. >> in a few moments, president obama's labor day speech in detroit. in a little less than an hour, mitt romney at a tea party in new hampshire. after that we'll bring you a forum on who you think the country has changed since 9/11. and later nato's monthly briefing including questions of operations in libya. this weekend, the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 on the c-span networks with live coverage from each of the memorial sites, new york city, thanksville, pennsylvania, and the pentagon.

here's our live schedule, at 120k p.m. eastern, the flight 93 dedication ceremony from thanksville, pennsylvania. and sunday morning at 80k, a memorial ceremony from the world trade center site with president obama and former president bush. on c-span 2 at 9:00, vice president biden from the pentagon. and on c-span 3 at 9:30, honoring those who lost their lives on united flight 93. 9/11 remembered. this weekend on the c-span networks. dd thanks >> president obama was in detroit for labor day. the 45-minute event began with afl-cio president and hilda solis.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the afl-cio, richard trumpka and the secretary of treasure, hilda solis. [cheers and applause] >> good afternoon, brothers and sisters, and happy labor day to you. let me ask, is there anyone out there that works for a living? [cheers and applause] >> you see, labor day is the one time of year when we stop to recognize work, work and the people who do it. now, think about it, think about what work means to our lives and to our country. think about how work connects

all of us and then say thank you to everyone who works. say thank you to the bus driver who gets us to our jobs, thank you to the teachers who educate and encourage our children. [cheers and applause] >> thank you to the truck drivers who bring us our food. thank you to the nurses and doctors who look out for our health. thank you to the construction workers who build our cities. thank you to the autoworkers who made the cars and trucks that brought us here today. [cheers and applause] >> and thank you to these civil servants and secret service agents keeping our president safe today. [cheers and applause] >> so take a moment right now and turn to your brother or your sister next to you and say thank you. thank you for what you do.

you see, this is also a time to think about the millions of men and women who want to work but have been unable to find work for weeks or months or even years. we all know someone who's out of work. think about the sacrifices and the scarring of those families, and then think about this, think about the outrage of c.e.o.'s getting paid millions, millions more than their companies pay in federal taxes and still refusing to create jobs. brothers and sisters, if that makes you mad, let's make a pledge right here, right now, to all of those sisters and brothers out of work, let's pledge to do everything we can to insist our elected leaders

and our companies create jobs and put america back to work! will you make that pledge? [cheers and applause] >> today we're going to hear from our president, barack obama. [cheers and applause] >> he's the man who worked with the autoworkers and the company to save america's auto industry. see, that's the kind of bold politically courageous action that we need right now from every elected official at every level because america wants to work. and if we pledge and follow through and stand together, we can lift up detroit, we can lift up working families, we can lift up america. and i want you to know, we will not let michigan become a right -to-work-for-less state.

we will defeat financial martial law for fighting together, standing together and winning together. i'm proud to stand with my brothers and sisters from detroit any time, any place. god bless you and happy labor day. and now i'm very pleased and honored to introduce a woman who stands with working people every single day, a real warrior for working men and women whose -- who's lifted up the department of labor so that it works for working families again and again and again and again. please welcome our warrior, our friend, the secretary of labor, hilda solis. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. all right.

>> all right. how's everybody? is labor in the house? labor in the house? happy labor day, detroit. [cheers and applause] >> it's great to be back in the motor city and especially with my good friend, president rich trumpka and all of our union leaders and my former congressional colleagues that are also here. give them all a round of applause, please. [applause] >> and of course it's so exciting to be here with you in detroit. the auto industry, as you know, is roaring back. and president obama is in the house! >> here, here. >> are you fired up? fired up? [cheers and applause] >> fired up? [cheers and applause] >> ready to go?

[cheers and applause] >> i know i am. the president could have chosen any city in america to spend labor day, but he wanted to be here with you all. [cheers and applause] >> a city, a beautiful city that gave birth to america's middle class. a city that is full of talent, a city that never gives up. and has, as we say in my language -- [speaking a foreign language] >> that's the power to say yes we can. yes we can. detroit, you're proof that when america innovates and when america builds, guess what, america wins. >> here, here. >> is the u.a.w. here? [cheers and applause] >> i can't hear you. [cheers and applause] >> america owes you and the

entire labor movement so much. you not only give us the world's greatest cars, you stood up, but you also sat down, for good jobs for everyone, and you built the social safety net we're fighting so hard to keep intact right now. you set a lifetime of hard work ought to mean something, that working people deserve the opportunity to provide for themselves and for their families. today on labor day, our struggles continue. we know these are tough times, hard economic times for so many of our families, but that's no excuse for what's happening in other states across this country. like wisconsin and ohio. and right here in michigan. some politicians say they can't afford unions right now, that labor unions are the problem in

this country. [crowd booing] >> i think they just got it plain wrong. >> here, here. >> unions help build america's middle class. they are now and always will be a part of the solution and not the problem. my parents taught me that as a youngster and i'm a proud daughter of the teamsters and a mother who was a steelworker. i know what it means to be union proud. it's the voice at the table to negotiate good wages, health benefits, and safe working conditions. and a chance to step into the middle class. it's about working hard. it's about taking care of each other. and it's fighting for what we know is right. it's like aretha franklin said, it's about getting some

r-e-s-p-e-c-t, respect. that's why president obama and i continue to speak out against governors who want to take our country backwards, by attacking workers' rights. this is no time to be attacking collective bargaining for public sector, workers like firefighters, police officers, and our teachers in all the public servants who do so much for us. this is no time to be undermining project labor agreements that improve efficiency and costs. working people, you know, just want to get back to work. no divisive right-to-work laws. we know that's the wrong way to go. our communities still need a voice at work, and especially at the ballot box. and we will not let others suppress our votes.

right? >> right! >> i know there's a lot of autoworkers back to work now in the great motor city, and i saw this firsthand, myself and others who met many at the chevy plant, at the ford plant, and at all the big three, and i know we all want to thank our good friend and our president barack obama. [cheers and applause] >> for his bold action to save the automobile industry, to save -- to say that we are making things in america once again, to save and create good manufacturing jobs for everyone . that's what this administration is fighting for every single day. and i'm proud to be a part of it. i know times are still tough here for too many workers here in michigan and across this country. that's why we need congress, to

work with us to take common sense action, to create good jobs for everyone. president obama is going to take his case straight up to capitol hill this week, so i hope you all will be listening, and it won't be an easy thing to do. we know some will fight us and they'll say no, it seems they say no to just about everything. so we will say we can't afford -- some will say, as you know, we can't afford to invest in our work force, that we can't afford to rebuild our roads and our schools and that we can't afford to continue the social safety net we fought so hard for. here's what we will say back, we cannot afford not to rebuild this great country. >> hear, hear. >> we can't afford to turn our backs on working families who make america so great. so on this labor day, for all

working people, the millions looking for work and their children and grandchildren who depend on them, this is what i say, let's not lose heart. let's stand with our president in this tough fight ahead. he's got your back. do you have his? [cheers and applause] >> and are you ready? [cheers and applause] >> and are you fired up? [cheers and applause] >> because i'm fired up and i'm ready to go. and we need you all to be ready and fired up to go. and let's remember -- let's remember the sacrifices of those who came before us as we honor all american workers in this great city and in this great country around this world as well. thank you, detroit. thank you for welcoming us. happy labor day to all of you. god bless you, the americans who make this country so great. god bless the middle class

americans. and god bless these united states. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, to introduce the president of the united states, please welcome u.a.w. member ghana goodwin dye. ♪ >> good afternoon! [cheers and applause] >> my name is ghana goodwin dye, and i'm a proud member of u.a.w. local 909! i thank the u.a.w. for the great honor of allowing me to introduce our president, barack obama. president obama was elected

during the height of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. leaving the auto industry in dire straits. my plant and many other plants were shut down for more than a month. we did not know if our company was going to survive, but we did it. we came through 100%. we proved them wrong. we proved the media wrong. we proved those naysayers wrong. and we are here to survive. [cheers and applause] >> we have more than one million workers that did not lose their jobs, and they are still working today. g.m. has repaid their loans to the taxpayers. g.m., ford, and chrysler are all investing in our plants and in our communities.

they're adding tens and thousands of good paying middle class jobs across the united states. thank you, president barack obama , for having the courage to stand up against those who wanted to liquidate our companies. thank you, president obama, for having the courage to stand up for the american worker. and the american auto companies! thank you to the michigan delegation for supporting our president on his job creation policy to bring more work into the united states! [cheers and applause] >> now it's time for us as labor and our communities to stand with our president as he stood for us. we must stand with the president in the fight for good jobs for all of our communities. if it wasn't for this great

president, we would not be standing here strong and fighting the good fight for all working families. the american auto industry is back thanks to our president barack obama. we need you, president, to continue to fight for american workers. mr. president, welcome to detroit! [cheers and applause] >> and it is now my honor to introduce our great president, barack obama! [cheers and applause] ♪

♪ >> thank you, detroit! thank you, michigan! [cheers and applause] >> oh, this is -- thank you. [crowd chanting] >> thank you. thank you, everybody. it is good to be -- thank you, everybody.

[crowd chanting] >> thank you. [crowd chanting "four more years"] >> thank you. thank you, everybody. i can tell ghana got you fired up. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, ghana, for that introduction. thank you all for having me. it is good to be back in detroit. i'm glad i was able to bring a friend, a proud daughter of the teamsters, your secretary of labor, hilda solis in the house.

we're thrilled to be joined by so many other friends. i want to acknowledge, first of all, two of the finest senators in the country, karl levin and debbie stabenow in the house. [cheers and applause] >> outstanding members of the congressional delegation, john dingell, john conyers, samuel levin, gary peters, and hanson clark. the president of the metropolitan detroit central labor council, our host sandra williams. afl-cio president rich trumpka. the president of the michigan afl-cio, mark gaffe knee -- mark gaffney. and some proud sons and daughters of michigan

representing working people here and across the country, c sciu president henry, teamster president jimmy hoffa, u.a.w. president bob king. utility workers president mike langford. we're proud of them and we're proud of your congressional delegation who are working every single day with your state and local elected officials. to create jobs and economic growth and prosperity here in michigan and all across the country. i am honored, we are honored to spend this day with you and your families. >> thank you! >> the working men -- >> thank you! >> and women of america. this day belongs to you. you deserve a little r&r. a little barbecue.

because you've been working hard. you've been working hard to make ends meet. you've been working hard to build a better life for your kids. you've been working hard to build a better detroit. but that's not all i'm going to talk to you about. i also want to talk about the work you've been doing for decades. work to make sure the folks get an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. work to make sure families get a fair shake. the work you've done that helps build the greatest middle class that the world has ever known. i'm talking about the work that got us a 40 hour workweek and weekends and paid leave and pensions and minimum wage and

health insurance and social security and medicare, the cornerstone of middle class security. that's because of your work. [applause] >> if you want to know who helped lay these cornerstones of an american middle class, you just have to look for the union labor. [cheers and applause] >> that's the bedrock of this country is built on, hard work, responsibility, sacrifice, looking out for one another, giving everybody a shot, everybody a chance to share in america's prosperity, from the factory floor to the boardroom. that's what unions are all about. and that's something that's worth keeping in mind today. we've come through a difficult decade. in which those values were all

too often given short schrimf. where wealth was valued over work and greed valued over responsibility and the decks were too often stacked against ordinary folks in favor of the special interests. >> that's right! >> and everywhere i went while i was running for this office, i met folks who felt their economic security slipping away. men and women who were fighting harder and harder just to stay afloat. and that was even before the economic crisis hit. and that just made things even harder. so these are tough times for working americans. and they're even tougher for americans who are looking for work. and a lot of them have been looking for work for a long time. a lot of folks have been looking for work for a long time here in detroit and all across michigan and all across the midwest and all across the country.

so we got a lot more work to do to recover fully from this recession. but i'm not satisfied just to get back to where we were before the recession, we've got to fully restore the middle class in america. [cheers and applause] >> and america cannot have a strong growing economy without a strong growing middle class and without a strong labor movement. that's the central challenge we face in our country today. that's at the core of why i ran for president. that's what i've been fighting for since i've been president. eefing we've done has been thinking about you. we thought working folks deserved a break. so within one month of me taking office, we signed into law the biggest middle class tax cut in history, putting more money into your pockets.

we said working folks shouldn't be taken advantage of so we passed tough financial reforms that ended the day of taxpayer bailouts and stopped credit card companies of gouging you with hidden fees and unfair rate hikes and set up a new consumer protection agency with one responsibility, sticking up for you. we said that if you're going to work hard all day to provide a better life for your kids, then we're going to make sure that those kids get the best education possible, so we helped keep teachers on the job. we're reforming our public schools and investing in community colleges and job training programs, and we ended wasteful give aways that went to the big banks and used the savings to make college more affordable for millions of your kids.

we said that every family in america should have affordable, accessible health care. we said you shouldn't be discriminated against because you've got a pre-existing condition. we said young adults without insurance should be able to stay on their parents' plan. we got that done for you. and here's what else we said, detroit. we said that american autoworkers could once again build the best cars in the world. so we stood by the auto industry, and we made some tough quhoices that were necessary to make it succeed and now the big three are turning a profit and hiring new workers and building the west cars in the world right here in detroit, right here in the midwest, right here in the united states of america. i know it. i've seen it. kearse cheers

[cheers and applause] >> i've been to g.m.'s plant. i've been to chrysler's jefferson north plant. i've seen detroit prove the cynics and naysayers wrong. we didn't just stop there. we said american workers can manufacture the best products in the world so we invested in high-tech manufacturing and we invested in clean energy. and right now there's an advanced battery industry taking root here in michigan that barely existed before. half of the workers at one plant in detroit were unemployed before a new battery company came to town. and we're growing our exports so that more of the world buys products that are stamped with three simple words, "made in america." [cheers and applause] that's what we're fighting for,

michigan. >> that's right! >> we're fighting for good jobs with good wages. we're fighting for health care when you get sick. we're fighting for a secure retirement even if you're not rich. >> that's right. >> we're fighting for the chance to give our kids a better life than we had. that's what we're doing to restore middle class security. and rebuild this economy the american way, based on balance and fairness and the same set of rules for everybody, from wall street to main street. an economy where hard work pays off and gaming the system doesn't pay off, and everybody has a shot at the american dream. that's what we're fighting for. [cheers and applause] >> on thursday we're going to lay out a new way forward on jobs to grow the economy and put more americans back to work right now.

