relationship with iraq. >> thank you, senator. at the very top of my mind is the safety of all americans serving in iraq. i track this extremely closely over the course of this year, we've had on average zero to three attacks a week on the overall u.s. presence, almost entirely 107 millimeter rockets, a remnants of the baptist party in the north. fortunately we've had no casualties for the attacks. zero to three attacks a week on the presence, compared to about a thousand a week, which i can remember very well five or six years ago. so that's positive. we want to make sure that that trend continues. the reason for the trend is there's five mill about the groups in iraq right now. first there's al qaeda and iraq. al qaeda in iraq remains active. they're able to strike every 30 to 40 days. sometimes those attacks are quite spectacular. senator casey mentioned recent attacks just this past week. al qaeda in iraq is now striking at a level that is about the same as it was over the course of last year.

e that's a serious concern. we need to work with them on that. the second group operates in the north. they primarily only target us. then there are three militant shiite groups. there's hezbollah. sadr's army is now part of the political process. those three shiite military groups have really gone to ground. i was just discussing this with the general matis. our withdrawal seems to have traken their ability to recruit and sustain operations has been depleted. they almost stopped attacking us. i remember when the iraqi army went into bosara and took hundreds of rockets for the groups lying in wait to strike us.

and i watched this very carefully with all of our assets within the u.s. government. in terms of internal security and the the iraqis being able to secure the country, they're not doing a bad job. they secured the capital to host the arab league summit. that would have been unheard of three to five years ago. so they're doing very good internal security. they're working to try to close some of the capability gaps. >> thank you. i have another couple of questions. but i think it will run over if

i pursue those right now. but would the chairman --? >> senator, we allow like an extra minute. >> okay, well that's good. let me -- i'm changing direction here a little bit. i want to ask you about the future stability of iraq, iraq, and the ability to have a sustainable water supply in the tigress and euphrates river. this is the birth of agriculture. they're threatened by increase water use upstream. we're seeing this in rivers across the region. how will you work to develop the

sustainable use of water. how can they get the scientific and engineering talents to find a long-term solution to the problem? >> senator, it's a really great and overlooked point. the water situation in iraq in the region is very serious. if you look at iraq's agriculture, it used to be the great basket of the world. today agriculture is at best 20% of gdp. but agriculture in iraq uses 90% of iraq's water. that is not sustainable. and it's to the point where if they get the agriculture going again, they're going to have a serious water problem. maliki and the government hosted a conference to this discuss this with some of the regional neighbors in baghdad. maliki said we face a real crisis. we have a common way forward within the strategic framework agreement.

it calls on cooperation between the u.s. and iraq to address issues like this. and to call on the expertise. i know there's some in new mexico. to call on the expertise to help the iraqis think in systematized way. do they need dams? do they need to redirect some water supplies? and to work with turkey in particular, to address this problem over the long term. all i will say is it's been overlooked. it's been overlooked because iraq has been involved in a serious sectarian war. now that they're coming out of that phase, these very important issues need to rise to the highest priority within our embassy. >> thank you. thank you for your courtesies, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. ambassador, i want to ask you about the the so-called llrc in sri lanka. i guess a two-part question. one is, you heard me assert that i don't think they think they made anywhere near the process. but assess where sri lanka is,

as it relates to the implementation of the results or maybe more pointedly the imposition of accountability for their actions at the end of the civil war, number one. will the united states and other countries in the national insist upon an independent investigation? >> thank you, senator. the lessons learned and reconciliation commission relations were, of course, front and center as a topic when the sri lankan foreign minister met with secretary clinton last

month here in washington. >> we asked them to provide regular and public updates of the implementation of what is the government's own commission. particularly with regard to demille tirization of the north to setting a date for provenn shl elections in the north. focus on human rights protection, including increased space for civil society to operate. increase focus on media freedom.

