engagements in afghanistan. the world is not going to simply walk away or abandon its investment in a stable afghanistan. our task is to leverage our commitments into a transition that prevents afghanistan from backsliding into widespread ethnic or sectarian violence. coordinated and economic transition will be challenging. there are several key steps that we need to focus on. we must prepare now for the afghan elections in 2014. it is the political transition that will determine whether our military gains are sustainable. our role should not interfere in domestic politics. it is critical that afghans must pick their leaders fairly and freely. transparency in new election laws is a critical step for afghans in order that they have a choice and a voice in the election. our strategy has to go beyond reconcilation in order to support a consensus among key afghan stakeholders. too many afghans are preparing to fight to secure their interests. i think we need to send the message that the united states supports a comp

freedom now for afghanistan women must be the quid pro quo. i think this is an indicator of what is to come in afghanistan. and the reason why we are not going to be able to stop this, unless we have a full out occupation in afghanistan which no one is prepared to do and this is going to be the reality once the u.s. leaves. >> i think the execution of women particularly without due process even with due process it is a crime against humanity and the international community should act accordingly. >> president karzai has strong words but he needs to match the words with action. unless change comes from within afghanistan then we will continue to see more of this. >> is it possible, though? you know, change? i mean, one really hopeful development i saw recently is that the taliban lives and breathes by poppy breeding of poppy plants and turning them into heroin. and there's more they are switching to grow offing of spices which is more lucrative for the farmers. is there any other way to cut the funds to the taliban so that these creeps crawl ba

this corrupt karzai click is all throughout afghanistan. they are aligning themselves with china and money is coming in. they are buddies with the pakistani network which is allowing the taliban to stay funded. >> let me ask you this. show me you know, an essentially a dictatorship maybe afghanistan is not as much of a dictatorship as syria is but it's close. but show me where there are people in that society who could come to power who are not going to be corrupt. do they exist? >> probably not. the culture like that corruption abounds. >> it's also cultural. corruption is also cultural. >> but you have the national front and the northern alliance folks who are opposition leaders to the karzai that are familiar with their country. they know the ethnic minorities. and they need to have a seat at the table equally so that they can have input into moving forward. and quick about the poppy seeds my boss has been involved in afghanistan for 30 years. and he has been trying to get rid of that as an alternative to bringing them because that is th

in afghanistan.now do youee that more strategic partner do you really think that obama was responding purely to the humanitarian impulse? >> guest: barack obama's heart was not in the operation. we have seen a very limited amount of data, but barack obama, the reason why, i mean few people know that the middle east does not talk about obama's foreign-policy. barack obama and his foreign-policy team from day one to leave that america was too enged in the middle east, far beyo what the strategic interests are from day one. america's future lies somewhere else. it lies in the pacific region. from day one, and in fact be a rousing rhetoric without which basically was launched by barack obama using his own personal story, his speeches and cairo, were really designed to begin systematically to shift american foreign policy priority somewhere else. and that is why barack obama wanted to basically reduce the american boots on the ground. the area itself, he really wanted to bring most american troops from ir

involvement in afghanistan. 11 years ago afghanistan was among the poorest and most corrupt countries on the face of the earth. today it is still among the most corrupt and poorest countries on the face of the earth. we've lost 2,000 american soldiers, 16,000 wounded. last week the u.s. government decided to spend $105 billion rebuilding the infrastructure of this country. less than $53 billion in each of the next two years for a nation of over 200 million people. you just spent $78 billion rebuilding the roads and bridges of afghanistan, a nation of 30 million people. it's time that we do nation building right here at home. of the 34 provinces in afghanistan the spiritual and financial harm of the taliban is in kandahar province. because that is disproportionately where the poppy fields are that finances the taliban. the literacy rate for women in kandahar province is 1%. the literacy rate for men is about 15%. how do you build up an afghanistan police force and afghan narm army with people who are -- army with people who are illiterate? you have to build schools, you have to build r

