>> we are waiting for this event to get under way with former secretary of state madeleine albright talking about the arab spring at the ronald reagan building in downtown washington, d.c., sponsored by the national democratic institute. we expect it to start shortly. until then, here is a portion of this morning's "washington journal," talking about iran and its quest for nuclear weapons. host: the headline says iran is close to nuclear capability, this from the iaea. intelligence provided shows a runs government has mastered the critical steps needed to build a nuclear weapon.

the report would say iran is closer to nuclear weapons. the post says the nuclear watchdog will lay out its findings on efforts to obtain sensitive nuclear technology. fears that iran could quickly build an atomic bomb if it chooses have fueled anti-iran rhetoric, as we have heard in recent days. our first call is on the independent line. are you there? would you make of what you're hearing so far? i'm wondering.m wonderin and let me turn the volume down. host: we are taking calls on the pending report on iran. go ahead.

caller: what is going on with iran? what can we do about this situation with iran? host: what do you think? > caller: i am very puzzled about it. i hope the right decision is made to as what is going on with the nuclear arming of that country. host: what decision might be made and is their preferred decision in your mind? caller: i am puzzled about it. something else that troubles me, last night i was watching "60 minutes." i'm a vietnam veteran. they had a lobbyist that had been sent to jail for, i believe, three years to five years or something like that.

and this statement he made as far as what is going on in government, i am beginning to sympathize with the occupiers. host: mike from florida, independent. the iaea is coming out. what are your thoughts so far? caller: good morning, c-span. it is just another ramp up for more -- ramp-up for more war. i am still technically registered democrat, but i will be changing my affiliation due to the fact that i did not vote for obama to promote this. now the un is taking the helm of this, but are they dictating how er are government -- how we are

governing? " we will have more sanctions and more innocent people will be killed over this strategic game. the iranians are no threat to us. no one is a threat to us but our own government. host: what's your answer to this deadline? caller: ron paul, the presidential candidate, who i hope >> we are going to break away from this morning's "washington journal" and take you back live to the reagan building. you see former secretary of state madeleine albright at the podium. this discussion about to get under way, moderated by the aspen institute's president and ceo, walter isaacson. our coverage is live, on c-span.

>> good evening, and welcome to the ronald reagan building international trade center. my name is john drew. i am president and ceo of this facility, on behalf of the general services administration. i would like to take this opportunity to welcome today's esteemed speakers, secretary all right, mr. isaacson, and members of the diplomatic, business, government and development committees. a lot of our special events and hospitality services -- we pride ourselves on being an active hub for u.s. trade and international policy, national export initiatives, and a form of diverse programming.

in addition, our office of trade promotion works to fulfill the mandates of the trade center by collaborating with an extended network of public and private sector organizations. our partners include government agencies, chambers of commerce, and think tanks that can be in a it rich mixture, such as this evening's program. the goal is to foster international dialogue, generate business opportunities, and educate the public. we have had the great pleasure of working with the national democratic institute, a host of tonight's program. the ndi works with local partners to strengthen political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and promote citizen participation, openness, and accountability in government. we would like to thank them for

assembling this prestigious panel this evening. we look forward to hearing from the speakers as the offer insight and analysis on the fast-moving changes taking place in the arab world. i have the great pleasure to introduce our first speaker, mr. walter isaacson, the president and ceo of the aspen institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy-focused organization. in addition, mr. isaacson has been chairman and ceo of cnn, managing editor of "time magazine," and the author of many books and biographies, including the newly released biography of the great steve jobs. it is my pleasure to introduce mr. walter isaacson. >> thank you very much, and thank you for having us in your great facility. we appreciate it. i will introduce the people on

stage. you have their biographies. atia lawgali from libya is on my left. sheikh mohammed abu luhoum is from yemen. a pleasure to have you here. dr. amal habib al yusuf is from bahrain. mohammad al abdallah, from syria, welcome. rafat al akhalim, from yemen, thank you for being with us. dr. muneera fakhro from bahrain. and dr. azza kamel, from egypt. before we start, a person who needs no introduction in this building. i will just say madeleine albright embodies the notion of values and democracy in interwoven with ideals and interested in creating great

foreign policy. i would like to offer the former secretary a chance to say a few words. >> thank you all for being here and having us at this wonderful location. i am delighted that we are able to have this particular panel. ndi has been involved in all the countries that now make up the arabs praying for about 15 years. we are very proud of the work we have done. what is most important and i think will come out in the discussion here is that these are home-grown changes that come from the people in the region. this is not an imposed democracy, or anything like that. ndi has responded to the desires of the people to figure out what organizations work in terms of transition, how to organize political parties, how to train. i am proud of what we have done,

but am delighted to be on stage with people that have really been out there, bringing change to the countries where they are from. i have heard through a number -- i have worked through a number of major changes in my life. i am a child of world war ii, and saw the cold war and the end of the cold war. the arab spring is a measure that is equal to the fall of the berlin wall in the amount of change it will bring in our world. i am delighted to be here. i would like to think the state apartment -- think the state department and u.s. aid for standing up for us in a number of places where life is confident it -- is complicated. i thank you very much and look forward to a discussion. >> let me start with you, mr. atia lawgali .

you are the minister of culture in the transitional government in libya. can you talk about what you think is going to happen next? >> an easy question. [laughter] first, i would like to say i am delighted to be here. meeting you and talking to you would have been unthinkable a year ago. actually, it would have been a crime in the previous regime. thanks to ndi, thanks to this wonderful crowd, and thanks to the courageous youth of libya who made my presence here is a possibility. the libyan society has gone through a lot of change in the last few months, where forces -- where new forces were

unleashed. the men and women together have made this revolution possible. what we are witnessing now in libya is a departure from a history of oppression that has lasted for centuries in that area. this revolution was led by people who were not in ideologically inclined, who are regular people like you and me, fighting for quality of life. to answer your question, i would say we are moving toward a democratic society. we are moving toward an election. we are going to have, in eight months, a constitutional assembly where we will write a constitution and have elections,

and hopefully we will have a democratic state. >> what worries you and what excites you about the prospects ahead? >> what excites me a lot -- i think we have a chance to change the history of libya, and probably the history of the region. i think there is great opportunities in libya, where you have the youth that is full of energy, of aspiration, people who want to have the rule of law, want to have a constitutional system. not only that, but also there is a drive to adopt a new value system. i think what we are going to see in libya is a new paradigm. we saw the fall of a model that

had existed for about 70 years in that region, the model that is based on one ruler, no political parties, no freedom of speech, no free press. that model has disappeared now, and i think forever. so a lot of things excite me. what worries me is that the transition is a very short one. we have many tasks to take care of during this time. we have to rebuild our police force, our army. we have to write our constitution. we have to have elections. there are so many tasks ahead of us, and time is short. but i am hopeful, and i am optimistic. >> thank you. scheck mohammad, you helped form the justice and building party. tell us how you got there and

with president saleh's return what that will mean for yemen. >> thank you very much. and i do think -- thank nci. in the arab world, i think this is the greatest moment we have lived in the last 70 years. i do not think we have ever seen a change in the arab world like we are seeing today. you are seeing the masses aroused, and not the military or islamists, but everybody. what you are seeing in yemen, you see the women's side by side with the men, their brothers, giving their lives. they are losing their lives every day. i think yemen is one of the capitay's where the per- income is between 400, $500 a

year. up north, you are talking about $50,000 a year. i think human needs that change. either the leader leaves peacefully or -- you have seen that change in libya. i hope yemen will not reach the stage of angry change. we would like to see a peaceful outcome on human. reconciliation and forgiveness is the method of the change. this is one of the things we are trying to focus. we want to add them to the system and let them feel the change is not focused. everybody will benefit. we would like to see, like my

colleague said, and then the dictators. i think the revolution will put an end to dictators, and at the same time i think, radicals will not have a free movement, as they used to have in the past. i think this is a great time for yemen and the arab world. >> what the ec as the future for democratic elections over the last year? >> right now in yemen, we have the growth council initiative, which has been endorsed by the u.s. and international community. this is a good thing for yemen. what is astonishing about these initiatives is the peace initiative. the opposition, including us, said we were happy to work with the peace initiative. we were stuck with the president and his group. we have been on and off for the

past six months. is he going to sign? is he not going to sign next two weeks ago, we said sun the initiative -- signed the initiative and let us move forward. i think there is a model from the international community to put pressure on the president and let us move forward with a peaceful transfer of power. this is one of the things we will focus at. we would like to see a peaceful transfer of power. if you look at yemen, with a population of about 25 million, we are insisting this will be a peaceful change. this is where we hope it will lead. >> moving to bahrain, which in some places is one of the toughest problems for outsiders to sort through, political

unrest is now going again. what do you see as the likely future for the transition of this movement, and what you see the role of groups like ndi being in such a transition? >> first of all, thank you for giving us an opportunity to talk here and highlight bahrain, which has been a hot topic since this started. the special thing about the rain -- bahrain is that this is a strategic ally of the united states. that might be the first thing you think, for many people. there are giants somehow in the world, along with saudi arabia. the situation is more or less the same as it started in february and march. it is far from normal. as you said, unrest is still

there. the protests are still there on a nightly basis. there are rallies by the opposition on a weekly basis. the 14 february youth are still on the street, demanding for their rights. now, everybody in bahrain are excited and are waiting for the ici report, the commission appointed by the king to investigate the human rights violations that occurred in february and march, and later on. we think it might be the steps where we can talk about how to move forward. we can see no solution for what is happening in bahrain other than a meaningful and genuine dialogue between the opposition and the government to draw the road map of how to move forward.

the opposition made themselves very clear in a document. they made a joint document representing most of the opposition parties in bahrain, and they made their demands very clear. we demand reform of the system and not supporting overthrowing the regime. we are demanding a constitutional monarchy and elected government, parliament, an independent judiciary system , and a police system in the country. it is very clear. we are hoping that after the bici report we can build confidence again and trust between us and the government, and there is only support to engage in a genuine and meaningful dialogue.

to do that, we need international support, especially from our friends and strategic allies, the united states, and use its government to pressure them more to go toward the phone. >> the valid? >> actually, no. the situation has been the same. there was no change. there was no constitutional reform. the opposition was demanding four a single chamber of parliament. what you have now is to chambers. one is nominated by the king, with full authorities and regulatory authority.

