created such a large afghan army that the afghan economy will not be able to support that? rystal balsas we will be drawing down, what is the dollar amount that the afghan economy will have to generate? how much of the u.s. support will still be there in a financial sense? >> that is something we're looking at in great detail now. when the insurgency and the level of threat is degraded, how big of an army and police force do you need? it may be smaller than what we have currently planned. they may be experiencing their own search now. maybe they will settle at a lower level. we are working hard with the afghan government on revenue generation. it may be increasing quarter revenues, growing their economy, gaining from their strategic minerals and mining resources. ultimately, we do have to get this on a more sustainable footing. it has to cost less than currently anticipated. we are working through that with the afghans. we do believe we can get there. it is going to be a substantial assistance effort. afghanistan is going to require international development assistance for

in the afghan, the coalition in the afghan. next slide. so where are we? progress in achieving our objectives, making afghanistan a place inhospitable to terrorists is indisputable there remains fragile. there is no doubt the afghan security forces have grown in quantity and quality. growth remains and a schedule with more than 284,000 afghan security forces across the country. since 2009, there has been a 50% increase in the number of afghans security forces and today in key areas across the country, the vast majority of the afghan security forces are partnered closely with isaf and there is no doubt they can and will fight in their operational effectiveness and destroying the enemy and protect people. our partnership has given afghan leaders like general carini, chief of the general staff pictured on the mac side and his leaders at every level and his units at every level the courage to confidently use ghost beard he had been developed new ones. next slide. that's general carini addressing some of his afghan soldiers. if you

in the afghan, the coalition in the afghan. next slide. so where are we? progress in achieving our objectives, making afghanistan a place inhospitable to terrorists is indisputable there remains fragile. there is no doubt the afghan security forces have grown in quantity and quality. growth remains and a schedule with more than 284,000 afghan security forces across the country. since 2009, there has been a 50% increase in the number of afghans security forces and today in key areas across the country, the vast majority of the afghan security forces are partnered closely with isaf and there is no doubt they can and will fight in their operational effectiveness and destroying the enemy and protect people. our partnership has given afghan leaders like general carini, chief of the general staff pictured on the mac side and his leaders at every level and his units at every level the courage to confidently use ghost beard he had been developed new ones. next slide. that's general carini addressing some of his afghan soldiers. if you

buy afghan products, build afghan capacity. you address this a little bit in your opening statement with regard to the 3000 students you said graduated from a training course, and you say you have local firms engaged in retraining efforts. i would ask you both, how do we get afghans engaged in the sustainability i talked about in my opening statement? this road, the next time there is a crack and you all are gone and we begin our withdrawal, who is going to fix it? can they afford it? do they have the technological capacity to do it? i would just like to hear from 1st, mr. hakki quickly, what are you doing exactly to ensure that there will be this ongoing support by retraining and developing this expertise, what are the challenges you see by this stated policy, the afghan first policy, and do you see any unintended consequences from that? i think mr. walker alluded to some of those earlier. if you could respond to that, mr. hakki. >> yes, senator portman. the afghan first program is not something we are very familiar with. that

begun to transition security to the afghan people in the face of violence, and intimidation, afghans are fighting and dying for their country. establishing local police forces, opening markets and schools, creating new opportunities for women and girls and trying to turn the page on decades of war. of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning, but not the end, of our effort to wind down this war. we'll have to do the hard work of keying the gains that we've made, while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the afghan government. next may, in chicago, we will host a summit with our nato a y allies and partners to shape the next phase off this transition. we do know that peace cannot come to a land that has known so much war without a political settlement. so, as we strengthen the afghan government and security forces, america will join initiatives that reconcile the afghan people, including the taliban. our position on these talks is clear. they must be led by the afghan government and those who want to be apart of a peaceful afghanistan mus

