any thoughts that you -- nato allies. any thoughts about how we can get our friends to do their share? to provide civilian technical expertise to build the country's governance capacity. the another issue relates to russia. vice-president and secretary clinton have called for resetting u.s.-russian relations. there are opportunities to build common security interests, including the development of a unified response to the threat of a nuclear-armed iran. the president, secretary clinton and secretary gates, and general jones have all commented positively about the prospects of the united states and russia working on a common missile defense as a way of deterring nuclear -- iran's nuclear ambitions. i recently explored that possibility on a visit to moscow, prague, and warsaw, and came back with positive things to explore. i invite your comments on whether that could change the overall dynamic in the region, and might cause iran to recalculate in the nuclear weapons ambitions. we would welcome comments that you might have o

beachs to stop the allied advance. the rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades and the american rangers began to climb. >> 50 years ago the first allied soldiers to land here in norm day came not from the sea but from the sky. they were called path finders. the first paratroopers to make the jump. deep in the darkness they descended on these fields to light beacons for the airborne assault that would soon follow. now, near the dawn of a new centu century, the job of lighting those beacons falls to our ha s hands. to you who brought us here i promi promise, we will be the new path finders, for we are the children of your sacrifice. >> with us today are americans who first saw this place at a distan distance. in the half light of of a tuesday morning long ago. time and providence have brought them back to see once more the beaches and cliffs, the crosses and the stars of david. generations to come will know what happened here, but these men heard the guns

but perhaps the most compelling argument supporting free trade agreement with this important ally of ours is the very reason that we are gathered here in support of house resolution 309, the geopolitical factors in east asia, north korea has recently destabilized actions necessary states a firm and tangible u.s. commitment in the region and realizing that the free trade agreement would send the right message to both north and south korea. we seek an even stronger and more comprehensive economic trade relationship with our important ally, the republic of korea. with that i would like to reserve the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from american samoa reserves the balance of his time of the the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. bilirakis: mr. speaker, i yield mr. royce who is the chairman, ranking member of the subcommittee on terrorism and nonproliferation and trade, member from california. as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. royce: i thank the gentleman. i rise in supp

at dawn on june 6, the allies came. the best chance for victory had been for the british royal air corps to take out the guns on the cliffs all airborne divisions parachuted behind enemy lines. but all the not go according to plan. paratroopers landed miles from their mark. the fog and clouds prevented allied planes from destroying the guns on the cliffs. when the ships landed here at omaha, and unimaginable help rained down on the men. many never made it out of the votes. and yet -- many never made it out of the boats. one by one, the allied forces made their way to shore. they were american, british, and canadian. soon the paratroopers found each other and fought their way back. the rangers scaled the cliffs. by the end of the day, against all odds, the ground on which we stand was free once more. the sheer in probability of this victory is part of what makes pd-day so memorable. it arises from the clarity of purpose from which this war was waged. we live in a world of competing beliefs and claims about what is true.

and we are eternal allies now because of this. allies not for a season but for centuries ever more. people bound now for time in memorial for a shared endeavor and an unshakeable faith. those men who risked everything 65 years ago demonstrated that although tyranny may suppress, it cannot endure forever. they proved that dictatorship may for a time have a power to dictate, but that it will not in the end decide the course of a human journey. they enacted the belief that as long as one of us is not free, no one of us is free. they made real the timeless values enslinde in the bill of rights, the deck cla ration of independence, the charter of liberty, and the call of liberty, equality, and fraternt. and in doing so, they embodied not just the hopes of one age, but the dreams of all ages. so intense was the cooperation between our nations that when winston churchill regularly asked to see strategists who were planning d-day he never knew until they arrived whether the officer would be british, canadian, or american. and so next to omaha beach, we join president obama to pay tribute to