the other chamber is elected, but the problem is that if they want -- it is uneven distribution of the electoral district. it is the same. nothing has been changed. moreover, the human rights violations are going on. the street is angry about the government. we have these issues that made the opposition think they are not very optimistic that they can do any change to the current parliament or the current system. they boycotted the election. so now parliament is not representative of nearly half of the population, if not more. >> moving to syria, you have been a great journalist and now a blocker -- blogger, using

various forms of new media. what role the see the digital media playing in what can happen in syria? >> the digital media made a key role in what is happening in the country. the syrian government from the first week blocked the international media to enter syria to report about what is happening. all the news we got is from youtube videos that citizen journalists have been filming, using their cell phones. there have been a lot of citizens contributing to those specific pages to send as much and as accurate as possible, comprehensively cover in what is happening. without this technology, we would be in big trouble, because the government would be able to block the information. that is why the syrian government relying on sophistic internet capability to arrest activists. >> what do you see happening in

syrian next? >> this is a hard question, because the syrian government has been smart in the way they are cracking down on people. they have been acting similar to gaddafi, but using the arabic language. gaddafi was stupid to say "i am going to kill them all and hang them like crabs." the syrians say, "we are going to do this and that" and use the military to kill people. reform is not happening and the government is not one to take initiatives to reform anything. no one in the revolution feels the revenge of the government is going to be stopped. the price of continuing is less than the price of stopping now. people are willing to go to the street, protest, and died.

if the revolution is stopped, the government will have 40 more years of oppression. the syrian government is very aware of the international community has limited options in syria. it is complicated. there are lots of factors there, and nobody can do a military intervention similar to libya. it has been smart in the way of killing people, but not killing enough people to have the international community act quickly. it is not allowed to commit genocide or crimes against humanity, so it is killing enough people to come down the revolution without bringing international intervention. i think the u.s. ambassador in syria for the great work he has been doing in syria. he has been a witness. he went to a lot of places. he went to hama.

he spoke with the actors -- victims of torture. the role of the international community in surgery at is limited. i think the approach the maximum of the sanctions that can do with the syrian regime. they are suffering financially. a lot of people are in trouble from the first row of the government. but that is not going to topple the government. as for the peaceful protesters, by chanting and going to protests, that is what is going to topple the government. it is a very scary thing. they are pushing things more and more. the more the international community helps syrians and protect them, the more serious is going to take arms against themselves, and that is scary. the maximum turkey can do is protect the border, to do a safe zone where detectors -- defectors from the army can go. but the turkish government has

been saying that taking people without harming people -- without harming -- arming people is useful -- it is not useful, but that would start a bloodbath. >> homs seems to be the center of the unrest, but we cannot get much information out. >> the protests in and -- the military solution, every time the bomb indiscriminately, killing lots of people. they are attacking hospitals, kidnapping wounded people. people keep protesting. it is amazing how the people of homs every night protest and

dance and sing. homs is famous as the drought -- as the joke capital of syria as well. lots of jokes come from homs. a lot of amazing stories. when the government starts accusing them of being armed, the protesters responded in a funny way. the have okra as a bullet and the part of it and throw it at the tank. the protests have been higher than other areas. that is why the government is going crazy to stop anything that is happening in homs. >> can you explain to us yemen and the role of youth in the movement? >> sure. rezek yemen is a huge

organization. we keep trying to get you involved in public policy and trying to increase political inclusion. since the revolution started in february, we've been trying to build the capacity of local youth movements and trying to tap them. articulating their demands was the first step, communing with the international community and trying to come up with a profit structures to work together in different parts of the country. the coming time in yemen should be a time of mass inclusion. almost two-thirds is under the age of 35. youth are a majority and not a minority group. what we have been trying to say

is that if the coming time does not provide youth with the channels and the former -- forum to be part of constitutional changes, reforms, election laws, all these political processes, and the revolution did not take us away from the old regime, which was a bunch of elites on both sides that had taken all the decisions in the country. we have been advocating for more inclusion, a more inclusive process. ndi in yemen has been helping with that, doing a lot of training, building capacity of the youth movement, being able to advocate their messages, being able to be part of the process. >> one of the questions about the arab spring has been whether these are separate movements or whether there is a cohesion to

the experience. puc, from a vantage point of youth across the region, that there is some relationship of all of these movements, at least in the eyes of young people getting involved? >> in terms of our relationship, to using social media such as facebook and twitter, there has been a lot of com -- a lot of communication with the youth in tunisia and syria. there was a joint friday arranged by youth, the friday of yemen and syria. >> on which social network platform was it arranged? >> facebook, mostly. there are a lot of active facebook groups. from a practical point of view, there have been ill lot of visits from yemen used to cairo, sharing experiences and all that.

there has been a connection, not necessarily in terms of being one cohesive network, but in terms of having the same suffering and the same aspirations for a better future. >> would that have been harder without facebook? >> definitely. it would have been impossible without the new technologies that made it easier to connect. you have used from syria, yemen, and egypt, all in the same group, sharing their experiences. >> you were a candidate in the bahrain parliament elections. you also have written about the role of gender and women in democracy. tell us about what you think the role of women has been in the

arab spring. >> women consisted maybe half of those who were demonstrating, even in bahrain. in the uprising in bahrain, many of them were women. they wanted to talk. >> let us start with bahrain. the role of women has been particularly [no audio]. >> the uprising in bahrain is of course [no audio], but it is not a revolution. a large segment of society [no audio] participating, but mainly those who work uprising [no audio], and fewer were sunni. but it does not mean the sunni were a minority member.

they had the jobs and were pro- government, mainly. first, i want to mention that i have written a paper on the uprising. if you would like to have a copy, please contact the ndi. second, the arab women were mainly the oppressed of the -- i cannot say. they are oppressed all over the arab world. that is why many of them joined. many women were joining the uprising. >> rafat made the point that across the arab world there is some solidarity among the youth in different countries.

do you feel that way about women across the arab world, that they are sharing information and encouraging each other? >> that are sharing information, but what is the most important [no audio]. there was the facebook, as you mentioned, and twitter. most of them have combined work together. they were working together, men and women. the represent two-thirds of the population and are 30 years of age. >> dr. kamel, you too have written a lot and are an expert on women's issues, especially in egypt. you founded the women's research center in egypt. explain what that is, and the

many women's organizations that work for a hard to advocate for women's rights and to push toward a role in government. there were fighting violence against women and girls. after many years, the government issued some laws after this big movement in egypt. there are many feminist organizations that work very hard to focus on women's rights, especially in culture.

also, we let the government issue this for women. unfortunately, went away because the national party used its for their interest. after the revolution, during the fight was, women's alongside the men, all over egypt. there is no difference between women and men. there is no difference between literate women or are -- or rural women, between islamic or christian women. altogether, we had only one

goal, to make the regime stand down. after 18 days after mubarak's stepped down, the muslim brothers want women to go back to their home. unfortunately also, the government did not listen to women and did not choose women to be in the cabinet. only one woman from the whole regime is in the cabinet. in the constitution committee in the beginning, they did not involve women in the government. they say they are afraid that women and youth are not ready

for this job. they forget the women and the youth made this revolution. they have been less visible. they need to destroy it all the law before the revolution, because the argument is that this is all laws from the original regime, but they forget that we struggled many years, the activists in women's organizations. now, we worked as the coalition from different areas with the human rights organization. the advocate and try to support the women to go to the next

election. what happens also is most of the [unintelligible] this is very bad. two% one and only in the parliament. -- 2% women only in the parliament. >> i would like to focus on yemen. yemen has a strategic location. one of the things that came to mind is that if this regime change needs to happen, what will happen to the interest of the region and the international community. a new yemen is determined and serious about working together with the international community. when we talk about change, we are talking about hope, not revenge are settling scores.

i would like the west to be assured we will be partners in fighting. you cannot use the same methods the regime has been using. you need the people and the locals of that area. a new government in yemen would work as a serious partner with the international community, so this is something not to worry about. when it comes to the region, our neighbors such as saudi up arabia -- saudi arabia -- change in yemen does not mean it will move to saudi arabia. i do not think they share the same problems we do. we need the saudis, and the saudis need us. this is something we hope the u.s. can work with us in order to reach that change. if you ask are you worried about the revolution, i am not worried. i know the revolution will succeed. it will succeed very soon.

but at what cost? we would like to avoid the high cost. this is what we are hoping to see. >> i would like to highlight more about the sectarian issues in yemen and bahrain. >> the sectarian issue, yes. >> the fight started as a popular demand for all, asking for their rights, and a presentation of all sectors, not discriminating between shia an sunni. they all worked together at the roundabout. we both shared the same demands. what has happened is that the sunni community got contained from the beginning. the first political detainee was sunni. he

gave a speech at the roundabout and disappeared the same night. afterward, he was found to be arrested. it was in february even before the unrest started and all the political detention started. then we have the president of the secular society. he is still in detention since march, and he is a sunni leader. the problem is of the government is pushing toward radicalism on both sides. >> pushing towards -- >> radicalism on both sides, the sunni side and the shia side. the pro-government media, the newspapers and tv channels, were provoking radicalism and anti- shia propaganda and anti- americanism, with croats-

government newspapers. -- with pro-government newspapers. this radicalism results in slogans like "no amnesty" and " revenge against the traders -- traitors." on the other side, there is the violence used against portia. the sheer radicalism is manifested in the slogan "down with the king puzzle we have two extremes -- "down with the king." we have two extremes, with sectarian policy, extremism, and radicalism. we think there needs to be real reform that integrates all parts of the society.

that is the safeguard of the rights of all, not only shia or sunni. >> you are saying the whole reform movement has been, when it is successful, able to heal or transform the sectarian divide its that have been used by regimes in the past. >> exactly. >> secretary albright? >> there are all kinds of comparisons to central and eastern europe after the fall of the wall. one of them, and i have maintained this is quite a different issue -- one of the things that was interesting -- the dissidents and marchers and various people in central and east europe wanted a lot of western attention. they saw that as a way of protection. the question i have is to what extent do you want to have -- this is not a western story.