why don't we go to the afghan government? so we went to the united nations to the afghan consulate and, basically, presented them with a plan saying pretty much, you know, the rumors that are floating out cannot be what you want, so why don't you let us go in and see? and they came back six months late we are a visa. so we went to cbs news and said we've got the visa, you've got the equipment, you know, can we cut a deal? and so we went in for cbs news, and then we quickly discovered that coming back with that story from cbs news that their, they were really looking for a specific narrative. and we brought back something else. we were looking at this not as a superpower confrontation. we were actually looking at afghanistan under the pressure of the superpower confrontation, and that began our whole process. because when we observed that, we realized that this poor country was somehow being squeezed and left out of the american narrative. did you have something to say? >> not at all. [laughter] >> hi. what about, um, the docu

he is convinced the afghans don't fight.to hear from you your impression on that question. >> if you just want to look at casualty figures, i think that in itself proves that the afghan security force, the police and the army are in fact in a fight and are taking very substantial losses in terms of killed and wounded. in those two security forces. they are very much engaged in their party effort. rodriguez and i sit down every single week and talk about the development of the security force and how it is performing in the field. i can get a better appreciation of what adjustments we need to make. we do a deliberate process once month and bring the two staffs together and walk through it also. we found these forces are far more superior and better than we produced three or four years ago. we know for a fact if you want to make a policeman or soldier comp at the present time in what they are doing, you to -- come tent in what they are doing. for a viret of reasons, it was not a requirement to qualify on your weapon to graduate

i am the afghan taliban. i am not constrained in my thinking about the next election which is less than two years away and what may seem to those americans as a long time as three years but to me with my planning it is so little more than the blink of the night. in the three years, they will be out of their. for the next three years i will continue the fight as a diversion but i will really be recruiting and reconstituting so i will be ready they're working very hard to improve security forces and police and trying to make the mayor of kabul look like the president of afghanistan. but these are all very fragile and reversible. with the forces i will hold in reserve, it will be easily reversed when they are gone. do you think we have the ability? it depends on where one sits, do you think we have the ability to see the world of the prism of the taliban? >> we see that world a lot more clearly than we used to as i am sure you can appreciate. because of the fights and sacrifices. we also see the world through th

it is an afghan process, of course. i think after incapacitate is a an issue here about how fast they can move. there is another element that is significant and that is the afghan local police initiative. it is not quite like the sons of iraq. if you remember, that program was a very group. -- a varied group. some more insurgents and some or not. the aft and local police initiative focuses on individuals who want to stand up for their community and who are not part of the insurgency. i think their numbers are 6000 and i have been advised that we expect to be able to continue to expand that possibly to 10,000 by september. and the lessons learned category, the sons of iraq were never tied to the iraqi government. until quite late in the process. the prime minister made some undertakings to incorporate some into the security services and provide employment for others for the afghan local police have started out linked to the ministry of the interior. you've got all three of those in play. all three afghan-supported afghan

i am the afghan taliban. i'm not constrained in my thinking by the next election which is less than two years away or the next quarterly report. what may seem to those americans as a very long time, three years, to me in my planning, it's little more than a blink of an eye. in just three years, they're going to be out of there. for the next three years, i'm going to continue the fight as a diversion but what i'm really going to be doing is recruiting and reconstituting so that i'm going to be ready when they're gone. i know they're working very hard to improve the security forces and the police, they're trying to make the mayor of kabul look like the president of afghanistan. but these gains are all very fragile and reversible. and with the forces that i'm going to hold in reserve from this fight, they'll be easily reversed. when they're gone. do you think that we have the ability -- you know, what one sees depends upon where one sits. do you think that we have the ability to see the world through the prism o

