need to look at. once the assessment is done, we will have to come up with the way forward. @@@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] we do it out of practice. we have not ratified the law of the sea treaty. i will give you a very good example. we need to in the next few years, create a traffic separation in the bearing straits so we can prevent collisions and improve the safety of that waterway. a transit strait connects to

international bodies of water. it can only be done in accordance with provisions of the law of the sea treaty. we continue to act unilaterally out there using the law of the sea treaty as cover for what we are doing without ratifying the treaty. it is time we ratified the treaty and using it as the government's model for how we operate. >> other nations naval forces in postcards have spent more resources on the arctic and the united states. should the u.s. be paying more attention to the arctic? >> yes. we have a looming crisis. that is the condition of our polar icebreakers and how they fit into the future capitalization needs. we need to have a policy discussion about what the status of our icebreakers is going to

be and what are our intentions. i have been told we need a policy discussion and i believe that is true before we make a monumental decision. we need to understand what we are trying to do in the arctic and a consensus on how we are born to move forward. that discussion cannot happen soon enough. >> given everything have spoken about today, in five years of, if there is another of haiti or katrina style disaster, how would the response be different than it is today? >> there are some things that should change and some that should not. what should not change our are operating principles. that is the principle of restraint and the principle of unified operations. that is a proven model. what will change is technology,

communications, and how we apply the operational model with the forces we have to become more effective and do a better job for the nation. as i said in my remarks, i would resist the urge to mess with our operational model. what i mean by that is, if we start parsing our missions and trying to do a litmus test of whether someone else can do them, we break down the value added proposition for this country. we can always do the best job we can with the resources we have under our current business model. i look for changes in technology and maritime domain awareness, unmanned systems. our basic operating concepts should not change. >> we are nearly out of time. we have a couple of important

matters to take care of. let me remind our members of future speakers. on february 23 we will have tom vilsack highlighting the obama administration's shell nutrition act -- child nutrition act. on february 26, francis collins will be speaking on a new era of quantum leaps in biomedical research. on march 5, mitt romney, former governor of massachusetts, will discuss the case for american greatness. an announcement for our audience, members of the press who are here. there will be a question and answers session for press only. the election would be complete without the traditional presentation of the national press club's beloved mug to our speaker today.

[applause] as noted, this is the last of your for state of the coast guard addresses. it will soon be selling to other stores, and we don't really know where they are. they said a happiest days of the sailor's life or the day he buys his first boat and the day that he sells it. as you prepare to leave the coast guard, what are you looking forward to, what will you miss, and would you consider other forms of government service sunday such as secretary of the department of homeland security? [laughter] >> with all due deference to my future appears in the room, i have a saying that the smartest apples i have ever met are retired.

i hope to increase my intelligence quotient and the 26 of may and become one of those. it has been a great time for me in the coast guard. when i was born, my father was deployed on a high endurance cutters. he was not there when i was born. i am 61 years old and have had 47 addresses. i intend to keep working. i have an interest in not for profits, in doing the kind of work we have word makes the most difference. i will remain busy, and i do not intend on buying a boat. [laughter] >> we would like to thank you for coming today, admiral allen. [applause] i÷we would also like to thanke

national press club staff for organizing today's event. for more information about drawing the press club, please go to our website. thank you, and this meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] up next, remarks by general david petraeus. then at 7:00, your calls and comments on today's "washington journal."

>> now general david petraeus. he talks about iraq and afghanistan, the role of diplomacy and development and how history and culture can affect overall military strategy. this is about 50 minutes. for that kind introduction, frank. thank you for your very generous applause. you know the saying that when folks say kind things about you, it is one of those deals where you wish your parents could be here. my dutch-american sea captain father would have enjoyed it. blige year-old mother would have loved it.

ñrand -- my dear old mother woud have believed it and loved it. i gather that you have not been quite hit so hard with the snow, but you probably know how to handle it better than folksy itself. i appreciate you braving the weather to be here -- then folks in the south. i appreciate you braving the weather to be here today. it gives me the opportunity to congratulate you. i endorsed and that this is not only your 16th anniversary -- i understand that this is not only your 60th anniversary, this is

also your anniversary for the world council across the nation and i want to congratulate you for that, too. [applause] we do a little bit of this. we tried to get out and give folks an opportunity to see who is leading their sons and daughters and explain the great work that are great young men and women in uniform are doing. i had done that a great bit at world forums. we have done so much that, in fact, i said i might be getting enough punches on my loyalty card that i ought to clean a t- shirt one of these days. so somebody actually sent me a t-shirt. i will not say which council. but it is not from philadelphia. [applause] we sort of rushed in here. i will explain in a moment why