and afghanistan. do you see that more strategic part or do you really think that obama was responding purely to the humanitarian impulse? >> guest: to the last minute barack obama's heart wasn't in the operation seen so far and limited amount of data. barack obama the reason why few people know the the middle east doesn't talk back on the foreign policy. in fact barack obama and his policy team from day one believed that america was engaged in the middle east far beyond what his strategic interests are. in fact they said this is america's future it lies in the pacific. from day one. and the rousing rhetoric, the outreach that basically was launched by barack obama using his own personal stories and the speeches in cairo and jakarta were designed to amend the draft with the muslim world and then began systematically to shift american foreign policy priority somewhere else. that's why barack obama wanted to reduce the american boots on the ground. the area itself to him he knew he wanted to bring americ

wotu iac afghanistan. the nato summit in chicago, the donor summit coming up in tokyo this week, the u.s. afghan strategicpsh, ae t inaganpe real co, a allies come and, indeed, ourselves, that after another decadeo int tionnd nmewe o len aghto wles exis left unchecked are not lost, and that the stability of this region matters to u.s. foreign policy. en agrn apestma . auig ndgrtrs e emwe signed today sends a clear message to the afghan people. stalou stand up, you will not comes o trorism and strengthen democratic institutions. it supports afghan efforts to advance develoen and dig cometrecy an teheanht of all afghans, men and women, boys and grls. so our relentless focus f t paelarbto retsme txaydlai ann, daem sustainable over the long term. in the last decde,we have helped afghanistan to develop rlyeagmr lyo toceth hiy. eaeni i realize that that box some of the commentary and reporting that is passing foronventional sdomhay le att h tego prusad tin history. i know this in part because i first decided to

pakistan agrees to reopen the supply routes to afghanistan. u.s. and pakistani leaders have come to agreement that will help nato soldiers to wrap up the mission in afghanistan. they agreed to reopen the routes to pakistan. the u.s. uses the roads to bring in goods and fuel. secretary of state hillary clinton discussed the details over the phone with the pakstani foreign minister. >> the foreign minister karr has advised her the ground lines of communication will be reopening. >> u.s. troops in afghanistan killed 24 pakistani soldiers in error last november in a cross-border air strike. pakistani blocked the supply routes. clinton offered an apology and expressed the condolences to the families of the dead soldiers. the islamic extremist group, the pakistani taliban criticized the agreement. members threat tuned attack u.s. convoys. nato leaders said the agreement demonstrates strengthened cooperation between their forces and pakistan. the signed treaties with other central asian countries to provide access into afghanistan, but those roadways prov

to afghanistan. afghanistan, we are under influence of england for 250 years. how do you separate the united states supreme politics over england? we want to be allied with the united states, not england. >> we americans can identify. [laughter] >> thank you very much. i want to come back to the question that mark posed and the response and link it to the message i feel like i have heard this morning. if there was a word to describe afghanistan, from my perspective, it is conundrum. the conundrum seems to be best captured by the fact that on the one hand, what i hear from this panel is we must stay the course and we must convince friend and foe alike that we are in this for the long haul. countering not, we are in the process of drawing down the troop level. to most people, it will sound like we're getting out of town nicely. we are advised by the ambassador, anaya understand that it is a point of view shared by a lot of people, we need to understand what age can influence and what it cannot influence -- what aid can influence and what it cannot influence. here

to afghanistan. afghanistan, we are under influence of england for 250 years. how do you separate the united states supreme politics over england? we want to be allied with the united states, not england. >> we americans can identify. [laughter] >> thank you very much. i want to come back to the question that mark posed and the response and link it to the message i feel like i have heard this morning. if there was a word to describe afghanistan, from my perspective, it is conundrum. the conundrum seems to be best captured by the fact that on the one hand, what i hear from this panel is we must stay the course and we must convince friend and foe alike that we are in this for the long haul. countering not, we are in the process of drawing down the troop level. to most people, it will sound like we're getting out of town nicely. we are advised by the ambassador, anaya understand that it is a point of view shared by a lot of people, we need to understand what age can influence and what it cannot influence -- what aid can influence and what it cannot influence. here

