than any time in the ten years since foreign forces have been in afghanistan and also the afghan national army and its police forces are not ready to take over you have a twenty four percent desertion rate in the afghan national army now the united states is letting contracts to american contractors to build barracks in various air bases around the country and shinned out in the in the west perhaps to watch for air flights over iran in was a sheriff in the north perhaps watch former soviet central asian republics in kandahar in the southeast perhaps watch pakistan the united states has not had any intention i do not believe to leave in the short term there are many who feel that they have to surround iran perhaps soft containment of china nato and its allies i don't think are ready to leave this very volatile region united states does not want pakistan to try and make up to understand the satellite it's a very complicated very dangerous area and i do think that u.s. forces will be there for a very long time. now the business news is about five minutes away here on what's he now libyan forces h

than any time in the ten years since foreign forces have been in afghanistan and also the afghan national army and its police forces are not ready to take over you have a twenty four percent desertion rate in the afghan national army now the united states is afraid that if we were to leave as it did in one thousand nine hundred nine after the soviets left by that i mean they quit funding the mujahideen what happened that al qaeda came to the united states does not want more than anything else there are many reasons why they're staying which is why that is why it's hard to understand general allen did say that the reason why clips are staying is since to advise the the afghan security forces you yourself think that they are now ready to do it themselves but is there yet is this a euphemism of sorts or could we take his word for it literally. i think first of all it's true that the forces are not ready to take over i think you are correct in saying that the euphemism here the united states is letting contracts to american contractors to build up barracks in various air bases around the country a

literacy training but none of these things of course are going to magically transform the afghan national armyt's highly effective any time soon. my big concern is i haven't seen any evidence the afghan national army is really able to operate independently in large-scale operations. that's something we're going -- they're going to need to be able to do once the u.s. and nato presence ends there at the end of 2014. >> peter, it is interesting because some of the folks there who i spoke with are a little nervous about the fact that the american international forces are going to be leaving. they're still not confident enough yet at least to believe that they can do it on their own. but we know that the obama administration is dramatically cutting the funding for the training mission. do we think that this tremendous job can be done with less money? >> well, you know, i mean we're all going to have to -- budget cuts are coming everywhere so this is just a fact of life. money in front of the problem isn't necessarily the way to solve it. one thing that's very practically important which is to get m

also yesterday, in the southern part of the country, an afghan national army soldier shot and killedee australian troops and an afghan interpreter. the commander of international forces here in afghanistan marine general john alle nchn issued a statement, quote, the enemies of peace are not martyrs but murderers. attacking to hide the fact that they're losing territories support and the will to fight." lara? >> all right, thank you. jake tapper in afghanistan and now here's dan. >>> and now, lara, over to the latest twist in the race to the white house. we call our coverage your voice your vote. this morning the voices of people in iowa singing out in favor of herman cain, the former pizza mogul who now appears to be front-runner, at least in iowa. let's get more on this from abc's christiane amanpour who is the host of "this week." christiane, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, dan. of course, we're going to drill down on all of this. the latest poll from "the des moines register" in iowa shows as you say herman cain at the top. we'll put up the numbers there. he has got 2

getting the afghan national army out so they dock their job. >> this country has been at war for hundredsbeing here, we are doing a good job, we are doing a better job than others. it's just -- history will always repeat itself here. report * most of the soldiers we spoke to are committed to the mission and knew exactly what it was they had to do. that was train their afghan partners as quickly as possible. the last two years have been the most bloody. no one was able to tell me how long u.s. troops would stay here. no one in the u.s. embassy. martha: thank you for bringing us those voices from that incredible mission that has been going on for 10 years. what an incredibly fine fighting force they are. bill: no question. you will hear more about this next hour. mitt romney is said to make a major foreign policy speech. all that will be a part of it. we'll keep an eye on that forhead lines. a new fight break out between the president and the speaker of the house. starting with president obama's latest push for congress to get the jobs bill through. here is speaker boehner's reaction to all

getting the afghan national army together. >> this country has been at war for hundreds of years., we are doing a better job than others. but, i mean, history is going to repeat itself here. >> reporter: soldiers really very much on the front line, quite some insight there. they do see hope in the fact that the afghan national forces are getting up to speed fairly quickly. but not a single soldier could say when exactly the afghans could take the lead. however they say there is progress and they do see an exit eventually to us getting out of here. not sure, however, how long that will be. it could be five or six years. megyn: house minority leader nancy pelosi weighing in on the wall street protests. saying "god bless them for their spontaneity." why wasn't see saying that about the tea party when they took to the streets. more details on the missing baby investigation. >> it's important for me to stress that we are continuing and will continue to track down leads as we get them. whether we develop them or whether they come from the hotline. but earlier the mother and father decid