i don't want to give everything away right here because i want you all to tune in on thursday. but i'll give you just a little bit. we've got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilding. we've got private companies with the equipment and manpower to do the building. we've got more than one million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. there is work to be done and there are workers ready to do it. labor is onboard, business is onboard. we just need congress to get onboard. let's put america back to work. [cheers and applause] >> last year we worked together. republicans and democrats.

to pass a payroll tax cut. and because of that, this year the average family has an extra $1,000 in their pocket because of it. >> thank you! >> but that's going to expire in a few months if we don't come together to extend it. and i think putting money back in the pockets of working families is the best way to get demand rising because that then means business is hiring and that means the government -- that means that the economy is growing. so i'm going to propose ways to put america back to work that both parties can agree to. because i still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems. and given the urgency of this moment, given the hardship that many people are facing, folk, we ought to get together. but we're not going to wait for them.

we're going to see if we've got some straight shooters in congress. we're going to see if congressional republicans will put country before party. we'll give them a plan and then we'll say do you want to create jobs, then put our construction workers back to work rebuilding america. do you want to help our companies succeed? open up new markets for them to sell their products. you say you're the party of tax cuts, well, then, prove you'll fight just as hard for tax cuts for middle class families as you do for oil companies and the most affluent americans. show us what you've got. [applause] >> the time for washington games is over. the time for action is now. no more manufactured crisis, no

more games. now is not the time for the people you sent to washington to worry about their jobs. now's the time for them to worry about your jobs. [cheers and applause] >> now, let me say a word about labor in particular. you know, i know this is not going to be an easy time. i know it's not easy when there are some folks who have their sights trained on you. after all that unions have done to build and protect the middle class, you've got people trying to claim that you're responsible for the problems middle class folks are facing. [crowd booing] >> you've got some republicans saying you're the ones exploiting working families. imagine that? now, the fact is our economy is

stronger when workers are getting paid good wages and good benefits. our economy is stronger when we've got broad-based growth and broad-based prosperity. that's what unions have always been about, shared prosperity. i was on the plane and -- flying over here and karl levin was with me and he showed me a speech that harry truman had given on labor day 63 years ago right here in detroit. 63 years ago. and it just goes to show things haven't changed much. he talked about how, you know, americans had voted in some folks into congress who weren't very friendly to labor. and he pointed out that some working folks and even some union members voted these folks in and now they were learning their lesson.

, and he pointed out, and i'm quoting here, the games of labor were not accomplished at the expense of the rest of the nation. labor's gains contributed to the nation's general prosperity. what was true back in 1948 is true in 2011. when working families are doing well, when they're getting a decent wage and they're getting decent benefits. that means they're good customers for business. that means they can buy the cars that you build. that means that you can buy the food from the farmers. that means you can buy from silicon valley. you are creating prosperity when you share in prosperity. so when i hear some of these

folks trying to take collective bargaining rights away, trying to pass so-called right-to-work laws for private sector workers that really mean the right to work for less and less and less . when i hear some of this talk, i know this is not about economics. this is about politics. and i want everybody here to know as long as i'm in the white house, i'm going to stand up for collective bargaining. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "four more years"] >> that's why we reverse harmful decisions that were designed to undermine those rights. that's why we passed the fair pay act to stop pay

discrimination. that's why we appointed people who are actually fulfilling their responsibilities to make sure that the offices and factories and mine workers that clock in each day, that they're actually safe on the job. and we're going to keep at it because having a voice on the job and a chance to organize and a chance to negotiate for a fair day's pay after a hard day's work, that is the right of every man and woman in america. not just the c.e.o. in the corner office but also the janitor who cleans that office after the c.e.o. goes home. everybody's got the same rights. [cheers and applause]. >> and thesis true for public employees -- and that's true for public employees as well. look, the recession had a terrible effect on state and local budgets. we all understand that. unions have recognized that. they've already made tough concessions. in the private sector, we live in a more competitive global

economy, so unions like the u.a.w., understand that workers have to work with management to revamp business models, to innovate so we can sell our products around the world. we understand that the world is changing. unions understand that the world is changing. unions understand they need to help drive the change, whether it's on the factory floor or in the classroom or in the government office. but what unions also know is that the values at the core of the union movement, those don't change. those are the values that have made this country great. that's what the folks trying to undermine your rights don't understand. when union workers agree to pay freezes and pay cuts, they're not doing it just to keep their jobs, they're doing it so that their fellow workers, their fellow americans can keep their jobs. [cheers and applause] when teachers agree to reforms on

how schools are run at the same time they're digging in their pockets to buy school supplies for those kids, they do so because they believe every child can learn. they do it because they know something that those who seek to divide us don't understand. we are all in this together. that's why those crowds came out to support you in madison and columbus. we are one nation. we are one people. we will rise and we will fall together. anyone who doesn't believe it should come here to detroit. it's like the commercial says, this is a city that's been to heck and back. and while there are a lot of challenges here, i see a city that's coming back. [cheers and applause] you ask

>> you ask somebody here if times are tough, they'll say yeah, it's tough, but we're tougher. look what we're doing to overcome. look what we're doing to rebuild and reinvent and redefine what it means to live in this great city. look at our parents who catch the first bus to work and our students who stay up late to earn a degree. look at our workers on the line at hamtramic and jefferson north who are building the best cars in the world. look at the artists who are revamping our city and our young people thinking up new ways to make a difference we never dreamed of. look how we look out for one another. that's why we chose detroit as one of the cities we're helping to revitalize in our strong cities, commong communities initiative. -- strong communicate -- strong communities initiative. we're teaming up with mayors,

officials, rebuilding your communities the best way which is a way that involves you. because despite all that's changed here and all the work that lies ahead, this is still a city where men clock into factories, this is the city that built the greatest middle class the world has ever known. this is the city where women roll up their sleeves and help build an arsenal to democracy to free the world. this is the city where great american industry has come back to life and the industries of tomorrow are taking root. this is a city where people brave and bold, courageous and clever are dreaming up ways to prove the skeptics wrong and write the next proud chapter in our history. that's why i wanted to be here with you today. because for every cynic and every naysayer running around talking about how our best days are behind us, for everybody who keeps going around saying no we can't, for everybody --

[crowd chanting yes, we can] >> for everybody who can always find a reason why we can't rebuild america, i meet americans every day who in the face of impossible odds, they've got a different belief. they believe we can. you believe we can. yes, times are tough, but we've been through tough times before. i don't know about you, but i'm not scared of tough times. i'm not scared of tough times because i know we're going to be all marching together and walking together and working together and rebuilding together, and i know we don't quit. i know we don't give up our dreams and settle for something less. we roll up our sleeves and we remember a fundamental truth of our history. we are strong when we are united. we're firing on all cylinders.

the union movement is going to be at the center of it. and if all of you are committed to making sure that the person standing next to you and their kids and their grandkids, and everybody in this city and everybody in this country can unleash his or her potential, if you work hard and play by the rules, you will get a fair shake and get a fair shot. that's the country i want for my kids. that's the country you want for your kids. that's a country we're going to build together. thank you very much, detroit. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ♪ so keep it up

switch my desire and i'll be at your side forevermore you know your love keep on lifting higher higher and higher i said your love keep on lifting higher and higher now once i was downhearted disappointed but i called a friend but you came and it soon departed and you know he never showed his face again that's why your love keeps on lifting me higher higher and higher

i said your love keep on lifting me higher and higher all right ♪ ♪ >> ♪ i'm so glad i finally found you yes i am in a million girls and i wrap my loving arms around you i can face the world i'm telling you your love keeps on lifting me higher higher

and higher and i said your love keeps on lifting me higher and higher ♪ ♪ keep my love going higher and higher i said keep on lifting keep on higher and higher ♪ ♪ >> ♪ i know a place ain't nobody crying ain't nobody worried

ain't no smiling faces help me come on come on i'll take you there ♪ >> ♪ help me all ♪ >> ♪ i'll take you there ♪ >> ♪ help me now ♪ >> ♪ i'll take you there i'll take you there ♪ >> ♪ come on >> ♪ i'll take you there ♪ >> ♪ let me take you there let me take you there ♪ take your hand all right ♪

come on now stay on it get it now yeah ♪ >> ♪ come on baby all right ♪ >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney was one of the keynote speakers at a tea party express rally in concord, new hampshire, on sunday. this is about 15 minutes.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you, howard. thank you, howard. thank you, guys. i brought the better half with me today. my wife of how many years, 42 years? the mom of our five sons, and also, as you probably know, the grandmother of our 16 grandkids. thanks so much for being here. i see i have a few friends here. i know the folks in back want to see. so i'll let my friends sort of sit down or go to the sides and i'll get a chance to say hi to everybody that's here. ann, you want to say hi? >> i am so delighted to be here. we are, as a family, so committed to -- i guess they want the signs down. they're having trouble seeing back there. a lot of people have come to hear mitt so we want to let them do that. i want everyone to know that we thought about this for a long time. after the last campaign, there was one thing i knew for sure, i felt so tired and exhausted and said i would never do this again, and here i am. mitt knew maybe not to listen

to me because i said that after each pregnancy, but i really am so committed to seeing the country get turned around. i've been by mitt's side in all of his situations, his turnarounds, i've seen him do it in business and i've seen him do it in government. so if there's ever been a time when this country needs a turnaround, it's now. if there's ever a guy that can do it, it's mitt. so thank you all. >> thanks, sweetie. you know, i was at a home a couple weeks ago, and i said to ann, are we going to do with our kids and our grandkids what my mom and dad did with their grandkids? my mom and dad, when their grandkids got to be the age of 11, 12, 13 years old, take a group of them, put them in a ford econovan and drive them 30 days across the country and go to different national parks. and i knew what my dad was doing. he wasn't just keeping the kids about the beauty of the land, he was teaching them about the

character of the people that made this land and the values that made america the nation that we are. i'd been on a trip like that myself with my mom and dad. and they read to me from a book called "men to match my mountains." and as i told that story a couple weeks ago, a fellow in the audience said, do you know the poem from which that title was taken? i said no. it was written by someone named samuel walter foss from here in new hampshire. he wrote a poem in the 1800's and i learned the words. it's only four lines, even i can do that. it goes like this, it says give me -- no, bring me men to match my mountains. bring me men to match my plains. men with empires in their purpose and new eras in their brains. this is a land that was achieved and crafted by people who had empires in their purpose and new eras on their

brains. and by that we're not talking about conquering other nations. we're talking about values of pioneering and innovation and creativity. america would lead the world and change the world by virtue of the extraordinary brilliance of our founders. because when they crafted this country, they did not just give us political freedom, powerful as that is, their brilliance in seeing that the state should be the servant and the citizens should be the sovereign was groundbreaking and chained the world. but they also gave us another freedom. the freedom to choose our course in life, individual freedom, economic freedom, americans can be free to do whatever they wanted. and as a result of these freedoms, people from all over the world wanted to come to america. come here to craft for themselves, for themselves and their children a better life. this is the greatest nation in the history of the earth, in part because of the brilliance of these founding parents who

understand the power of liberty and freedom. and we're going to make sure we keep it. [cheers and applause] >> now, we did kind of an unusual thing. about three years ago as a people. we elected a person who had never worked in the private sector, who never had a job in the private sector, had never really been a leader anywhere, didn't have a track record, and some people asked, what would happen if we chose someone as the president who had no experience? now we know. and it's not a very pretty picture, is it? we have -- and you know the numbers. we have today about 25 million people that are out of work or stopped looking for work or are in part-time jobs that need full-time work. we had last month zero job creation. look, a shutout is ok in baseball. it's not good when you're talking about jobs. we have zero confidence, zero

faith in a president who created zero jobs. it's time for someone who knows how to create jobs and get our economy going, and that's something i know. that's in my wheelhouse and i'll get america working again. [cheers and applause] >> now, ann mentioned that i haven't spent my whole life in politics. as a matter of fact, of the people running for office, i don't know that there are many who have less years in politics than me. i spent four years as a governor. i joke that i didn't inhale. i'm still a citizen. i'm still a businessperson. a conservative businessperson. i started off my career in business, got my first job and began to work in an enterprise and ultimately became more successful there and started my own business. i had the experience of helping start small businesses and in some cases helping larger businesses that were in trouble. i learned from that experience, sometimes successfully, sometimes i wasn't successful. but through that process, i learned how the economy worked.

and how you create jobs and how we lose jobs as a nation. and then i became fortunate enough to be asked to go out and run the olympic winter games in salt lake city. they were in trouble and wanted somebody who knew something about turnarounds to come out and run the games and i did. it was a fabulous experience. and then from there, when it time was over i was asked to come to massachusetts and run for governor. things were tough in massachusetts, and i said i'm going to come back. you may know a bit about that state next door. we had -- [applause] >> somebody is here from massachusetts. the people in new hampshire are concerned about border security. i'm surprised they let you in. me, too. but when i came into massachusetts, we were losing jobs every month. we had about a $3 billion budget shortfall. and we went to work to turn things around. we added jobs. we were able to have three years where out of the four years i was in office where our unemployment rate was below the national average. we balanced the budget every year. we put in place a $2 billion

rainy day fund. so i know something about turnarounds and then i watch this president and see what he's done and he did just the opposite of what america needed. what he did was the one thing enterprise can't deal with, enterprises of all kind, big and small, can deal with bad news, what they can't deal with is uncertainty. and he pushed the heavy hand of government into the affairs of our people in such a way he created more and more uncertainty. so cap and trade would have made energy more expensive, and businesses that use energy pulled back. and card check and stacking the national labor relations board with union stooges with a decision like the boeing decision in south carolina, a terrible decision. and that caused businesses to pull back. obamacare was perhaps the worst example, we've got to get rid of it. [applause] >> again, pushing the heavy hand of government, crushing the rights of states and

individuals. and so as a result, people in that sector pulled back. dodd frank, the financial regulatory bill, again, made it more difficult for enterprises to know their future and pulled back. i don't know how the president was so misguided. i don't know why he made such bad choices. in some respects i think he took his cue from the social democrats in europe. europe isn't working there, it sure as heck isn't going to work here. the right course for america is not the european course. i believe in america. i believe we got it right and they got it wrong. [cheers and applause] >> i believe in our freedoms, our political freedom. i believe in our economic and personal freedoms. i believe in free enterprise. i believe in capitalism. the other day i was in kind of a meeting with some folks in the iowa state fair and we were talking about taxes. someone said, why don't you just raise taxes on corporations. and i said corporations are people.