to what extent is it helpful and to what extent is it harmful, in terms of what should the international community be doing? >> i think it is important. people in the middle east and want western attention. libya is a clear example. in syria, when they went to hama, they let them in. they were hoping the people would attack him, and he was met with a branch of olives. we really need the u.s. to get more involved to help people and protect them. you see crimes against humanity happening and not [no audio]. i met secretary clinton in august. she said we did not want to help more in syria because we do not

want to mechanize your revolution. i can hear you. but people in the middle east look at what happened in egypt. you see all the people protesting for all those days with no [no audio]. there was a flag burned in tahrir square. [no audio] the danish cartoons came out and people attacked the embassies. now we are witnessing osama bin laden killing. and there was the assassination in yemen with no reaction. people in the west are aware of their real enemies. they are not the western governments and the u.s. themselves. it is the government's preventing rights. you're exchanging some jokes about this. we have always heard in the

middle east that mubarak is an agent for the west and ben ali is an agent for the west. when the time comes, those agents -- you had leverage to use against them. they used their army against their people, killing them. the was not the case with gaddafi or assad. nobody had privilege with rigid have leverage with those people. people in the middle east are demanding more help and attention. >> that is a good point. dr. fakhro? >> all the media in bahrain is controlled. the newspapers and tv are attacking the west. they say they are conspiring

with iran against bahrain. nobody believes them. people are smiling at such a cassations. people in bahrain are looking to our western help, mainly the u.s. and eu, and international organizations, especially the ndi, for example, because they did a great job in bahrain. they were hoping and training people about democracy. that is why the ndi was unwelcome in bahrain. it is an honor, really. >> first, let me get dr. habib. >> there is something else. i would like to speak about the future perspective.

where are we going? in bahrain, as i said, it is not the revolution, it is not changing the structure of government, it is only adding reformed the system -- reform to the system, making reform initiatives. that is why we are different. bahrain might be the model for the gulf. our region is different than the rest of the arab world, although it is part of the arab spring. i consider it part of the arab spring, but it is different in a way that we are not going to topple our system. we just need reform. that is why it -- where are we going? this is the question now. what is a waiting in the near future? >> i just want to add about what we are expecting from the u.s. actually, as my colleague

correctly said, we do not need arms support. we do not need western troops or any of that. what is so specific about bahrain is that we would like to see this reflect on our progress and development in the country, our freedom and democracy. we do not want its seen the other way around. we would like to see our friendship with the united states as an opportunity for more freedom and democracy. we want to see the united states using its leverage and strong relations. >> instead of being penalized for being a strategic ally. >> yes. >> i want to ask about your opinion toward what has happened in bahrain, with the saudi government and their tanks that cracked down on the revolution in a strategic ally of the u.s. >> thank you for this question. >> it seems like a double

standard with the u.s. for a long history, they had a good relationship with mubarak. as we saw with the case of lockerbie, they did not raise the masquerade -- the massacre in 1996. >> i do not speak for anybody but myself. i think it shows the difficulties of being consistent, because there is no question that we are very closely linked with the saudis. we have a very general relationship with the rest of you, and there is always hope that the saudi reforms through king abdallah will take place, and that is a different situation. i think the u.s. is in a tough situation. it does look like we care about one thing, and not another. i think people are uncomfortable with his position, but it is

pragmatic. one thing i always found hard when i was speaking with the u.s. is that when are we idealistic and when are we realistic? i always thought it was a false dichotomy, mainly because i did not know what i was, a realist or an idealist. i think pragmatically, this is a very difficult program. what one hopes is that the saudis will see the value of reform themselves, and will not try to impose their will on bahrain. but i think it is the hardest question. that would be the basis of what you expected from the u.s. there has been kind of the sense that this is your story, that this is not a western story, and that there was a need to support, but not to figure out how to solve the problem. but that is the most difficult question, and also for syria. why is it we went into libya?

why aren't we doing the same in syria? i hate to say this. there are enough people who have been in the government who can tell you that consistency is one of the most difficult parts of foreign policy. >> i would like to ask a question. where can you carry a huge american flag around and people will cheer you and smile at you? i guess it is either texas or libya. [laughter] >> been gauzy -- benghazi. >> in particular. i believe there is a new middle east that is taking place right now, a middle east that has liberated itself from the burdens of the past, from a logical -- from ideological problems, if i may say.

i believe that in libya in particular there is a chance to create a model of cooperation between the united states and the arab world, a model that can be a success story for democracy and human rights and prosperity. we need knowledge, we need skills. they have enthusiasm, they have the desire to create great this is a chance that should be taken by everybody. it will enhance democracy by

creating this new model, which might encourage others to follow suit. >> one of the things -- the same question has been asked for tunisia, libya, yemen. there is always this concern about who is coming next. who is the successor after the current regime falls? how about libya? this question and fear of the islamists, i met with those people in the military presence in syria. those people have -- are popular because they have been banned for decades in the country.

the west used very bad example, hamas. such people are not in tunisia. they won the election. people are going to test them. they will lose their popularity. the other point, they will face challenges by community on the society. there are a lot of problems and they will fail to achieve the demands. when we bade them more, they get more popular and they became more demanded by the people.

that is why secretary clinton was very smart. >> secretary clinton will be giving a major policy address at the dinner tonight. >> the revolution takes a long time to achieve. it is very difficult to say that after nine months. we have to be very patient. i speak about egypt, all the other countries.

it is not easy. it is a long road. it is important that the arab people unite together. the people should make the revolution and be patient and try to be very smart, to learn from the experience and see how to build the coalition and to have a good vision and create a situation, to take a step to see

what happens. i think we will have to think how to continue. i think this is very important. >> the question that madeleine albright proposed is a very important question. it will be the topic in many debates, at least in yemen. a lot of people think the only way is to get help from the u.s. or the west. i do not think it is the right thing to do. especially in the case of yemen, what we really need from the international community is the humanitarian assistance. that is not something that is highlighted amongst the

political situation. the humanitarian situation in yemen is deteriorating very fast. the poverty level is incredible. people are lacking basic food and water. amidst that, the international committee cut their funding and the world bank shut down operations. a lot of agencies stopped working in yemen. it is making the situation work -- worse. that is what we need the international community to help with. the arms deals to yemen. the u.s. has been supportive of the the revolution in general, they continued their military aid to the government. that is one area where consistency was unquestioned. finally, human rights

violations. that is a basic global international right that people cannot be killed in the square. we expect them to stand against any human-rights violations. those are the areas. outside that, it is our story. it is up to us to come up with the appropriate solutions. >> thank you. it is such an historic change that right at this moment, when there is so much western help and need for engagement economically, the western economy, both in europe and the united states, are having to do such fiscal draconian cutbacks. i do not know the answer to

that. we do know how painful it is that this is a time and which humanitarian aid and other forms of aid are very difficult. >> the west is going through a very unique time. we have come a long way since september 11. if you look today at the u.s. policy and community policy, look at the examples. the direct involvement of the u.s. in connection with the people is better than getting connected to leaders. a final point is about the islamists. whenever you talk to an

islamist and egypt, libya, they have gone away from the taliban model. if we feel any threat from them -- a new middle east would be a reliable partner. this is a great opportunity and a great time. >> thank you so much. secretary, do you have some final thoughts? >> i would like to thank everybody because this has been a great panel in terms of learning what is going on. anyway, i am very encouraged by the fact that you all know that this is going to take a long time. i think the hard part is how to get people from the square or the street into governance. our media has been covering this wrong. as if it were some kind of a

timeframe spectator sport. in fact, it is a long process. we need to be prepared to watch a long process and to be as helpful as we can. and listen to you and know that you are involved in something that is going to take time. i have to say, my great admiration for all of you who are leading this and doing and in very difficult circumstances , that your patience and your desire for governance and moving to some kind of vague system where the people have the opportunity --, -- some kind of a system where the people have the opportunity to have their voices heard. we are all the same and we all want to live in a system of government that listens to our voices. that we can participate in one form or another. democracy is the future for everybody. it is a process that takes

quite a long time. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much. it shows what we are doing at ndi and what we are doing is so important. >> thank you. thank you for hosting such a dynamic group. if we could kindly ask the audience to remain seated until our speakers have a moment to depart the room. thank you. thank you, once again, for joining us. and those attending the democracy awards dinner. we hope you have a fantastic evening. thank you. [applause]

>> tonight on c-span, lara logan talks about covering foreign conflicts. he talks with her about the -- at the event hosted by george washington and harvard universities and the national press club. live coverage starts at 8:00. >> almost every other developed country, you pay taxes on the money make -- on the money you make. the united states taxes are global income. it makes the u.s. companies very anti-competitive and forces them to leave the money overseas. >> tonight, consumer electronics association had carry shapiro on recommendations from its members to the deficit reduction committee. >> we need some economic stimulus, we could have the money come back here, pumped

back into the economy. that makes sense. >> tonight at 8:00 on c-span2. >> extremism in defense of liberty is no right. let me rind -- let me remind you, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. >> he lost the 1964 presidential election to lyndon johnson. barry goldwater's idf and cantor galvanize the conservative movement. the senator from arizona is featured this week on "the contenders." friday at 8:00. >> tomorrow, on "washington journal," bill gertz will stop

by and discuss the watchdog report on iran's nuclear program. later, our military week series continues with a look at the u.s. air force and the announcement last month that it will cut thousands of jobs. air force deputy chief of staff will take your calls. "washington journal" is life every morning starting at 7:00 eastern on c-span. this morning, one of our guests from the american small manufacturers coalition. >> "washington journal" continues. host: turning to economic business matters, specifically manufacturing, we have the executive director of the american small manufacturing coalition, carrie hines. thank you for being here.

guest: thank you for having me. host: what is a small business manufacturer? guest: any manufacturing firm that has less than 500 employees. host: how is that sector doing right now? guest: relatively well, given the economy. we recently did a study showing the great challenges that they can overcome. host: what do you think that they are? guest: nearly six out of 10 manufacturers may have a leadership change in the next five years. there is a huge possibility that when baby boomers retire, they need to get labor in replacement positions. host: from the bureau of labor statistics regarding manufacturing, 11.8 million employees in the country. would those be small manufacturers? guest: 9.7% are small.