on a mission with the afghan national army i was real tired and they were going real fast and brandonsaid you got this, brother." another fellow soldier, todd r. wood said brandon was best described as the epitome of selfless service, took on details others did not want, he did not complain, he just did it, and usually with a smile. he carried the heaviest loads and helped out everyone he could. he was always concerned about others first. brandon's fellow soldiers also recall he had a fun side. i remember he was really goofy, said private first class adam bald rinl. one time we got in trouble and were getting smoked to we almost had a tear running down our cheeks. he turned and looked at me and said "just remember they can't smoke rocks." we are thinking of brandon's loved ones today, mr. president, as i recount his story for my colleagues this the senate including his parents, thomas and katharine mu llins, his brother, private first class sean eric mullins, his sister and many other beloved family members and strendz friends. this september 11 was the tenth anniversary of the brutal

the afghan army is the only national entity that is respected. you have an enemy that you detest. those two elements, an afghan army that has got public support and an enemy that is hated it should be able to be enough if that army is strong enough and well equipped enough to provide security. but again, it will be up to that government. >> you are saying that our afghan military presence will become our fourth hold against pakistan. if we make good on that threat -- is it an empty threat? knowing that security and afghanistan is an extremely depending, that if it becomes an unembarrassed support for those networks but let happen becomes more of a matter of policy for them. how messy does that look? is the u.s. really ready to follow through on that threat. >> what do we do about the haqqanis? how do we address the cross- border threat now? there, we have begun to use drones successfully against some haqqani leaders. appropriately. if this report is accurate, because i am not allowed to say things that are still classified. it can have a real effect. secondly, we have under interna

the capabilities of the afghan national security forces are growing both in quantity and in quality. afghans' armyolice are almost 50,000 men stronger than when we met here last year. afghan forces are conducting a greater proportion of the missions and are increasingly in the lead. just this week "the new york times" reported that afghan troops led a lengthy, intense operation to clear insurgents from a key supply route in kunar province. we're succeeding in training the afghan army and other security forces to a higher level of effectiveness, and the afghan local police program has shown initial success. this that program our special -- in that program our special operations forces live with and train afghan, local afghans. and that's important. they're selected by the village elders. their goal is to defend their own villages against the insurgents. finally, transition of security responsibility is moving forward as afghan forces have assumed the security lead in seven areas around afghanistan. afghan leaders continue to show that they understand the urgency of preparing for afghan security for

now, we understand from this afghan army commander these two men were australian, but isaf does not confirm nationalities at this early hour. alina? >> nick paton walsh, thank you very much. >>> the high tide rolling into thailand could mean even more flooding and more damage in the capital city of bangkok. residents were urged to leave, but many of them stayed put. many areas around the city are already under water. nearly 400 people have died. millions more forced from their homes. our sara seidner has this report from bangkok. >> reporter: this lady has told us that she has run out of money. she is afraid for the safety of her animals. these are her dogs. she's got a few rabbits there. and she's just trying to get them to higher ground. she's starting to become very, very worried. that's what's happening in a lot of this area. we are seeing some of the elderly people also getting into trucks that the army has brought and jumping in there because their homes are inundated with water. >> this has been the worst flooding in thailand in more than six decades. >>> health officials in north carolina suspect

army offensive. the afghan president hamid karzai has said his country would back pakistan if it ever went to war with the us a statement that contrasts with his harsh criticism of his nation's eastern neighbor during the u.s. secretary of state's recent visit to kabul both hillary clinton and karzai have accused the pakistani government of providing safe haven to terrorist groups launching attacks in afghanistan. a larger german satellite rosie that has made an uncontrolled reentry into the atmosphere after being deactivated in space over a decade ago scientists were not able to communicate with before its return our knowledge trying to determine its whereabouts space enthusiasts worldwide are following the latest developments on the search for the fallen telescope online micro blocks. well other astronomers there have been glued to the progress of a russian soyuz rocket launched on friday from space based in french guiana it's carrying a fast parts of a european satellite navigation system into orbit. daniel bushell was that i witnessed an arch. the launch of a new era in russian space history the first ever liftoff of a soyuz rocket in the west confirms this position as t