allies in asia are gentleman pap and south korea. they've sustained the peace with us in asia since world war ii. and i think that our position together with them has been a lot stronger in terms of wanting to disarm north korea than the chinese have. the chinese can fundamentally live with a nuclear north korea as long as there's stability on their boreders. -- borders. host: kim jong il, his son designated as his potential successor. who's in charge? guest: well, it's so hard to know. it's such a totalitarian state with such a news blackout. but it seems from all indications that kim has picked his youngest son early to be his successor. but that doesn't mean the story's over. there could be a power struggle for some time in north korea. the military is very strong as are the other factions of kim's own party. host: mike is on the phone from new jersey. democrats' line. good morning, mike. caller: hi. how are you doing? i'd like to know why is it that we as americans feel our people are above other countries' laws because those two

he is not our ally. he didn't stand up and speak against the defensive marriage act after the department of justice called us in the lgbt community peedo fillaction. and things of that nature. and i'm tired of that. and i don't think that guy is an ally of ours. host: who in the political realm do you feel speaks for you and your community? caller: both dennis cuse niche and ron paul. but they never have a huge voice. but also, in a third party, mckinny and the green party. and michael bat anywheric of the libertarian party. guest: that's a recipe for disenfranchise. sintsdza mckinny right after 9/11 was peddling conconspiracyy theories accusing our own government of being behind the nine letch attacks. and those two candidates that he mentioned were like in last place. given the 98% or so of reelection rate of incumbents in the senate, for example, to completely run off both major parties is a recipe for just selft erashor politically. i think it's very irresponsible for advocates for lgbt or any other

first we are consulting with our allies and partners in asia. especially those who have been involved with us in recent years in the six party talks. president obama and secretary clinton have been in the forefront of this effort reaching out to leaders in japan and, south korea, china and russia conveying a desire for a strong and unified response to p'yongyang that it will suffer consequences if it does not reverse course. last week i participated in a mission to the region led by secretary of state, deputy secretary of state steinberg where we reiterated this point. i can say that our partners share our view that north korea's nuclear and missile threats is a challenge to the international order and a hindrance to lasting stability in northeast asia that must be addressed. we found that our asian partners agree that north korea's provocative behavior is changing the security situation in northeast asia. and we agreed to take coordinated steps to get north korea to reverse its lead as provocative stops here and china obviously has an impartial

you've got by the summer of 19 44 a monumental not just allied effort but american effort. we're looking at this from the american perspective. think of it this way. you had a major effort in italy and further fighting from there. you have a massive strategic bombing campaign in europe. then the normandy invasion. in the pacific at this very same time, you have fighting going on in new guinea, mcarthur's campaign in new guinea at that point still raging on. and you have the centerpiece of the allied effort in the pacific that year, the invasion of the mariannas was about to take place. so we are about ten days before the invasion of sigh pan. and is an effort not quite equal to the normandy invasion but pretty close because it's subsequently followed up by invasions of guam. these are huge campaigns and they certainly were all subconnected in one way just to draw on what we're talking about earlier was landing craft. having enough landing craft to go around was an issue, whether we would have enough for the pacific invasions versus the invasion of normandy, all these things

we will be looking for the help of our friends and allies, as we execute that process. it will be admittedly difficult politically. in the past i have spoken not only to the chancellor, but other european union's who are pleased that the e you provided a legal framework on how to deal with the detainees in guantanamo, and we have received a positive response from countries across europe in the general sense of wanting help. i think that particular specifics of what particular detainee might be transferred where, those are some still under preliminary discussions. i think that chancellor merkle has an obligation to make sure that germany's national security interest comes first in these considerations. we understand that. we expectha

on that date, 2 million allied soldiers had disembarked. 38,500 had been killed, 150,000 wounded, and 19,000 were missing in action. on the german side, 60,000 were dead, 140,000 wounded, 200,000 or taken prisoner, and 20,000 civilians had also lost their lives. the battle of normandy decided the fate of this war, but this battle was won on the beaches and in the fields by the sons of farmers, sons of american workers, whose fathers had also fought in 1918. this battle was won by british soldiers who were the incarnation of the hero of values of our great people that in the darkest period of its history, never gave up. this battle was won by canadian soldiers who, starting from the first few days of the war, volunteered to go to battle, not because the country was threatened, but because the were convinced that it was a question of honor. the battle of normandy was won by the soldiers of the first polish armored division who were fighting near the cliffs and who provided cover. the battle of normandy was won by check, danish, and norwegian aviators, by belgian and dutch paratroopers,

