commanding general allen will testify for a second time this week, this time before the senate armed services committee. at that house hearing we just showed you, the clip we just showed you, general allen said while the sus committed to withdrawing all combat troops by 2014, commanders would prefer to keep some 68,000 troops in the country through most of 2013. during the house hearing general al i don't know sought to convince u.s. and nato trieps are making significant progress in the effort to turn security operations over to the afghans themselves. local security forces a key ingredient in the u.s. withdrawal plan. we expect to hear his testimony shortly live here on c-span3..

good morning, everybody. the committee meets this morning to receive testimony on the progress on the campaign of

afghanistan. our witnesses are dr. jim miller, acting underbe secretary of defense and john allen, commander of u.s. forces afghanistan. a warm welcome and thanks to you both. i'm going to interrupt at this moment to take care of some nominations because we have kworum present. our troops in afghanistan are being asked to perform demanding and often dangerous missions and they're carrying them out superbly and professionally. general allen, on behalf of the

committee, please pass along our unwavering support for our military men and women serving with you in afghanistan, our gratitude for their courageous and dedicated service and the support of their families. talking about families, i know that you have with you this morning, general, your wife, kathy allen and your daughter bobbi allen. i hope i got their names correctly. i temporarily got them mixed up a little earlier. i'm not sure i need forgiveness from either one of them. in any event, we're delighted that they're here. >> thank you, senator. >> the success of our mission in afghanistan depends on building the capacity of afghan security forces to take the lead for security in their country. u.s.-afghan partnering has been critical to the mission at all levels from nato training missions to partnering with the units in the field and on up to advisories in the ministry of defense and interior. that has been tested in the

disturbing actions in the last few weeks. the tragic and incomprehensible killing of 16 afghan civilians in kandahar provence, apparently by a u.s. soldier, has further strained the relationship between the united states and afghanistan. last week president obama and president obama karzai reaffirmed their common commitment to completing the process of transition in afghanistan. in a coordinated press statement the two presidents reiterated their support for the approach agreed upon at the 2010 nato summit in lisbon, which calls for afghan security forces to assume, quote, full responsibility for security across the country by the end of 2014. this morning i want to focus on another part of that jointly issued statement.

president obama and president karzai said they share the goal of sharing security forces so afghans are increasingly in chashlg of their own security, and the quote is with the lead for combat operations shifting to afghan forces with u.s. forces in support in 2013. now, general allen assured me in a discussion in my office that nato's planned transfer of future responsibility for security across afghanistan in 2014 always assumed shifting the lead in combat operations to afghans in all five so-called tranches or areas of afghanistan by 2013. now that's good news to me. i say good news because it has always been my belief that success in afghanistan depends

on building the capacity of the afghan army and police so that afghans are in the lead in providing security for their own country, not isaf forces, and to ensure that that happens by continuing to reduce our forces. the afghans want their own forces providing for their own security. that's what we heard when we met with village elders at their council meeting in hellman provence two and a half years ago. when i asked how long u.s. forces should stay, one elder told me "only long enough to train our security forces and then leave." after that will you be welcome to visit us not as soldiers but as guests. i hope our witnesses will explain in some detail how the 2013 and 2014 dates are in sync as well as how the process of

phase transition agreed to by all at lisbon will unfold over the coming months and year. general allen, i hope will you explain what the transition to of a lan lead will look like and how the final part can occur in 2013 when the transition is not to be completed until 2014. in addition we need to know what this transition means for the u.s. and coalition forces. secretary panetta said as afghan forces assume the lead for security, isaf forces will move to a support and advise assist role though will remain fully combat capable. it appears though afghan security forces will be in the lead starting in 2013 throughout

afghanistan, u.s. and coalition forces may still be participating in combat operations with afghan forces in parts of afghanistan while the transition process continues to completion in 2014. i also understand that the plan after 2014 is for the afghan security forces to still receive coalition support in key enablers such as logistics, airlift and intelligence support and u.s. special operations forces will likely be partnered with their afghan counterparts in conducting counterterrorisms operations. we also need to foe what the transition process needs for the pace of u.s. troop reach ducks in -- reduction in afghanistan. last june president obama said after the 33,000 troop u.s.