they also have started an instructor training program so afghans can train afghans.y hope to get about 4,000 of those trainers ready to go by the end of next year. but bottom line, eventually it will cost about $6 billion a year just to sustain the security forces afghanistan can't pay for that. someone is going to have to. >> president in his remarks tonight he stressed what the u.s. has spent so far. he didn't underscore what the u.s. is about to spend and some estimates another half trillion dollars over the next few years in afghanistan alone. a lot of american taxpayers will not be happy to hear that. anderson, this is not only a major military mission, but the president is trying to justify given these tough economic times, the financial burden for american taxpayers will weigh very, very heavily on lawmakers here in washington. >> it certainly will. the president addressed that tonight. he said we spent more than a trillion dollars on war and we have to invest in our people. it's time to focus on nation building here at home. nic robertson is joining us from l

afghans accompany our forces on every one of these. they do the callout-- in other words, "come out, we've surrounded the house." they do it, obviously, in the native tongue that's appropriate to that area. >> they do the entry operations. they do the searches, if it's required, and so on. we make mistakes. what we try to do is to learn from the mistakes, to adjust in the wake of them, and to truly turn lessons learned intellectually into actual changes in practices. >> narrator: the story of one jsoc operation that took place last september shows how kill/capture missions risk alienating ordinary afghans. this wasn't a night raid, but a daylight air strike in the northern province of takhar. the military announced that they had killed a prominent taliban commander and his fighters. but it soon emerged that something may have gone wrong. the aftermath of the strike was filmed by a local police officer. >> narrator: locals said the dead were all innocent vilians, election workers on the campaign trail. defense secretary robert gates hap

people to turn to poppy growing this is the source of most problems afghanistan faces today the afghan government has pledged to put an end to all be in production in the country if we study the history of drug production how it spread in afghanistan and what degree it has reached here we learned that about two hundred fifteen hectares of prominent contain poppy crops but thanks to the efforts of the democratic afghan government which i consider to be quite successful we've managed to cut that area to one hundred thirty hector's this year the government intends to further reduce the earlier sawmill poppies so as to fully meet its commitment to destroy poppy cultivation but we will be unable to solve this problem once and for all on our own we will need people support in other words we should not be focused only on the question of poppy cultivation it's an international problem and not just the problem of growing poppies in afghanistan for example we realize the poppies are cultivated in afghanistan but then the question arises in what way about thirteen hundred tons of chemical substan

our efforts to train afghan soldiers and policemen and to train afghan trainers to train afghans are now setting the foundations for transition. but there is a third aspect that must be also developed, and that's building permanent infrastructure systems and enduring institutions. the soldiers and police that make up the force for finite periods of time are important, but it's truly the systems and institutions that will last for generations. they are the key to making it last. clearly, systems like recruiting and personnel, training and education, logistics and medical, required to ensure self-sustaining. but these types of systems are now just in their initial stage of development. eventually they will grow into a national network capable of sustaining their force. i often hear critics say that the afghan national security force logistics and medical systems are completely broken. and although i would not necessarily completely disagree, i would also respond by saying how can something be broken that has not yet been fully developed? the truth is that building this for the ansf is

ultimately attrition in the ans at is an afghan problem that requires an acceptable afghan solution.se of western solution to this afghan problem. but we must help them find an effective solution that works with in an afghan context. another challenge associated with the growth of the forces, which we now call the insider threat, to safeguard against infiltration. we have developed an active in continuous multilayer defense which starts with an eight-step betting problem for all new recruits coming in, the additional afghan and coalition counterintelligence personnel into the formation, and an increased awareness for education and training as to what each and every individual in the police and army should be aware of and the attention to. additionally we work with the security ministry to complete the personal asset inventory to physically account for every single afghan soldier and policeman and to be sure that each is in that database. recent violence against forces due to erode the harder and trust that is required for an effective partnership, but we cannot allow isolated inciden

in this case the afghan people. what's important is this goes back to the success of the bills that the afghan security force. the army for sure, the police absolutely. not unlike the, but police flag the development here, although it's going better and better. so in the end, is the protection of the people, security for the people and there's going to be in numbers a larger number of people focused on missing 2012 than 2011 just because the continued buildup of forces. it's not just u.s. manpower coalition manpower, it's the totality. in fact, vss has gone so well in their 6400 as i indicate, and a nurse lee successful situation. we'll continue to build that. >> admiral mullen, in lisbon conference that i believe the policy decisions coming out was that we would transfer operational control to afghan security forces by the end of 24. can you be more specific as to what that really will look like? does that mean we'll have some boots on the ground than in support of afghan security forces quiet >> the model certainl

