see a lot of people moving out. bet on it. i don't know if that book is accurate. it has quotes in it. honestly, general, there is a disconnect between the comment that you ust made in response to the chairmen and what is being depicted here. the president's repeated statements thaa in july of 2011, we will begin withdrawal. this obviously sends a message to our enemies that we are leaving, and our friends that we are leaving. and then there is accommodation in the region. i guess maybe, could you clarify the difference between what you just said and what is quoted in the book that are direct quotes?

i am confident we can train and hand over in that timeframe. if we can't do the things you say, no one is going to suggest that we stay, right? that is a quote from the president of the united states. >> senator, i am not sure it is% productive to comment on conversations that took place. >> i understand that. >> i would come back to what the president said at west point. that is something that i support. that is that july 2011 is not the date where we race for the exits. it is the date where having done an assessment, we begin a process of transition of tasks to afghan security forces based on conditions.

and we began a processsof irresponsible drawdown of our forces. >> do you believe that we will begin a drawdown of forces in july 2011 given the situation as it exists today? >> it is not give as the situation exists today.+ it is given as projections are. i do believe that that will be the case. >> you believe that we can begin a drawdown in july 2011 under the projected plans that we havv? >> that is the policy and i support it, senator. >> i understand you supporting the policy. conditions on the ground, will they indicate that we will begin a withdrawal? in the words of the vice- president, july 2011, you will see a lot of people moving out. bet on it.

do you agree with the comment of president karzai's chief that he has lost confidence in the ability of the united states and nato to succeed in afghanistan? >> i do not, senator. as i mentioned earlier, we just did a video%% teleconference, a weekly conference. general mcchrystal spent the time conducting the council in kandohar, going to and from with him as well. in that process, there was certainly no ense on his part nor on those of the others that were with him that there was a lack of confidence in the united

states commitment to pfghanistan. as i mentioned earlier, thh fact that we have more than tripled our forces from january 2009 to the end of august 2010 is of enormous significance. the same with the civilian structure, the sameewith the funding, and the same with others. >> let me reiterate my admiration and respect, general, for you and our military leaders and the difficulty of the task before them. i think your one of america's great heroes. i continue to worry a great deal about the message we're sending in the region about whether we are actually going to stay or not, and whether we're going to do what is necessary to succeed rather than set an arbitrary time line. the best way to --

>> we are going to recess now for a few moments. we will recess until the call of the chair. [general petraeus faints]

>> general petraeus return to room 1 or later and said he painted because of the week -- dehydration. [applause] [applause] [laughter] [inaudible]

>> my apologies. i ot a little bit lightheaded. it wasn't senator mccain posing questions. -- senator mccain's questions. [laughter] i just got dehydrated. >> you have told us your more than ready to go. you always are. you're that kind of an incredible person. i have consulted with

colleagues, anddwe're going to overrule you. we're not going to continue. we would feel better about it, we will try to continue tomorrow morning. 9:00 is fine. you look great, we would just feel better. i know if you have checked your schedule or not, but we thank%- both of you. >> can i mentioned that i would finish the thought that i had when the general felt a little ill, your one of america's greatest heroes. we look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. >> think you, mr. chairman. >> i know you feel better, but we feel better doing it this way. we stand adjourned until tomorrow morning, tentatively at 9:00. >> thank you, chairman. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> the general will continue his testimony on afghanistan before the senate armed services committee this morning. live coverage will be at 9:00 eastern on cspan trade and c- span.org. >> this morning on "washington journal," we will have an update

on climate legislation in congress and what kind of impact the bp oil spill web. will have. we will talk about the u.s. military use of agent orange and contaminants during the vietnam war. million vietnamese people and 150,000 children are still feeling the health effects of the contamination. "washinggon journal" is like every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. -- is live every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. bp ceo tony heyward will be in front of congress. >> it is campaign 2010 your way

with the cspan video library. you can follow the primary season from the campaign trail and the debates to the candidates of victory and concession speeches. ii is all free online anytime. >> this weekend, and growing up between arabs and israelis. this is one of the most corrupt places on earth. a vietnam veteran on the novel that took in 30 years to publish. it follows the soldiers of bravo company through vietnam. find the entire weekend schedule at book-tv.com >> the president visited the gulf region for the fourth time this week. from the oval office.

he meets with bp officials later today. good evening. as we speak, our nation reaches -- faces >> at home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every american. abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al qaeda wherever it exists. and tonight, i have returned from a trip to the gulf coast to speak with you about the battle we are waging against an oil spill assaulting our shores and our citizens. on april 20, an explosion ripped through the bp deepwater horizon drilling rig, about 40 miles off the coast of louisiana. 11 workers lost their lives. 17 others were injured. and soon, nearly one mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water. because there has never been a leak this size at this depth,

stopping it has tested the limits of human technology. that is why, just after the rig sank, i assembled a team of our nation's best scientists to tackle this challenge -- a team led by dr. stephen chu, a nobel-prize-winning physicist and our secretary of energy. scientists, experts from academia and other oil companies have provided ideas and advice. as a result of these efforts, we have directed bp to mobilize additional equipment and technology. in the coming weeks and days, these efforts should capture 90% of the oil leaking out of the well. this is until the company finishes drilling a relief well that is expected to stop the leak completely. already, this is the worst environmental disaster america has ever faced. unlike a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its

damage in a matter of minutes or days. the millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the gulf of mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years. bbt make no mistake. we will fight this spill with everything we have got for as long as it takes. we will make bp pay for the damage their company has caused. and we will do whatever is necessary to help the gulf coast and its people recover from this tragedy. tonight, i would like to lay out what our battle plan is going fooward. what we are doing to clean up the oil, to help our neighbors in the gulf, and what we are doinn to make sure a catastrophe like this never happens again. first, the cleanup. from the very beginning, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation's history. it is an effort led by admiral

thad allen, who has almost 40 years of experience responding to disasters. we now have nearly 30,000 personnel working across four states to contain and clean up the oil. thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the gulf. i have authorized the deployment of 17,000 national guard members along the coast. these servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, to help clean beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims. i urge the governors in the effected states to activate these troops as soon as possible. because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming, and other collection methods. over 5.5 million feet of boom has been laid across the water to absorb the oil. we have approved the construction of new barrier islands in louisiana to try to stop the oil before it reaches the shore.