we are a little bit late. i apologize for that. i have not been able to confirm that someone is in the audience who is a very special person. there are a lot of very special people here, i know. but i think, in the audience today, i hope is an extraordinary woman who has genuine generosity and a true concern for our troopers which is unmatched. she is the finest platoon mom. she is my platoon mom. over the years, she has adopted thousands of men and women in uniform deployed, first in the balkans, and then in afghanistan and iraq, bringing their days, putting smiles on their faces with care packages, cars, and some of the best cookies on earth. she even packs them so well that they managed to survive the transit to our foreign outposts and bases.

in 2008, she was honored in new jersey for bringing comfort to countless service men and women overseas. i would like to honor her today by asking her to stand and be recognized. my platoon mom and the platoon mom of a lot of other troopers is elaine harmon. i hope yours here. [applause] please stand. [applause] >> the truth is that there are a whole lot of platoon moms out there and a lot of others who really are so supportive of our men and women in uniform. we will show a slight evade

realist and ceremony and talk about those great men and women who have their right hand in the air. people occasionally asking why in the world do they keep doing that, tore after tour -- to work after a tour, sacrifice after sacrifice. the answer is that they do it because they think that they are serving something larger than themselves. they do it for each other. and i do it, -- and they do it because americans support and appreciate deeply the sacrifices that they and their families are making on a daily basis to carry out tough missions in very hard spots against enemies that may be barbaric. they're also learning and adapting. i have tried to practice over

the years to never take myself too seriously, but do take your work seriously. we do that as well. i want to start today by talking about why i am late. i just came from west point. i attended the funeral service for a great young graduate of the military academy. he is the son-in-law of a longtime friend and classmate of mine from west point. he was a great young infantry company commander. he was over there doing what he always wanted to do. he was leading great young paratroopers in a very important mission. they were in a tough spot. he led the way. as they say, he made the

ultimate sacrifice. i ask that you join me first, today, before we go to questions, in a moment of silence for a great american hero, captain dan within -- captain dan whitten. @@@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thank you very much. >> general, you may be west point's greatest triple threat. you started life near west point. you then went on to become a cadet and an outstanding person at west point. you started today in an important mission at west point.

it is a privilege to conduct today's conversation with you. general, we are honored that you've taken the time from your demanding schedule to be with us today you have been quoted as saying there are three tasks strategic leaders must get right. first is to communicate those communications -- second is to communicate those ideas throughout the organization. third is to properly execute the big idea. you did that will interact, positively reversing several problematic years. now was the commander of our nation's efforts in afghanistan, you are ideally positioned to help us better understand some of the key components in afghanistan of a sustainable u.s. national security strategy. given your unique position in

this policy area, i would like to ask how will your strategy for securing stability in afghanistan differ from your most recent successful work in iraq. given the vast differences between the two countries and the nature of the two world -- the two wars? >> that is a great question. i've probably it ought to shape a little bit where i think we are with -- i've probably ought to shape a little bit where i think we are in afghanistan. we have been at the sale long time. but for the first time, we have the implants in afghanistan right. -- we have the inputs in afghanistan right. we have the organizations necessary to carry out a

comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign plan. there is a whole host of different organizations. it took us awhile to do that. then we got the all-star team in charge of those organizations, general mcchrystal and others. we have a fantastic international diplomat. and then there are the three stars, the two stars, and a host of others. we have the right structures and the right people. those people have gone the big ideas right, i think. i think that the counterinsurgency guidance that general mcchrystal published its bond. it reflects the lessons -- that

general mcchrystal published its spot on. -- the general mcchrystal published is spot on. it reflects the lessons of iraq. they enable the implementation of the big ideas. the 30,000 forces ordered by president obama as a result of his policy review, the additional funding for the afghan national security forces, the authorization of 100,000 more of those, additional civilians, and a host of other enablers that are so important to carry out the big ideas and the right team that has the right structures can now embark on. with that right, now it is about producing output.