and the democrats said oh, he's in big trouble now, saying something like that. well, don't they understand that we work for corporations and our retirement is based on the success of corporations, and corporations have employees that are people and they have customers that are people and shareholders that are people? we want employees to have a brighter future so we want business in corporations and enterprise to grow and thrive in this country. i believe in free enterprise. [applause] >> i believe in our constitution. all the amendments. most governors love the 10th amendment in particular. you know which one that is? those powers not specifically granted to the federal government are reserved by the states and the people. that allows states to compete with each other, to try different ideas. i learned what that was like, by the way, when i was a new governor. i got the governor of california came to massachusetts, arnold schwarzenegger. he was poaching jobs from

massachusetts, a fellow republican. and he had a big billboard in town with him in a t-shirt saying come to california. so what was i supposed to do? i put a billboard in his state with me in a t-shirt and it said smaller muscles but much lower taxes, come to massachusetts. states compete. >> i love this great land, i know that we face extraordinary challenges. i believe career politicians got us into this mess and they can't get us out of this mess. it takes someone who understands how the private economy works because he has worked in the private economy. and i have. i am a private business guy. [applause] i want to mention one more thing. you know the challenges that we have. unfunded liabilities. abruptly, some say $62 trillion.

others say $150 trillion. the usa today calculated out to be $532,000 for american household of the unfunded liabilities. that is the legacy that we leave the next generation. around the world, we have the folks who want to kill us. iran becomes unclear. china becomes a great power. we face extraordinary challenges. i salute you for being here on an evening like this because you care about the direction of our country. i learned something about the patriotism of america's people. i was at the last year of my term as governor. the airport authority said there is the body of a u.s. serviceman coming home. and they had been unable to notify the family at the time to

receive the body and they wonder if i could come and received a body. i said, of course. we drove to the airport, the state troopers drove me out. the people got off the jet, and the luggage came off of the conveyor. finally, the casket came off of the conveyor and the troopers alluded. i put my hand over my heart and i looked up at the terminal. there is a big glass wall there. it seems that people getting off the plane had seen all of the troopers there. and they were pressed up against the glass to see what was going on. people walking down the hallway came in behind them. and they were all looking there. every single person i saw have their hand on their hearts. and i could not see to know if there were tears there, but i

could see the appreciation and the sorrow and the sympathy and the affection. we are a patriotic people, we are the most patriotic people in the world. i am convinced that given the patriotism of the american people, we can overcome these challenges if we draw on the patriotism. if we have leaders that will tell us the truth and will live with integrity and will know how to leave. i intend to be one of those leaders with your help. thank you so much. great to be with you today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] ♪

>> watch more video of the candidates and to see what political reporters are sen. check the latest campaign contributions. he's easy to use, it helps you navigate the political landscape with updates from the campaigns and the latest polling data. and plans to seize them partners and caucus states. >> coming up in a few moments, a form on how americans think the

country has changed since 9/11. following that, a pentagon retirement ceremony. and a little bit later, an update on military operations and iraq. we have several live events to tell you about coming up tomorrow leading up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. janet napolitano and mike roger s will speak at a forum starting at 8:15 a.m. eastern. the head of the transportation security and administration, you can see that starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. the former new york city mayor

talks in washington. and also tomorrow, republican presidential candidate mitt romney will announce his jobs plan. his speech is just two days before president obama's address. it starts at 3:30 p.m. eastern. in 1844, henry clay ran for president of the united states and lost, but changed political history. he is one of the 14 men featured in the "of the contenders. his kentucky home friday at 8:00 eastern. the poll was recently conducted on how the country has changed

since 9/11. [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and a gentleman, i would like to welcome new to our annual ideas festival whole. we have had a wonderful relationship cents the ideas festival number one. and the polls that we have specially commissioned have been extremely interesting. this is going to be a special one. it is not only interesting, but important. it will get a great deal of

attention beyond the precincts. part of the reason is our collaboration this year with high magazine that has been a full participant since the creation of the idea of the pull. the managing editor and the team working collaborative lee with the firm that is preeminent in the world. i'm going to briefly introduce the panel, and after that, we're going to present people in summary fashion. i will ask a couple of questions and we will open if all to you. i think you will find a provocative and that it ties in remarkably well with many of the themes lived in talking about the last few days. he is the managing editor of time and time.com.

he has had a distinguished career as a journalist and as a collaborator in the biography, the autobiography of one of the greatest men of this century or in a century, nelson mandela. mark, who has been here before is the vice chairman in berlin. he has devised countless people are around the world. of course he was adviser to bill clinton and a chief strategist for hillary clinton's presidential campaign. previously he had at discovery communications, he has been a senior adviser, not just to leading political figures, including bill clinton, but to

many corporate figures as well. we will set the stage for the survey that we conducted. he will present the key findings. there will be a few overall remarks and observations. then i will ask a few questions and it will be over to you. >> i am delighted to be here. it is fantastic, such a cornucopia of great ideas. it feels like your head is bursting. what we are going to talk about today will be very sobering. we decided to do this pull together, because the last 10 years is a signature moment in american history. the beginning of the decade with the horrible tragedy has, in

some ways, shifted the ark of american history. and in the largest possible sense, that is what we're going to talk about today. every other journalistic organization will be doing something and we wanted to get out ahead of the pack into if this summer. of the coverage going forward. what we wanted to get at is a very simple thing, how has america changed? have americans changed as a result of 9/11 end of the decade that followed. it was such a key moment in time. the larger message, it was fantastic to work with mark.

we have been doing in a long time. he will walk you thru the details of the poll, but the headline is that 2/3 of the people polled feel that america is in decline. 71% say that we're worse off now than we were at the beginning of the decade. only 6% of people feel that it is better. is one of the most staying in times of pessimism in american history. during the depression, but i argue was a sustained time of american pessimism. leading up to the civil war was not a bright spot. we don't have holes of that time. but since world war two, this is the most sustained climb of pessimism.

it may not be temporary. we're going through structural changes in our population and historically, we have been the great optimistic nation of the city on the hill. where we believe that tomorrow is going to be better than today. that has sustained american life. is inally don't think it our dna, i think it is something that is learned. we are not inculcating those ideas and values and americans. what the polls show, and we can discuss this. we may be experiencing a tipping point as a nation going from a nation that is preternaturally

optimistic, we have become more, if not pessimistic, realistic. the new world was this world of optimism and hope, civilization. prosperity and the salvation, what we are moving into now is this more adolescent nation to maturity where we're looking at things in a more realistic flight. only with the extreme optimism does realism look like pessimism. americans are so bright and so sunny, they think everything will turn out all right. we know in zero ways and is more

heavily. that is one of the extrapolations of the poll. that is an enormous finding. and we're looking at this generation of young people that have only known history since 9/11. and the generation before there is this notion of the end of history which i think is a bit of an absurd notion. they are the future and they look at america and america's promise in a different way than those they came before us. so, take it away. >> it has been a pleasure to work with you on this poll. i think you will find it captures the mood of the country and raises three big question areas that i think

going through some of the data. there is not time to go through all the questions, but they will be made for people that are interested. this seven year time of negativity, it has been seven years since the american public has hot this country as on the wrong track. you really see the depth of that negativity seems to be growing and people really see this as a decade of decline and see a mounting series of problems in front of them almost traced to what they see as the most important event of the decade, 9/11 that led to what they see as the debacle of the decade, the iraq war having led to a lot of problems that mountain of and were not handled. i think you really have to look to the continued fear of

terrorism. you will see through this whole that the continued fear and terrorism is not done with. this is very much in the american consciousness in a way that if i took a poll in 2000, it never would have been. third, there will be political implications. well obama be able to get people to give him more time to turn america around? or will the republican challenger offer the kind of hope that he did. i think it will be an enormous part of the contest. let me go through specifics. we conducted approximately 2000 interviews. we did 1000 on the tough on using random dialing messages.

it has an extremely reliable margin of error. let's take a look at some of the data and i will take you through the data and to set of the discussions that we had a. what is the single most important event of the past decade? overwhelmingly, people said september 11, 2001. next was the election of barack obama, and as you can see, a pretty big drop. re-election of george bush down at 1%. to what extent did the events of 9/11 weekend the united states? 63% or 2/3 said 9/11 weekend the united states.

the think that the country has gotten over 9/11 completely? only 6% say the country has gotten over it. 51% say mostly, and 38% say a little or not at all. the people still feel the impact of 9/1110 years later. what is the assessment of this decade? 68% said this was a decade of decline. that is a pretty difficult statement for americans and i have a couple of years of decline, the three difficulties and found back in record time. reassessment of the last decade is one of the climb. is the country better or worse off? 71% say america is worse off. the fundamental question both in

politics and for the american public in terms of what they assess this happening in america. in fact, we are slipping into a worse position now. 47% say this is one of the worst in decades in the past hundred years. we ask, do you think has been hurt them of or decline the most? again, hardest-hit were working class americans in the view of the rest of americans. the class a second, seniors 30. only the third biggest political groups. on the other end, this talk upper-class americans is doing better, hispanics as doing better, and i went back into the

data. and upper-class americans agree they did do better in the last decade. working class americans feel they did much worse. when children grow up, will they be better off or worse off than people are now? 52% worse, 29% better. the shift in psychology tends to occur at a time when they lose faith 20 or 30 years from now, things will be better for americans. fundamentally, they think that things will be worse for their children. but depressed you enough? i have always been an optimist. president clinton turned the mood around.

these results were negative and they had me down by the time i finished reading them. >> if you look at that, 78% believe that a terrorist attack will take place in the united states over the last decade. the answer would have been and may be about 10%. the fear of that continues to be as strong as ever. if there is another major terrorist attack, what city is it most likely to take place? washington and new york were first. philadelphia at 1%. 49% somewhat concerned about being the fear -- of being the victim of terrorism. and when we ask them, in your opinion, has the killing ofosama

it?eased by 2 to 1, there is more concerned that the killing may increase the possibility of a terrorist attack. it is a sense of closure. even though we got him, the fear and threat of terrorism is very real and the mind of america today. they think that pakistan knowingly harvard of some london london. if you ask them about the aid, 77% say that it should be cut back.

if you go to afghanistan, 40% one of the u.s. to end combat operations before -- before 2014. only 10% think it is too fast. we did this on june 8 before the president announced his full policy. negotiationsthe taliban, 58% say that we should not negotiate with them. if you look at the implication that people had, the first question we ask, what is most to blame for the u.s. of being in a worse position that a decade ago?

the bush administration is still number one. 23%. but with the debate over who owns the economy, the obama administration was not far behind. corporate ceos 8%, terrorist groups 7%. if you are in the political system, the political system is on the front line to blame for the decade of decline in america. americans want their leaders to focus on domestic issues. the greatest threats come primarily from within the united states. the biggest threat to our stability is if we don't get our internal fiscal and political house in order.

we will have challenges from within, not just from without. what are the biggest threats? national debt, government spending, a health care costs. pretty strong west. foreign policy is laid out at the bottom of the list. the american public is very focused. 71% say that major threats are within our control. it is within our control to do something about these threats. only 10% think that the threats are being effectively addressed. what specific threats are within our control that are not being addressed? the economy, jobs, health care, education.

widespread pessimism, concerns about terrorism. an enormous concern. how do we let problems like the deficit amount of so we can see what the final conclusion of the public is? i agree it is a pretty tough job to turn this around given the depth of the negativity and pessimism that we see in this whole. >> it is hard to give you enthusiastic applause? >> i am the only one not wearing a blue shirt, so i have to take a contrarian point of view. having been thinking about this since january, i want to thank the people involved.

michael and nancy that worked very hard on it, it has been a great team effort. let me say that clearly these are grim results. it is impossible to dismiss them. i do worry about the self fulfilling prophecy that can play as we think about ourselves as a country. if our leaders are telling us that we can't come together and get things done, more importantly, they are showing us, we come to believe over time that we have lost our fundamental capacity to move ourselves forward, we risked falling into spinning into a time in our history where we may not be able to dig our way out

of that. i want to look a little bit deeper at some of these results. and if seen tremendous progress in technology. we have seen the rise of democracy in many places in the world. it is coming our way in fits and starts. scientific and medical advancements in research, i think we have to factor all of that in. time magazine does a good job of reviewing all of that. not to dismiss the majority of respondents, but 32% of these responses said this is one of the best decade in the last century. nearly a third, 29% said the

next generation will be better off. a quarter see this as a decade of progress. this light up like the most and that is the 71% say it is within our control to solve our problems. they believe we have the capacity to move ourselves forward. i want to have what they are having. i think about the words of another person, president clinton. i am not embarrassed to say these words because i had nothing to do with writing them. he said, there is nothing wrong with america that can't be cured than -- with what is right with america. we can have that confidence and faith.