this is the story of the allied victory. it is the legend of units like easy company and the all american 82nd. it is the tale of the british people whose courage during the blitz forced hitler to call off the invasion of england, the canadians who came even though they were never attacked, the russians to sustain some of the worst casualties on the eastern front. and all those french men and women who would have rather died resisting tyranney than live within its grasp. it is the memories that have been passed on to some of us about the service for sacrifice of a friend or relative. for me, it is my grandfather who arrived on this speech six weeks after d-day and marched across europe and patton's army. it is my great uncle who was part of the first american division to reach and to liberate a nazi concentration camp. his name ispaine and i am proud he is with us today. -- his name is charles panie. for those of you who make it, there is nothing that can keep you away. one says veteran, a man named jim noreen, was a member

turkey is a very important friend and ally to the united states. i would categorize our relationship at the moment it is a strong relationship. we are conducting a great deal of information and intelligence sharing. we recognize the threat to turkey post that the kurdish separatist movements, and i believe it is an important as strong relationship and one i intend to focus on is confirmed. >> general mcchrystal,

then paris is liberated which is a great political moment for the allies. and the whole advance was just rolling across france. the germans are in retreat. there is a lot of excitement that the world could be over by christmas. but this is too good to be true because of supply issues. the soviets had run that supply issues the farther they advanced in poland, parts of the balkans and the western allies had the same issue once began to advance across france. they had the material but they couldn't get it several hundred miles to the east where it needed to go. so, by the fall of 1944 the germans were able to recover, lick their wounds, set up fret strong defenses and stalemate the war on through the rest of a poor weather fall. a lot of rain, snow, and it was a horrendous winter in 1944 and 1945. that is where you are on the eve of the battle of the bulge in mid december of 1944. host: next up is armed from smyrna, tennessee. caller: good morning. john, i belong to an organization called veterans for pea peace. and in our last meeting there was a man there w

pakistan is a valued ally. this will enable us to give them the resources so that we can count on that ally to do the right thing. and continue the same blank check policy which has made matters worse rather than better, i think is a terrible mistake. i urge defeat of the amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you. mr. speaker, i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mr. hoekstra, the ranking member on the house permanent select committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for five minutes. mr. hoekstra: i'd like to thank my colleague for yielding the time. pakistan, afghanistan is a very difficult part of the world. as we develop the strategies, i think many of us all have the same goals and objectives in mind. but we need to take a look at exactly what we are doing today. i'm proud to support the republican amendment to the pakistan enduring assistance and cooperation ac

now pending adoption in york and is one with which we are exchanging views with our partners and allies in the region. beyond that i am really not able to go very far at this point, senator. obviously we're looking at all mechanisms which would enable us to help to persuade north korea to come back to negotiating framework. >> without belaboring the issue can you describe from your own experience or your own history of the situation really how those financial instruments work? in other words, as the public takes a look at this hearing tries to understand, something of that complex nature, why was this effective if you believe it was in the past with regard to it north korea? >> i can't really go into much detail on this not because i'm reluctant to comment because i was not involved in these efforts at that time. but i think we're looking at the possibility of additional measures which will be very carefully targeted and which would it as you suggest addressing the issues posed by specific number three in deposits and holdings outside of the country. obviously this becomes very complica

i look forward to the interactions with our allies, and working with general mcchrystal to hear what he needs and attempting to facilitate that. >> my time is expiring, so i want to stay this in a different matter. you had very strong statements in the q&a on the rising ballistic missile threat to europe, particularly that posed by iran. as a consequence, you argue that "the deployment of ballistic missile defenses in europe would make a significant contribution to the protection of the u.s. in europe from a middle east and ballistic missile threat." you also very strongly said that "we need multilayered missile defense capabilities station and operational in the region before a fretfully emerges to ensure, in european allies and partner'' security in this vein." the petric programs are very important, but cannot defeat "the entire range of threats by themselves." i want to thank you for those statements. i cannot agree with you more. i look forward to working with you on those and other matters related to your committee. >> senator in half. -- senator inhofe. >> that -- they always

