some reason it was still there and i looked at it and admiral rondeau said best. the thought occurred to me if not me, who? i went home that night and told my wife and thinking she is probably going to object. i don't know if i would have been happy about that or not. i would say ambivalent would be the right word but she was totally supportive. the next day i came in and set my boss won't let me go. i sent an e-mail that came out

and described the program and what we were trying to do which made sense and i said -- he said yes. i sent my application in. i didn't hear anything for a long time. in april i made calls to the program office and set i sent an application in. i was pretty sure i didn't get selected but i wanted to hear what happened and they said your interview is tomorrow. so i got interviewed from afghanistan and found out even though i was applying to the ministry of defense adviser i was being interviewed for a job in the ministry of the interior and i don't know anything about national parks or forestry. during the conversation i found out in afghanistan the minister of interior was about police. my original question was pretty good. i didn't know anything about police either but they

interviewed me. what they were really looking for his professional senior experience civilians who knew their business. that was the primary thing i was supposed to bring. we have u.s. army colonels over there advising in these areas of ministry who may not understand the intricacies of accounting or procurement. that was what they needed me for. they interviewed me and the next day i got an e-mail that says you have been hired. you are being offered a job. five minutes later she sent me another e-mail that said we are going on the advance party next week so we are going to go ten days to afghanistan. we want you to go. mainly because i was the senior civilian than anything else. so in the middle of april i

wasn't sure. i was pretty convinced i had not been selected. by the 20 first of april i was in afghanistan. we spent two weeks exploring the lay of the land because we were the plank holder. the first group of civilians to go over there. it was a little confusing to people the difference between contractors and civilians and exactly what our role would be to fit in as functional experts. we wanted to come back and optimize the training. as soon as we got back training started. seven weeks and the training was laid out pretty well in the guidebook. it was very good training. ambassador dobbins is the most important person i became aware of during his training. he had posited we keep finding these reconstruction wars and the last time we ever have to do

that. that really saying in with me so i got all four of these books. the main one being a beginner's guide to nation-building. i realized this moda program i really started out because of what the admiral said. if not me, who? this program makes sense. if what they were doing in the defense department was trying to accumulate the body of knowledge to go in and help the ministry learn how to sustain the forces we would be generating. it was so logical to me. i kne we would be generating. it was so logical to me. i knew a little bit about history. guys my age, remember vietnam and things before that. i knew we would be successful building forces in afghanistan and helping the afghans build police numbers and the position army but i wasn't sure we would

be successful in helping them build the capability to sustain that on their own. that is what moda was doing. collecting the body of knowledge and systematically training people to go over and do that work over a period of seven weeks. once we were done we went through the military float system which is an experiethat for a civilian. the first weekend days, mixing my experiethat happening now. the first ten case in afghanistan, speaking also from the police perspective because in the orientation period you go in and you are given a period of time to give intel presentations and get on a local time zone which is not that easy.

then you get some more training. then you start on the job and the way that process works is hopefully the person you are replacing a still there. or if not there is a designated person who introduces you to your counterparts and the staff within wour counterpart's organization and still spending time in that first period getting wour orientation and assessing what is that is your fear of advising. i l on t one step out which is when you are selected you get reading material that ithat an adviser guidebook that is available out there. being able to supply what is in the guidebook with what you are

being talpfod, one thing we quickly realized in the moda program is the training we were given was very similar. is good preparation for what we are doing. my job wound up being different from what i was hired for to coordinate and synearronize the effort of 300 advisers from multiple countries. the military, civilian and contract. the job changed but the basic purpose of the advisers in the ministry of the interior is to move the afghans steadily toward self-reliance. one litmus test i always used to determine whether it is a good afghan leader or not is they wanted us to go hiche and if thy did it meant they were good leaders because they would be learning as fast as they could to run their own institutions so we would be out of there. the approach we used was a well

documented process. the army and the interior had the same constructs. for each of the 26 police andco3 futhat plan developed in four stage is. it was like teaching p knople t fly is a good analogy. in the first stage of development the plan was we would be showing them how to do it, doing the activity, budgeting or pr titracemenlan accounting, we would be doing it for them. the second stage we would be still doing it but they would be watearing. the first stage was the ground full. and in the second stage the afghans were in the cockpit but not on the