>> let me kick things off before we opened it up. you have just arrived in town and we had a track of others on happiness in this description of the american psyche being singularly and historic plea unhappy and gramm is really pretty striking. even with all we have talked about for happiness. i am not sure it is enough to overcome the messages of this. american dna, the notion that we do think that there is something in our dna and you say it is learned, a dominant gene of optimism and hope that set aside as a country for our entire history.

one of the graphs and that you showed, mark, a majority of people think the next generation is going to be worse off than the one before. that is un-american and what we all stand about. it is sadly accurate that this generation is a financially more lost than their predecessors. if this is not turned around and whether it is learned or narrative, if they pick up from us this message of pessimism or despair, when the implications of socially and politically be profound? >> i think it is a profound change. in a sense, is the kind of neuroscience of optimism. we did a book earlier called the

optimism by us. if you think something will be better, the cards will are that it will be better because you can positively change those events. those arguing it is an evolutionary trade. the of those that argue that we are, as a nation of immigrants, we have selected for people that are optimistic. people come here because they believe that they can succeed. in our dna, we have selected those folks that are preternaturally optimistic. it has animated the us as a nation. there are downsides of optimism. bernie madoff would not have happened in a pessimistic country because people would say it is impossible to get "% returns year after year.

that sometimes makes you actually more gullible. europeans say that we are not leave. i would argue that we are becoming less money for which i think is a virtue. we're going through structural changes in our economy. i talked to economists occasionally, and why isn't that an% unemployment just want to be forever? what is it about our economy or system that will reduce it? i never get a very good answer to that. we will have to come to terms with certain structural aspects of society. and now, a note of optimism. they wrote about why we are not grief. compared to our competitors, and going into the future, we are so

much better situated in way is the people intuitively understand. we are the youngest, richest nation. china is aging much more rapidly than we are. europe is much older than we are. and our demographic aspects of our society and our innovation that is putting us in a very good situation for the future. the reality has to begin to change the perception. >> you say sometimes optimism can be a problem. with discussions last year among the theme. as long as the pessimism isn't debilitating and if it is really realism and acknowledgement that we have serious problems and combine it with the fact that americans

still have confidence may be a message that let's forget the rhetoric of abstract optimism and hope, why do we rank reverb we rank for health care, education, and let's actually fix these problems and not just assume they will get better on their own. he thinks of this could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. what would you advise our political leaders whether it is the president or members of congress? what do they do differently? >> the difficult situation we face, i think about it in very simplistic terms. there is showing and there is

telling. i don't believe we have a sustained, persistent, and consistent set of messages coming from our leaders. in that respect, one of the things of the country is crying out for the national narrative that shows how we go from this decade of decline to a future that is bright and realistic. it is a hard thing to accomplish. he can't do it with one speech or 10 speeches. the shelling part that we are lacking right now, how to demonstrate to people that we can solve problems. having one of the challenges that we face is that we were hit with such an enormous body blow, september 11, mistakes

that were made and perhaps most important of all, what happened to the economy, our leaders believe that we have to show how we can come back full force, and simply to where we were. you convince people to believe in themselves again by convincing them to do things in concrete and smaller ways. yesterday in the conversation about education reform, there were things that we learned about how to return of around different kinds of schools. the phrase had nothing is wrong with america that can't be cured right with america.

where new businesses are flourishing. where schools are accomplishing things. we need to show what is happening. it can happen here and we can move things forward. over the course of a few years, lincoln earned our confidence. >> i would like to try to disentangle the significance of 9/11. it is obviously the defining event of the decade. it seems to me that one way that we might look at all this, the enemy is not the terrorists, the enemy is us. many of the things they are worried about is not directly

related to 9/11. he who deal with the medical costs, inflation, other items on the list. what this also speaks to is discussed with a perception of the dysfunction of the political system. and we might not have had very similar results because of the sense that our system just doesn't work? >> i think you're quite right that this poll is a shot across the bows of the political system. you guys have to fix the deficit, you are to blame. they don't think the iraq war was the right use of our resources. what america have stayed on course?

the '90s were pretty good for america. getting it ready for changes in globalization, trying to modernize the country, and at that point, even have a surplus, fast forward 10 years later. and if 9/11 would have happened anyway, we will never know. but despite a permanent fear of terrorism, the focus is on the political system. to go to the point about the national narrative, the world is on the move. this is not a pessimistic world. you have parts of the world, asia, other places where optimism abounds. for the first time, americans

don't think they can take advantage of a growing world to be successful. it is our world to be successful. what is going on in asia or india is a plan that america doesn't have to pay for. areas of the world are going to have enormous trouble with these. they will say it is an amazing development, and they see it much more and oppose european framework. the political system is out of whack. >> we have microphones because all of this is filmed and available on the web. we have one right here in front.

i think -- >> during to the environmental forum here and ask them, -- in aspen, did any of your questions address climate change? it seems like a problem not only for the united states or for the world. >> essentially, how the client -- and how did climate change factor into this at all? >> ways to deal with it have fallen off of the national agenda. one of them is that if we can't

deal with some of these challenges and issues that are squarely in front of us and susceptible to human intervention and being able to deal with in our own communities and our own lives, how can we even comprehend dealing with something that has taken centuries to get to this point? i am not saying that we should be, but i think that is the national psychology. >> in this pull, i don't think there is a direct question on climate change. i can say from another poll that we recently completed the americans are generally getting a greater and greater consciousness as it relates to the environment. and as it relates to climate change. also see that developing in china and india. if you penpoint americans about

the tough problems, front and center is the deficit, unemployment. if you look at the chart on the end where they can say essentially everything that they want, it is a pretty long last. >> i think one of the findings the you have emphasized is the next generation will be worse off, and i'm curious what the next generation would think about that and whether or not within the pull you can separate but the attitudes and beliefs are under the age of, say, 30. i spent a fair amount of time on college campuses, and i think there is a prevalent attitude in an opposite direction. that is a sense of empowerment. some of those same attitudes, --

>> i would not call it a dominant flee optimistic loop because they are still buffered by the deficit and unemployment. of course, in this key madam -- in the scheme of optimism, young people have the most ahead of them and the most that can change in their lives. as you get older, things are pretty sets. is this the kind of optimistic generation that we have seen in the past? no. the question is how the whole move will cut the that.

parents are wondering how their kids will make it in a world where it is harder to get jobs. it is fundamentally more competitive and you have to do more in order to be successful. i think you are right. >> all of the children will move back in with their parents. dodge or parents will move back and let their children. >> one of the things i do think about, i wonder what kind of course they will take. what was it like to graduate high school in 1932? roll forward 25 years what that generation accomplished. and the optimism that permeated this spirit of america, the

people sitting up here. what theirow psychology was at the time and how they came to believe that they could build out of what ever those circumstances. >> the single most optimistic thing in the poll is that 70% of people feel that it is within our power to make the nation better. that is an incredibly optimistic view. the european view would be that there are external factors. americans believe it is within our power to make a positive change. >> i am from new york, thank you for your commitment to this excellent work. my question is to do with language and leadership. the future is very weird, it never seems to get here.

it is really kind of a story that we are always making up in the present. how can our leaders used language in a way that really creates a future that we can step into and open up what is possible? >> a very pessimistic candidate. it is a great question. it is the third rail of american politics to talk about anything and downbeat is pessimistic. the pull references jimmy carter's speech. and i would argue what is even worse is wearing a cardigan before the american people, which is not a very optimistic thing.

in reality, how much did that affect it? i don't really know. but we all remember it and feel like, what a mistake. if president obama became more of a realist, he has to be optimistic and forward looking. in some ways, the greatest example of presidential optimism is ronald reagan. he went through a terrible economic time and some would argue that his optimism helped turn perception around the turn reality around. >> is an interesting cocktail of influences that have to be brought to bear.

i would not say words are important. president clinton would say words, words, words. if we asked if he wanted us to write the speech in numbers and he didn't want that either. the words need to match the actions. the country needs to be able to both here and see and feel the impact of these things in concert. if i were in charge of a thing right now, one word i would ban is the term comprehensive. no one believes it, it is an overpromise, and that perpetuates the sense that somehow we can solve all these things with one fell swoop. you have to be showing people

the things you're doing and keep coming back to it. in fact, people understand that they have impact in their lives and you keep going from one little thing to the next little thing. >> i am sure there are some in the back. next question? take the microphone there. >> we heard in this room yesterday from david brooks that he thought the odds were that we would solve this august 2 thing are about 50/50 or worse. i have heard from several other speakers that if we default on

august 2, it would be catastrophic for the united states. that might be the next 9/11? >> the budget deal and the negotiations relative to the last great budget deal, let's be clear. the worst the rhetoric and more than name calling and the worst of fighting, the more likely they are to actually settle things. that means they are engaged in a negotiating process and they will play the system out for every vantage down to the end. the wall was in front of us, the door is over there, the american public is out there, we will get down to it. if they were to fashion and, hey, don't worry about it, no

chance of a budget deal. understand the reality is always the opposite. i think there is a political imperative. but the deals have a funny politics. budget deals will help the sitting president of the united states and it will help the sitting speaker in the republican help out -- republican house. it will hurt the democratic challengers and it will hurt the republican challengers. when i saw her, it is good for america, there are political dynamics of out there. president clinton won and republicans kept the house. there are some really counterintuitive political dynamics that surround the budget making process.

it is essential for the country that the politicians get there. the public has made a clear and it will be a pox on everybody's house. >> in the self-interest of the republicans and the president to come to some sort of agreement? i don't think that the faulting, which we have never done, and it is unconstitutional, a think it is armageddon. i think there are financial instruments that can give the illusion of not defaulting. i would argue that obama has in his arsenal, the fourteenth amendment that says america is not allowed to default on public debt. he says republicans voted against this, but i am authorizing been bernanke to furlough federal workers.

that would be a huge victory for the president because he would be seen to be doing something. the republicans are very mindful about what happened under speaker gingrich when the government shut down. i completely agree that is in both parties itself interest, and when they do this, it tends to happen. >> my question relates to the mechanics of polling. and perhaps this is something you have thought about. the american population, if they didn't get their information here, where would they get it from? there is a way to get your information from. if you have a network of the

continually hammers the administration, how does that affect you? >> i think this was not a poll about where people get their information, but we have taken those. people are very bad of self reporters on that. nobody ever says i got it from a political ad. they self report those things that they think [unintelligible] there is no question we have seen a shuffle here. where are people getting their news, online, real-time, news sources. the that the traditional model of people having a long daywork and getting home, putting their feet up and watching the nightly news has been radically changed. by the time they get home, more people are more informed about more evidence than ever before in history.

the news models may be changing, but the desire for information has never been greater. >> respondents from the survey said they got all their information from either "time," for the "atlantic." >> even reflect the way the great people interact with media. there is a transition period when i started 35 years ago, people did not believe the interviews. we did this -- the right now, we are transitioning from phones to internet. we did 1000 interviews on the fun, but even when we do the phone, 25% of households no longer have a land line. we have to incorporate cellphone

interviews. we did another 1000 online. we think we are in transition. five or six years from now, if you think we are going to go on to 100% on line, that is not only where people are getting information, but the new phone book is really the directory of people who accessed on-line through their personal devices or through their computers. >> you have the microphone and the middle? >> i'm going to ask dick question about the growing class divide and money and the anger which they do not feel you have touched on. maybe i'm wrong. it seems to me that looking at different kinds of data, you are seeing if syrian the middle class. your singapore distribution of wealth. we're looking like a banana republic.

the middle-class dream is gone. how does that fit into some of the things you have been talking about? it is -- is another survey you should do? >> there was some of that in the poll. >> you and i were talking about this before. mark knows more about it than i do. but increasing inequality, a greater disparity between the wealthy and the poor is something which is probably the most important issue for us to reckon with. more important than the debt the. speaking of optimism, the middle class of wealth and achievement and success in american life,

the problem is that there are some structural problems and our economy where once upon a time you could be middle-class and be an hourly worker. that has gone out the window. polarization has good and bad aspects -- aspects. there are 400 middle class people around the world to do the jobs americans used to you. i do not have an answer but i think it is within our power to deal with it. that is the problem with the political power that nobody is dealing with that issue. >> in to really get at this question is another survey on the class divide and how it is changing america. but it is also insisting there is a political dynamic that has developed. if you go to the last election,

26% of the voters made $100,000. they split evenly with democrats and republicans. ops obama did well with young people and people making under $35,000. republicans do best with those in the metal. they have an done a good job of the tapping into the frustration while obama has tapped into what i call the new professional plans. americans wants to be middle- class. 85% say they are middle-class. the now 50% say they are professionals. these jobs are not manufacturing. more based on education. they have a much more international outlook toward the world, much more concerned about global warming and the

environment. they gave a obama audit support. they made the difference for him in the election. there is a interesting coalition between those of the top. he actually has a coalition of those who make the most and those to make the least. >> 1 hours to more questions. -- one or two more questions. >> how much would you expect the poll numbers to drop after you publish this poll tax that is to say, in a more general sense, all we read about is the deficit and all the issues your polling about. is it a surprise that people are feeling pessimistic? if the media were to publish more on the positive initiatives

that are going on by cities when the federal government is failing or any other private sector initiatives, would that make people feel more positive? thisif you're publishing paul is going to cause numbers to drop. >> does someone want to take that? >> these numbers are based on real feelings of real people based on their experiences. i do not think we're going to have a poll fact the american people. i think to go back to the question earlier, they have to go back to a budget deal. they have to look for a sense that washington is not gridlock or frustration has got to grow. obama has as much opportunities as his challengers to rea express what optimism is about. how america can overcome the

challenges political, social logical, getting together. on a lot of scores america is better. technology, tolerance, other issues. we're coming together as a more mature society. but the president is going to have to tell the story. he is going to have to provide leadership. to be credible to that story, he has to get a deal to show that he cannot break gridlock. and he is to show that his second term will be even brighter than his first. >> it is 1:15. i'm going to bring this to a close and thank our panelists for their provocative and important comments. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> coming up, and nato's briefing including questions

operations in libya. about 45 minutes from now, the pentagon retirement ceremony for general david petraeus. after that, an update on military operations in iraq. on washington journal, we look ahead to the congressional agenda with fred barbash. scott keeter will discuss pulling. -- polling. "washington journal" is live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. this weekend, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 on the c- span networks with live coverage on each of the memorial sites, pennsylvania, new york, and the pentagon. here's the schedule. saturday, the fight 93 national

memorial dedication ceremony. sunday morning, a memorial ceremony from the world trade center site with president obama and former president bush. and c-span 2 at 9:00, joe biden from the pentagon. on c-span 3, honoring those who lost their lives on united flight 93. 9/11 remembered, this weekend on the c-span network. nato's secretary general says progress has been made in recent years but there's no ending for the mission. most of the briefing focused on libya and parodies for next year's summit and the 10th anniversary of the september 11 attacks.