percent in doing that we almost stopped sowing poppies and seven afghan provinces more than twenty of the provinces are fighting to destroy them i would also add that we've worked out a plan to put an end to sowing poppies in several provinces this year as part of efforts to implement this plan we intend to further reduce areas of poppy fields it doesn't mean that we don't have difficulties other said earlier i'm against drugs it's not just a problem for afghanistan this is an international problem the world community should realize the edge of an ally as the situation in afghanistan the name to organize a campaign against drugs in this region and elsewhere in the world if we consume five percent of drugs then where does the ninety five percent go for example if we manage to cause internal of the land what should be done to decrease the constantly growing world demand for drugs therefore we believe that any success in fighting this evil is closely linked to international cooperation and support afghanistan doesn't have enough ability to treat drug addicts we can help only one percent

in the afghan, the coalition in the afghan. next slide. so where are we? progress in achieving our objectives, making afghanistan a place inhospitable to terrorists is indisputable there remains fragile. there is no doubt the afghan security forces have grown in quantity and quality. growth remains and a schedule with more than 284,000 afghan security forces across the country. since 2009, there has been a 50% increase in the number of afghans security forces and today in key areas across the country, the vast majority of the afghan security forces are partnered closely with isaf and there is no doubt they can and will fight in their operational effectiveness and destroying the enemy and protect people. our partnership has given afghan leaders like general carini, chief of the general staff pictured on the mac side and his leaders at every level and his units at every level the courage to confidently use ghost beard he had been developed new ones. next slide. that's general carini addressing some of his afghan soldiers. if you

in afghanistan is due to high international demarc into years of war and destruction so says the afghan answer narcotics minister in an interview and some next. we would like to start of course with. the statistics of they want their production of poppies in a guest at a guess that is always being. at the point of blame but it a community that afghanistan is for the sick producing a huge amount of drugs and exporting its i think it's a word but can you just from your point of view or do you think i mean how for tackle these problems africa first i welcome you to afghanistan there's no doubt that the area of contagion song with narcotic crops has increased since military hostilities started in afghanistan i believe that the war was the root cause that forced afghan people to turn to poppy growing this is the source of most problems afghanistan faces today the afghan government has pledged to put an end to all paean production in the country if we study the history of drug production how it spread in afghanistan what degree it has reached you will learn that about two hundred fifteen hect

jutes a high international demand and the years of war and destruction well that's the view of the afghan and your contacts minister talks to our next. we would like to start of course with the the statistics if they want their production purposes up that is that i guess that has always been. at the point of the blame for that as a community that afghanistan is for that's it producing a huge amount of drugs and exporting it only to the word but can you just from your point of view what do you think i mean how to tackle these problems the. forest i welcome you to afghanistan there's no doubt that the area of plantation song with narcotic crops has increased since military hostilities started not gonna stand i believe that the war was the root cause that forced afghan people to turn to poppy growing this is the source of most problems afghanistan faces today the afghan government has plans to put an end to all be in production in the country if we study the history of drug production how it spread in afghanistan and what degree it has reached you we learned a little two hundred fifteen head

and i'm gonna stand is due to high international demand and years of war and struction so says the afghan and the narcotics minister is that next an interview with r.t. . he would lead the start of course with. the statistics of their production. opposite of those that get us that has always been. the pride of the blame for that actual community that afghanistan is for that's it producing a huge amount of drugs and exporting it at all to the world but then you want just from your point of view what do you think i mean how far would settle this problems ever go first i welcome you to afghanistan there's no doubt the theory of plantation song with narcotic crops has increased since military hostilities started on afghanistan i believe that the war was the root cause that forced afghan people to turn to poppy growing this is the source of most problems afghanistan faces today the afghan government has pledged to put an end to all be in production in the country if we study the history of drug production how it spread in afghanistan what degree it has reached it we learned little to nine hund