it is now time to produce results. i think we will begin to see that. having said that, i want you to know upfront that, all the way back in september 2005 when i was on my way home from the second tour in iraq, i was asked by secretary rumsfeld to come home to afghanistan. so we did. a team went over there and took a look and did we give him some recommendations. among the observations i offered was one that did not necessarily elicit widespread applause on the third floor of the pentagon. i said that i know that this is a good war. this is a war that we are winning and the violence levels are low. this is going to be below his campaign and a long war. i wish i had not been prophetic. but i think that is clearly the

case. it is hard and it is hard all the time. is going to get tougher before it becomes easier. -- it is going to be tougher before it becomes easier. we can see the beginnings of the output. that will likely be accompanied by high levels of violence, just as it was in iraq when we launched the surge and the violent levels went up considerably and it got much tougher before it got easier. over time, it did indeed get easier, if you will, and it did get better. so i think that is where we are. again, if i could come back to your mention the west point, you left one thing out. that is also where i met my wife. [laughter] it was a blind date, of all things. i had been set up with the superintendent's daughter, to my court. to her horror, she found that -- to my horror.

to her horror, she found out that no one had met me. but it turned out ok. we have a young son that is in ranger school right now. the coldest ranger class on record -- good lad coul. >> i am going to ask the first to questions and then we will get to the audience in a moment. in testimony before members of congress last week, directors of u.s. intelligence agencies stated a new terrorist attack against the united states "was certain" in the next three months to six months. can you help us connect the dots between that assessment and your mission and strategy in both iraq and in pakistan?

>> that is another great question. let me start again, if i could be a little strategic about it, and then i will come down to what i think it was that the director of national intelligence and others were trying to express. we generally assess that al qaeda that we focus on so considerably -- let us not forget that the reason we are in afghanistan is very clear. we are there to make sure that it will not once again become a sanctuary for transnational extremists, like al qaeda, like it was prior to 9/11. there's no question that the 9/11 attacks were planned in south afghanistan. the initial training was carried out by the al qaeda train cabs that the taliban allowed to be positioned there before -- training -- by the al qaeda

training camps that the taliban allowed to be positioned there. al qaeda has been diminished over the course of the last year. we generally think that there has been considerable pressure on al qaeda senior leadership, a combination of various activities by the pakistanis largely going against a subset of the extremist there, those that are threatening them, not necessarily the ones that are threatening us in afghanistan. but the combination of that and other campaigns in minister tribal areas of western pakistan is to put considerable pressure on the activities there. afghanistan, on the other hand, the level of violence has gone up. when you move over to iraq, al

qaeda in iraq has significantly diminished. they used to be two hundred 20 attacks and a day or more. -- there used to be two hundred 20 -- there used to be 220 attacks a day or more. there has been a reduction of 90% in the violence. there has been considerable progress against al qaeda in iraq. they still can carry out periodic attacks that we do see. sundays, they have some very horrific results. -- some days, they have very horrific results. when the decision -- saudi arabia has had enormous

progress over the years. we were really shaken by al qaeda attacks five years ago. in the other countries in the gulf states, all with the exception of yemen, which we have been seized with for some time, but has only gained prominence as a result of the strikes and the operations carried out in december and the individual who was in yemen for several months and was given a sophisticated explosive device and was taught to use it and went to watch for that and another country and then to the u.k. and then the flight to detroit -- what that showed is the continued capability of al qaeda, with that question. although it is diminished, there is no question that it has capability. there's no question that this is a learning organization. this extremist network -- and it takes a network to take down in

network, which is what we have and what we are working on on the military side together intelligence from counterparts and comrades. but what the and i and others were expressing was that, given -- but what the dni and others were expressing was that there could be an attack of some type in the course of the months or the year would have appeared that has generally been the case for some time, albeit -- or the year, what have you. that was generally -- that has generally been the case for some time. >> i hope i have this right. not a single american was killed in iraq in december of this past year. >> in november, there was killed in action, suicides and

accidents. in december, you are right, there was none. in january, there was when. >> the general has graciously agreed to answer some questions. we requested that you respect to the council's policy and as a question of our guests rather than make a statement. thank you. the first question, tony. >> good afternoon. thank you, general. i am a retired partner with price waterhouse cooper. thank you for being here. there was an article in "time magazine" on secretary gates a couple of weeks ago. it talked in a lotçó about the dynamic of politics and that he

was in a unique situation, having worked in the previous and the current administration. i wondered about you and what was the indication of that circumstance for u.s. professional leader in the military. >> i am a huge admirer of secretary gates. i am among several who was hoping that he would stay on and be invited to stay on and continue to serve. he has done an extraordinary job for our country as the secretary. the truth is that he has been a professional all of his life. he has worked under five presidents, from different parties. he was the deputy director at one time of the cia and then the director before retiring. by then, he had also done the other great leadership, such as