>> it has been a busy time. we have moved closer to success but we are not to get there. in afghanistan, transition has begun. afghan forces are now providing security for one-quarter of the afghan population. that is a very good start. i suspect the next stage will be announced in the coming months. in kosovo, our mission played a vital role pin in stopping a crisis from escalating. nato-led forces did what was needed and i think them. -- thank them. two months ago, i was asked if there was any chance of progress in the libyan operation in august.

some asked whether nato had the resources to keep going. those questions have been answered. our operation is not yet over but the direction is clear. the libyan people have taken their future in their own hands. they have made history. so has the international community. this operation has an unprecedented mandate and the responsibility to protect. that is history. nato has been implementing the mandates with unprecedented precision. no comparable operation has been so acrid and so careful and avoiding harm to civilians.

our operation has had an opera -- unprecedented affect. in five months, we have a degraded a war machine which was built up over more than 40 years. we set out to protect civilians. we will see this through. nato and our partners will be their as long as we're needed but not one minute longer. when we assess that the threat is over for good, we will conclude operation unified protector. i cannot give a precise date but i believe it will come soon.

it is now for the libyan people to ship their future. the national transition council at the paris meeting impressed us all with their plan for this future. united nations reaffirmed that they will play a leading role in supporting the libyan people. nato stands ready to help if we are needed and requested to do so. but the operation will and as soon as our mission is completed. with an already starts drawing the first lessons. most of those lessons are positive. all will play an important role as we starts to prepare our

summit in chicago next may. first, crisis shows and nato's flexibility. nobody saw it coming but nato decided to act within six days. we set up the operation and we adjusted it when we needed to. second, n.j. -- shows the openness. we were joined by partners old and new from the middle east and northern europe. we agreed was needed to be done. we agreed have to do it. we did it. because our partners in. they trust us. they're ready to work with us.

third, it shows nato's strength. this was the first operation were european allies and canada took the lead. got theance haven't -- job done. european allies and canada led the effort but this mission could not have been done without capabilities which only the united states could offer. for example, drones, intelligence, and reissuing the aircraft. let me put it currently, those capabilities are vital for all of us. more allies should be willing to obtain them. that is a real challenge. will have to find the solutions

at the next nato summer -- summit in chicago. >> we agreed a new strategic concept. a blueprint to for what our alliance should be able to accomplish. in chicago, we have to take the decisions which will enable us to do it. let me give you some examples. in lisbon, we agreed that ballistic missiles are a threat. in chicago, i would like us to declare the initial operating capability for a military

defense. i hope we will be able to agree with russia to cooperate on missile defense to tackle new threats and eliminate old suspicions. in lisbon, we agreed on an enduring partnership with the government. in chicago, i would like us to agree on a concrete package of support measures to make sure that afghan security capabilities to continue to develop. also in lisbon, we agreed that nato must have the full range of

capabilities to deter and defend against threats. in chicago, i would like this to take decisions which will allowance to obtain those capabilities. in these difficult economic times, sedations can afford such capabilities. we cannot spend more sorry must spend better. we must prioritize, specialize, and in courage corp. --

encourage cooperation. that is what i call smart defense. >> we must identify the areas were smart defense can deliver the capabilities we need. in chicago, we must ask nato for a commitment. real support for more multinational approaches. as libya show, we can never tell well -- where the next crisis will come from. we know it probably will compaq and once it does, it may be too late to start. with that, i am ready to take your questions.

>> turkish television. please do not forget to introduce herself. -- yourself. >> the first question is regarding libya. what is the point rethink it will end? catching gaddafi or when will you decide to the operation will land? are you already planning the after nafta? and regarding missile defense, there was a lot of harshness because turkey has decided to deploy radars. do have a comment on that? if your goal is to the abilities in chicago.

>> first on the state of our operation, in libya, the possible capture of gaddafi is not the decisive factor. it is an element but let me stress that individuals, including gaddafi, is not a target of our operation. what will play a crucial role is the capability of the national transitional council to ensure effective protection of the civilian population. that is the key in our u.n. mandate to protect civilians. in our assessment, we will attach strong importance to

protect the civilian population. the nato council will take its decision based on an overall comprehensive assessment including what i have already said. but of course also our own military assessment as well as which decisions might be taken by the u.n. security council. the nato council will work based on this evaluation. the second question as regards the agreement to employ certain defense facilities in turkey, i would like to congratulate the turkish government on that agreement.

i consider the agreement is a crucial element in the development of the nato-based missile system that we proved at the nato summit. let me stress that our missile defense system is a purely defensive system. it is not a system directed against anyone except for those who might have an intention to attack nato territory. i stress the word is defense. >> egyptian tv. >> thank you very much. secretary general, like he said

your aim is protecting civilians in libya. is you're a strike stillborn. you're protecting the civilian from whom since gaddafi has no control anywhere in libya. the second, do you have any conversation or dealing with the libyan authority to have been a finding gaddafi or you're not doing anything on this? >> a first of all let me stress that individuals, including coffee -- gaddafi are not forces -- targets for us. we are in libya to protect civilians against any attack. --

we have seen that gaddafi forces are still a threat to the civilian population in libya. this is the reason why we have to continue our operation until the status do not exist any longer. that leads me to the first part of your question. who are you protecting? we are protecting civilians against all attacks. as i said, we have unfortunately seen that these threats still exists. this is the reason why we're continuing our operation. >> ap.

>> at the start of this campaign you made a big deal about the need for regional cooperation and for leading the african union. to support you in this campaign. i notice you have lost a matter of this. is this because the african union has been hostile isle to the campaign? the unrelenting bombing has deterred them from efforts to achieve a solution? >> i did not catch the question but let me stress we have not sidelined the african union. on the contrary. attended the meeting in paris on libya. the african union was

represented. so was a number of african people. we still attach a strong importance to raise regional engagement from the arab league, the african union, from individual countries in the region. i am pleased to see strong support for the national transitional council. >> we can take a couple of questions in french. >> secretary-general, you're saying the operation is not yet completed and then you will remain until such time as the

threat will be eliminated. since the fall of tripoli, as this operation changed its nature on the ground? have you focused on the different regions or can you tell us about the geometry of the operation? what is your focus? have you changed to the number of air strike suspects where do things stand with the operation? >> would you mind repeating the essential part of your question? >> the unified protector is not differ -- different from the one we saw 10 days ago. where are the current parities of the operation?

>> obviously we have tailored are operations taking into account the situation on the ground. our main objective remains the same. we seek to protect the civilian population against any attacks. >> a a newspaper stated they had documents proving that china was negotiating with colonel gaddafi

in july in order to supply arms to him to fight of the embargo. in particular, ground, air, missiles to shoot down coalition aircraft stirring the operation. i would like to know if you avignon from -- information on this and if this is confirmed, what would be your analysis on this attempt by china to sell weapons to gaddafi? >> idea how revenue from this in -- i don't have any information with regards to this. this situation with china. however, as far as i know, china

has, in fact, denied this information. >> german television. secretary general, at the same time there were reports that china supplied -- >> speak louder police. >> when tschida ran -- china was supposed to deliver weapons to the pro-gaddafi forces, there was news that france delivered

weapons to the anti-gaddafi forces. part of the nato mission was the embargo. did nato know anything about france delivering weapons to the anti-gadhafi forces? then we had the rebels asked for a cease-fire, for the other side to hand over their weapons to end this war. at the same time, nato was bombing three cities in the southeast of tripoli. was it part of the tactics you took on with the bombs and to offer a cease-fire? i do not understand the strategy. >> first, as far as france is

concerned, nato has not been informed about such stories -- such deliveries. this issue was discussed in the media and in the public. i understand that the purpose of this operation was to actually protect civilians against attacks from the khaddafi forces. let me stress that it has not been part of the nato operation. >> the wall street journal. >> can you repeat to the

question? it was not clear what the question was. >> i will try to make him more clear. the rebels offered a ceasefire to the other sides to hand over the weapons. wherever it was. at the same time, we got a report that nato was bombing in the southeast of tripoli. i wonder, what is the strategy if you're bombing at the same time as offering a cease-fire. first you say there will not be any more shooting. we appreciate all efforts to find a peaceful solution to what might be left of this conflict. i'd think as has been

demonstrated, a very irresponsible approach to solving this conflict by offering the remnants of the khadafy regime a peaceful solution. that is my first point. second, as far as nato, we continue as long as we believe there is a threat against a civilian population. we are careful in conducting our operations with the u.n. mandate. as long as the threat against the civilian population exist, we will continue our operations. there is no contradiction between the protection of civilians according to the u.n. mandate and the efforts to find

a peaceful solution underground. >> loss street journal. >> the focus on the story is on europe. it seems like in chicago [inaudible] can you talk about your own report card and where your allies are particularly strong? how the process -- what your report card might outline.

>> to the lists, i could add transport capacity. that is not directly related to the libyan operations but a more general challenge to make sure that european forces become more mobile. personally i think it is one of the weaknesses of the european armed forces that we lack a strategic airlift capacity. i could add that to the list i have already outlined. all of these issues will be dealt with within the concept of smart defense.

the nato allied command operation is currently working on a paper or they identify a number of areas that could potentially be subject to multinational corporations. what we try from now until may is to identify a number of areas in which a group of countries could share resources. hopefully at the nato summit in chicago, where could identify a number of elite nation's that would carry forward these projects. this initiative was built on what we decided in lisbon last year. we adopted a paper and

identified 11 priority areas where we will focus our investments in the coming years including cyber defense, missile defense, etc.. all in all, it will be a comprehensive defense package that will contribute to make more efficient use of our resources. but also aim at narrowing the economic gap between the united states and europe. that is my ambition. >> i think the libyan operation has demonstrated that despite economic austerity, despite the crux to provide the

majority of assets for our libya operation, aircraft, and also the maritime asset provided by and their crops including the strike aircraft which were provided by canada, european allies, and partners in the region. that is absolutely a positive lesson to be learned but the whole operation has also made it visible the star some gaps to be filled. that will be a focus. >> to what extent are you in contact with the eu envoys?

is there a plan to transition once you decide the mission is over? to further the eu presence? on the 9/11 commemoration this week, one of the lessons learned -- >> i have had a regular contact with the european union with this libya crisis. institutions including higher representative ashton. we have closely coordinated and

have had a staff contacts to make sure that we work with each other in a complementary way. i expect that court and mission to continue. i would appreciate it if the european union could take on a the national transitional council and the libyan people in the reconstruction of libya. maybe the term reconstruction is not appropriate because for the new authorities, it is to build from scratch what has been demolished by the former regime. it is for the libyan people, the national transitional council to shape the future libya. if they request assistance from

abroad, i believe that a european union could and should play an important role. in that respect, i am pleased how closely we have coordinated through this crisis. with regards to the september, i think we all agree that what happened 10 years ago really changed the perception of security. very important steps were taken in the wake of this terrific attack on the united states. as far as nato is concerned, we evoked article 5 for the first time in the history of our

alliance. european allies and canada agreed that the attack on the united states should be considered an attack on all as is stated in article 5. this is the reason why we are engaged in afghanistan today. we will continue with the aim to prevent it from once again becoming a safe haven for terrorists. now we're in the process of handing over that responsibility to the afghan security forces. of course a number of other initiatives have been taken. it is also part of this story that many countries have

introduced have the control measures to make sure of that they can protect their populations effectively. this is a delicate balance to protect the freedom we believe in and at the same time to make sure that people in our country's can continue to live their lives in security and safety. in many ways, what happens 10 years ago has changed our lives but the bottom line is i believe that today we have to save the world -- we have a safer world than we had 10 years ago the we

have seen terrorist attacks since 9/11. the overall picture is that the international terror networks have been significantly degraded since 2001. that is the good news. >> we have only a few minutes left. >> it seems there will be no international peacekeeping mission in libya mostly because the transitional council does not want one. do you think this is a good developments? will the country be stable and off? >> i believe that it is the new authorities in libya that have

the major responsibility to shape the future of the country including securing the libyan people. it is also my firm belief that any international presence under u.n. leadership in libya should be based on a clear request from the new authorities in libya. i'm confident that the national transitional council will be able to ensure that the transition to democracy in libya can take place in a peaceful manner and based on a

spirit of reconciliation. i am confident that the national transitional council will respect the basic principles of human rights, the rule of law, and a democracy. a believe they have a sincere desire to see the development of a true democracy in libya. having said that, i will international community has clearly stated its preparedness to assist the libyan people in this transformation if requested. that statement was reiterated at the paris meeting last week. first and foremost, a it is for e the lead. tak ethe

>> i know you have answered many questions before about whether you have exceeded your mandate to protect civilians. you have a well rehearsed answer. given the current balance of forces, can you explain how a tank or a rocket launcher in a place like sirte operated by pro-gaddafi forces is more of a threat to civilians than a rocket launcher operated by opposition forces? >> the fact is that the ntc forces have been very careful to avoid civilian casualties.

we have no reason to believe that the ntc forces constitute a threat to the civilian population in libya. i think there recent initiatives to find a peaceful solution to the remaining conflict testifies to that cautiousness. that is my point of departure -- departure that they do not constitute such a threat to the civilian population. contrary to what we have seen from gaddafi and the remnants of the regime, not long ago they actually fired a missile from one of their strongholds. as long as we consider these

khaddafi forces and to constitute a threat toward the civilian population, we will continue on our operation. of course we will be careful in identifying legitimate military targets but now and then we see such movements that could constitute a threat to the civilian population. in that case it is in full accordance with the u.n. >> thank you very much. [no audio] >> the pentagon retirement ceremony for general david petraeus.

an update on military operations in iraq. after that, a couple of congressional meetings with senator hatch to me of pennsylvania followed by debbie wasserman schultze from florida. we have several events to tell about tomorrow leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. janet napolitano and mike rogers will speak at a forum hosted by politioc. co. the head of the transportation security ministration discusses the evolution of aviation security at the center for international studies. you can see that starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span to. here on c-span, rudy guiliani talks about u.s. security since 9/11. our coverage from the national press club starts at 1:00 p.m.

eastern. also tomorrow, mitt romney will announce his jobs plan at a company in north las vegas. his sport -- his speech will be live on c-span and on c-span radio and that c-span.org. it starts 3 cock bird -- 3:30. >> to our reporters are saying and track the latest contributions with c-span's web sites for 22 of. it helps you navigate the political landscape with atrophied -- twitter feeds plus links to media partners. all at c-span.org/campaign2012. the retirement ceremony for

general david petraeus who will be sworn in as cia director on tuesday. he left afghanistan more secure and hopeful than a year ago. this is less than an hour and a half. >> in honor of david petraeus, former commander assistance force of the united states forces in afghanistan. hugh has retired after 37 years of distinguished service. ladies and gentlemen, general david petraeus accompanied by the host, william lynn, deputy

secretary of defense and admiral michael mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. please rise as honors are rendered. ♪ [canon fire] ♪

please be seated.

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the next element, the united states marine corps honor guard. and sgt. robert martinez. the colors have always been one of the most important units of the -- elements of the unit. the color guard is led by staff sergeant christopher wren. there forceext element is

honor guard. the platoocommanded by capt. ths earhart. marching is the marine captain.

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>> ladies and gentlemen, please stand. please remain standing for the playing of the national anthem. ♪

[national anthem plays] ♪

>> please be seated.

over the course of his nearly four decades in uniform, he let his unit to achieve the most difficult and critical of missions. the rapid growth and improvement of iraqi security forces to the

surge in iraq. to the expansion of the architecture in the u.s. central command region. beyond his successes, he also created a lasting impact on the way the army conduct counterinsurgency operations. his leadership in the fight against terrorism across the globe, saved countless lives. his matchless leadership are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service that reflects great credit upon himself, the u.s. army commander ronan of defense.