host: the most recent average for weekly hours, about normal, 40.5. the wage is $23.90. what has allowed that sector to do well? guest: one of the things that the american public probably does not grasp is that small manufacturers are critical to the supply chain. products that they use every day. i believe that because the economy is still -- consumers are still buying the products that manufacturers make. host: let's but the numbers on the bottom of the screen for our guest, carrie hines. lines for democrats, republicans, and independence. -- independents. what are the challenges right now? guest: another thing concluded

in our study is that sustainability has played an important role in manufacturing. two years ago we did a study showing that sustainability is something of importance to manufacturers. from 35% a couple of years ago to 39%. host of we want to mention that there is a fourth line for small manufacturers. 202-628-0184. we will get to your calls in just a moment. when you look at federal policy in the government, how does federal policy look at small manufacturers as opposed to larger ones? guest: there are policy issues like taxation and regulation. but small manufacturers are obviously affected. there are programs out there to help small manufacturers. one program is the manufacturing

extension program. whereby technical assistance and consulting services go to manufacturers. host: legislation on the hill to generate jobs, it is being distributed in various places on both sides of the aisle. flood that argument into small business. of what -- plug that argument into small businesses. what might change? guest: what is lacking is skilled labour to fill those jobs. we need to continue to provide resources to help those small manufacturers continue to grow their businesses, becoming innovative and more productive. host: getting viewers in for those chats, michael is the first on the republican line. we are talking about small manufacturing.

caller: what would happen if congress passed a law providing all importers to meet all of the environmental, labor, and safety standards in effect for u.s. manufacturers? thank you. guest: a great question. to meet all of the regulations required, those with the challenges when they tried to implement those requirements. there are impacts that we need to consider before passing those laws. i would need to look closer at the legislation. host: charleston, south carolina. terry, hello there. morning, terry. caller: hello? for all i am on. host: yes, go ahead. caller: in the community, manufacturers at 300, 400

employers, they have a big impact on the community. i do not think that people realize that those persons that have a commitment to the community, now you have got absentee homeowners that have no commitment to the community. what do you think about that? guest: i think it is definitely -- you hit the nail on the head, when you said those small manufacturers being important to their community. i think that companies need to look at their impact on the local economy. the company needs to employ more local workers, but also get involved in the community. host: what is it like for small manufacturers to get loans? guest: difficult, to say the least. there are legislation out there,

multiple discussions being had about improvement. that is one of the biggest challenges. host: what about that challenge? they cannot grow, they cannot hire? how curran is that? -- current is that? guest: there are many manufacturers out there that cannot purchase the equipment that they need. host: tampa, florida, good morning. woody, what do you make? guest: we make would for guitars and vases -- caller: we make the for guitars and bases. host: have his business? guest: the same, no matter what. i am one of those job creators, " anquote unquote.

all of those potential business creators out there, every one of my vendors is american. we make everything that we do with these guitars here in america. simple truth. i hear everyone talking about reducing taxes on business, getting rid of a whole bunch of regulations, we will grow jobs. i am here to say that you can cut my taxes to zero, you can take every regulation from the epa, osha, and everyone else and tear up the books and say that it is free rein, and i still would not -- i have spoken with all of my vendors -- none of us would ever be able to hire another employee until you didn't reach a deal with the demand problem in this country. -- until you deal with the

demand country in this country. no one has money because no one has jobs. there are $3 trillion -- i was listening to former president clinton on c-span just yesterday -- $1.20 trillion held by the banks that they are just sitting on. $1.70 trillion that 75 companies on this planet are holding in their treasuries. unless they start hiring people to make things and putting them in a warehouse and letting the lag time take up -- meaning that to hire a bunch of people that you do not expect to sell the stuff tomorrow -- but just because people have a job, in the next six months of a might stop -- they might start buying stuff. then and only then will we be able to bring the economy back

into what it was. host: a number of points there, beginning with the all encompassing tax issue. guest: i agree that it affects small manufacturers. i also agree with the caller, it will love solve all the problems. the study that we completed showed that manufacturers look to outside resources to help them overcome some of their challenges. it is not just about taxation and eliminating regulation. it is about providing the resources to help them succeed. host: in terms of the next generation report, explain that globally, those dynamics between small manufacturers here and in the rest of the world. host: a great question. there is a significant

difference. 41% of small manufacturers believe that they have the equipment in place to become actively involved. that is compared to 65 large manufacturers. there is a significant difference. host: eddie, republican, good morning. guest: corporate tax candidates, lowered that to 15 -- caller: corporate tax rates, lower that to 15% so that we can compete. we need tort reform. we had a ski slope on turkey mountain. we had ice skating, rover's skating, a dance hall. even 4h had to close because the insurance rates were too high. you need tort reform to get the manufacturers and businessmen back with a chance.

guest: i agree. we definitely have to look at toward reform. it is about the cost, decreasing the cost of providing those products. host: our guest is the executive director of the american small manufacturers coalition. smallmanufacturers.org is is the web site. guest: on the website we have to study that we conducted this summer. it contains the evaluation and performance that we believe is critically important. host: tell us more about your organization and have it started. guest: we are an organization of the manufacturing partnership center. guest -- host: is it spread about evenly across the country? guest: fairly evenly.

located closer to their large minute -- they are located closer to the large manufacturers. the change in leadership is one of the biggest challenges. we need to help small manufacturers, provide them with the resources to help to export more efficiently, bringing their practices and improvements to cost savings. those challenges are continuing. host: florida, william, small manufacturers. what do you produce? caller: of plating company. -- a leading company. host: how many employees? caller: 21. host: how long have you been in business? caller: about 20 years. business has improved. people that were doing plaiting overseas are finding that when there is a problem, they have to

wait for on-time delivery. business has been growing. host: what would you say to the lawmakers in washington? caller: get the banks to help the small business. the problem is that banks generally want you out of the bank now. even though you pay on time and everything is going good. you have been with them through the hard times and they just want to decrease their exposure to small manufacturing. they want you to move to a different bank, which is very difficult today. they also have eight different manufacturers in the building. the banks, huntington in particular, say that they have too much money involved in commercial industrial real estate. even though we have never missed a payment and our taxes are up

to date, they will insist on trusties in the event that we cannot transfer the loan to another bank. it is impossible today. these of the types of things that occurred. these other banks that are not able to give us loans, these smaller banks, describing them as downpour fill list and so heavy in real estate that they cannot loan any money of any kind. host: any questions or further point for the guest? caller: what about the ability to loan to small manufacturers? guest: -- host: would you like to elaborate on his comments? guest: riyad looking for a capital backing from banks to provide that funding to small manufacturers. right now, most of them are in

the process of being evaluated. washington is looking at that issue and, unfortunately, i do not have anything on that process right now. host: charles, in vienna, good morning. caller: i was calling to say to the republican party that all they talk about is lowering taxes. one of the reasons that small businesses are hurting and that manufacturing is hurting is that there are so many people out of work, they are cutting teachers. they want to cut the employees from government. when we have teachers, those are real jobs. they buy dishwashers. they buy refrigerators. they buy homes and cars. manufacturing is downfall because we continue to cut, cut, cut. we have seen, from this tax cut,

what they have done. taxes, they do not even have to pay we need to look at not trying to lay off everyone and cut everything. they need to start investing in our schools and highways. those are jobs. real jobs. government jobs are still jobs. people use those jobs to create manufacturing. for if you do not have a job, you cannot create manufacturing. republicans need to stop. guest: i agree that we have to look at both sides. we have to look at making significant cuts, but in the funding that we do have, investing it properly. one of the policies that we

support is the investment in manufacturing extensive partnerships. small programs that cost the federal taxpayer $120 million, providing a 32 to one return on investment. host: democratic line, stephen, good morning. caller: yes. i have been having this problem with -- i do not understand -- why not have the people from whirlpool open their own country -- company? why not take it all and invest in our own united states companies, the people that take it overseas can sell it to people overseas at $2 per hour.

when bread goes down, we cannot afford to dollars for an hour. -- tito -- $2 per hour. guest: one thing that we have found is that many manufacturers are bringing back suppliers from overseas to the u.s.. because of the lead time and customization, innovative products need to be in place. host: details on bureau of labor statistics in the united states on the small business personal manufacturing sector, there were 5000 jobs added based on the last report out there. the average weekly hours, 40.5

with an average wage of $23.90 cents. guest of these are significantly higher than if -- guest: these wages are significantly higher than other sectors. compared to $63,000 annual salary for non-manufacturing employees. i think that manufacturing provides significant, good jobs for american workers. host: at the same time we talk about countries not being able to -- companies not being able to find skilled labor. speak to that. guest: manufacturers recognize that the need to have that in place, hiring workers, developing them and retaining them, yes, they do fail and the job is the implementation of that development.

host: timber lake, missouri. george, good morning. caller: last i heard, we had something like a $600 billion trade deficit in this country. the theory of comparative advantage, there is a great textbook theory there, but it does not work out in the real world. all countries manipulate currency. if we could just start balanced trade agreements with other countries that we are in agreements with, it seems to me that we have to do that, or we will be faced with endless deficits. what if a country can produce a wine and cheese cheaper than other countries? china will always defeat us. for they have better regulations. they do what they want, when

they wanted. they are a comet -- communist country. we will never be able to compete with them on an even basis. look at the japanese. they are trying to manipulate the yen. all countries do that to protect their own labor force. i do not understand why we would enter into trade agreements that would allow other countries to export more than we do. carrie hines host:? guest -- host: carrie hines bella guest: he had a few key points. really, it is about the enforcement of those trade agreements. that they must be enforced so that we have an even playing field. host: david, ky. bill, independent. good morning. caller: the word, free trade, is a farce. it should be fair trade the fact

that we have an abundance of money in banks from manufacturers for the rich, we should be taxing the rich. going back to the early days of the bush administration, we won the jobs created, but they sat there and did not create any jobs. taxing them to create jobs, so that they would need more money to create these jobs. in other words, if they will love make jobs, let's tax them to make jobs. guest: i think that what we need to do is find some way to create those jobs. in that, there will be taxes that come out of the salaries of those employees. host: here is a twitter message for our guest, speaking of money

and lending. "will they lend money to small businesses close "? -- small businesses -- will the credit unions lend money to small businesses"? guest: a great question. we will have to ask them. host: next caller, good morning. caller: it is the fault of the bush administration. the unemployment rate was 4.5% the majority of the time that he was in office after 9/11. not long ago, 5% used to be considered 100% employed. what jobs could be created? i believe that taxes -- back in the 1980's, we started sending kids to college and saying that they had to have a degree.

