pakistan afghanistan relationship but where does that leave mr karzai and his agenda for afghanistan and the american one. i think first of all to go back to our tolls point you this is a missile alliance between the u.s. and pakistan countries really don't have friendships they have relationships and they have interests and their relationships are based on interests so we shouldn't really see this as a permanent relationship there will always be differences and the baggage of history of the u.s. pakistan rollercoaster relationship really impinges on current decisions and perceptions inside pakistan as far as afghanistan is concerned in my view pakistan could certainly live with karzai provided it sees a stable of an entity in which the bathrooms have a much greater say that's the kind of government that they could live with because they're supposed to and that are most contiguous to the area that's pakistan on the border and if the are unhappy that the northern alliance or other groups that are traditionally closer to india have greater say then pakistan will be unhappy some of the

is that pakistan wants to have an afghanistan that is friendly to islamabad but can that include mr karzai because that's that's the u.s. man in afghanistan i mean is that really where we have the differences can we find mutual accommodation between the two because we've heard just recently over the last week or so a pakistan and pakistan afghanistan relationship but where does that leave mr karzai and his agenda for afghanistan and the american one. i think first of all to go back to our tolls point you this is a missile alliance between the u.s. and pakistan countries really don't have friendships they have relationships and they have interests and their relationships are based on interests so we shouldn't really see this is a permanent relationship there will always be differences and the baggage of history of the u.s. pakistan rollercoaster relationship really impinges on current decisions and perceptions inside pakistan as far as afghanistan is concerned in my view pakistan could certainly live with karzai provided it sees a stable of law an entity in which the bathrooms have a much g

international community mr karzai has proved that his skills to bamboozle and to hypnotize the international participants and observers of the occupation in afghanistan he's totally unprecedented however this conference has also smashed to pieces the high expectations of afghan people i wouldn't be surprised if after this conference the general mood across the whole afghan population will intensify anti-american feelings and might in the mid-term provoke anti-american backlash reach could or could not result into yet another revolution in afghanistan that could open up opportunities for the afghan people to take finally their responsibility for their country into their own hands. she's military analysts to get it herself with even alice was there yes secretary of state hillary clinton and the fan secretary robert gates are in south korea in a show of support for so it comes days before a joint military exercise aimed a deterring potential attacks from pyongyang and international authorities found north korea responsible for the sinking of a south korean warship in march an accusation denies.

another smashing success for president karzai charming offensive of the international community mr karzai his proved that his skills to bumbles will and to hypnotize the international participants and observers of the occupation in afghanistan he's totally unprecedented however this conference has also smashed to pieces the high expectations of people i wouldn't be surprised if after this conference the general mood across the whole population will intensify american feelings and might in the mid-term provoke. american backwash reach could or could not result into yet another revolution in afghanistan that could open up opportunities for the afghan people to take finally their responsibility for their country into their own hands are just military alliance again of course of their with his analysis the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says washington will impose new sanctions on north korea over its nuclear program she made a statement during a visit to south korea with defense secretary robert gates comes days before a joint military exercise aimed at the turn potential attacks fr

mr. karzai is series on cracking down, why -- serious on cracking down, why doesn't he start by reining in his own brother? a strong man who rules kandahar. and what does were the karzai have to say about the fact that billions of dollars of cash have been flown out of their airport in the last few years? lip service and vague promises are really not enough, madam speaker. what is sustaining the taliban more than anything else is that the afghanistan government is failing to have any competency or legitimacy. no one is more frustrated than the afghan people. who voice their displeasure with a government -- with government corruption in a recent survey conducted by an afghan watchdog group. bribery shakedowns are increasingly seen as a way of life. the cost of securing basic services from the government depend on paying off somebody. even when the government isn't dishonest it is slow and infective -- ineffective and embarrassingly in the promises where they have established a foothold, the taliban runs a tiahrt ship than dozen the afghan government, doing a competent job of making the trai

mrs. clinton says she will not let karzai, the u.s., nato or anyone else make deals with the taliban that will cut women out of having a legal role in their society. >>> and coming up at 6:00, cleaning up your home. it could prove dangerous. the new study on cleaning products and your health. >>> and the schoolyard issue that prompted a fifth grader to write a letter to the president. how the commander in chief responded. >>> good evening. i'm meteorologist jeff ranieri. big cooling again today. temperatures well below average. 70s are going to be coming back. we'll let you know how long this cooldown with some spring air will be lasting coming up. i'm done withllhese looists anomd ivg all ceover i want one list. for one store. [ female announcer ] at safeway, you get it all. great quality and great prices. so you just need a safeway list. [ male announcer ] with thousands of everyday low prices you'll save all over the store. [ female announcer ] with club card specials like breyers ice cream just $1.99 and safeway hot dog or hamburger buns only 89 cents. [ male announcer ] quality and l

mr. dobbins? >> well, all wars do end. i think karzai continues to enjoy a really almost unique degree of international support. there are obviously reservations, and there are concerns. >> lehrer: the people on the ground, you mean? >> again, i'm saying international support. >> lehrer: international support. >> i mean virtually every major power in the world supports karzai, supports the nato presence. the only country that has any real reservations is pakistan which is indeed a serious problem. still it's rather isolated in that regard. i think in terms of domestic support, again, his numbers are probably better than our own president's so we have to put this in some perspective but they have fallen. he had 90% popularity ratings when he went into office. he's been in office now for a long time, since 2001. nine years. and he has faced very large problems. some of his own making, as the professor has indicated. this is eroded his support. but it's still quite a respectable level. but finally i do agree that we do need to support a bot