texas a&m. but for military individuals, i would like to think that is easier. at the end of the day, he was appointed by a political figure in what is termed a political appointment. we have to be apolitical. we must try hard to do that. when a particular president mentioned your name 80 times, you were in a special position. çóbut that was a fairly unique position. i do try to remind people of something that i had done that was a private act in 2002. i had decided that was going to

stop voting. it was something that i did alone. i did not mention it to anybody. a few years later, i am really glad that i did it because it's that -- because it had established that i did what a truly meant, to be apolitical. but i think the country is best served -- i am not saying that people should not vote in uniform. i had a certain level -- i had reached a certain level where it might have some significance. but senior military leaders provided their best professional military advice. they do not worry about whether that is going to resonate on capitol hill, in the white house, or even in the pentagon. they do have to have the strategic context in mind. you cannot ask for something that is not there. you cannot place on bridges

demands on the system. but you should -- you cannot place outrageous demands on the system. i had told somebody else that's it was their business -- else that it was their business to figure out if capitol hill liked it or not. when a decision is made, your obligation is to carry out the decision and to do so faithfully and completely. that is what i have tried to do. there was a point in the decisionmaking process where it would be useful in afghanistan. i mentioned it to the president could be assured that general mcchrystal and i are going to faithfully -- i mentioned it to

the president. be assured that general mcchrystal and bair going to faithfully follow this through -- and i are going to faithfully follow this through. we are now carrying out the decision that was made by the president. i think that is exactly how it has to be. if we try to anticipate what folks want to hear and shade ribeyes based on that, your head is down the wrong road -- and shade your eyes based on that, your head is down the wrong road. >> what do you believe is the formula for cooperation between these two different disciplines and how can the american people support it? >> i would like to think that

what we did in iraq is a pretty good example. it brought diplomats and the military together. that is one piece of that. is that correct? >> [unintelligible] >> i hope in know that, together with secretary gates, i am one of the biggest chance on capitol hill of increase resources for the state department and for a id -- for aid. the military did not raise its hand and say that we wanted to do nation-building in 2003. we were told in kuwait -- i was a division commander then. we were pretty focused on this big bite we were going to have ended was a pretty significant fight. you look back with retrospect and said, that did not seem all that hard. do not tell that to the troopers that are on the ground doing it. but we were told to just worry

about getting to baghdad. so we got to baghdad a little bit faster than folks thought. we looked around for the man and there was not a whole lot coming up behind us. the hundred and first then goes up to northern iraq and there was nobody there. i called the italian brigade commanders and said, you know, i think i am about to make a strategic decision. we are going to do nation- building. you say, what was a big deal about that? you have to remember the context. some of my commanders did. did we not say that we were not planted to nation-building and there were speeches about that -- that we were not going to do nation-building and there were articles and speeches about that? we weren't technically or legally, by a national law,

occupying power and we needed to get on with this. so we did. we had extraordinary capabilities. we had three or four engineer battalions. those were 2000 people love with capabilities and contractors and they could do design contract in end assessments and everything. a ultimately, the ambassador got his money. that becomes ammunition. and you keep going on from there. but the truth is that we would have loved to have had just a substantial number of state department and aid personal going with us or quickly behind us. we had to the talents of civil affairs officers. that was -- we had two battalions of civil affairs officers. that was significant.

there's a reason why i spoke at the conference this year. it was out of respect and appreciation of what they do. defense, diplomacy, and development are all essential. you cannot accomplish what it is we are trying to do with anything with what we call a whole of governments. it is the whole -- anything without what we call a whole of governments. it is the whole of garments. i am a huge chain of this. i think we demonstrated that when i was -- i am a huge champion of this. i think we demonstrated that when i was a commander in iraq.

we had a joint civil-military campaign. we built fusion cells. to my horror one time, there was a single attache and the whole embassy trying to stand at the ministry of health. this was after the prime minister asked me to take down ie detained. that told you how seriously things work out of kilter. so we did all of that. then who was one to help build this thing out? there was an army of one, a greek woman could we said, we have a whole bunch of -- a great woman. police said, we have a whole bunch of field clinics. we can bring some hospital

administrators and give you an infantry platoon and some vehicles, chou and water. how would this be? of course, it was a big success. so it has to be together. we decided early on that cooperation was not optional between the embassy's and all of the other elements -- between the embassies and all of the other elements. we were good to our word. >> general petraeus, i am sure that i can speak on behalf of millions and millions of americans across the country who want to thank you so much for your incredible service to iraq and to america. i hope you do not mind me putting it plugged in for you there. i have one softball question for you today.