tavis: days ago the administration undergurged afghanistan. love-it relationship, -- our love-hate relationship, they have been announced as a non- nato allied. have they earned that? >> they are a reluctant partner in the overall american war effort. it is played with corruption. it is laden with scoundrels and other unsavory figures. no, but, they have us over a barrel. we need them to continue the effort. if we were to pack up and go home, they would fall and what would replace them would be worse. it is being forced to pick between a bunch of bad options. what the white house is trying to do is choose the least worst option even though it looks very unpalatable. they are a major non-nato ally. later, $16 billion is committed by the international community. they need that money. when we think back to the billions of dollars we have poured in, how much of that has not gone to the people. it has been siphoned off by corrupt leaders. put in to counsel and other countries. how much has gone to u.s. contractors doing work as opposed to meeting t

numbers very few at this point in afghanistan. and more in pakistan to mount overall a huge presence in whatever presence al qaeda has it's largely not in that region any longer it's shifted to yemen to other parts of the world. taliban yes of course the taliban has basically responded by either going into hibernation at times of greater nato bombing and attacks or when nato retreats a little bit it goes on the offensive but the taliban has both its military and its political side we have had and we've been trying from washington to engage the taliban to set up kind. negotiating office for the taliban those are continuing the pace it's not going to be easy and it hasn't been successful i mean so far in anything up in. pakistan you talk a lot about the involvement of pakistan agreement between the u.s. and the nato alliance with the pakistan over their supply route to afghanistan. how do you see that in fact the operations in afghanistan global a military point of view of course the supply lines are very important it's cheaper to g

afghanistan is nowly. the u.s. will maintain strong defense and economic ties after combat troops leave afghanistan in 2014. >> our strategic partnership agreement is not aimed at any other country. our goal is to work with the region and the international community to strengthen afghanistan's institutions so that the transition is successful and the afghan people themselves can take responsibility and the future of afghanistan will be safer and more secure. >> next, secretary clinton heads to tokyo to ask other countries to pledge financial support for afghanistan. right now, libyans are going to the polls in their first free election in decades. it's a reason they overthrew gadhafi's chance at democracy. they are electing an assembly. the government faces a tough job. it must reign in those responsible for lawlessness and try to unify that country. >>> we officially know how mary richard kennedy died. the estranged wife of robert f. kennedy hanged herself and died of asphyxiation. no traces of drugs b

afghanistan. >> afghanistan. >> but you don't want to talk about other places?'t want to talk about other places. >> it's a very sensitive subject. >> then why would i talk about it? >> of course. [ laughter ] he's very good. i've heard top u.s. officials, secretary panetta and others, testify, there are fewer al qaeda elements left in afghanistan today than there are in yemen, for example, or somalia, for that matter. is that true? >> you know, i think that's a true statement. and again, it's been a year since i've been in afghanistan, but the number of al qaeda in afghanistan, you know, a year ago, numbers somewhere in the hundred or so. they can still be key interlocketters. so we're always aware of them, and where there are al qaeda, the military makes an very aggressive stance to go after them. so they are still a problem in afghanistan that we have to deal with. are there more in yemen? based on the reports that i see and the open press reports, there certainly appear to be a lot of al qaeda in yemen. >> and what do you -- what should the u.s. be doing abo

to afghanistan. afghanistan, we are under influence of england for 250 years. how do you separate the united states supreme politics over england? we want to be allied with the united states, not england. >> we americans can identify. [laughter] >> thank you very much. i want to come back to the question that mark posed and the response and link it to the message i feel like i have heard this morning. if there was a word to describe afghanistan, from my perspective, it is conundrum. the conundrum seems to be best captured by the fact that on the one hand, what i hear from this panel is we must stay the course and we must convince friend and foe alike that we are in this for the long haul. countering not, we are in the process of drawing down the troop level. to most people, it will sound like we're getting out of town nicely. we are advised by the ambassador, anaya understand that it is a point of view shared by a lot of people, we need to understand what age can influence and what it cannot influence -- what aid can influence and what it cannot influence. here