their goal was power and paying off their allies. the [applause] you can tell how badly the stimulus has failed, and let's be clear, this is not something president obama inherited from president bush. he got his stimulus delivered by his robots in congress that did exactly what they were told without reading the bill. he can't turn around now and said that george w. bush made him have. they promised we would peak at 8% unemployment. at friday, we were at 9.4%. their budget is correct because we will have higher unemployment, greater expenses, and less revenue than projected because their plan has already failed. [applause] let me be clear as a matter of first principle. bureaucrats micromanaging companies does not work. politicians dominating the economy does not work. barney frank and chris dodd are not substitutes for a sound market economy. tim geithner and lawrence summers on not a replacement for warren buffett and bill gates. we have been here before. jimmy carter got us to 13% inflation, 22% interest rates, sliding into the w

an approach that treats pakistan from the paradigm of hired help rather than a valued ally is deeply counterproductive. it only reinforces the transactional nature of ties that are so resented by pakistanis. mr. speaker, our overarching goal should and indeed must be, do no harm. unfortunately, the bill before us could hamper rather than help vital u.s. security and strategic objectives regarding pakistan and afghanistan. with that, i yield the balance -- i reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman 13k mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the -- to my friend from california, the member of the committee, the gentlewoman, barbara lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. first, let me thank the chairman for his very effective work on this bill and for your leadership. and for really bringing this forward to the committee so that all of us could have an opportunity to weigh in and talk about and amend and include many of the provisions t

i think this is an area where the allies are crucial. we have a long way to go. >> i'm not be wrong but i think the cost of the afghan army is going to be about $3 billion or $4 million at the very minimal. the outcome in afghanistan is as important as it is to us. tell me the consequence of losing it afghanistan or pakistan? general mcchrystal. walk me through what would happen is america lost in afghanistan and pakistan collapsed. >> in the near term i would not predict the future but i think that it would break down into civil war. i don't believe that the towel bun with takeover afghanistan, i think it would go back to what it was earlier. -- i don't think the taliban would take over afghanistan. if there was that kind of safe haven in afghanistan with the ongoing problem of pakistan, i think pakistan would find winning their insurgency very difficult, if not impossible. it is a nuclear arms stacy have nuclear weapons under questionable control. >> amro, do you agree? >> i do. and then there is the nato failing. i would add that to t

it has alienated us from nations that should be our allies. i think the closure of it is a correct one. >> i think secretary clinton shares the view that it would help us abroad if we had a start over. >> that is correct. >> i like to mention that detainee policy becomes important. it could help or hurt the war effort. the way people are captured in kept really does matter. i see a chance to start over here. the problem the american people have is that we need a plan. let us talk about how we view the guantanamo population. there are those that can be repatriated. some countries who are talking about repatriating them concerning. the saudia arabian rehabilitation per gram, what is your view about that? how successful is that program? >> they have been people who have gone through the program who have returned to the battlefield. we have to be honest about that. it has not been 100% correct. it provides a useful tool. we combine that program with what we will be doing on our side about who can be transferred, it would increase the success rate

we are in constant talks with our allies in attempting to place these people. so we will continue our efforts. the state department is working with us. dan freed is flying over the world meeting with people, meeting with various countries to try to come up with ways in which we place these people. so those efforts will continue. >> and those for whom we cannot find a place overseas, what will we do with them? >> well, i'm not sure that we're not going to be able to. i think that by sharing information about who these people are, responding to the questions that are posed bri our allies who -- posed by our allies that we can come up with a way that they will not pose a danger to their countries, will not pose a danger to us. >>> what steps have you taken to accomplish this goal? >> with regard to the civil rights division, for instance, i have met with every employee in the civil rights division in several meetings to make sure they understand as the division that i think had the greatest amount of political harm done to them that is no longer is going to be acc