-- u.s. army commander of defense. [applause] >> the department of the army by order of the secretary of the army, the following soldier is retired. general david h. petraeus, united states army. general petraeus is being presented with the flag of the united states of america.

the occasion of retirement, we also recognize the upstanding service of his spouse, mrs. holly petraeus. over the course of her four decades of being associated with our armed forces as an army spouse, she has been a relentless advocate for the military community at large and for military families. this exemplifies the true spirit .f the army spouse shoo helping others to do the same. she guided her family through 23 moves. while her husband was deployed.

she has brought to bear experience with our military and has distinguished herself through many years of service. she has demonstrated unwavering determination and treated positive change and improving the lives around her in the military and local community. signed robert m. gates, secretary of defense. [applause]

she is also being presented a decoration for her service in recognition of her service to the u.s. army from july 1974 after 2011. [applause] at this time, general petraeus is presenting his wife with a bouquet of flowers in appreciation for dedication and support. [applause]

also at this time, flowers are being presented to mrs. nolton and their daughter and son. [applause] we are proud to recognize his devotion to our country and wish him happiness and prosperity in his well earned retirement. [laughter] [applause] >> honor guard.

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>> the deputy secretary. [applause] >> thank you very much and welcome. admiral mullen, a distinguished colleagues, civilian and military sides of the department of defense, members of congress, the diplomatic corps, general petraeus, holly and steven, mrs. nolton. it is an honor to celebrate the

storied career of one of our finest soldiers. general petraeus and i have a lot in common. we both hold graduate degrees from princeton. each of us worked at the pentagon in the 1990's. general petraeus avalos 5 mile runs with rounds of pushups and pulps. i too am known for my affleck endurance. i follow hours of watching football with repeated rounds of "sports center." general petraeus began his career in the shadow of vietnam. he will be remembered for his leadership in the decades following 9/11. in over a week, will mark the 10th anniversary of that decisive moment in american history. we will remember those we have lost and we will salute the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen who emerge from this crucible to

stand among the generous -- the greatest generation in our nation's history. this has been defined by that date in these wars. 5 million of them that served in uniform, 2 million in combat. their service has changed the course of world events. no one has played a more important role leading this new generation on the battlefield than the man who stands before us today. general petraeus has been a combat leader and a leading strategist in this post-9/11 world. it is rare for a leader to have the endurance and charisma to leave troops in war in the force of mind -- and the force of mine to ship the strategy for that war. david petraeus has distinguished himself at each.

in iraq and afghanistan, our forces fought on battlefields different and we have faced before. different than we had trained for, and different than we had equipped for. to overcome an unfamiliar enemy, wielding an arsenal of lethal tactics, general petraeus bill to a counterinsurgency strategy around the adaptability and ingenuity of the 9/11 generation. that strategy enabled the world's most remarkable military to wage a new kind of war. iraq and afghanistan have tested our men and women in uniform. they have tested the resilience of our institutional military and they have tested our nation's resolve. but by acting on his belief that the most powerful weapon, most powerful tool any soldier carries is not his weapon, but his mind.

general petraeus has redefined how america fought those wars. the revolution in tactics he inspired not only delivered iraq from the clutches of sectarian violence, it is giving the people of afghanistan a fighting chance to determine their future. general petraeus exceeded -- succeeded because of his skills and the brilliance of a strategist propeled him at each step of his career. he distinguished himself at west point as a cadet. soldier petraeus stood out in every committee held. dr. petraeus was commissioned as a political strategist at princeton. professor petraeus talk on the faculty of west point. strategist petraeus made his mark on army doctrine with a manual on counterinsurgency might have heard of.

general petraeus lead our forces in two of the most dangerous and complex war as our nation has fought. he has done all this while setting an exceptional example of self -- selfless service. when asked by president obama to step down from central command and return to the field, general petraeus did not hesitate. and now, a year later, after he has departed, the commander in chief called on him again for a very different mission. leading the cia. again, without hesitation, general petraeus pledge to continue serving our nation after a 37-year career in uniform. i know our colleagues at the cia are looking forward to those 10 mild morning runs with the new director. the selfless devotion to

service is a trait shared by the entire family. his daughter, bannan, served -- ann tolerated her father's absence. his son, lt. steven petraeus, fought in afghanistan. his wife has spent her life as the daughter, the wife, now the mother of a soldier. she to accepted president obama's call to serve by helping to protect our service members and their families from fraud and financial hardship. your life and worked all -- honors those who stand with us in uniform. [applause]

general petraeus, as you drink it -- bring your relentless drive to another institution, you leave behind a military that is forever indebted. you have proven yourself the greatest kind of patriot. a man who so cherishes our country's ideals, we're not -- or not afraid to challenge the institutions that are them. by transforming our military from within, you have showed us how to honor tradition by remaking it. you will no longer wear the uniform, but you will always be a soldier. where you live, you set the creed set by another general. faced with orders to execute a daring maneuver, general patton said, i am a soldier, i fight where i am told, and i went awry

fight." goodluck and god speed. [applause] liasson tillemann, admiral mullen. -- ladies and gentlemen, admiral mullen. [applause] >> secretary, general petraeus,

holly, stephen, and mrs. milton, other distinguished visitors. it is a privilege to join you today of the grounds of the old guard. this is a place that both sanctifies our past and harold's our future. i cannot think of a more fitting location to pay tribute to the historic leadership and far reach of two national treasures. i know dave and holly are pleased to have their children n andtephen here to -- an steven. stephen petraeus recently returned from a highly successful deployment in afghanistan.

when steven called his father in baghdad to tell him he wanted to go into the army, dave's reaction was a smart one. he said, you better call your mother. then he said i did. she told me to call you. i am glad my house was not the only one that works the way. well done and welcome back. after hearing a little bit about the year you had, i wonder if your sister's plan to spend the next year in chapel hill is not starting to look pretty good. i am honored about -- to be here and honored to call david petraeus a friend. when i got to know him i was gratified to learn he had some important things in common. we were both a voracious readers and realize the lessons of vietnam would forever permeate our perspectives.

we made a decision when we married women blessed with a strong spirit of service. and a great deal of tolerance as well. dave had returned to iraq and -- at a few short months of home, [unintelligible] i was impressed with his energy, his innovative thinking, and his resolve -- results. by the time he left in 2005, he had grown the ranks to 200,000 iraqi soldiers and police. a force that would prove crucial to winning the peace in the years that followed. while this achievement by any measure would be considered astounding, i frankly was not that surprised. by this time, like so many before me that when it comes to the art of the possible, there was general

david petraeus and everybody else. i suspect it has been that way for a long time. this was all young local boy who would sneak into west point to play on its historic athletic fields. some say because they were the most beautiful along the hudson. i believe they already knew this was where his true destiny awaited him. his classmates remember him as strategic and measured and peaches. someone who would one day of a " run the army in 10 years, and that is when he was in a high- school." on the soccer field, it was the pacesetter crew was always good at seeing the next shot. indeed through his ability to see that next shot, most western

not. he has advised two presidents, change the course of two wars, transformed our military, and perhaps more important of all, most important of all, reminded americans once again that with the right ideas, and the right leadership, almost anything is possible. quite simply, general david petraeus has set the gold standard for wartime commander in the modern era. what elevates him above the others is not just his ability to visualize victory. and the resilience to see it through. he had done this his entire life. from early successes finishing at the top of his class at west point, ranger school, and leavenworth, to equally impressive operational successes in company and battalion command, often at an age far earlier than his peers.

his principles help to make mobile and early success for the coalition. when he returned to the states after his second tour, my good friend the chief of staff at the real-time told him bluntly, to shake up the army. dave took the chief at his word, setting out to do nothing less than recast the way our nation fights its wars. in concert with general jim mattus, he drafted the counter insurgency manual. it would also go on to become a

best seller. only david petraeus could take a military manual and make it a great stocking stuffer. they've encouraged not just physical but intellectual strength. charging this generation of leaders to understand the true purpose of power as a force for good. and that in sharing risk with those we protect, we build the trust and partnerships so crucial to success. did did not just write the book on counterinsurgency, he put it in practice like no other under the toughest of circumstances. when general petraeus took command of the multinational force iraq in 2007, it was a time of the doubt, of chaos, and of death. around the nation and around the world, skeptics question whether another change in strategy or leadership could make a difference. that change was hard, as our

troops moved out into the cities and towns of iraq, casualties were high. and the fight relentless. yet david never wavered and even in the face of a tough fight in iraq and a very tough political climate here in washington, he rose above it all as he always has. and the morning of september 10, 2007 as he prepared for what would be a historic set of hearings on the war in iraq, did receive a special message from hometown friend, the poem "if" i read your kipling. he commented this iconic palm who -- that happened to be his favorite captures the qualities demanded of a good leader during tough times. throughout it all, dave embodied kipling's words, to -- to keep your head about you when all oaround you are losing theirs.

as dave performed his job, our troops to theirs. your every unforgiving minute, they adapted at every term embracing the counterinsurgency principles they've forged and after an extraordinary effort, " returned to iraq. it was natural that they would rise to assume the range of central command, executing the strategy. he helped design. last summer the president would turn to dave yet again to lead our efforts in afghanistan. while the circumstances were unexpected, if response was not. he picked up his rucksack, ready to lead another critical mission at its most critical moment in history. afghanistan is a more secure in

hopeful place a year ago. they would be the first to tell you that a lot of hard, the work remains. progress has never been more real or the prospects more encouraging. yeah, no soldier fights alone. although i am certain dave will think his troops and his family, i want to add my appreciation to those who have made his lifetime of service possible. holly petraeus has known no other life. they have moved 23 times. i am sure holly hopes this next job will last a little longer so she can take the movers of speed dial. through those many moves and long separations, holly manage to tirelessly advocate for military families. it has been -- she has been passionate in her efforts to protect the finances of our military families. this morning i joined thousands upon thousands of our military

families to say thank you for your support and your sacrifice and to reach beyond the boundaries to make a difference for so many. [applause] and we want to thank you for the love and support you have given your dad and for sharing him with the rest of us. a special is your dad has been deployed for the better part of this decade of conflict. i know he is proud of both of you. david, you have run the race well. swifter and surer than the rest and you stand among the giants not just in our time but of all time. joining the likes of grant and pershing and marshall and eisenhower as one of the great battle captains of american history. you have expanded our view of the possible, inspiring our

military on to historic achievements during some of the most trying times america has ever known. today, you depart our ranks with the sincere thanks of a grateful nation. as you take the helm of the central intelligence agency, your ability to see the next shot and around the corners will never be more important. t.e. lawrence one said, "all men dream, but not equally. those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds week in the day to find it was vanity. but the dreamers of the day are dangerous man, for they may ask their dreams with open eyes to make it possible." david petraeus has indeed been a dreamer of the day, dangerous to

our enemies, but no greater friend to those with whom he fought alongside and fought for. he has been a driver with a vision and plan to get their, dave, you remain the brightest star in the consolation and you will be missed by all of us. god bless you and the entire family. may god continue to bless the united states of america. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, general petraeus. [applause] >> thank you very much. fellow alumni of the great class of 1974. not yet. an enthusiastic bunch. other distinguished guests, fellow members of the u.s. military, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here this morning and for helping to make a very special occasion even more special by a presence. secretary lynn and at ramallah, thank you for your kind and generous words, and for the

honors you have bestowed on holly and me. needless to say, i can only accept the medal presented this morning and as much as i do so on behalf of those with whom i was privileged to serve in iraq and afghanistan. this metal is by rights their mettle and i will wear it for them. more importantly, thank you for your unyielding commitment to our troopers and their families and things as well to presidents bush and, and secretaries gates and leon panetta for their steadfast support of their -- the men and women in uniform during the time had the honor of leading them in iraq, afghanistan, and the central command area of responsibility. i cannot imagine any more meaningful ceremony than that which the honor guards are conducting here today. the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guard on parade before us represents all the members of all of our

services. men and women who nobly surf around the world, it has been the greatest of privileges to command joined forces in combat for much of the past decade. i appreciate secretary panetta offered -- authorizing a joint services ceremony so i could recognize our military services, individual and collective contributions. i ask that you join me in thanking those on the field today and all those they represent for their characteristically outstanding performance. thank you. [applause] when i asked holly for her thoughts on my remarks today, she responded with two words. "be brief." asking a four-star general for

brevity is probably asking more than a bit much but i will do my best to follow my wife's wise counsel. an occasion like this is a time for thanks and a time for reflection. thanks to the countless individuals who made the last 37 years so wonderful, so rewarding, and so memorable for my family and me and reflection on the extraordinary privilege of serving during a time of enormous consequence for our country and partners around the world. president teddy roosevelt was fond of observing that life's greatest gifts is hard work worth doing. i have enjoyed that gift many times over since raising my right hand on july 1, 1970 and as a brand new west point cadet, reciting the oath of office for the first time. i can remember that day as if it were yesterday.

waking early that morning, packing the one that we got to bring with us, getting into the car with my mother and father and driving the seven curbing miles around storm king mountain. i had grown up in the shadow of west point and spent countless hours of my childhood on the hudson river. even so, we all felt anxious. as my wonderful parents, both now deceased, but entrusted their only son to the u.s. military academy. i join the long gray line that is one of our country's greatest institutions. there commenced to study the profession of arms and internalize the values, traditions, and standards that have served as guideposts and forced the french ships. there is a wonderful group of my classmates here today. i would ask a stand and be recognized, the pride of the

court, 74. [applause] i would meet the woman who would become my wife. what i did not know was the woman was the superintendent's daughter and she was supposed be fixed up with one of my classmates. after some tradition on both sides, i might add, we hit it off.

where were married 10 months later. holly has been the bedrock of our family ever since. she is as has been noted, an army daughter, an army wife, and now an army mother. she is also much more. she has been mrs. dad well i was employed -- deployed. since our kids headed off to college, she has supported military man and woman and their families by establishing an leading programs at the better business sparrow and now with this new consumer financial protection bureau. holley was described in a profile and small, attractive, smart, and a pit bull. i am glad she has been on my side for 37 wonderful years. needless to say i will never be able to adequately express my love and appreciation for all she has done but i can say thank

you. i love you. [applause] as has been noted, we have been blessed with two terrific kids. to watchhas been great, it ha them become the people there today. and as an energetic grad student studying to become a registered dietitian, she is passionate about helping us the right and cut on healthy -- unhealthy carbs. meanwhile, our son steve, who we moved four years in high school, was the belle of victorian and went to i'm -- mit.