, runs through the khyber pass and into various parts of afghanistan.pakistan closed these routes last november after u.s. forces killed 24 pakistani soldiers in an operation along the border. what exactly occurred remains in dispute, but the event further strained an already strained relationship between two countries. today secretary of state hillary clinton ended a diplomatic impasse saying in a statement she offered our sincere condolences to the families of the pakistani soldiers who lost their lives. i acknowledge the mistakes that resulted in the loss of pakistani military lives. we are sorry for the losses suffered by the pakistani military. we are committed to working closely with pakistan and afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again. meanwhile, a taliban spokesman told reuters that taliban fighters would attack the supply trucks traveling these routes, something they've done in the past. we explore this more now with retired army general jack keane. he was vice chief of staff from 1999 to 2003, and has served as an informal adviso

we begin in afghanistan. secretary of state hillary clinton carried a message on partnership to work with afghanistan well beyond the planned troop pull out. afghanistan is now designated a major non-nato ally. the u.s. will keep up defense, security and economic relations with afghanistan even after the withdrawal. >> i am pleased to announce today that president obama has officially designated afghanistan as a major non-nato ally of the united states. we see this as a powerful symbol of our commitment to afghanistan's future. >> afghanistan joins nations like japan and australia on the non-nato list. shortly after the anuncement, clinton and karzai left for japan for a meeting of international donors. before heading to afghanistan, secretary of state clinton was in paris. leaders are searching for a solution to the bloodshed in syria at the hands of assad's regime. russia and china opposed efforts to have asaid removed from power. >> i will tell you frankly, i don't think russia and china believe they are p

we cannot do everything in afghanistan. the needs of afghanistan are virtually endless. with a donor funds going down and this transition going forward, we need a narrow, achievable set of priorities that need to be focused on a few critical things. private sector led economic growth, and enabling environment that will allow that growth comment better laws, and human capital development. in other words, cementing the gains and making them more ready to become part of the workforce. third, there needs to be reforms. these reforms in government and on economic policy will enable a successful, economic, and political transition. a failure to make some of these critical reforms will disable that transition. finally, as someone who has watched this process intensively over the last decade, we need clear follow-up mechanisms that will set and tracked benchmarks, so that we know where and how we are on track and where we are off track and how we will correct the process. we also need more effective means to incentivize some of the types of reforms that i mentioned. what you wil

probably the best story in afghanistan. e ifft. crtiiflt t paratroopers to take their hand off so the afghans take the lead. that is a major push over the xt t y inor pceilng thrm a vy ce o itnoteapres it is the two year process. we have exames of having done this we not ar vim aexplofg tandth vietnesar turned back american air support but no american ground forces but we cut off the money and ammunition and male g el bsey ghey do. lt aomforce. i do not say it is certain. i simply say it is possible we have critical issues to get rough in the nextwo years. qit aly.m hdo but not achieved equality. there are big problems with sce.n ubut uevel eed a psee dense enough to build quality but t let them take risks, get hurt bu be ck ths a ctil hnkwnf ba tr taro cannot support them as we push them into the lead the process will be in danger and could fail. inwoea the hd pp oth lev w odgn ay at won't lewis -- >> three more questions and finish of because we have a hard stop at 11:0 ilarrens the fthow -- >> i was with usaid until janu iouio n