stopped with raw materials according to the epa. the 10 main manufacturing plant rules, you want it there so that you do not have to haul it across the world. they get around the taxes by paying lawyers and accountants to get around them. like general elektra. i-- general electric. we have jobs open without the skills to fill them because kids are going to college and getting degrees and not having the vocational skills to fill these jobs. we need to get the training back here and start capping raw materials. manufacturing will come back.

guest: i completely agree. we need to look at educating our young people. we need to look at the jobs that are there and train them to those jobs. get universities and community colleges back involved in what is needed. host: here is another twitter message. this viewer wants better marketing about made in america. guest: made in america has become key in the manufacturing community. there are organizations and politicians that are making it an issue. over the coming years, there will be a focus on that marketing campaign. host: this is from miami, florida. caller: good morning. host: what is your question,

down there in miami? caller: the comment i would like to make -- what do you think -- what does your guests think about the u.s. government's and gibson guitars? rating those facilities, taking the wood, trying to -- a reading of those facilities, taking the wood, trying -- raiding those facilities, taking the wood, trying to destroy those jobs. host: something that you can speak to? guest: unfortunately, no. not something i am familiar with. host: let's wrap up with your own thoughts about the next few years in small manufacturing. guest: it will be interesting. we will have a significant change in leadership in manufacturing companies. the manufacturing community

needs assistance in helping to train the next generation of manufacturing leaders. host: smallmanufacturers.org, that is the website. our guest has been carrie >> tomorrow on the "washington journal," bill gertz. then a discussion on the impact of new voter i.d. laws across the united states. later, a look at the u.s. air force and the announcement last month that it will cut thousands of jobs. james holmes takes your calls. "washington journal," beginning

to live every morning at 7:00. british prime minister david cameron answered questions on last week's g-20 summit in france. we will show you a portion of this event and you can see it's in it's entirety tonight at 9:00. with permission, i would like to make a statement on last week's g-20 summit. there were three key aspects to this summit. first, agreement on an action plan for growth and jobs. specific the g-20 continued with its efforts to identify and remove some of the key obstacles to growth, and balances between deficit countries, improving global governance, and

protecting the world's poorest from the current economic problems. there was the main issue of instability in the euro zone. the action plan for growth and jobs. this includes many of the things that britain is already doing. the g-20 recognized it yet again the importance of implementing a clearer, critical -- credible specific measures. it identified a group of countries that have the space to borrow for additional discretionary measures. no one was proposing that the u.k. should be in this group of countries. we are determined to deal with are the debt, not to leave them to our children and our grandchildren. obstacles to growth. the imbalances which did so much damage in the run-up to 2008 are

growing again. if we are to maximize global growth and avoid the speculative bubbles of the past, countries with a trade surplus need to increase domestic demand and ensure they keep their markets open. those with a trade deficit have to undertake structural reforms to improve competitiveness. there was some real progress. russia is making changes to its foreign exchange regime. china agreed to increase its exchange rate plus ability bridge both of these are reflected in the communique. mortgage to be done. the greatest -- more needs to be done. the report sets out all the protectionist measures that have been taken into 20 countries. these are a cause for concern. the jury 20 reaffirmed its pledge not to take protectionist -- the g-20 reaffirmed its pledge not to take protectionist actions. we also welcome the fact that

russia is now set to become a member of the wtoby the end of the year. it is time to work with countries in coalitions of the willing to drive new trade deals. i wrote to president sarkozy to call for new and innovative approaches to trade civilization. on improving global governance, i presented a report, which i am replacing in the library today. it is an agreement for the key proposal. the g-20 should continue as an informal, flexible gathering by the than attempting a coup -- a complete a reordering of the system. what is needed is not a new institution, political well. -- will. we should strengthen the role as the guardian of the world trade

system. further progress was made on cracking down on tax havens, tax evasion, and the regulatory system for banks to make up for the woeful system that existed in so many countries over the last decade. on development, bill gates gave a presentation suggesting ways e developing countries help themselves to proper systems through collecting taxes and transparent revenues for natural resources. he gave strong support to the u.k. record on the development agenda. on the financial transactions tax, i have been clear all along. we are not opposed to such a tax if one could be agreed at the global level. we will not unilaterally introduce a new financial transactions tax. neither will we support this intersection and the european union,, as it is part of a global move. britain has introduced a bank levy and we are meeting our

global agreement on overseas aid. if countries want to introduce new taxes at home, that is for them to decide. what they should not do is try to hide behind proposals as an excuse for political inaction on meeting targets. let me make this point. the current proposals for financial transactions tax in europe are so deeply confused the different european countries and institutions have talked about spending their revenues of such a tax in five different ways. i have to say that would be a bit of a stretch. let me turn to the problems in the euro zone. if it is clearly in our national interest for the euro zone to sort out its problems. as the chancellor said, the biggest single gift to the

british economy would be a lasting resolution to the euro zone crisis. that is why britain has been pressing the euro zone to act. the deal in brussels 10 days ago was welcome progress. it reflected the essential elements that britain has been calling for. reinforcement of the bailout fund by euro zone countries to create a proper fire wall against contagion. recapitalization of weak european banks. a decisive resolution to the unsustainable position of greece's debt. they do everything possible to implement the agreement. the rest of the world can play a supporting role. in the end, this work has to be done by the euro zone countries themselves. no one else can do it for them. britain will not contribute to the euro zone bailout fund, out later that is a special purpose

vehicle. the imf will not contribute to it. the imf does have a vital role to play in supporting countries right across the world that are in serious economic distress. there are 53 countries kremlin be supported by the imf of which only -- there are 53 countries currently being supported by the imf, of which three are in the euro zone. at the d 20, britain, the u.s., china count all the other countries around the table made clear that we're willing to see an increase in imf resources to boost global confidence. there was no agreement about the timing, the extent, or the method. britain stands ready to contribute within limits agreed by this house. those who propose that we walk away from the imf or even opposed the increase in imf resources agreed by the last government are not acting as

possibly or in the best interests of britain. it is a non best national interest that countries that are -- is in our best national interest that countries that are in distress are allowed to recover. businesses would not invest, a british jobs would be lost, families would be poorer. from the imf, we can help other countries. let me be clear, it is for the euro zone and ecb to support the drug trade global action cannot be a substitute for concrete action by the bid to support -- global action cannot be a substitute for concrete action. the world sends a clear message to the euro zone, sort yourself out, and then we will help, not the other way around. these are very difficult times for the global economy.

the government is focused on one objective, to help britain by the storm and safeguard our economy. because of the tough decisions, britain has avoided the worst of the state of the global debt crisis. in 2008, under the last government, u.k. bond yields were the same as those in greece. today, although we have the second highest deficit in the eu, or bond yields are the same as in germany and around the lowest they have been since world war ii. we have a credible plan to deal with our debt can resolve to see if it's true. the situation in italy emphasizes the importance of a credible plan. the euro zone must now do what is necessary and seeks through the agreement is reached in brussels 10 days ago. i commend this statement to the

house. >> mr. speaker, can i think the prime minister for his statement? i have to say to him, what a complete statement from and out of touch prime minister. anybody listening to them would think the g-20 summit has been a great success, but it was not. let me ask him about the three areas where the summit should have made progress. the euro zone, reform of our banking system, and economic growth. the chancellor said in mid- september, the euro zone has six weeks to resolve this political crisis. the six weeks is all up. mr. speaker, there is no clear solution on financing. how much, from who, and in what circumstances. none of those questions have been answered. now we see the crisis in greece spreading to italy and no plan

for jobs growth, just more austerity. can the prime minister tell us why european and g-20 leaders failed to get the solution on the euro zone? the chancellor told us that he on the prime minister or right at the heart of the discussions on. -- zone. progress -- failure is nothing to do with them. does he regretscca that he did not try harder to engage in the discussion and push for an agreement rather than standing aside and claiming that britain was a safe haven? if we were at the heart of the discussion, counties say what responsibility takes for the failure of the euro zone? given the importance of paul of this -- of the importance of this for britain, can he tell us what you plan to do in the

coming days to get an agreement? the prime minister said, you cannot ask the imf or other countries to substitute for action the need to be taken within the euro zone itself. we agree with that position a sensible step of increasing resources should not be done to make up for inadequate euro zone action. the prime minister has said he would not support the direct use of imf resources to top off the european financial stability problems. can you allowed to imf resources being used indirectly in parallel to make up for insufficient of funding from the european central bank? there is no cap, no ceiling on imf resources.

we believe it should be implemented if we can reach agreement in all the major financial centers. it was on the agenda, but no progress was made. i could not tell from the statement whether the prime minister really supported it. not supported in principle is not a ringing endorsement. the weeks before the summit negotiation had even started, the chancellor, casting doubt on weather any such a mechanism is a significant way to raise revenue. can he tell us what steps he will be taking in the weeks and months ahead to advance the cause? mr. speaker, the first substantial paragraph of the communique says, since our last

meeting, a global recovery has weekend, in advanced countries, leaving unemployment at unacceptable levels. that is true in this country, mr. speaker. growth has declined - flatlines. does the prime minister understand why people are so disappointed by the failure of the is comments? -- of the summit? the prime minister talked about trade and imbalances. mr. speaker, action on trade and imbalances will take years to implement. you mentioned undertaking by various countries to take action. in the communique, these will only be implemented if global economic conditions materially want them. mr. speaker, people are run the country will be wondering, how much worse does it need to get? nobody is arguing for britain to

change course. the imf said it is a british economy continues to undershoot, the chancellor should do just that. how much longer does the country have to wait? the prime minister said after the april 2009 g-20 summit, the glitz and glamour of this week must have been very remote to the small businessmen who still cannot secure credit, for the mother of warring and she will be able to keep a roof over children's heads. 2009 g-20 summit succeeded and this one failed. for the young person unemployed, this summit achieved nothing. that is why the prime minister was so out of touch when he claimed the summit had made progress on growth. the prime minister does not believe that we need a global plan for growth.

he thinks the answer is collecting austerity. just like he used to claim the answer is austerity at tom. people wanted action from this action from the summit, they did not get it. those struggling to find work. our economy is not working for them. give them the truth. this was a do-nothing summit from a complaisant prime minister out of touch with the real needs of the economy. >> i do not know who writes this rubbish. i like the bit when he quoted my response. i have to say, if the 2009 summit was such a success, why did the liberal party vote against one of its key conclusions? he talks about regulation with

no recognition of the failed regulatory system he oversaw or a decade. he talks about the eurozone with no recognition that they have a national chain over plan to get britain to adopt a the euro. -- to adopt the euro. if we had listened to his advice, we would not be discussing a greek dialect, we would have been discussing a british bela. -- bailout. in 2008, -- [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> you can see this event in its entirety tonight at 9:00 eastern. tomorrow, we will bring you the prime minister as he testifies before the british liaison committee. that is let it o'clock a.m. eastern.