the benchmarks met on the recommendations set out by the llrc. >> as a result of that meeting were we enlightened by it? any indication that there's progress, momentum, results, deadlines? because we got, you know, it's been six months, and the concern here is obvious, it's about huch nature when you have that kind of interim conflict in the winter in the side of the debate. they win. they have power. and they have their commission set up. the question is will they ever be able to implement recommendations and should we have an independent investigation? >> senator, not just the u.s., but many international partners, of course, voted in march. in geneva at the human rights council on u.s. sponsored

resolution. reconciliation and accountability. there has been an international call for progress on accountability because one cannot have reconciliation without true accountability. there are credible, serious allegations i completely agree on crimes committed on both sides in terms of violations, i should say. international human rights law and international humanitarian law. so we do look for near term progress, benchmarks to be met, particularly on setting a date for the provenn shl elections in the north, specifically demilitarization in the north.

if confirmed, senator, i can absolutely commit to you and to your colleagues that human rights issues, protection of the ability of civil society, it's a civil society in the media, to do their job. will be on the top of hi agenda. we can have principled engagement that keeps prince l rights protection, rule of law at the forefront. >> look, i know this has been a priority. but when people see almost no progress in the implementation or recommendations, this question of an international investigation is going to present itself continually. i realize it's sensitive. it's a difficult question for the administration. it's not going to go away until they see -- until the world sees

results. so the question won't go away. number two, i urge you upon confirmation to use every bit of energy and persuasion and conjoling and anything else you can bring to bear on the leadership? sri lanka to get results. in the end, people won't be satisfied until we see the results, meaning progress on the recommendations. senator? >> thank you, mr. chairman. you commented about the kurds, and i'm interested in that. and i would like to pursue that a little bit further. it seems to me as an outsider looking at this. the kurds seem to be doing well on their own. the construction that's going on there far outstrips what's being done in baghdad and in other parts of iraq. and they just seem to be progressing. having said that, it would seem to me they're being left alone to a degree because of the for

lack of a better word, chaos down south. what is your view as to what's going to happen as this thing -- you blame this on personalities, i think i picked up from your statement. once they see what's happening with the kurds, and as you pointed out they're moving away and are happy to move away. and seem to be doing very well moving away. >> can i get your thoughts on that. >> it's far deeper than personality. they could take centuries to really resolve for good. between the kurds and the arabs, there's obviously issue on the dispute of internal boundaries. that still remains unresolved. it would be my commitment to work through the process designed through article 140 of the constitution. to get the size together.

to does an equitable resolution to the boundaries. also, nothing could go further to stem the centrifrical forces. that's from the national patrimony. we have made a go a that the over the years. made some progress in 2007. and had a package of laws that were pretty close. my last trip in baghdad. in the midst of a political crisis, i found a new urgency to return to the table on the issue. if i'm confirmed, it will be a central priority to do everything we possibly can. we can do shuttling and figure out where is there areas of agreement?

where can we narrow areas of disagreeme disagreement. without consensus on how to manage the national hydrocarbon resources, centrifugal forces can accelerate and i'm deeply concerned about that. so the hydrocarbon legislation will be very important. >> you think the parties are amenable to that resolution? >> some of them are, and some of them aren't. there's a lot of division within the curdish region and division in baghdad among all the many parties. one of the key things to do is to try to find the leaders in a compromising frame of mind to work sometimes behind closed doors to build compromise. and it can be very difficult. i can't underestimate the challenges of this issue. the kurds want to develop their national -- their resources in their region and under the constitution, they have a right to. in baghdad they want to develop the resources in a national way in which the baghdad government

has a say. and under the constitution, they have a right to. what we need to do is find a compromise within the constitutional framework. my hope is as iraq's oil production is increasing and is one of the good news stories in iraq right now. they are producing around 3 million barrels a day for the first time in really 30 years. iraq even own estimates, they want to get up to 10 billion barrels a day by 2017. as i said in the written statement, we don't think they'll meet that. we think they'll plateau at about 5. as the resources are being developed, there's a new sense that something has to be done with a consensus for how they will be managed with the profits and the revenues shared. that is one of the issues on the political agenda. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> nart senator udall?