i do think turkey is an important ally in nato. they are helping us in afghanistan in that critical effort. they have a growing economy. they are interested in further integration with europe. i would encourage that, so i have said publicly i think turkish membership in the eu would be important. president sarkozy, as an actual member of the eu, has a different view, but i think it is important to note he strongly supports the work that turkey is doing in nato. i believe he is interested in further economic integration. and what the u.s. wants to do is to continue to encourage discussions and talks and a process whereby turkey can feel confident that it has a friendship with france, with the united states, with all of europe, and to the extent it is defining itself as part of europe, that it has an opportunity to be a partner. but again, that is something that will have to move forward not based on what the united states says, but rather a dialogue between the european union members and turkey. in all of this, i think europe and fr

last week i attended the nato meeting in brussels along with partners and allies who are contributing troops to afghanistan. in brussels, i was pleased to introduce general crystal to the nato defense ministers and it to our troop contributing partners. he is now on the job and in the midst of a 60-day review of operations. he brings unparalleled energy and determination, as well as substantial counterinsurgency experience and expertise to the international military effort in afghanistan. i look forward to the results of his review, which should represent a more comprehensive and effective civil military approach. one of the key takeaways from brussels was an agreement in principle to set up a new command structure, including a new operational headquarters. i look forward to the north atlantic council's approval of a new command organization next month and to the senate's confirmation of lieutenant- general david rodriquez, who with approval, would assume command of the day to day military operations of this headquarters. another important take away from this is a commitment from nato

. >> the republic of korea is one of america's closest allies. our friendship has been forged through a history of shared sacrifice, and it is anchored in our shared democratic values. mr. president, i'm pleased that the friendship between our countries has only grown stronger under your leadership. we meet at a time of great challenges on the korean peninsula, north korea has abandoned its own commitment and violated international law. its nuclear and ballistic vessel programs pose a grave threat to peace and security of asia and to the world. in the face of these threats and provocations, the people of the republic of korea have shown a steadiness and a resolve that has earned the respect of the united states and of the world. today president lee and i reiterated our shared commitment to the complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula. we have reaffirmed the endurance of our alliance and america's commitment to the defense of the republic of korea. we discussed the measures that we are taking with our partners in the region. including rus

we are acting very much in concert with our two treaty allies, japan and the republic of south korea, and in concert with our partners in the six party process -- namely china and russia. >> was -- what restraints are on at this point diplomatic route to being pursued? has there been a rebuttal of that? is there a lack of communication in response or is there some indication of this opening in the near-term? >> i think there has been no lack of communication of our concern and what we are prepared to do. north korea has been listening. we have some degree of confidence. so far we have had no effective response from north korea other than its fair assertion in about a month ago before their nuclear test that they were going to test another nuclear device because the u.n. security council had failed as they had demanded to apologize to north korea for its earlier actions. but so far there has not been any demonstrated willingness to engage with the international community either through the u.n. or directly to this ex-parte process. >> what if this particular round of sanctions it elici

the world, an ally in terms of intelligence gathering, economics, politics and culture. israel is a rose in a desert rampant with repression, a force of moderation against fundamentalism and extremism. it is an ally we can constantly depend on and count on to be with us in innational fora -- international fora. for more than six decades it has been a key u.s. partner. we have israeli engineers to thank for tprefrg advances in solar power to a.o.l. instant messaging. equipment we're using in iraq to fight terrorism was developed in israel. medical treatments we're using in u.s. hospitals to fight cancer, heart disease and chronic pain were developed in israel. israeli-born actors are stars of hollywood and an israeli astronaut has put americans into space. it is not just in the interest of israel to have its full history recognized. it is in the national interest and the national security interests of the united states. it is our interest to fully remember the unbreakable bond that has made us both stronger over the last 61 years and to make it unmistakable that our commi

and the needs of our allies must be understood in this context. they are similarly concerned about the size of our deterrent as i noted before. we must engage in consultations with each of them about what u.s. nuclear force posture assures them of their security not what we think should assure them. and, we must understand what threats they need to deter for their security. we must understand whether they are concerned about russia's tactical nuclear weapons which russia insists absolutely cannot be discussed. if so, how do further u.s. strategic nuclear reductions affect the balance of forces between the hundreds oftant tall nuclear weapons the u.s. possesses versus several thousand nuclear weapons russia possesses. equally concerning is the fact the cart appears to be before the horse. i mean it appears we may be presented with a start follow on that compels a new nuclear posture with significant reductions. it does not explain how that passture will be supported. what kind of modernization program will be undertaken to support the requirement a