-- live at 11:00 a.m. eastern. and james murdoch testified about the british phone hacking scandal. we will have that at 6:00 a.m. eastern on c-span to. we take a look at the u.s. military. the marine corps deputy commandant was our guest. >> week of military week. military week. tomorrow we will focus on the united states air force. wednesday, arlington national cemetery. thursday, the u.s. coast guard. friday, we look at the demographics in the armed forces of the united states. that is the rest of the week. today we are focusing on of the marines. here is the picture from the u.s. marine corps museum, south of washington, d.c., down at the quantico marine base.

joining us is lieutenant-general richard mills, deputy commandant. thank you for joining us. guest: good morning, paul. thanks for having me. i cannot think of a better place to broadcast from then here at the national museum. thanks for the letting and slid off the week. host: number birthday is it? guest: to order 35th birthday of the marine corps. we started with the marine corps marathon last week. for the next week or so, they will be celebrating it everywhere, from large ceremonies as we will have in washington, d.c., to very small ceremonies at operating bases like afghanistan and iraq, where ever marines are. they will gather together and remember the past and look forward to the future. great time for the marines. host: we have lots to talk

about this hour, and we will get yours' -- viewer's comments. what we put the phone numbers on the bottom of the screen. we do have a special line in this morning for active or retired marines. we certainly look forward to hearing from you. our guest is lieutenant-general richard mills of the marine corps. your title --, development and integration deputy commandant. what does that mean? what is your job? guest: my job is wide ranging. i am headquartered at the base at quantico. i also worked extensively in washington and places north.

my job ranges across the entire capability spectrum across the marine corps, and it is to work under the direction of a, not to ensure that marines of the future have the capabilities, training, and education to accomplish the mission state bank are assigned. i work in everything from amphibious dock into what our new light tactical vehicles will look like, amphibious vehicles, while all the way to our efforts in the cyberworld, which are growing every day and becoming more and more important to us. host: remind us of the scope of u.s. marine corps. what kind of work does it do? guest: absolutely. our current strength is 200,000. we are going to draw down somewhat as the operations in afghanistan began to drive down. the marine corps is the nation's 911 force. our job is to do crisis intervention, to be most ready when the nation is least ready.

if you look at our history, that is what we have done. the marine corps is organized into three major areas. one is the ground combat units. we have three divisions, all divisions of infantry -- for all divisions of infantry. we have a very strong air wing -- fixed wing aviation an orderly wind aviation, the ability to move our troops and support them with fire once on the ground. and a strong logistics' element that operates everything from simple maintenance on the ground to support the troops. our efforts are to be ready or ever crisis strikes, and we are committed to places like iraq and afghanistan, where we are ready to fight a war on the ground, we are ready to do that. we respond with navy ships around the will to humanitarian efforts in disaster relief. we have done all of that and

more. we have been in places like haiti, we of course responded to the tsunami in japan when that struck and were able to provide disaster relief to very important allies in that part of the world. we responded to flood in pakistan, where you had people who were devastated by the rising waters caused by the monsoons. we were able to deploy heavy lift helicopters to provide much-needed disaster relief. when people say that the marines have landed and the situation is well in hand, that does not just mean the kinetic piece. it means the entire spectrum of military operations -- disaster relief, at embassy reinforcement, all of those things. in very short terms, the marine corps is an air-ground- ballistics team, task with a job it gets a sign, worldwide deployable. host: lieutenant general richard mills will be with us for the full hour.

he has at a place called triangle, a virginia, not far from quantico marine base. as you talk about afghanistan and iraq, speaker further, it take us deeper into the role of marines there. how many active marines and afghanistan? 19,000? guest: just under 20,000. they are operating throughout afghanistan. essentially down in the southwest corner, it was my privilege in 2010 to be the commanding general down there and lead the marines and our allied forces. our entire coalition is fighting in that part of the country. the marines down there are doing everything from a close combat y, to the westemy i near the border, but more importantly, the they are doing an awful lot of counterinsurgency operations, involving things like ensuring

schools are up and running, and area or the country is important to the pashtuns who live there. we are helping the local government develop and expand influence. most important is our effort to train the afghan security forces, both of the police and army. we have mobile training teams that are out, looking at the very lowest levels. we also have training teams at the camps that involve training recruits -- the afghanistan army and the local police. we are operating across the entire spectrum. there has been significant success in the southwest. it is an area or the afghan army has taken more responsibility on a daily basis. that is the result of an awful lot of hard work by good marines and our coalition partners down there. in the southwest, we're working closely with u.k. forces. the british have almost 12,000 forces on the ground there. we also have our georgian allies

with us, and other allies as well. it is a coalition effort and i think it has been very successful. host: i want to bring up the subject of money and budgets and the great potential for cuts at the pentagon. there is another story in the paper today about what the defense secretary, leon panetta, is trying to weigh. it says he is weighing pentagon cuts that were once off-limits. "orders to cut the budget by $450 billion over the next decade -- the secretary is considering a reduction in spending categories that were once thought to be sacrosanct, especially in medical and retirement benefits." what do you worry about most, if anything, general, when it comes to potential cuts? guest: the underlying principle that the secretary has said on many occasions -- probably our number one concern as well -- is breaking faith with our marines and their families. the marines and their families have sacrificed a tremendous

amount, as have members of all the services. i believe they have certain expectations, and i think that it is to train them, equip them, and to give them enumeration that is appropriate to the sacrifice that we are asking of them. i think it is important that would not break faith with the marines and their families, and the cuts that the secretary is talking about will not do that. we're taking a hard look, top to bottom, in the marine corps and all parties systems, our training requirements, and our manning levels to meet the budget cuts, and we will do that. we will still provide the country with a crisis-ready force, a force capable of operating across the full spectrum of military operations, and perhaps most importantly, a course where the marines are comfortable that we've not broken faith with them and are providing pay and benefits that they richly deserve. host: quick thumbnail sketch of the marine corps fy2012 budget

request. our first call this morning for lieutenant general richard mills of the u.s. marine corps is san diego. steve, republican. good morning. caller: i would just like to know what part will civilian production in forces take place, and when will it take place? host: thank you. guest: steve, that is a great question. as part of our review of the entire force structure, we look at the military side of the house and the civilian marines as well, the ones who contribute so much to our success. there is a study and a weight at my headquarters that is looking at the civilians to -- c- sthere is a study underway right now at cmy orders

that is looking at the civilian structure. that study will be transparent, fully published, and we will discuss it with everybody concerned before actions are taken. at this point, i cannot really comment on any reductions that are possible. there is the review that is being done. care will be taken to make sure we end up with the best size civilian force we can afford, one that will effectively support the smaller marine corps. host: on our line for marines, but active-duty and retired, james is calling from the western part of florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i just got to comment, preferred ,tock, s -- but first off semper fi. i don't understand why, when the marine corps has the lowest budget of all the branches, we do more with less money than any

other branch -- how can they cut our budget? hoo-rah. guest: that is a great question. we the marines are notorious for being penny pinchers. we have done a lot with the defense budget, and we don't want to change that. it gives us a resources. ensuring that we have the right equipment that we need. we're not overly demanding of the resources of this country, which is important that it be respected. we the marines are ready to sacrifice with the entire department of defense, because there are budget cuts that are

coming, budget cuts that are important to national security and aour nation. we will do our shared. we will still be the fourth that you recognize, jams -- we will still be the force that you recognize, james privott we will not shortcut our brains, we will not sure what the equipment -- we will not shortcut our marines, we will not shortcut the equipment that they need. host: general mills, how would you describe morales these days at the core? guest: i would describe mor ale as sky-high. it is reflected by many things. it is reflected by the response of our marines as you toward the battlefield and garrison situations in the states. marines are pumped, motivated the biggest question i get is,

"hey, when do i get to go to the field, when do i get to go to the war, when do i get to go to the fleet?" our morale is tremendous and that is reflected in their reenlistment rates, which are the best they have ever been. we can be selective with the marines and they tried to keep on. we have more and more marines list --nt to rein reenlist. right now it is tough to join the corporate our recruiters are doing a great job. down -- right now it is tough to join the core. our workers are doing a great job. host: what are the biggest problems the corps is facing these days? guest: the biggest issue is, as we draw down from afghanistan, we need to reset the force. we have been in that part of the world for at least 10 years,

with much of the same equipment in both iraq and afghanistan. that equipment is getting aged. as we reset the force and prepare for the next major commitment, wherever that happens to be, we will look at our weapons systems, transportation equipment, and renew that. with the declining budget, the amounts of money available to us, we have to make hard choices. the second issue that we really have to come to grips with, working closely with the department of defense, is what the size of the marine corps will be. we can now and we support that we will not be over to douse an -- we know and we support that we will not be over 200,000. we know that we need to be a crowd of 186,000-187,000 to be properly structured and man and ready at all times to operate.