. >> the afghan president hamid karzai has been meeting nato foreign ministers ahead of the summit. among them is the french foreign minister. mr. kushner was asked what is at stake. >> this conference is being held in kabul. this is very important. is it a turning point? i do not know. i hope so. why? because since the london conference and since the paris conference we have been talking about afghan as asian -- afghanization. we must support the idea of the peace process. >> does the talk of talking to the taliban would you an easy? >> i have a long experience with civil war. you have to talk to your enemies if you want peace. there are several preconditions. i insist [unintelligible] i do not know. it i it is up to the afghan. there is sovereignty of state and decision. this is not for tomorrow. as you were asking about the kabul conference, i believe that this is the beginning of something. >> it is the beginning of a pullout, do you come here to tell the afghans you want to bring the troops home soon? >> honestly, i do not want to be politically correct but this is under question. nicolas sarkozy said in the name of the fr

mr. chairman isn't enough, and we well understand that. president karzai has committed himself publicly and privately to upgrading his anticorruption office and this will be a major topic of conversation during the kabul conference, and we will read your report with great interest. finally mr. president i want-- mr. chairman i want to return to the issue of pakistan and afghanistan. i said at the outset that we cannot succeed in afghanistan without pakistan's participation let me go a little further. when we came into office early last year we sat at-- said as an in implementing goal for strategic objective which is to defeat al qaeda and protect our homeland we set several subordinate goals. one of the most important is to bring afghanistan and pakistan closer together. since the day pakistan became independent in 1947, there has been a substantial problem between the two countries, most radically illustrated by the fact of the day after pakistan became independent afghanistan opposed their entry into the united nations a story which every pakistani schoo

mr. speaker, a gentleman from my district, will bennett of santa rosa, recently wrote a letter to the editor of the santa rosa press democrat and made an excellent point. he noted that afghan president hamid karzai had said to the taliban, they are not the enemy, they are the sons of this land. as mr. bennett points out, then who is the enemy? is this a pretend war, he asks. how can we possibly win a war in which our chief ally doesn't share our vision of who is the enemy? but then you realize that maybe the u.s. approach to the taliban is closer to karzai's than we'd be comfortable admitting. because in certain respects we're treating them more like a vendor than like an enemy. it turns out our own contracting practices in afghanistan may actually be putting money in the hands of the very taliban insurgents we're trying to drive from the country. the very people who are killing our troops. the very organization that provided safe havens for al qaeda to plot 9/11. my distinguished colleague from massachusetts, mr. tierney, and his government oversight subcommittee recently completed a shocking report based on a six-month investigation which provides the details. at a cost, madam speaker, of more

mr. mcgovern: i'd like unanimous consent to insert into the record two articles from "the washington post," one entitled, u.s. paying afghan war lords, and the other saying karzai involved in corruption cases involving the elite. at this time, i yield two minutes to the je gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. you don't put good money after bad. this would be putting good money after bad. in this hall earlier with senator mcgovern, who is in the speaker's lobby. i said something to senator mcgovern, former senator mcgovern, and he said, did i hear vietnam? the echos of vietnam are in this chamber, mr. speaker. when people on the other side say they don't want to hear about surrender, that's not right, we could still be in vietnam. we'd still be losing american lives and american resources because that was a war we couldn't win and some people would accept it system of we lost more lives and more american economy and more opportunities in america. my district cannot afford another $35 billion and $35 billion and $35 billion trying to create infrastructure in a

mr. mcgovern: i'd like unanimous consent to insert into the record two articles from "the washington post," one entitled, u.s. paying afghan war lords, and the other saying karzai involved in corruption cases involving the elite. at thitime, i yield two minutes to the je gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohe the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. you don't put good money after bad. this would be putting good %% money after bad. in this hall earlier with senator mcgovern, who is in the speakes lobby. i said something to senator mcgovern, former senator mcgovern, and he said, did i hear vietnam? the echos of vietnam are in this chamber, mr. speaker. when people on the other side say they don't want to hear about surrender, that's not right, we could still be in vietnam. we'd still be losing american lives and american resources because that was a war we couldn't win and some people would accept it system of we lost more lis and more american economy and more opportunities in america. my district cannot afford another $35 billion and $35 billion and $35 billion trying to create infrastructure in afghan

ambassador eikenberry, with president karzai, with the defense secretary, and with the new chief of staff of the afghan army, with the minister of the interior, mr. kan, we also went to kandahar and met with the commanding general, general carter. he is a british general but he is the isaf commander. we met with the governor of kandahar province and the mayor of kandahar city. then our last major meeting was with the corps commander of the 205th afghan corps. i will come back to him. i was last in afghanistan last january. and i noticed signs of progress since then. first, let me tell you what i think our mission is. i believe our goal is to help afghanistan prevent a takeover again of afghanistan by the taliban, who provide safety, solace, and support to the al qaeda terrorist group, which is global tax, already, including 9/11. that should be our goal. i believe our mission should be to strengthen the afghan security forces so that they can take on that tell the taliban. the army is well-respected by the people of afghanistan and the taliban is feared by the people of afghanistan but detested by the people of afghanistan. and so the building b