one is that the world consumes ninety five percent of afghan produced opium by contraband while opium consumption in afghanistan accounts for just five percent this proves that not only afghanistan but the whole world of the careworn these narcotic substances. over the past sixty years the afghan government has managed to reduce areas of poppy crops to forty three percent in doing us we almost stopped selling poppies and seven afghan provinces more than twenty of the provinces are fighting to destroy them i would also add that we've worked out a plan to put an end to sowing poppies in several provinces this year as part of efforts to implement this plan we intend to further reduce areas of poppy fields doesn't mean that we don't have difficulty is as i said earlier i'm against drugs it's not just a problem for afghanistan this is an international problem the world community to realize arts education allies the situation in afghanistan and other name to organize a campaign against drugs in this region elsewhere in the world if we consume five percent of drugs then where does the ninety

in the afghan, the coalition in the afghan.there remains fragile. there is no doubt the afghan security forces have grown in quantity and quality. growth remains and a schedule with more than 284,000 afghan security forces across the country. since 2009, there has been a 50% increase in the number of afghans security forces and today in key areas across the country, the vast majority of the afghan security forces are partnered closely with isaf and there is no doubt they can and will fight in their operational effectiveness and destroying the enemy and protect people. our partnership has given afghan leaders like general carini, chief of the general staff pictured on the mac side and his leaders at every level and his units at every level the courage to confidently use ghost beard he had been developed new ones. next slide. that's general carini addressing some of his afghan soldiers. if you can see the look of confidence in his afghan soldiers icily tax across the country, you couldn't help but be impressed. and i always fan.

the afghan national police. he has put in place a number of training initiatives that are paying big dividends, not just the lease being literacy in a country where the literacy depending on the statistics varied between 10 and 20%. it's not surprising that many of those who seek to be soldiers are police are illiterate. that alone has given the members of the afghanistan national security forces a different feel about who they are and the role they could potentially play in their country. so that plus many of the initiatives which are under way and gaining purchase now and transaction leave me confident that our end state, which is an afghanistan security force which has both capability and staying power will be successful in the end. it's not just about ntma, all in in the command and partnered with the units in the field have become also vital to the process as well. the professionalization of units as well as the individual preparations of afghan national security police and army troops in the training pipel

afghan control. i think you can already see what we're trying to do. province by province, district by district, to establish the conditions where the afghan government can takeover and hold ground. you are absolutely right, you don't have to build a whole nation to achieve that. >> international terrorism and guerrilla warfare in general is intrinsically mobile. i fought in vietnam and i have written about this. securing one particular area does not necessarily -- i don't say this critically, just out of concern of where this policy is -- it does not necessarily guarantee that you reduce the capability of those kinds of forces. they move. the reason they are international in focus, they don't align themselves with any particular government toll structure. i just wanted to lay that out as an area of concern. one more question, i mentioned when you visited my office, we tend to speak of conciliators in the region simply along the pakistan, afghanistan, india axis when i believe there is a role that ch

hundred fifteen hector is a prominent contain poppy crops thanks to the efforts of the democratic afghan government which i considered quite successful we've managed to cook earlier to one hundred thirty hacked areas this year the government intends to further reduce the area's sawn wood poppies so as to fully meet its commitment to destroy poppy cultivation we will be unable to solve this problem once and for all and wrong we will need people support in other words we should not be focused only on the question of poppy cultivation it's an international problem and not just the problem of growing poppies and afghanistan for example we realise that poppies are cultivated in afghanistan but then the question arises in what way about thirteen hundred tons of chemical substances necessary for processing all the human to her own illegally get into afghanistan there are countries other exam. the the world consumes ninety five percent of afghan produced opium by contraband oil opium consumption and afghanistan accounts for just five percent this proves that not only afghanistan but the whole wo