he is serving with the 1 73rd airborne brigade in italy, having completed a tour with the brigade in afghanistan as a platoon leader. thank you both for being who you are. needless to say, your mother and i are very proud of you. they say behind every successful man is a surprise mother-in-law. in my case, it is a supportive, loving, and proud mother-in-law. along with holly's father and three brothers, she welcomed me into the family and made me a fourth son. he passed away during my final tour in iraq but he is i hope looking down from fiddler's green. this is the same field where they were recognized after 37 and a half years of service. i heard some familiar strains of

music. the victory division song, the dog faced soldier, we have a round of a with destiny, and the all american soldier. the songs of the divisions with which i soldiered over the years. be assured, classmates, that was the official west point march that was played during the inspection of troops. during my years in uniform with those units from the mid-1970's to the present, our military rose from the depths and had hit. developing into the great force that serves our nation today. a force that is without question the most experienced, best equipped, finest military ever to serve our nation. in truth, the army i join as a second lieutenant had suffered enormously. in the wake of vietnam, our army and military were grappling with a host of serious challenges. i know i speak for many when i say we came away from that going

to never let our forces get to such a point ever again. in the ensuing years, determined leaders transformed what was described as the hollow army and are exhausted military. our services work together to develop joint forces that propelled with such overwhelming capability and -- in panama and the gulf war and demonstrated such versatility of peacekeeping instability operations in somalia, haiti, and the balkans and have carried out with such admirable qualities the enormously challenging mission in iraq and afghanistan. looking back, the resurrection of our military was nothing short of remarkable. indeed, we owe an enormous debt to the individuals so important to the reverse. manlike general's gallon, gorman, richardson, shelton, sullivan, keen, foley, mcneil,

these and innumerable great leaders, those for my services but from all the services provided the vision, leadership, organizational skills, and drive that guard -- blighted our forces as they rose again like a phoenix. many of them from all our services are here this market -- this morning. i want to ask them to stand so we can express our gratitude. that includes you, chairman, and our chiefs and combatant commanders. please stand. [applause] there were joined in this effort by renewed noncommissioned officer corps, one that truly is the backbone of our military and the envy of military's around the world.

men like my first platoon sergeant, sergeant first class david olkie and marvin hill. exemplifying the inspirational leadership of our noncommissioned officer corps and who is with us today representing that great noncommissioned officer corps. i would ask that you please stand and even step out on the field so we can recognize you as well. together, these determined visionary senior leaders and gifted noncommissioned officers mentor the captains and lieutenants and sergeants and

specialists. the new there would inherit the mantle of leadership. our nation, and i in particular given the command to have had since 9/110 these generals, admirals, and senior commissioned and noncommissioned officers and enormous debt of gratitude for their extraordinary service during a critical period in our nation's history. our military went through an earlier transformation in the early years of engagement in iraq and afghanistan. we revised our doctrine and leader development curriculum, overhauled our training center scenarios and revamped the unit training events on the so-called road to deployment. these and other changes ultimately helped enable the retrieval of a desperate situation in iraq, progress against al qaeda, and reversal of the taliban momentum in afghanistan. it was a privilege to play a part in the process while -- with my great marine buddy and

shipmate. it was the greatest of honored to put our ideas into effect in afghanistan. it was wonderful, needless to say, to see so many of those who contributed to this critical efforts here with us today. as the chairman noted, another transformational leader said, " shake up the army, dave," and we did that. i would like those who did that, and others with whom i have served to stand so i can say thanks to each of you as a whole. -- each of you as well.

[applause] we are now approaching a similarly difficult. -- difficult period. elements in al qaeda and commencing reductions in afghanistan, all while sustaining our hard-fought, hard one but still fragile progress in those areas. this will be done of course against the backdrop of ongoing change in the middle east and difficult budget decisions at home. as these decisions are made, we should never forget the u.s. military is composed of many parts, exceptional ships, planes, and ground systems, unparalleled institutions, and infrastructure, the finest of high-technology, and world like -- class networks that enable all we do.

as all here appreciate, i know, the essence, the core of our military is and always will be its people. men and women who raise their right hands and recite the oath of investment. even though they know that may result in deploying to a combat zone. where they will be asked once again to put it all on the line day after day in crushing heat and numbing cold, under a body armor and kevlar, and against resilience, tough, and often barbaric enemies. they do not know whether there will be greeted with a hand grenade or handshake but being ready and capable of responding appropriately to either. our men and women in uniform are sustained in this challenging effort by their families and their communities. wives and husbands, moms and dads, daughters and sons, all without complete move from post to post each time making the new

unit a family, the house a home, and the neighborhood a community. these uncommon individuals unfailingly supporters when we're at home and do more for us when we're gone, be it for a three day field exercise or third tore down range. the intern are some of -- -- of posts like florida, communities where holly and i were privileged to serve and that were wonderfully represented this morning. the towns around these and other posts and bases around our land have been incredibly staunch supporters of our military families, and they have been particularly supportive of the petraeus family in recent years and i would like to ask all of our civilian communities supporters to stand so that we

in uniform can say thanks to each of you as well. [applause] a want to single out one of those supporters in particular, ken fisher. no one individual has done more for our wounded warriors and their families than has he and his organization. the houses he has with his great team built at military bases and hospitals across our country and overseas have made an enormous difference in the lives of families when they have most needed help and support and i would like to ask you to stand so we can give a special thanks to you as well. if i can figure out where you are. there he is. thanks, ken. [applause]

as our nation contemplates difficult budget decisions, i know our leaders will remember our people, our men and women in uniform are our military and taking care of them and their families must be our paramount objective. beyond that, it will be apparent to maintain a force that nunnelee capitalizes on the extraordinary experience and expertise in their ranks today, but also maintains the versatility and flexibility that have been developed over the past decade in particular. please rest assured that i am not out to give one last boost to the counterinsurgency field manual or recruit all of you for this destination. i believe that we have relearned since 9/11 the timeless lessons that we do not always get to fight the wars for which where most prepared or

most inclined. given that reality, we will need to maintain the full spectrum capability that we have developed in iraq, afghanistan, and elsewhere. i know that that fact is widely recognized and i take my final past with a sense of great confidence in our military and i share -- in our country. despite the challenges that face our nation and world, i believe our citizens and system of government and our men and women in uniform. moreover, those assuming leadership positions in our military, those about to step forward, our classmates, many others, i know they will guide our forces superbly. they are experienced, they are forthright, they have vision, and they will provide secretary

leon panetta and president obama thoughtful, principal bed lice. as i reflect on the extraordinary opportunities i have had over 37 years, i recall the familiar words of teddy roosevelt's "man in the arena" speech. the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood and strives valiantly. who errors and shut -- and comes up short again and and and, because there is no progress without error. who knows the great enthusiasm and devotion, who spends himself for a worthy cause, who knows that in the and the triumph of high achievement and that the worst if he fails, at least

fails while daring greatly, said that his place and never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. i have been privileged to serve in the arena together with america's finest, the men and women in uniform, as well as with its finest diplomats and civilian officials and in normal will coalition partners, and i sing aloud our nato senior representative who is here as well as exemplary of them. all of them have been magnificent, and the members of our young generation in uniform in particular have earned the description tom brokaw and gave to them -- after day agree with us in iraq, he shouted to me over the noise of the helicopter, before heading back to baghdad, this is america's new british generation. i i agree with them then and i

agree with him now. i was delighted to see that title used on the cover of gq time magazine" two weeks ago. a commander in stop -- a commander stopped and asked me how many years i had been deployed. when i answered eight out of the last 11, he bank reform my sacrifice. i told and the privilege had been all mine. has been the greta's of honor to of soldiered with aren't nation's new greatest generation in tough but important endeavors for the bulk of that time. i can imagine no greater honor. before closing i also want to remember irreverently those of given the last full measure of devotion in our endeavors in recently years.

they and their families must never be forgotten. and a poem published a few years ago, a british troops captured eloquently the emotions of those who served and those who sacrificed. he wrote -- and what is ask for the service we give? no high praise if we should live just silence from friends, our name on a wall if this time around is i that fall to the family, friends, and countrymen of those who have fallen and to all those who have served in sacrificed on behalf of our cause, i offer my deepest respect and my eternal gratitude. as i close, i know that i can speak for holly in saying that our journey with the u.s. military has been named -- an

amazing one, even though we're beginning a new turn it with another extraordinary of corporate organization. let me conclude by again extending our deepest thanks to each of you gathered here, to all those with family of soldiered since 1974, and indeed to all the members of our armed forces and their family members. may god bless each of you, our great country, and most importantly, our men and women in uniform and their families. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

[march commands]

>> forward, march! ♪

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♪ [applause] ♪ [applause]

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>> ladies and gentlemen, the "on forces met lat "armed forces medley." ♪

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[applause] ♪

[drums sounding] >> ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's ceremony. you're welcome to join the reception. enjoy the rest of your day.

>> coming up next, an update on operations in iraq.

from "washington journal," this is about 45 minutes. 00 eastern. host: joining us this morning from baghdad, rear admiral buchanan. troops will be scheduled to leave in september. is that going toappen? guest: thank you for having me on your show today. our countries signed a bilateral agreement in 2008, and that established conditions for the forces to operate in the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. one of the requirements to that security agreement was that our forces would transition to a civilian authority by the end of this year. we are on track to do exactly

that. i think the key idea here is that represents a transition. it is not an end of the u.s. relationship with iraq. it is a transition to amore mature relationship under the leadership of ambassador jim jeffrey and the embassy here. host: so what needs to happen between now and december 31, 2011, for that to be a reality? guest: we have some things we're doing as far as transition to actual missions that the military has been performing. for example, a police professionalization program. in accordance with many details and well synchronized plans, we are transitioning that over to the responsibility of the state department and the embassies.

the bureau of internional narcotics and law enforcement will take full responsibility for the mission and use their experts to co will take full responsibility for the mission and use eir experts to continue to work with forensic experts for the iraqi forensics lab, police training, law enforcement professional ization, that sort of thing. go ahead. host: i'm going to stop you there, if i could, and then we will go onto the rest of the things that need to happen. are you saying that the state department is going to be training the polic guest: absolutely. in fact, many of the experts that the military has been working with over the years to help train iraq's policemen, the judicial authorities, et cetera, have actually been civilians, as you would expect. the law enforcement professionals from the united states, the united kingdom, a number of countries, who have been working here under a military chain of command, they represent the true experts of

our country to help professionalize the police force. >> host: and the other items that need to happen before troops can leave december 31? guest: if you think about it, we have a lot of troops here, a lot of equipment, and a lot of spaces. we have to -- we are on track and will stay on track to continue those efforts. ut fex -- for example, at the height of the surge the u.s. had responsibility for five different bases in iraq. at the start of new dawn a year ago, we were down to 92. as of today, we're down to 43. so we're on track to continue to transition those to the rponsibility of the iraqi government. we have to redeploy equipment. this is the sort of new dawn -- we have redeployed 1.4 million large pieces of equipnt.

we have a little less than a million to go, but all is o track for that. lastly is our persoel numbers. we kept our troop strength fairly constant since the start of new dawn between 45,000 and 50,000. we wanted to do that to maintain as much flexibility as we could for the unknown, but also because we had a lot of work to get done under new dawn and in iraqi security forces. so in the less than four months we have left, those troops will need to redeploy. host: we are talking with major jeffrey buchanan. you can tell there is a bit of a delay between me asking questions and the general being able to hear and respond, so we ask that you be a little patient here. we also have a special line set aside this morning set aside for

iraq veterans. 202-737-25. we want to hear om you as well. what is the role of u.s. troops in iraq right now? guest: well, right now we have three major tasks. we're still undertakingart of civility operations. the first is to advise, train, and quip iraqi security forces. they have had to leave security n the country since last summer. by any measure, they have been doing a good job. they still have room for growth. they have need to continue to improve. we have helped continue to professionalize their forces and set them up for success in the future to better meet all of their needs. we, as we continue to conduct partners, what we call partner counterterrorism operations with the iraqi security orces. in prticular, our special operations forces have been

working directly with theirs to employ intelligence needs, to capture terrorists, for example, and bring them to justice. and then the last task we have had on the military side is that our military forces have continued to secure, protect, and support the civilian workers that come from the u.s. mission in iraq from various departments. this is including state, but also commerce and justice and homeland security, as they work to build in a civil capacity. those are the tasks we have been taking on this year. we have made a lot of progress. there is room for more to be done in each of those areas. but with only a little less than four months to go until we transition, our efforts will shift more and more to those transition efforts. host: sir, if you could talk out your title, "strategic effectsirector," what does

that mean? if i could add on to that, what are your concerns after you help troops leave and the level of insurgency? guest: let me start with the first question. when i came here a little more than a year ago, my title -- i wore two hats as the director of strategic effects. the first was to work with the embassy in helping build iraq's civil capacity, for example the development of the oil sector, the economic sectr, electricity, agricultural, those sorts of things to support the embassy in their efforts to improve that. and the second aspect was that i also wore as hat as the director of strategic communications. in particular, as an example, i served as a spokesman for u.s. forces in iraq. i still continue to serve in that capacity, butmost of the tasks that i had working with iraq's civil capacity

delopment has transitioned from when we start the mility lead to an embassy lead. they have -- i hate to use this sports analogy, but they have the ball and are running with it. we did supply some support. to your second question, i think iraq has a particular focus on security. the security situation here remains a complex one. i would group the concerns into three areas. first, al-qaeda. the second iranian-backed military groups. the third is basic criminality. the security situation is better than it has been in the past. i've seen this from my own experience. i'm fairly typical of most of the military people here. i'm here in my fourth tour. i have have served most every

year since 2003, with the exception of 2007. if you look at where we were during the height of the surge four years ago, we averaged 145 attacks per day. we are down to about 15 attacks per day now. it continues to head in the right direction. it is getting better over time. it remains a dangerous place. host: let's go to our first caller in tlsa, oklahoma. caller: i am a united states history teacher. from your perspective having been in iraq for four tours, what do you think are the ost important hings that my

students need to know about what is happening in iraq right now and understanding that developing a republic is best? and wre do you see iraq in 20 to 25 years? guest: i would like to say first off, there are a lot of unknowns on tt projection into the future. first of all, as a teacher, you have an incredible impact on our country, so thanks for what you do, and what you do every day. i ould like to tackle your question in two different ways fit of all, when i talk about one of the lessons our military has learned here over the last eight years, that might give you insight sight into things you can help your students with, and then i would like to talk about democracy and what some of the

things that at least i personally have learned about democracy since serving in iraq. from a military perspective, i think that if you look at our military now compared to where we were eight years ago, we have learned anincredible amount. the mill -- military services all learning organizations. not only do we work to get as much as we can out of every experience, but we seed what we learn right back into our situation. we apply those lessons learned all along the way. our military now is very different than the ones that entered iraq in 2003. one lesson that i personally have taken on over the years and have learned it repeatedly, is the importance of understanding culte. if we are going to work with people from another country, we have to work hard to be students of culture. we have to be students of our

not -- our own culture. we have to understand the underlying assumptions, but we have to work to be students of the culture, the people in whatever country we're going to operate in. if we want to be effective dealing with them, we need to understand their frame of reference. many times over the years, i've seen where us westerners have had good intent, but because we didn't understand the cultural frame of reference, especially early in 2003 or 2004, we stumbled some. since then, i think we have worked hard to understand the culture and operate effectively as partners with the iraqis. .