>> thank you. you discussed this issue of hydrocarbons? you said iraq has the goal of doubling its oil output in the next three years. they want to reach a total of 12 million barrels per day. as you know, it would be pretty incredible in that region. that would put them up there with saudi arabia. do you think iraq is on track to achieve the goal? and what helped them with the petroleum output over the last year? and while we were there, there was a lot of reports that the security wasn't good enough or oil companies from around the world move in and do the job and get the oil back online. apparently now they're going up dramatically.

i think they're up past what it was from the invasion. and they look like they're very aggressive. i know you're not an oil expert. i mean, you're over there talking to them, and you've been over there a while. do you have a sense of where they're headed on the -- on oil output? >> thank you, senator. we addressed this briefly in your office. i'm fortunate for the chance to develop it further here. there were two key evens in 2007 and 2009 that have really led to this major increase in oil. in 2007 during the surge period, we really convinced the iraqis they have a single point of failure in the national security problem and how the oil is exported. it's really exported through the basra oil terminal called the abat. it's like the movie "water world" or the mad max movies. it's very vulnerable.

and it's old and rusting. and we're that terminal to fail. iraq would not be able to export oil. about 80% goes through the south. so a plan was put in place. and general petraeus was part of this. ryan crocker was a part of urging the iraqis to do this. they need to develop new offshore infrastructure. foster wheeler had a big role in the engineering feat and actually pulling this off. the first single point mooring started delivering oil in february. and immediately increased by 200,000 barrels a day. other single mooring points in the gulf are slated to open over the course of this year. it's a major engineering feat. if it increases it by 2.5 million barrels a day. it's a tremendous story. in then and getting the iraqis to where they are now. the bidding rounds in 2009 were iraq for the first time invited

companies in to fend for their fields. and it was a success. it was very difficult. i used to hear from iraqis in '04, '05, '06. they would say you have to get companies in here. but it happened in 2009. they drove a very hard bargain. because of the contracts there's now other companies helping the iraqis develop their resources. very quickly, where do we go from here? the iraqis still are not thinking in terms of a system and how to really get their oil going. sometimes they don't have the right pumps in place. they don't have the right water pressure to come in and get the oil out of some of their older fields. and we have been working closely with the iraqis. ambassador jim jeffrey has really raised this to the top of our embassy priority. he's done an incredible job with it. through the joint coordinating

committee of the fsa, we now have very deep ties with the iraqis. they cently had an inaugural meeting in washington with the department of energy in showing the iraqis how to think in terms of a systemized way to develop the oil resources. a number of do-outs came from that meeting and now we're following up. we can talk to the iraqis about high level strategic issues and how we can cooperate. through the oil sector and energy sector, there's a gateway for doing that. >> thank you for that answer. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator lugar? >> mr. elliott, i would like to pursue further just for our own knowledge, what is occurring in tajikistan presently. how would you describe the relations of that country, with russia, for example. or with china.

or with other countries that may have strategic interests in that territory? >> thank you, mr. senator. that's a very good question. having been a former country of the soviet union and sharing a border with china, tajikistan, i believe, shares a good relationship with those countries. but they also have a good relationship with us. as i mentioned in my statement, we have good cooperation with them on the northern distribution network, and they are doing a lot to help their neighbors to the south and also to help fighting crime and narcotics. we believe it's not a zero sum game in central asia ya. and that the countries of central asia need to keep good relations with their neighbors and with russia. we've also had good cooperation. i've served in embassy moscow.