over the next year or so, working closely with the department of defense, talking to people on the hill, we will get resolutions. host: lowry, a democrat from indiana. you are on with lieutenant- general richard mills. larry, you there? i think we lost larry. quincy, illinois. troy, retired marine. caller: good morning, sir. i'm a retired gunnery sgt. ipad retired -- i have been retired for about eight years now. i saw something on the news this morning that the secretary of defense was going to cut military and retirement benefits, and i wanted to get your take on that and see what that is about. guest: semper fi, marine. again, that is a great question. i know potential cuts to anything is of vital interest

especially to our retirees. again, i have not seen specific cuts that have been recommended by either the secretary or by the super committee as it meets under washington. i want to reemphasize to you that when the secretary and, not say that we will not break faith with our marines, -- and commandant say we will not break faith with our marines, that also means our retired means. the commandant is interested in anything that might affect our entire population. we know that you have worked hard and have earned what you have and have come to depend on what is that you get any benefits. the commandant is trying very hard to maintain those. i believe the secretary also intends to maintain those as much as possible.

i can tell you it as specific ideas and suggestions come forward, we on the active service will be battling for you, those of you who have gone before and built a reputation and the standards by which we so proudly must today. -- rest today. we will keep an eye on that and keep everybody informed. we here in washington still wear the uniform and we will fight hard for you. host: beyond retirement pay, a lot has been written about jobs for folks in the military wants they the service and come back to the country. we know there is some legislation in congress on this veterans day weekend to help. what can you say about that issue? guest: it is a major concern for us. as our marines come home and decide to leave the service, it is right and proper that they do so. one of the bedrocks of our

philosophy is that the marine corps is here to build better citizens. we know that everyone is not going to stay in the court for 20 or 30 years, but some will come in, serve the country proudly, and returned home to their civilian lives, as better citizens and better people. but we are concerned about their employment opportunities. unemployment is a major issue in the united states, everywhere. our employers have been extraordinarily good about taking a hard look at veterans as they come home and giving them opportunities. we need to prepare them better. we need to ensure that all of our exit programs are designed to fully prepare our young marines for entering the civilian world. we would not send a marine into combat without having proper training and understanding where is he was going and understanding thoroughly when he needed to do once he got there.

it has yet to be the same as we prepare our young marines to leave the service -- it has got to be the same as we prepare our young marines to leave the service and enter the civilian world. meaningful programs that explain to them how to get a job, how to convert their military service into civilian ease, so that civilian employers understand the responsibilities at they have brought a young squad leader in the marine corps today, leading them in combat, making tough decisions, often isolated by himself, is much more mature and probably has a higher level of responsibility than most 21-, 22-year-old young people in the civilian population. when a civilian employer fires a young man like that, -- we need a civilian employer who hires a young man like that to understand what he is getting. we need to make sure that as

they leave the service, he has a good chance of getting a good job and contributing to i billion the civilian community. host: randy, republican. caller: my question probably doesn't pertain to a lot of what we're talking about. and -- listening., we're caller: i was just saying that i don't think it pertains to a lot of the military moneys and so forth, but i was wondering what the general things about the facts of we have afghan over there, we don't know who did trust in that part of the country, then we have iran, who is determined to build a nuclear bomb, or warhead.

this concerns me. i am just wondering what the general's thoughts were on that. i will let you will speak on that. host: perhaps a hearing for its policy on that, but do you want to tackle that all? .uest: sure i would be happy to answer that. the caller was concerned about trust between the afghans and the coalition forces on the ground. the trust levels between the coalition of forces and the afghan partners at the tactical ever wear -- the tactical level where i worked was tremendous. we often work together, in cases where we both lived together very closely. our trust in each other was absolutely 110% to. we never had an incident which roused out suspicion about why we should mistrust our partners

over there. the afghans are a loyal people with a great memory, many of whom remember america finally from the 1950's and 1960's where we at large u.s. aid projects. they remember very clearly and when asked about america and how people were who lead in their years and years and years ago. -- who had been there years and years and years ago. my marines and soldiers worked closely with the afghan police and the afghan army, under tough, conditions, and i saw them take care of each other. i lost a marine while we were there on joint patrol. the site of a canal, and u.s. marines and afghand -- and you had marines and afghans working together. an afghan fell into the water

and our marinae dove into the water. unfortunately, we lost both the afghan and marine. i was called at the next day and talked to by the afghan governor, who expressed his deep sorrow and deeper friendship with the americans, because american -- an american had sacrificed himself to save an afghan. more importantly, it was two warriors who thought about each other first and consequences second. the trust in the afghan coalition runs deep. i know there are things and the paper and things and the news that people say, and much of that is political, i think. i think that when you go down to the war years and you talk to the soldiers on the police, trust runs deep and very firm. regarding iran, i can only say that our eyes and not simply focus on afghanistan.

we have people look at areas throughout the world. i have strong confidence in our ability as military people to look at iran and keep an eye on what they are doing. host: harrison, republican from connecticut. caller: good morning. good morning, general. my question is this -- i have a father who served in world war ii, and he never ever talked about the war. i know he serve any great battles -- served in great battles such as solomon islands, iwo jima. is there an information network or i can find out about the battles my father fought in? guest: absolutely, harrison, and thanks for asking that question dad is still -- if your dad is

still alive, give him the semper fi for me. those were tough fights, among the hardest in our history. guadalcanal is eight touch-tone battle in marine corps history. when you look at the conditions they faced, those were brave men and one and all. your dad deserved remembered as a hero. what i encourage you to do is to contact the museum here at quantico. there is a large section on the second world war. there are exhibits. there are great books -- i am not talking about a bookstore here, but great source of information. it is a crucial part of our history, one to remember. if you think about what the

symbol of the marine corps is throughout the world, you go to the flag-raising on mount suribachi during the battle of iwo jima, something that has lived on in marine corps religion, lived in our motivation for years and years and. i would encourage you to contact the museum, i would encourage you to contact the headquarters of the marine corps historical branch and ask for information. we would be very happy to provide that. if your dad was a marine, they could provide information specifically on where he was, what decorations you would have earned -- he would have earned. congratulations, your father is indeed a hero. host: lieutenant-general at richard mills is contact development and integration of deputy commandant. it is bprobably a great time

to tell us more about the facility, how it came into being, and perhaps you can begin with the helicopter behind you. guest: ok, i would be happy to do it. i am a huge fan of the museum. it is 35 miles south, right off 95. there is a sign on route 95 that tells you the exit to get off. it is funded by private donations brought it houses the official record collection of artifacts. the building itself, extraordinarily impressive, was raised through private donations, part of the foundation of mostly retired marines and civilians. it is, as you can see -- i am sitting in the rotunda, but off the edges of the rotunda are wings dedicated to various periods of history. world war i and world war ii dominate, because those are

eras where we have a rich heritage to display. any marine and any civilian -- great place to spend a day, to look around, to enjoy, and if you are a marine, to relish the history of our corps. the helicopter behind me is one of the first helicopters were used in combat, in the current war -- the korean war, where we were the first service to utilize a vertical lift and particles fall as part of our techniques and procedures. -- vertical lift and a vertical us all as part of our techniques and procedures. it shows the ability of the marines to move quickly, the strike deeply, and use asymmetric methods. much of the museum is dedicated to aviation. above my head, a dive bomber flown by the marines in world

war ii to great effect. and there is one of our airplanes that can take off up and down like a helicopter and provide close air support for us wherever we are. it is kind of -- maybe the grandfather a ourf-35, -- of our f-35. host: new york city, irv, retired marine. -- ir: i'm not retired served in the army. but i certainly honor the marines come i don't know how anybody could not. the helicopter that was part plane, part helicopter, and the blood and treasure the marines lost with that thing -- was that an example of a congress telling you what you needed? what is the status of the project right now?

guest: thanks. again, another great question. let me congratulate you for your service in the army. i have operated many times with our u.s. army brothers, and they are tremendous soldiers and do what they do and doing extraordinarily well. i have a son who is a staff sergeant in the united states army and i am proud of him and what he does. he is getting ready for his second deployment to afghanistan shortly. i look forward to working with the army in the future. the question that you have four guards our -- the question you have regards our v-22, which can take off and land like a helicopter, vertically, but takes its engines forward and flies like an aircraft and very high speeds. there was a long time developing that airplane. it was something the marine corps needed, one of the first envisioned as the next step forward in our vertical lift an order -- in order to move more

quickly against sophisticated defenses we anticipated seeing. it took awhile to develop, and we didn't lose marines and developing that airplane. -- and we did lose marines in developing that airplane. the early stages of any aviation asset often marked by accidents. it is tragic. we hate to lose anyone. but it is a sacrifice made for the eventual betterment of the force. i am a huge v-22 osprey fan. the bank operated across the entire spectrum of aviation to give me great support, give my marines great support. i had some 76,000 square miles of operational ground to cover, and people tell me that is about the size of indiana. when i got on that v-22 and move, it was like the size of rhode island. i have seen it take enemy fire and survive, i have seen a to

deliver troops it right where you need them in conditions where other helicopters simply could not have done it. it goes to sea with our marine embarked forces, operates easily of those ships. it provides us with tremendous ability, replaces the ch-46, the helicopter that everyone is familiar with from the vietnam war movies, which is reaching some 50 years of age. v-22 gives us much better capability. it gives us speed and the ability to land in places where dust and dark would prohibit other helicopters from landing. it allows us to more further inland at targets to strike when they might appear. it was an idea conceived by the marine corps, and despite some of the hardships we went through, it was one that the marine corps is stuck with and has had tremendous success on

the battlefield. as i said, i am a big fan because i have seen and operate and i have seen the effect it has brought is a great airplane. host: diane on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. good morning, general. my name is diane and i live in san diego county paid as a young woman, my mother -- i live in san diego county. as a young woman, my mother remarried and we came where my stepfather -- this is 1956 -- i have a son of a 41 and a granddaughter of a five. thank you. we were there for two years, 1956 to 1958, for his training. he was in the first italian marines, and then we were transferred -- first italian

marines, and then we were transferred to camp pendleton, , staff housing. i have been inundated with military since i was a young woman, brought in oceanside. my first husband was in two t erms in vietnam, silver star, a forward observer. and then i have numerous people military in my family -- my boy friend in high school and college, his father was military retired. and a colonel retired. i wanted to wish you a happy marine corps birthday, sir. your service for this country and its military. and my fiance, who four years