we call them snowball's here in philadelphia -- snowballs here in philadelphia. when you retire, will you write about being the commander in these two fields? can you tell us now in little bit about how your sort of counterinsurgency was originated and how it developed and how you develop it and where it goes from here? thank you so much for being here today. >> again, it is a privilege to be here with you. beyond that, i am the one who feels privileged. the young men and women that they're the ones who take the big ideas that men at my level try to come up with and try to turn them into reality on the ground, outside the wire and under the armor. it is a privilege for guys in a position like mine to be in the

army with them thank you for the snowball. i thought it was going to be another snowball, as you might imagine. i imagine you not asking that would give the answer is no. [laughter] there is a great song by lorrie morgan. thii have thought about writinga book. obviously, i have an academic background. i have done a fair amount of writing could do not tell anyone that i was a speechwriter for a while. -- i have done a fair amount of writing. do not tell anyone that i was a speechwriter for a crow. with respect for the counterinsurgency doctrine that we codified in the field manual back in 2006, i think it was the firsfastest field manual ever

produced. a lot of us had spent a fair amount of time on it. my dissertation at princeton, for example, was on the lessons of vietnam for the u.s. military when it came to advice and the use of force. i had really gone into that and read about the french indochina experience, the french and algeria, the british and oman, malaysia -- you name it. all around the world, these kinds of endeavors have a certain fascination for folks, i think. i saw a bit of it for myself in central america as a young maj. i get to work with the leader of the u.s. southern command. he was general jack galvin. i saw of how the campaign plan,

the national campaign plan for all salvador came together and the components of it. we kept betting this around. back then, they were called lics for low intensity conflicts. we did do some targeted raids and so forth. bosnia was very instructive in the regard as well. it did not seem like there was a lot of connecticut activity. but many of us were involved in the -- was a lot of genetikinetc activity. but many of us were involved in that. it very instructive on how you pull this together. so you have a genetikinetic and-

kinetic. some folks think that petraeus some folks think that petraeus exiled 20 came back from his second tour because he was either -- was exiled when he came back from his second tour because he was either too high profile or something else. profile or something else. i was told that shake of the army. i can do that you just put the surgeons in charge of the institution. the command of their overseas the commission programs. it is about 18 schools injured across america. they are good at communicating it to your leaders.

you control the scenarios for that. the lessons learned, the center for leadership, i can name it. we even had a battle command battle lab and knowledge system which enabled us to take advantage of all the modern tools in the internet cyberspace. it was a tremendous opportunity. it was never about one person. it was about a team and a lot of talented individuals, most of then by whom have had two tours in iraq or afghanistan. now they had a chance to do a bit of reflection. we have enough time to sit down and captured what we learned and perform it with the history that we had steadied. pull but all together and then

codify it in the field manual that had a substantial impact. our institutions to be prepared for what we had to do, then in iraq and now in afghanistan. >> we have time for one brief question. >> five years ago, a number of us had [unintelligible] he impressed all of us. [unintelligible] it is hard to recognize the man today. [unintelligible] could you tell us how you see [unintelligible] >> i think that president karzai

has demonstrated extraordinary qualities along the way. first, there's personal courage. i don't know if you have heard the story of how he was brought back into the country and was nearly killed. it is an extraordinary story in the beginning. then it became a unifying feature -- then he became a unifying feature in leader for the country and help to get it going in the right direction. candidly, all of us allowed the insurgency to become a resurgent.

the levels of violence began rising back in 2006. the continued and they have gone up each year a bit more in the cycle of fighting that has defined -- that is defined by the seasons in afghanistan. that has made his job extraordinarily difficult. then you have to overlay on all of this the tribal aspect of afghanistan that you cannot escape. you have to keep the history, the culture, the traditions, and so forth of afghanistan foremost in your mind as you think about why you're not going to try to turn this country into switzerland in the next year or two years. you have to be realistic in your aspirations. that is one of the very good things that came out of the process that president obama oversaw that ultimately resulted in the policy that he announced