we use perimeter security on our bases. bases. weekend train them to do the them to do the training rather than commit all of our troops to providing perimeter security and patrolling our bases. patrolling our bases. as we transition to a u.s.

embassy lead on all functions in of iraq, a number of security functions will be performed by the security contractors or civilian members at the department of state. embassy, that two consulates general and to embassy, that general and basrah, and in kirkut. kirkut. that total number will be significantly fewer as it has been over the years. contractors and government employers. nelson has been waiting in nelson, virginia. thank you for waiting. university? host: go ahead, general. general ever been university? host: go ahead, general. guest: i'm sorry about the

delay. delay. it is not due to mine misfiring synapses here. the arizona and i went at the university -- the united states military academy. it, a beautiful place. but i s -- and never actually serve their. caller: i just question some of the packs being presented. -- some of the facts being presented. they're just different ways to look at that. we are trying to discover truth, you have to question. just question what you're saying. host: what part of what the general said that your question in? caller: would put more troops

there and then you take them away and you put more there again. put the well-trained troops in afghanistan, as we used to have well-trained troops in iraq, and then they do a good job, and that country fights, which is what they are going to do anyway. you do not allowed to go crazy when they go into that. to conform their own country and the runway. the runway. -- they can form their own country in their own way. guest: you had a number of people who are displaced and are no longer in power.

then you had a growth of al qaeda that came in and in many ways to cover those insurgencies, drew energy from them, and hijacked them for their overall purpose. along the way, i al qaeda overplayed its hand and it helped build up tremendous helped build up tremendous resentment in northern and western iraq. that led to tribal awakenings, the tribal newman, a lot of different words for it, that started to come about in 2006, coinciding with the u.s. forces surge, all the have a senate and the impact on the security situation here. -- all to have a significant impact on the security situation here. the military being a learning organization, we learned all along the way that we had to change our tactics as we build up the importance of

counterinsurgency doctrine. so we focused on the people. people with a critical part of the equation. in doing so, those three things, the trouble awakening, the u.s. military surge with our change in tactics, and the iraqi military surge, really came together to change history -- the security situation. since then, there have been momentum building for increase security and continued growth in both the size and may be even more importantly the quality of the iraqi security forces at every step of the way. this does not in any way, shape, or for mean that iraq is a perfect situation. biscuits -- they did not fully biscuits -- they did not fully answer the earlier question about what i thought would be -- what i thought iraq would look like in 30 years. i do not know. i think the iraqis are on the right road and, i have watched them tackle many problems, the

growth of the democracy, the hard decisions about providing social services for their people, ideas about increased privatization of business. for example, in economic development, and in all the things they have done, they enter their security forces -- it leads me to believe that they are on the right track. but being on a right track does not mean necessarily that we can fully see the road ahead. there will be some obstacles and they will continue to learn. but there many things that they have opportunities -- they have opportunities now that they have past. we cannot solve their problems for them. all the milly it requires hard work on their part. it is not a matter of keeping u.s. troops there to continue to solve their problems. as they are increasingly capable of taking the lead across the board, that is what they need to do.

host: that is mike murphy's question on twitter. instead of taxpayer dollars from here to pay for what we're doing in iraq, when will the iraqis pick up the tab, or have they already? guest: very much they have already. if you look at what they have contributed over the years to their own equipping of their military forces, it started out very much the u.s. government programs providing for the iraqi security forces with respect to equipment, but over the last year, that is change where right now i think last year was more than 90% -- and this is just equipping -- paid for by the iraqi people rather than the american people. that obviously is going rapidly down to -- up to 100%. as far as salaries of their troops, more than 650,000 troops

in the iraqi security forces, salaries are paid for completely by the iraqi government. there is no cost shared by the u.s. taxpayer. there awakening movement, the sons of iraq, the tribal movement that i addressed earlier, initially it was an idea that developed in 2006 in anbar and other provinces, and it was u.s. funding at that point in time they got the program went into a dozen eggs, we transition complete responsibility for the program to the iraqi government. so the iraqi government is still paying for the security contractors above and beyond those 650,000 troops, about 50,000 private security contractors that art iraqi citizens paid for by the iraqi government. >> dominique is waiting in california.

a republican. caller: i steady organizations. caller: i steady organizations. one of the things that is very , structure is a big -- structure is very important culture plays a big part in that. what i see down the road is the iraqi country continuing to be democratic, at least the military, it will be very important. for instance, if there is -- how to put this -- if there is disruption, will the military stay out of the political? do they have that culture? host: general?

guest: i got a little bit of garbling in the question but a it is a question that needs to be answered. anytime you try to change culture, whether something very large like a society or something much more like an organization, culture is not easy to change. it takes a lot of work over time to do so. when you take an example of a society and culture of democracy and the values required, that will take many years to develop the values that are required for a democracy. within the military itself, i was part of the effort in 2003 to help stand up the iraqi army. from the very beginning, we were bringing in folks who had been in saddam's army, experienced military troops across the board, but their professional culture of the profession they

had come from but -- it was not what we were shooting for. we have been working since 2003 to help them in still ideas and make them fundamental to the culture of the security forces that reflect hours, frankly. the idea is that the security forces are there to protect the people and serve the nation, not an individual. human-rights are absolutely critical and we should do everything we can to protect rights, those kinds of things. have there been problems over the years? i think that there half. they continue to learn, they continue to improve, but this does not mean that from time to time individuals react back based on previous experiences or old habits. i think we saw an example of this recently with some of the demonstrations we had at the beginning of this year in iraq, for the iraqi government understood that the people

needed to be able to demonstrate, that this was a demonstrate, that this was a critical role of democracy. they needed to share their voice predict government understood that it needed to be able to listen to the people. but along the way, sometimes comic you get some lapses and discipline, and individual members and security forces did things that are not consistent with the values that we're talking about. again, i think they're headed in the right direction. i think it will continue to grow, but it is not going to be exactly like ours. the role of our military for our country serves our nation well, and there's will serve their nation well, but it will not be an exact replica. >> we're talking with general jeffrey buchanan from baghdad this morning giving us an update on arrive. i want to remind all of you that start piling in now with your questions. we also have a special line set aside for iraq veterans.

lawrence is interact better and in all parts falls, idaho. -- lawrence is and iraq veteran in idaho. longer in the military. that was enough for me. that was enough for me. on various job descriptions in there will max out the correspondence courses. what is the military doing to stop the fraud and stuff like that, especially in the ranks of sergeant and staff sergeant in the military where you have a lot of veterans cheating the system just to get promoted? i saw a lot of that going on. i was also a training specialist in my unit. part of my job was dealing with all lot of legitimate schools, but there many illegitimate

schools online. i wanted to know what they're doing to stop the fraud. they'll all promotion points in the system that they use. host: i think we have your question, lawrence. guest: thank you for your service and appreciate all that you have done and probably continue to do to serve. you need to know this -- the 116th brigade, idaho, army national guard, is in the process of redeploying after serving here for year. your fellow idaho winds did you proud. they really did a great job here. we appreciate their service. more specifically to your question, and greta, to soak it in no, the courses he was talking about was a number of different correspondence courses that supplement the professional development professional development education and to a lesser extent

the officer corps. every day we do all that we can to uphold the army values and ideas light on our and integrity, key ideas that we try to reinforce. we find lapses in those, obviously we want to deal with them and ensure that those who are held responsible, who have a breakdown in values, or brought back into line, or they cannot back into line, or they cannot change their value system consistent with military values, then they need not to serve. but i can i give you a specific example -- i cannot give you and the specific example of what they're doing outside the policies that would be in all the individual union to ensure that the standard is being upheld. clearly honor, integrity, the personal courage to stand up for what you think is right, we

depend on specialist and in co's like yourself to -- if they see something that is now right, to stand up and take a stand. those are values where we want to reinforce. that does not mean that people are perfect. host: another tweak from a viewer who wants to know the strength of the strength -- strength of the strength -- guest: i think when you talk about military support of various groups from iran, it is really three different groups that we're most concerned about. these militant groups that have received backing from the islamic revolutionary guard police force in iran, including a small organization, lesson several hundred people, and then the next larger organization is

league of the righteous. and the last group is what is now called -- it used to be s bushel arm of the mahdi army. -- it used to be a special aura of the mahdi army. that linkage is probably the qata hezbollah. they have been responding back to masters and iran and serve to undermine iraq's sovereignty. it is in shaping an iranian strategy that helps keep iraq week and isolated, not just from the united states but from the

entire region. one of my concerns that i have is that after the u.s. military leaves, these groups are still going to be around. they will still be responsible backed for their iranian masters. they claim to be attacking just u.s. forces, but the majority of casualties that they cause our iraqi civilians and iraqi security forces. the government leaders here understand that an increasingly they see these groups for the threat that they really represent. we're seeing a significant effort of the past several months by the leadership, by the iraqi security forces, to defeat the kurds. there threat is not gone. i am not as worried about the potential of a coup from those groups, but i am worried about their potential to undermine iraq's sovereignty. we do believe that iraq should have relationship with iran.

but it should be a positive relationship based on mutual respect and that is not what we have right now. host: a democrat from boston, you're on the air with dr. brigid with general jeffrey buchanan. caller my question was about moqtada al-sadr. one incident in which american soldiers were supposed to of killed children five years of age in 2006, at any investigation into this, and thanks a lot. guest: first of all, thank you for your question during obviously our condolences and hearts go out to anybody and their families who have lost their lives over the years. there's been a significant amount of loss of life for the

iraqis as well as our troops over the years paired with respect to this particular incident, it was investigated incident. and we have nothing new or no new investigation or anything like that at the time. the results of the investigation were made public. host: state college, pennsylvania. caller: this is from a previous caller. i wanted to get your thoughts on the progress the iraqi government is making with the changes were suggested. what you think the chances of regression, back to where they came from, so to speak? guest: thanks for the question.

i cannot speculate too much about the future. i will tell you what i think based on what i have seen here of the years. the people believe in democracy. sometimes they have not been happy about how we have got to this point. but nobody wants to go back to the days of a dictatorship. no one wants to go back to the days of saddam hussein. when you compare the demonstrations that we saw this year and continue to see from time to time in iraq, for resemble, they're very different than the nature of the demonstrations we've seen throughout the regions. the first question in most of those other countries, whether egypt or tunisia or libya, whatever the case may be, was that the people wanted to have a voice in their future. and the demonstrations that we see here in iraq have been cared much more to the government's

ability to provide for the people. the government's ability to live up to its promises so that the people have all of their needs met. people clearly want jobs and they want economic development and they want security, even though again, all of those things are headed in the right direction. the people are concerned and they have been expressing their opinions. but nobody wants to go back to the days of a dictatorship and no one was to go back to the day when they did not have a right to demonstrate. that is the first thing i would like to say. the second thing is, our two countries signed two agreements in 2006. the first was a bilateral security agreement that most people focused on, which governs the role of the u.s. military for 2009-2011. that gives us our mandate to transition to full civilian authority by the end of the year. the second agreement is far more

important, especially with what it means to the future relationship for iraq in the united states. that agreement is the strategic that agreement is the strategic framework agreement which aspires to an enduring partnership between our two countries. everything from agriculture and economic development in science and technology, educational exchanges, as well as defense and security cooperation. that is the overarching agreement that will give our government and ambassador jefferies the continued guidance to operate to work and make a strong partnership with iraq. the u.s. military is redeploying before the end of the year and we will transition to a u.s. civilian leadership role in dealing with the iraqi government, but it is just that, the transition. it is not an end. our nation and government will continue to be involved in

iraq's development and i'm positive we can continue to influence it positively. host: can you give us a percentage of where the iraqi government is, how far along are they and providing the things that to help blind to their citizens? are they at 50%, 100%? where are they? guest: i cannot give it a gross generalize number with a percentage. the me take a couple of the different sectors -- let me take a couple of the different sectors and describe how they are providing for their citizens. security. again, this reflects the positive trend that we have an average this year of about 14 attacks a day throughout the country. in a country of 30 million people, most focused on a compromise emerging a focus on

u.s. forces, and iraqi civilians. and the attacks ranged from a single shot fired from a rifle to a complex car bomb attack. good, but it is less than the hundreds of attacks today we had before. they're not where they want to be or what the people deserve. the people to reserve here -- deserve a country that is stable, sovereign, and has alliance. that speaks to the people -- it would be good for the people of iraq and the entire region, including the data states and its interests. regarding economic development -- go ahead. host: that goes with that tweet we just received it wants to know --

i do think it is a point to recognize the tremendous sacrifice. i lost a lot of friends here, but iraqi and americans. i do not want to catch it in terms of and investments -- an investment, if you give this much money and as many soldiers lives, this is what you get back in return. but a number of things have happened over the years to fundamentally change not just iraq but our relationship with with the entire region. if you go back to where we were in the aftermath of 2011, significant concerns about the

potential that is that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction -- the potential nexis of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. we had concern about iraq itself and it was isolated from its neighbors at that time, and were essentially -- they did not have any positive relations with any of its neighbors. you can go back and look at all right possible war with iran, with kuwait, and what they had done in conflict with all of its neighbors over the years. one thing we have helped give the iraqi people is positive relationships with their various neighbors. the behavior of the iraqi government of the past year has reflected the effect in fact are moving in that direction. -- that they in fact moving in

that direction. they are resolving outstanding u.n. issues with kuwait. there is increasing economic relations with turkey. all the movement is in the right direction to help stabilize the neighborhood. we have a partner, i think, that is a democracy. and as democracy continues to grow, democracy interact can provided example -- in iraq can provide an example of what democracy can. . there is learning along the way, but the countries around the area have undergone a recent change and they have an opportunity to learn from our right. what it means for economic development and economic stability are not just the united states, not just for the region, but frankly for the entire world's economy, is very important. important.