>> the afghan people need peace. the afghan people want peace. they want their children sent to school. mothers want to be without worry when they have their children go to school or their husbands to job or when their women go out to work. this country needs to progress. this country needs to live like all other nations live. can you have an example in the history of man kind where people would not want peace? this is a desire, a human desire.kind where people would not want peace? this is a desire, a human desire. we must reach this human desire through reasonable means, through realistic approach. and that is done with a condition that the gains of afghanistan the past ten years not be compromised, that the gains of a woman not be compromised, that our children must continue to go to school, that our constitution be respected and recognized, and that having fulfilled that, that the taliban who agreed to this and the absolute majority of them agreed to this will return to their homes in dignity. >> and what level are talks with the taliban goin

by withdrawing the more rapidly, you would force the afghan garmin to step up to the plate. -- the afghanovernment to step up to the plate. but there were to leave, there would have to get more serious about counterinsurgency. we do not know the answer. the president has chosen an option and we will have to see how it goes. that is why he said it could be conditional and they would continue to moderate -- monitor .t appeared >> >> these initiatives will include the taliban. that might jar when some people. >> negotiating with al qaeda would have caused a lot of problems. but negotiating with the taliban, in these kinds of wars that we have seen in latin america and other places, unless you plan to kill all of the taliban or put them all in prison and so on, which is not -- which is very difficult to do, you basically have to talk and negotiate with them. maybe a small proportion of the taliban want to engage in negotiations. but as far as a comprehensive strategy relying on the continued use of allied and military force filling up the afghan government wasn't -- with strong security force

give to the afghans. we don't need to re-create the u.s. army model in the afghan national army. and then we really need to focus on the movie force. there's something called the afghan local police program. it's not that people try this over the centuries, of equipping and arming the local police. it creates some problems for you because if you're in the air and you're on a bombing mission and you see a guy with a rifle, you've got to be sure is this a local policeman or -- he's not wearing a uniform, or he is the one of our guys, or is he a bad guy. it's a difficult problem but is probably citable. so we need to refocus that, and i was a bowl our troops men into the bases and let them do the training from our big bases, and let the countryside be under afghan control. it was under afghan control before we arrived. they defeated the soviet army with money and some weapons from us but not with us running the show. so they are not incompetent at defending their villages. and if they have to do it they will

the afghan people, including the taliban. our position on these talks is clear-- they must be led by the afghan government and those who want to be a part of a peaceful afghanistan must break from al qaeda, abandon violence, and abide by the afghan constitution. but in part because of our military effort, we have reason to believe that progress can be made. the goal that we seek is achievable and can be expresseddicism he. no safe haven from which al qaeda or its affiliates can launch attacks against our homed land or our allies. we won't try to make afghanistan a perfect place. we will not police its streets or patrol its mountains indefinitely. that is the responsibility of the afghan government which must step up its ability to protect its people and move from an economy shaped by war to one that can sustain a lasting peace. what we can do and will do is build a partnership with the afghan people that endures, one that ensures we will be able to continue targeting terrorists and supporting a sovereign afghan government. of

continue killing civilians the whole of the afghan population will treat them as occupiers actually it's not just the afghan people it's also the neighboring pakistan whose assistance is key to the u.s. efforts to u.s. efforts in afghanistan and nonetheless the secretary of state said the pakistanis would rather see the u.s. leave again this then take a listen they would be perfectly happy if we picked up and left tomorrow but what would we get for it and what would they do with it and i think the answers to those two questions mean that the president's approach which is this steady careful transition while we try to work the the diplomatic and political piece of this which includes pakistan. is exactly the right way to go many afghans are actually worried that less troops doesn't necessarily mean less bombs on their homes i mean these upcoming trip was drawls the u.s. as were pointedly stepped up airstrikes including growing strikes in afghanistan is thought to be part of this twenty first. entry intelligent war strategy as they call it you know when you have no troops on the groun