ago was a navy captain in vietnam and was under president kennedy -- he went to the naval academy in 1946, came out of the naval academy, to submarine warfare in new london, and when he got out of the military after 33 years, he was in counter- terrorism and worked under the american legion -- host: diane, let me jump in. you have a question for the general? caller: i just want to ask you, what is the nation for women and men in the military? i know the president has any program that you want military women and men coming out of -- the service -- the president has a new program for military men and women coming out of the service. i think it is very important, sir. men and women coming out of the

service definitely should be probably first in line for our employment -- host: thanks. we touched on that briefly, but is there anything else you want to add? guest: sure. first, you sound an awful lot younger. you sound great. you probably should be sitting in the chair anrather than me, with your experience. semper fi and happy birthday to you as well. the marine corps background definitely qualifies you to celebrate the birthday as a marine brat and marine spouse. congratulations to you on this birthday. you understand the sacrifice demanded of our young people, both in the navy and marine corps. i applaud you and thank you for your support for the young people as they leaves the co

rps or the service and rejoin the civilian community. he spoke briefly about females in the marine corps, and -- let -- you spoke briefly about the mills in the marine corps, and let me touch on that subject. i was asked, how many? other than several hundred, i could not tell you exactly, because they were everywhere. i had females who flew aircraft, females were all quite electronics, who handled admin, who did everything except conduct the actual inventory operations. we also had female engagement teams, young marines -- 20- 22- year-old women come out with our infantry units, engaging with the female population of afghanistan, a population that

we as males could not get here. they provided information regarding what people in villages need it, what they were thinking, and provided a great conduit of information to us. surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, once we had the female engagement team, we would get tips on the phone lines, ieds in place, enemies in be area. and mothers and wives would call us because it and felt fast and is because of what the female -- felt trust in us because of her what the -- because of what the female engagement teams it did for them. 40- and 50-hour convoys, half of which were under fire by the enemy. those marines did a tremendous job, and they were absolutely no different, male or female, in

those types of activities. females are contributing in the marine corps across the board, doing a great job, and i am a proud of what they have done. as i said earlier, i am hopeful, as our young men and women leave the corps, they will find a job opportunities out there that recognize the service they provided, but more importantly, recognize the talented and not think anybody out there simply wants a job because he or she was a marine. what they wanted his showed a talent they have -- what they want is to show the talent they have and the service they can bring to the community. host: we have several more calls as we continue with the general. i want to get back to hardware, equipment. there is one story out there about the f-35. costs are rising 64% in 10

years, it is still pending development, five years behind schedule -- still in to all men, five years behind schedule. we are reading that the obama administration may cut some of the orders. host: i cannot go into a lot of detail, but the aircraft is critically important to us as marines. we operate off of ambev is shipping -- amphibious shipping. we need fixed-winged support that can divide artillery until we get up short. i have had it in afghanistan and iraq, and they authave

always done a tremendous job could we need a replacement, at and this would give us the capability. we recently did trials on an the amphibious ship at see, and f- 35 did great. as i said, is it the capability the marine corps needs. we are working hard with other services to protect and develop, and we look forward to having it in the inventory as soon as possible. host: california, republican. caller: good morning. i wanted to know why defense, panetta, is going to cut their retirement of active marines and retired marines and not think of

taking the contractors out of the countries where we have them, because they are costing so much money to the department of defense. host: we spoke about earlier, but to you want to add anything to pending changes? guest: i think all programs in the department of defense are going to be looked at. and they penaanetta commandant of the marine corps at said on numerous occasions that we will not break faith with our retirees. everybody will be asked to sacrifice something, but i don't think there will be significant changes for those in the system right now. i know that the secretary is going to look at things like tricare and medical benefits, but any details would be premature. i can tell you that everyone here is extraordinarily

concerned. they and is and what our retirees are and what they the -- deserve and -- state bank understand what our retirees to earn and what they -- bank -- they understand what our retiree earn and what they deserve. the caller also raised the topic of a contractor's permit contractors are being reviewed at every level to see what is important to maintain and what we need. although contractors from time to time get a bad name and everybody has heard about the muffins, the contractors provide us a tremendous service. they give us the ability to develop weapons systems that are vital to national interest. there are people in uniform or

simply not available. we have many contractors in afghanistan and iraq providing critical services to us that we no longer have the capability to do for ourselves. i would a non -- would not paint every contractor with the the pressure of being overpaid or -- with the brush of being overpaid or simply cheating the government out of money paid the contribution that contractors make is vital to our national defense. host: john, retired, columbus, ohio. caller: good morning 3 i have a question for the general -- good morning, general. marine week 2012 will be held in ohio. i am the commandant of a local marine corps marine detachment active in the state marine corp. be.

i would like to understand what the purpose and the outcome of the marine corps week -- i know it is help around the country -- what is the goal in cleveland? i'm 70 now. what role can the old marine supply to make marine corps week come off well? -- then the old marines play to make marine corps week come up well? guest: it is great to respond to a former marine. i am sure you are ready to jump out of those airplanes still heard i will keep an eye on you during the marine corps week. marine corps week is a program that visits cities throughout the united states. its intent is to help educate and expose local civilians to what it is the marine corps does throughout the country. we always have a bat out there

to represent the marine corps. -- band out there to represent the marine corps. it is to let those who support us understand what we do for the country to civilian support is critical to us. we need civilians who understand the marine corps, who appreciate what is we do, and it is right and proper that we do those kinds of things. i am sure the week in cleveland will be full of the events, parades, exhibits, all of which will help understand what it is the marine corps gives them. it is a chance for our marines to get out and meet people in parts of the country we normally don't get too. we have a lot of marines in the cleveland area. it is the chance for our marines to see the country they defense,

to see what is it they are sacrificing themselves for. i was struck by how much of support comes to us from local communities. i can tell you that, unlike our caller, who was probably a vietnam-era veteran one of support was not as evident, the outpouring of support from communities, churches, leagues, all those types of organizations is absolutely outstanding. to see young marines in operating basis living under the conditions, opening a box of perhaps can dy, cards from local children and civilians saying "thank you for what you do," it is tremendously meaningful to our youngsters.

understanding the appreciation from the american people is critical. wishing you all, telling us to keep a safe, thank you for what you've done. host: email here -- guest: well, i think it is a partnership. we will refer back to my afghan experience. as a military operator in the southwest corner of afghanistan, i have a teammate who worked about 100 yards from me. his team and my team worked

together. places where the department of the state belong, governance, local economy, while we can all security issues -- while we handled security issues that were rampant in the area. it is proper and right that we do so. i have found the department of state to be at extraordinarily good partners in ensuring and national objectives were reached, and very easy to deal with. i support cooperation and every level -- at every level and the department of state and department of defense. host: shirley on the line. caller: thank you for taking my call. my favorite general is general bundler, who traveled the country after he retired to one as that -- warn us that war is a racket, and the marine corps

went into many small countries to capture resources for this country, big business. i wonder what you think of him, and whether you would comply with what he said art would try try to make a mishmash of what he said. guest: thank you for the culprit of course, every marino's -- thank you for the call. of course, every marine at knows butler. he is one of our heroes. back here at home, during tough times, he was very laudable. he was a flamboyant guy, and very valuable providing exposure to the marines during the 1930's to keep us in everybody's got straight as a matter fact, he had a job that i have -- keep us in everybody's thoughts. as a matter of fact, he added that job that i have. this is a rumor that in the basement, if you smell cigar

smoke, it is butler checking up on current occupants. i have not smelled it yet. he was talking about a different time, and his views and opinions were of a different time in america. if you look at what the marines -- where the marines have been a lately, it has not been at time of us going into other countries to take resources away from them. if you look at places like haiti, marines in conjunction with other services went into haiti because the people needed help. if you look at pakistan, because of the floods earlier, we went to help people who desperately needed our help -- food, water, medical supplies. if you look at our recent efforts in iraq, you don't see the americans looking that country. rather, you see us returning

some of the objects they have lost over the years. certainly, we have helped them set up their own independent resource allocation systems so they can sell their oil to whoever they want to sell it to. i don't think it to the that correct history that general -- i don't think that if you look at current history that general butler was correct. he was speaking of a different kind. we are doing very positive things with different countries, working closely with them to develop a democratic system, most importantly to develop their own system brought i would disagree with the general based on current events. host: putting more about the marine corps tuition assistance program, how it works, the benefits in the future of eight. -- of it. guest: i understand some news

has recently come out about tuition assistance. it provides an opportunity to partially paid for the education. it is one that a lot of marines take advantage of, to get higher education while they are on active duty. it is being looked at from several ways. how much money is being used, how much goes towards it. right now the system stands as it has always stood. prince is still getting benefits, -- marines are still getting benefits, and it will be transparent to judge the future of the program. host: new york, retired marine. caller: semper fi, general. happy birthday. guest: happy birthday, marine. caller: my concern as i entered

active duty in august 1971 right after high school board am concerned about feet -- right after high school. i am concerned about the corps being depleted during ronald reagan's term in office. our going back to being depleted of those resources, especially in base housing. guest: first of all, thanks for your service, semper fi to you, happy birthday. you served at a tough time. i came in in 1975. you and i stomped the same ground. our commandant and department of defense are adamant that that will not happen. we will provide it ready equipment and ready training. we learned a lesson from your

time and my early time in the corps and we are not going to repeat those mistakes as we come out of afghanistan and re position ourselves for the future. i know there are not many marine bases in new york, but i encourage you, if you ever get a chance to travel up around, take a look at the bases today. they are revamped bases. you mentioned base housing. quarters have never been better bu. there has been a privatization program responsible for that, but our marines live on a wonderful quarters. our barracks have never been better. we have had a good military construction budget over the past few years. marines live comparatively to what college students live at, perhaps a little bit better.

i think -- you were in a tough time, and we appreciate the sacrifices you made. anybody can understand just how tough they were. but those times have passed, and we are very concerned about living conditions for our marines and their families. the schools on base, the housing on base, the ability for them to get health care has never been better. i would encourage you to take a look around if you get a chance. he would be stunned by the difference. host: our guest has been at the 10 general richard mills -- has been a lieutenant general richard mills, joining us for from the u.s. marine corps museum. thanks for starting military week with us.