at west point in december. so you have to have all of that in mind. again, it is against the backdrop of increasing violence that makes everything so difficult n starts to take on certain aspects -- so difficult and start to take on certain aspects. that starts to create some ethnic issues that make it even more difficult. he is the individual riding this tiger or bucking bronco, of whatever it may be, with all of the baggage that he has to bring along because it is afghanistan, because there is 70% illiteracy, because the country has been at war for 30 plus years, a country ruled by the taliban most recently and a number of white extremist

individuals. i think it is only fair to him that we understand the context in which he is trying to exercise leadership, trying to be the george washington of his country, but in a context and a set of circumstances that makes it very difficult to do its in the way that we would judge, i think, what is right. on the one hand, we have to have very much what it is what we tried to help the afghans achieve, what he wants to achieve, and also be cognizant of how that country has run and be realistic in one's assessments of what can be achieved, of what we want to achieve, and how we then have to go about achieving it.

we have slides. it is the ineligible right of four-star general to use powerpoint. [laughter] i said i wanted to show you this as i end here. this is a ceremony of the largest realism a ceremony in our history. this is a picture of 1215 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines raising their right hand in the air, reciting the oath of reenlistment. i was privileged to be the reenlistment officer. it was the fourth of july 2008. we did not set out to have the largest ceremony in history. i am a competitive guy, but we have not set out on this. we just wanted to get a couple

hundred troopers together and it kept growing and growing. and there we were. again, you said, what in the world? these are individuals, many of them who were on their second or third full year tour of combat, and they were raising their hands and they knew it would be very likely that they would be asked to come back for yet another comeback tour. as i said, they did it -- and other combat tour. as i said, they did it for a number of reasons. they did it because there is a fierce desire to not let down your buddies, the great individuals on your right and left to work in a tough spot in combat. they did it because, deep down, even though they will not be there just about it, they think they're doing something very important. and they did because they have a

sense that americans, their fellow citizens back home, deeply valued what is that they're doing it and appreciate the sacrifices that they and their families are making i want to close again by just saying thank you -- families are making. i want to close again i just saying thank you. regardless of what you think of iraq and afghanistan -- remember walking away from boston one time and there was a sign of their of that said "hate the war, love the troops." i told my wife, and 50% is not bad. thank you for that end for all the you do to make sure that our men and women in uniform feel appreciated. thank you very much. [applause] >> a little bit more.

just another minute. i am sorry. hold on. >> in general, there is an old saying in business that there is no such thing as a good company. there are only good people. and when you change the people, you change the company. in many ways, you are a living example of that. a lot of people coming in and out of the army and in and out of the public, -- a lot of people, in and out of the army and in and out of the public, were waiting for you to fail. you have won over a large number of people who, in turn, have ended up helping you. we wish you the best in

afghanistan for a similar kind of result. the world affairs council is a non-partisan organization to bring a part -- to bring about discussion for the world's most important events. i would like to leslie in light dr. raza begari, a generous friend, and to the podium. >> thank you, ed, for welcoming tme here. i know you have said that i have the art of telling a 30-minute speech in two minutes. but i am nervous and it may take

longer. thank you, general petraeus, for your remarks. we know that you are fighting a devious and a -- a devious and emmy -- a devious enemy. we discovered comfort in knowing that you are doing your best to lead the charge, to combat extremism and terrorism, and for more political and economic stability around the world. for that, we thank you and we're proud of you. dunno, in my view, a stable and secure southland -- general, in my view, a stable and secure southeast asia [unintelligible] we recognize the significance of the region.

in partnership with the world affairs council, we have established a foundation, a program designed to engage, exchange, and educate citizens of all ages on the complexities of this volatile part of the world that could potentially put the entire world at risk appeared to end this program, it is my head -- at risk. to end this program, it is my privilege to offer a heartfelt thank you to your longstanding service to the common good enduring during dedication to the core ideals first moralized -- and during -- service to the common good and to your dedication to the core deals first memorialized here it

in the city of brotherly love. proclaim liberty it among all lands and all inhabitants. >> thank you very much. it is very kind of you. [applause] thank you. put your hand on there. thank you very much. the honor is up next, your calls and comments on "washington journal, " then, brad smith of microsoft talks about technology and regulation. after that, michael chertoff talks on counter-terrorism and security issues.

this week, a discussion on the supreme court and popular opinions. analysts include barry friedman and his new book "the will of the people." examines the relationship between supreme court decisions in american popular opinion "america and the course" today at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> this morning we will talk with the chair of a private security firm about pakistan's role in fighting the war in that can stand. then douglas wilder calls on president obama to make changes to is a visors and for the removal of tim kaine.