again, we see a transition of seven provinces and districts to afghan control, to sustainable afghan control. so i think you can rdc what we're trying to do. province by province, district by district, establish conditions for the afghan government can take over and hold ground. and you're absolutely right. you don't have to, you know, build a whole nation i think to achieve that. >> international terrorism and global warfare in general is intrinsically mobile. i've written about this for a long time, as you know. so securing one particular area doesn't necessarily -- i don't say this critically. i say this out of concern for this policy is going. it doesn't necessarily guarantee that you've reduced capability of those kinds of forces. they are mobile, the move. the reason they are international in scope as they don't want to align themselves with any particular governmental structure. i want to let that out as an area continuing concern. bummer question. i mentioned to you when you visit my office and that is we tend to speak out conciliator's in this region simply allowing the paki

the afghan people, including the taliban. our position on these talks is clear. they must be led by the aftghan government and those who want to be a part of a peaceful afghanistan must break from al qaeda, abandon violence, and abide by the afghan constitution. but in part because of our military effort, we have reason to believe that progress can be made. the goal that we seek is achievable and can be expressed simply -- no safe haven from which al qaeda or its affiliates can launch attacks against our homeland or our allies. we won't try to make afghanistan a perfect place, we will not police its streets or patrol its mountains indefinitely. that is the responsibility of the afghan government which must step up its ability to protect its people and move from an economy shaped by war to one that can sustain a lasting peace. what we can do and will do is build a partnership with the afghan people that endures, one that ensures we'll be able to continue targeting terrorists and supporting a sovereign afghan government. of cou

don't feel a great deal of preparatory work has to be done it's necessary to train the afghan police and army to fight drug trafficking now that we're going to the post war period but i assume that everything we can do in this area brings positive results every day i can claim that in recent years the anti drugs ministry has achieved concrete positive results we've detained money drug traffickers this year money more than in previous years the professional training of afghan police and army personnel has also improved if things continue this way i'm sure that by twenty fourteen we will be able to control the entire territory of afghanistan foreign aid has turned out to be pernicious for money afghans a considerable part of the country's infrastructure has been destroyed it should be other than a sharp change in the specialization of agriculturist closely linked to foreign factors perhaps you can see it for yourself that drugs production flourished in the period of the most intensive military hostilities which led to serious disruption in security as well as law and order as a result

can we expect then though what does it all mean for the answer let's turn to jake deliberate oh an afghan the veteran himself now an outspoken critic and co-founder of rethink afghanistan and for a more personal perspective we have ours award of an afghan american blogger who's speaking to us from boston welcome both of you great to have you both on the program jake i'll start with you you know it's the beginning of the fighting season in afghanistan the general is certainly made clear that they they want the current levels to continue to really make good on what progress they say they have achieved there is this misguided approach by obama to announce a withdrawal you know at this is the right time it's a critical time for two reasons one he made a promise when he surged in his west point speech he made a promise that he would begin withdrawal this time he didn't say how much it was producers' to be based on conditions on the ground so it's good to withdraw and secondly the reason is good because the american people have become weary of war and as a result of the most recent washington p

security and defense will be 100% in afghan hands. and that's something that the government of president karzai has repeatedly said and said again today will happen no matter what. we're going step up to the plate, we're going to do it right. but as today's... sorry, as last night's attack showed, that may not be as easy as people think. and i think's a great, great deal of concern along with the national pride, along with that desire to make it happen it's a great deal of concern about what will happen to kabul and the rest of the country when the western forces do leave. >> warner: as you said, there are these seven areas already, and i think we have a map, everything from mazar shariff in the north all the way down to hell and in the south that are supposed to transition next month to full afghan control. what would you stay security situation is today right now in those areas. is it improving or deteriorating? >> it's a varied picture. i visited one area that's going to be transitioned, if f that's a verb, and there was a lot of m