surge force was brought home by the end of this summer, that u.s. troop levels would continue to draw down, quote, and this is the president's quote, at a steady pace. yet the fiscal 2013 defense budget for overseas contingency operations is based on an assumption of 68,000 u.s. troops remaining in afghanistan throughout the 2013 fiscal year. so we'll be asking you whether you support continuing to draw down u.s. forces at a steady pace, as the president said, after the 68,000 troop level is reached and when you expect to make your recommendation, general, on post surgery ducks in u.s. forces in afghanistan starting after september of this year. now, given the importance of having capable afghan national security forces take over the

security lead throughout afghanistan, i was surprised and i was concerned about news accounts of a u.s. proposal to reduce the size of the afghan forces by a third after 2014. apparently based on questions of the affordability of sustaining a larger afghan force. according to a wall street journal article last month, the united states has proposed reducing the size of the afghan security forces from 352,000 in 2012 to 230,000 after 2014. that article cited lieutenant general bull jerks the hegerbul nato training mission saying it's based in part on what the

commute the commander should probe describeding their military advice based on what they believe the afghan security forces will need to successfully maintain security, not based on their guess about down the road. in my view it is cost effective to sustain a larger afghan security force when compared to the costs in billions of dollars and the lives of our military men and women of having u.s. and coalition forces maintain security in afghanistan. it may be penny wise but it would be pound foolish to put at risk the hard-fought gains that we, our coalition partners have achieved. our relationship with afghanistan will continue beyond completion of the security

transition in 2014. the strategic partnership agreement being negotiated between the united states and afghanistan will play an important role in defining the shape of that bilateral relationship. the recent memorandum of understanding on detention operations signed by general al i don't know and afghan defense minister wardac has addressed one of the obstacles. afghan officials have repeatedly called for annd toi alleging that such operations are disruptive to afghan lives and lead to civilian casualties, but what is often ignored here in the united states and in afghanistan is that afghan soldiers participate in all night raid operations. in december general allen issu .

that directive clearly states that all coalition night operations are partnered operations, quote, carried out alongside specially trained afghan soldiers and policemen who are increasingly taking on responsibility for the command and control of night operations with a view to transitioning this responsibility to them entirely as their capacity develops, close quote. it directs the same directive, that the afghan security forces on night raids should be encouraged to take the lead, should be the first to make contact with local afghans in their homes and be the first force seen and heard by local villagers. searches are always to be conducted by of a kban security forces when available and female

personnel are always to be used for searching women and men -- excuse me, women and children. general allen states, quote, successful transition will be characterized by our afghan partners taking increasing responsibility for the planning and command and control of these night operations, close quote. so i'd appreciate our witnesses sharing with this committee the facts relative to the conduct of night raids and the ongoing talks to reach an understanding on those operations. i understand that resolving this issue could help clear the way for concluding a strategic partnership agreement by the nato chicago summit in may. many challenges remain in afghanistan and should not be understand stated. much will depend on countering the cross-bored threat. from insurgents finding refuge and safe haven.

much is going to depend on the karzai government improving the delivery of services and economic development, taking on corruption and providing increased transparency and on the conduct of credible provincial and national elections. despite all the challenges, our troops' morale remains high and they want to see this mission through to completion and success. they deserve our support and they have our support. senator mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me thank our witnesses for appearing before us this morning and for their continued service to our nation. i appreciate dr. miller lending his experties for this important hearing and i want to recognize general allen who might be the on witness whose congressional testimony qualifies as r & r from his day job. i know general al i don't know

would be the first to say that what inspires him to get up every morning and keep going each day is set by the troops he leads. i know much of the recent news from afghanistan has been discouraging and that has on increased the desire of a war-we'ry public to end our mission there. however, s however, none of this changes the u.s. vital security interests at stake in afghanistan. nor does it mean the war is lost. it is not. there is still a realistic path to success if the right decisions are made in the coming months. the painful lesson we learned on september 11, 2001 remains as true today as then -- what happens in afghanistan has a direct impact on our safety here at home. if we quit afghanistan again, as we did in the 1990s and abandon

the millions of afghans who have risked everything to be our allies in the hopes both the resources and the strategy necessary to break the momentum. today the situation has reversed. similarly, our effort to build the afghan national security forces has been completely overhauled. the result is growing numbers of afghan units that are capable of leading the fight. the few afghan soldiers who turned their weapons on our troops should not obscure the larger fact that hundreds of thousands of afghans are fighting every day as our faithful allies in a common fight against al qaeda and the taliban and these afghan patriots are being wounded and killed in far greater numbers than our forces. this should give us hope that our common goal of an afghanistan that can secure and govern itself remains achievable over time. to sustain this fragile process

it's critical that president obama resist the short-sighted calls for additional troop reductions which are a guarantee of failure. our forces are currently slated to draw down to 68,000 by september. a faster pace than our military commanders recommended. which is significantly increased the risk for our mission. at a minimum, there should be a pause after september to assess the impact of the drawdown. it would be much better to maintain the 68,000 forces through the next year's fighting season probably longer. at the strategic level our efforts continue to be undermined by the perception that the united states will abandon afghanistan once again. this creates incentives for the taliban to keep fighting, for the pakistan army to hedge its bets by sporting the taliban, and for our afghan allies to make counter productive

decisions based on fears of what a post-american future will bring. we must reverse this dynamic and the best way to do so is by concluding a strong strategic partnership agreement with afghanistan to serve as the concrete basis for a long term political, economic and military relationship. just two weeks ago one of the two major obstacles to this agreement was resolved as the u.s. and afghan governments reached an understanding on a time table for handing over detention operations. this provides reason for optimism that a similar resolution can be found to gradually transfer the lead for so called night raids to afghan forces. in fact, this transition is already occurring in practice. with these two issues resolved, the strategic partnership agreement could provide a framework for an enduring u.s. commitment to afghanistan beyond