we are working with alabama, mississippi, and florida to implement approaches to their unique coastlines. as the cleanup continues, we will offer any assistance our coastal states may need. a mobilization of this speed and magnitude will never be perfect. new challenges will always arise. if something is not working, we want to hear about it. if there re problems in the operation, we will fix them. we have to recognize that, -pdespite our best efforts, oil has caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife. no matter how effectiveeour response is, there will be more oil and damage before this siege is done. that is why the second thing we are focused on is the recovery and restoration of the gulf coast. you know, for generations, men and women who call this region

home have made their living from the water. that living is now in jeopardy. i've spoken to fishermen who do not know how they will support their families this year. i have seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers, even in areas where the beaches are not affected. i have talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists might start coming back. the sadness and the anger they feel is not just about the money they have lost. it is about a wrenching anxiety, that their way of life may be lost. i refuse to let that happen. tomorrow, i will meet with the chairman of bp and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are necessary to compensate the workers and those who have been harmed as a result of this company's recklessness. this fund will not be controlled by bp. to ensure that all claims are

paid out in a timely manner, the account must be administered by an independent third party. of the gulf in the short term,%- it is also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bouuty of this region. the oil spill represents the latest blow to a place that has suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats. the region still has not recovered from hurricanes katrina and rita. that is why we must make a commitment that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment. i make that commitment tonight. earlier, i asked the secretary of the navy, also a former governor of mississippi and a3 develop a long-term gulf coast restoration plan as soon as possible. the plan will be designed by

states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other residents. bp will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region. the third part is the steps we are taking to ensure a disaster like thhs does not happen again. a few months ago, i approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance it would be safe, that the proper technology would be in place and necessary precautions would be taken. that obviously was not the case in the deepwater horizon rig. and i want to know why. the american people deserve to know why. the families i met with last week, who lost their loved ones in the explosion -- these families deserve to know why. and so i have established a national commission to understand the causes of this

disaster and offer recommendations. i've issued a six month moratorium on deep water drilling. i know this creates difficulty for the people who work on the rigs. but for the sake of their safety and the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue. while i urge the commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, i expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially. one place we have begun to take action is at the agency n charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the minerals management serrice. over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulatiin with hostility, a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves.

at this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors and were allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations. when ken salazar became secretary of the interior, one of his first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency. but it is now clear the problem there ran much deeper and the pace of reform was just too slow. so secretary ken salazar and i are bringing in new leadership at the agency. michael bromwich, who is a tough federal prosecutor and inspector general. his charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry's watchdog, not its partner. one of the lessons we have learned from this spill is that we need better regulations and better safety standards and better enforcement. but a larger lesson is that, no matter how much we improve our

regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risks. after all, oil is a finite resource. we consume more than 20% of the world's oil but have less than 2% of the world's oil reserves. that is part of the eason oil companies are drilling one mile beneath the surface of the ocean. places to drill on land and in shallow water. for decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. for decades, ww talked and talked about the need to end america's century-long addiction to fossil fuels. for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. time and again, the path forward has been blocked, not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political the consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight.

countries like china are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in america. each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. today, as we look to the gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude. we cannot consign our children to this future. the tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash america's innovation and seize control of our own destiny. this is not some distant vision for america. the trrnsition away from fossil fuels is going to take some time, but over the last year and a half we have taken unprecedented action to jump- start the clean energy industry. as we speak, old factories are

reopening to produce wind turbines. people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and ffmilies are making their homes more energy efficient. scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technology that someday will lead to entirely new industries. each of us has a part to play in a future that will benefit all of us. as we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of jobs, but only if we accelerate the transition. only if we seize the moment. and only if we rally together and act as one nation -- workers and entrepreneurs, scientists and citizens, public and private sectors. when i was a candidate, i laid

out a set of principles that would move our country toward energy independence. last year, the house acted by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill, a bill that makes clean energy the profitable energy for america's businesses. there are costs associated with this transition. some believe we cannot afford those costs right now. i say we cannot afford not to change how we produce and use energy, because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater. so i am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party, as long as they tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. some would suggest raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. others wonder why the energy

industry spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on researrh and development. all of these approaches have merit and deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead. but the one approach that i will not accept is inaction. the one answer i will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet. you know, the same thinggwas said about our ability to produce enouuh planes and tanks in world war ii. the same thing was said about our ability to harness the technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. and yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny, our determination to fight for the america we want for our children. even if we are unsure exactly what that looks like, even if we do not yet precisely know how

we will get there, we know we will get there. it is a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. it is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the gulf right now. each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region's fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to america long ago by fishing immigrants from europe. it is called the blessing of the fleet. today it is a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will head out to sea, some for weeks at a time. the ceremony goes on in good times and in bad. it took place after katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago. and still, they came and they prayed. as a priest and former fisherman once said, "the blessing is not thaa god has

promised to remove all obstacles and>m$(lc@&c+ the blessing is that he h us always -- a blessing that is granted even in the midst of the storm." the oil spill is not the last crisis america will face. this nation has known hard times before, and we will surely know them again. what has always seen us through is our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it. tonight, we pray for that courage. we pray for the people of the gulf coast. we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a better day. thank you. god bless you. and may god bless america.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> coming up, "washington journal." . . .