but today afghanistan has really leapt into the twoifts. where as before there were no telephones virtually in the country. today some 85% have access to a cellular phone network, and some people even make mobile payments using their cell phones, something few americans do today. economic growth has been 8 to 10% over the last decade. so it's true, they are coming from a very low base, but the progress that we've been able to help the afghan people make in the last decade, particularly if you saw it before, is really remarkable. but at the same time that progress does remain fragile. which is why it's so critical that the sorts of commitments the international community is continuing to make, like those at tokyo this weekend, will help the afghans continue to cement the investments of the last decade, but also to become more self sustaining. >> suarez: in recent weeks on this program, journalist chandra -- was skaiting in his appraisal of the u.s. aid's work in afghanistan, talking about ill conceived programs, badly administer ed spending

the war must end, and states must leave afghanistan. and pakistan should not get involved in this affair. >> the reopening of the routes came after u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton apologized for cross-border attacks for the first time on tuesday. 24 pakistani soldiers were killed in an air strike by the u.s. military last november. the seven-month closure of the routes symbolized souring relations between washington and islamabad, and now that the routes are reopened, the pakistani government is eyeing improved ties with the u.s. and is hoping to receive financial aid that the u.s. has thheld. >> a substantial amount. we are hoping will be released soon. >> the reopening of the supply routes is sending out a positive signal of stability for afghanistan ahead of a meeting of donor countries supporting the war-torn nation scheduled for this sunday in tokyo. but uncertainties remain as islamic extremists are already threatening to attack trucks bound for afghanistan. >>> nations are preparing to meet at the asean regional fornum ca

>> and in the guest spot, missed opportunities in afghanistan. how personal rivalries might sabotage president obama's exit strategy. >> sometimes we all need a little therapy. the new season of showtime's "web therapy" starts tonight. we have a preview session with the show's co-creator. >> plus, those old light cereal commercials have to do with health care. >> and "the cycle" for monday, july 2nd, begins right now. >>> the gang's all here for week two of "the cycle." and i saw the most frightening, disgusting thing last week walking down the street. a woman clearly third trimester about to go, probably eight months, had two kids, i know what eight months looks like. >> beautiful. >> beautiful, but she was sucking down a cigarette. i mean really going hard at the cigarette. i have not seen anything like that -- i think ever. >> you know what's kind of unreal about that? is beyond just the disgustingness of doing that but feeling like you can do it in public. >> yes. >> shameless. >> are you sure she wasn't just large and in charge? >> no, i pro

the united states remains the largest donor to afghanistan, afghanistan getting nearly $60 billion innce 2002. the $16 billion pledge does not include u.s. moneys since any foreign aid must first be approved by congress. >>> hollywood lend earnest borgnine has died. the 95-year-old oscar winning actor passed way in an -- away in an l.a. hospital with his family at his side. his career spanned six decades. borgnine served a total of 10 years in the navy, the last four after he reenlisted when the u.s. entered world war ii. >>> still ahead on the news at 10:00 while devastating storms rock the midsection of the u.s., people in russia are dealing with their own disaster. tonight president vladimir putin is demanding answers after more than 100 people are killed from flash flooding. >> on the lighter side of things, the nats seek a 50th victory before heading to the all-star break. lindsay murphy is up next with sports.  [ female announcer ] safeway presents real big deals of the week. or how to get great prices on things you need. we know you look around for the b

you described the war in afghanistan as a series of missed opportunities. what is it that america did wrong? >> first of all, i believe we squandered the troop surge by sending the first waves of additional forces to helmand province instead of sending them to canada are -- to kandahar. that is the country's second most populous area. but we diverted them to other areas. the other issue i write about this is the infighting that occurred in washington, particularly between the state department and white house, over the negotiations with the taliban, although this was something that president obama and the national security team wanted. there was some fairly vicious personal bickering going on between richard holbrooke, the diplomat, essentially the front man for afghanistan, and members of the president's national security inner circle and the white house, who just did not like him as a person, and instead of working together, they spent a lot of time fighting with each other. >> you mentioned the infighting within the obama administration, the fact that the