and our assistant secretary blake as part of our annual bilateral consultation, we've consulted in the region. i would say that the situation is very good. that tajikistan shares good relations with its neighbors. if confirmed, i will make that a priority. >> thank you. what you described in our opening statement, civil war that occurred there, resolution of that and the beginnings, at least, of the government that aspired apparently to democratic tendencies. but try to describe the evolution of that government. to what extent is there a sharing of power between the executive and how active is the legislative? how active are persons who are demanding human rights and the recognition of minorities and what have you. what's the lay of the land in

terms of political progress there? >> that's also a very good question and one that concerns us. in the 20 years of independence, we haven't seen the growth of civil society and the growth of democracy that we would have liked to have seen. this is something the obama administration has engaged on. as i mentioned in my statement, secretary clinton visited tajikist tajikistan. part of the reason she visited was to be able to engage in civil society, but also to engage with the government on a need for expanding human rights, expanding freedom of the press, expanding freedom of religion. there is one independent islamic party that participates in the parliament in tajikistan. however, i would say we need to do more to open civil society there, and to improve the human rights of tajikistan.

if confirmed, this will be a top priority. we have national security interests there, but our interests in improving the human rights and the rights of people of tjikistan are also important. >> the reason i ask the questions in that order is the influences governmentally from china and from russia we have illustrated our own ideas and espoused those i'm just curious in terms of the complexity. as we will end with regard to our thoughts about their governess or elsewhere where they can be helpfuhelpful.

with recognition of the cross current, historically as well as presently. has there been a trend towards the human rights aspect and towards developments that we would find more compatible with our ideas of governance? >> as i mentioned, i don't think the trends have been perhaps as extensive as we would have liked in the 20 years of tajikistan's independence. they don't share the same history of democracy that we do. they're a young country. i believe they're working toward improving the human rights situation there. they just recently passed a law that would get rid of the laws

that make criminalization of libel, which will help journalists there. so we have seen some progress. some journalists who have been arrested have been released. but there's still a lot of work to be done. and i would say russia does have interest in tajikistan. they have a military base there. their concern, i think, is for security and for stemming the flow of narcotics from afghanistan. so if confirmed, i think we'll continue to work on that and make it a priority. and to work with not only with tajikistan but with uh neighbors to make sure we'll all moving and helping them to move in the right direction. >> thank you for your answers. and like wise for your experience in that area. thank you. >> thank you, senator lugar. i'll go another round and ohs may as well, but i know we're coming to the end of our hearing. ms. elliott, i wanted to ask you about the northern distribution network. and i'll hold that in abeyance

for just a moment. special immigration visas. basically if someone in iraq and a citizen in iraq has helped the american forces in ways that put them at substantial risk, we expedite their visas pursuant to the special visa program. and as i said, these are individuals that live under threat today. i know that the process has been expedited and that the u.s. has admitted as many applicants in fiscal year 2012 as it did in all of 2011, so there is progress. but there's still a backlog. the question i have for you, i don't know if you have a number, but if you don't, if you could get it to us. the number of cases of special immigrant visas.

how many are in the pipeline for the so called principle applicants. and number two, how many cases are pending for applicants through the direct access visa process? if you could just tell us about that. >> thank you, senator. this issue is very important to me. it's a very personal issue to me. i had the opportunity to discuss it with senator carden when i visited him in his office. i have known iraqis in iraq who have worked with us and lost their lives. i've known iraqis who have gotten into this program and never came out of it. they were never able to get a visa. and i've known iraqis who have resettled in the united states. it's very personal to me. as you may know, we also have to have security checks to make sure that the american people are protected. that's also first and foremost. there was a substantial backlog, which as you said in your

statement, is absolutely right. we have now over the first half of this year admitted more siv cases into the u.s. than we did all of last year, and i have been told that the numbers for the third quarter look to be substantially higher. i think this year so far, the number is about 850. senator, i will get you the exact figures on the number of cases that are being processed now in the backlog. since i saw senator carden, i visited with samantha power at the national security staff who has done a terrific job in streamlining the processing of these cases and making sure that we have the personnel and the right resources directed to process them effectively and efficiently. the embassy plays a key role in that. and we have increased our staff there to make sure these cases can be processed from the initial point of entry at the embassy. and if i'm confirmed, i pledge to you i will do everything i possibly can to make sure that these cases are processed efficiently with reasonable security checks