2014 including joint operating facilities and long term support for the more than 350,000 afghan national security forces that are necessary to secure the country. this plan should also include an enduring presence of u.s. special operations forces to continue counterterrorism cooperation with our afghan partners. such an agreement would encourage our allies to make similar long term commitments. this is the right way to set the conditions under which our forces can responsibly draw down and hand the lead to the afghans, the strategic partnership would make clear to the taliban that they cannot wait us out and win on the battlefield, thus fostering real reconciliation on favorable terms to the afghan government and to us. it would demonstrate to pakistan's army that continued support for the taliban is a losing bet, that will only leave

islamabad more isolated and less secure. it would give afghan leaders the reassurance to fight corruption and govern better. in short, this agreement can change the entire narrative in afghanistan and the region from imminent international abandonment to enduring international commitment. all of this is right decisions are made in the months ahead. far from being unsalvageable or not worth the effort as many now fear, this war is still ours to win. after all, we've given, after all of the precious lives we have lost and with all of the vital interests we have at stake, now is not the time to quit. it is a time to recommit ourselves to being successful. we owe nothing less to the tens of thousands of americans who are risking their lives every day for this mission and for us. i thank you, mr. chairman. i thank the witnesses. >> thank you so much, senator mccain. dr. miller, we're delighted to

have you with us today and you are our acting undersecretary of defense for poll sixt we call now upon you. dr. miller. >> thank you, chairman. chairman levin, senator mccain, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. i am pleased and honored to be here with our outstanding commander in afghanistan, general john allen. the united states vital objectives in afghanistan remain to deny safe haven to al qaeda and to deny the taliban the ability to overthrow the afghan government. this administration is committed to meeting these core objectives and while we have faced and will face serious challenges, our strategy is succeeding. our counterterrorism efforts against al qaeda have been extremely successful. although the job is not finished there is no doubt that we have severely degraded al qaeda's capacity. as a result of the surge launched in 2009, we have broken and reversed the taliban's

momentum. and the afghan national security forces are increasingly capable and increasingly in the lead. mr. chairman, our forces are performing extremely well as i saw first-hand in a trip to afghanistan that i took two weeks ago. we are well into a process of transition to ansf leadership as we agreed at the 2010 summit. in fact, today almost 50% of afghans live in areas that have begun the transition process to ansf lead. as you noted as an interim milestone at some point in 2013 the ansf will be in the lead for providing security across afghanistan. u.s. and sports in a support role which will take a number of forms including u.s. and coalition forces partnered with afghan units as is already occurring in a number of places today, and it will also include for example the smaller foot print in a trained advise and assist role. by the end of 2014 the ansf will

be responsible for the security of their country. by that time u.s. and coalition forces will have moved to a much smaller presence focused on training, advising and assisting afghan forces. mr. chairman and members of the committee there is no doubt that the afghanistan war has been a tough fight. in the last several weeks have been particularly difficult. the inappropriate handling of korans and religious materials at bagram air bases was an error while unintentional sent the wrong signal. this unfortunate act stands in contrast to the many years during which u.s. forces have demonstrated deep respect for the religious practices of the afghan people. even more recently the afghans and we have had to respond to the horrific killings of 16 afghan civilians in kandahar. the department of defense is conducting a full investigation of this senseless act, a suspect

as you know is in custody at fort leavenworth, kansas, justice will be done and any responsible will be accountable. we've been challenged by attacks by afghan personnel against u.s. and coalition partners, the so-called green on blue attacks. we will have to work through these incidents and these challenges as president obama and secretary panetta have discussed over the last week with president karzai. but it is critical these tragic owe kurnlss not blind us to the significant progress we have made. from 2010 to 2011 enemy initiated attacks in afghanistan were down 9%. this trend has continued in 2012. for january and february of this year, enemy initiated attacks are down a further 22% from 2011 levels for the same months. in october 2008, there were only 140,000 afghans in the ansf. today there are approximately 330,000. and we expect to reach our goal of 352,000 afghans in the ansf

ahead of the october 2012 target date. today almost 90% of coalition operations in afghanistan are carried out in partnership with the ansf and the ansf is in the lead for more than 40% of operations. as you know and as chairman and senator mccain mentioned we are negotiating a strategic partnership between the united states and afghanistan that will frame our enduring relationship. this strategic partnership will demonstrate we learned the lessons from 1989 when our abrurpt departure left our friends condpused and enemies embolded. in partnership with president karzai and the afghan government we completed a crucial milestone when general allen co-signed a memorandum of understanding on detention operations with defense minister wardak. as you noted we are also working with the afghans on a memorandum of understanding on night prapgss or special operations, which when completed will