the sporting the focus begins with afghanistan. "the new york times" starts -- host: taking a look at some other stories in the news. we will listen to mitt romney, republican presidential candidate. he was in israel and talked about u.s. support. [video clip] it is today when iran's leaders deny the holocaust or speak of wiping this nation off the map. only the naive would dismiss this as an action of rhetoric. the ayatollah's are testing our defenses. they want to know who will look the other way. my message -- will not look away nor my country ever look away from our passion and commitment to israel. as the prime minister said, if an enemy of the jewish people said he seeks to destroy us, believe him. we have seen the horrors of history. we will not stand by. it would be foolish not to take iran's leaders at their words. have targeted diplomats and killed their own people. they provided weapons that have killed american soldiers in afghanistan and iraq. it is iran that is a leading state sponsor of terrorism. we have a duty and

>> look, i think afghanistan is headed for a messy future.'s no appetite among the american people to stay there for 15 more years. you know, i think that if we were to pack up tomorrow and come home, things could get pretty bloody pretty quickly. i think, you know, what the administration is trying to do now is find a way to quickly reduce forces there, put more responsibility on the afghans. but as i argue in this book, i think we could've gotten to this point earlier had we not surged the way we did. had we sent the troops to the right parts of the country. you know, i detail something pretty shocking. the first waves of new forces sent by president obama weren't sent to kandahar where there was just that recent attack you were talking about. they were sent off to another province of the country that was far less populous. and so we wound up squandering key months, key year of the build-up over there. so, you know, had we fought this differently, and had washington not been so consumed with fighting amongst itself, i think we could have be

troops in afghanistan, and to get in and out of afghanistan over the next two years, as we begin to pull by 2014, you can see the route that would include pakistan, would include this direction, and a far more difficult route as you head above northern part of the country, across north of iran to get back into turkey >> guest: that's correct. after the border was closed in november, the u.s. and nato forces were using a northern distribution network which actually runs from the north of afghanistan into the central asian stage and through russia. as you rightly noted, that is a much longer route. the cost is much higher to move supplies through there, and particularly when it comes to the drawdown, to move a lot of the hardware out especially, sensitive material, lethal material, intelligence-slated material, to bring it up to the states, all the way out to russia, that was going to be quite difficult. it was very significant for the u.s. in terms of cost and in terms of comfort of bringing all that equipment out as they draw down going into 2014, that nato forces are able to do so throu

this is something that happens routinely in afghanistan. human rights organizations will frequently fight the number of women throughout the course of their life will experience some brutality. it is not just the taliban. the northern alliance has been equally awful in the way they kept young boys as sex slaves and continue to do so. what we are really looking at in afghanistan is the whole series of social practices that center around notions of honor. people are much more reliant upon local institutions than federal structures. we'll see not only by the way in afghanistan but also in pakistan if a woman is accused of having some sort of sexual infidelity they will go to some tribal council. it will be really dejor that they would force her to be gang raped perhaps by the family members of the party that was aggrieved or possibly killed. it is important to not see this exclusively in terms of the taliban but this is a set of practices that has existed and continue to exist throughout afghanistan. by the way, we can ask the question what wi

it also shows we don't need them to win the war in afghanistan. we were able to pursue our mission in afghanistan without them. what really endanger our troops is not access to the southern supply route, but failure to get access through pakistan's tribal areas where pakistan gives terrorist a safe haven. pakistan is playing america. the only thing pakistan's military rulers understand is dollars and as long as we keep the money flowing they have no incentive to change their evil ways. our message should be this, pakistan has a raging insurgency in their country with al qaeda. pakistan, taliban and the haqqani network. pakistan can either receive assistance and go after these terrorists with us or don't take any of our money and we'll find our own way to take these terrorists out. i urge my colleagues to join me in telling pakistan they will no longer get american money. we don't need to pay pakistan to betray us. they will do it if for free. i yield back. the chair:heemanields his time. the gentlefrom frida. me toung: i last word. the chair: the