homeland or forward deployed troops and allies. this amendment is common sense. it's a sound measure that would reverse the administration's $1.2 billion cut to missile defense. it would restore the 35% reduction to the nation's ground based mid course defense system located in alaska and california. which is designed to protect the u.s. homeland. it would restore investments in vital research and development like the airborne laser program which is on the cusp of demonstrating breakthrough technologies. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment to do so otherwise would be irresponsible. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from arizona continue to reserve his time. . mr. franks: i would like to yield to other members here. i will now yield to the distinguished ranking member of the strategic forces committee, mr. turner for one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. turner: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. franks. i rise to speak in favor of the franks amendment. i was disappointed with the administrat

it has alienated us from nation to should be our allies. the decision to close guantanamo is the correct one. >> secretary clinton makes the view that it would be good if we had a start over regarding the detaining policy? >> yes. >> detainee policy becomes very important. it can hurt or help the war effort. the way you treat people in their capture does matter. the german and japanese captors housed in the u.s. were well taken care of and made it easier for us to win over the german and japanese people over time. i see a chance to start over here. but the problem the american people have and members of the committee on both sides of the aisle is that we need a plan. let's talk about how we view the guantanamo population. there are three buckets -- those that can be repatriated, that is one pathway, correct? >> that is correct. >> some countries we were talking about concern me -- bermuda is ok, but i'm not sure they will take many. the saudi arabia rehabilitation program -- what is your view of that program? >> i think it has been pretty s

are allies, our allies, south korea and japan, our partners, china and russia. >> is there any reason to believe that if the leadership mantle passes two kim jong-il's son, that it will result in any kind of a change in the leadership there with respect to decision-making? >> i have no reason to speculate one way or the other on that. as i said earlier, quoting former secretary of defense, william perry, i think you have to deal with korea as it is, not how it might be in the future. >> is there any information to suggest there might be disagreements within the north korean government regarding their nuclear policy? >> no. >> thank you. >> thank you senator shaheen guss senator corker, i know he has indicated to me he is not going to ask questions so we thank you ambassador bosworth very much. we want to stay in close touch and i know we will and a look forward to chatting with you for a moment. if we could ask the second panel to quickly come up and take their seats so we can have a seamless transition, that would be terrific. i would ask each of the following panelists if they would

some unlikely allies. most people who are idealistic the like people who are corrupt. [laughter] for a good reason. what frances did is she often worked with people who were corrupt but you had a streak of good news in them and you wanted to participate in something better. frances perkins began at an early age to cultivate tammany hall for kroeger she becomes very close friends with robert wechner who initially showed very low interest in the workplace legislation, and the person who was so close to him, they called him his tammy twin, al smith. frances perkins is an vault in helping both of those men advance their careers. she orchestrates hearings on factory conditions where those two men began to shine. robert wagner becomes a very important u.s. senator from new york. shabes labor legislation for decades to come. al smith becomes governor of new york and a presidential candidate. when he goes to run, for president, he meets-- need someone he can count on, someone who is going to be a good governor and

but do so in a way that is consistent with our values and our ideals, the assistance that all nato alliesas well as others are providing in helping to bring about a more peaceful and democratic afghanistan, on all of these issues president sarkozy has not just cooperated, he's led. and that kind of approach i think is serving the interests of france but it's also serving their interest and we're very grateful for that. obviously i also want to make mention of the extraordinary tragedy of the air france plane that we believe may have gone down. we don't know yet what exactly happened, but it is heartbreaking, obviously, for the families. the american people offer our thoughts and prayers. we've already authorized all of our resources to coordinate with the french in trying to discover where the plane went down and to find as much information as possible. but our deepest condolences to the people of france, most particularly to the families involved. and we are determined to find out what happened and support france in that regard. so with that, i think that we can take a question. >> mr. p

so we will continue to consult with our allies. we'll continue to consult with all the parties who previously have been involved in the six-party talks. but we are going to take a very hard look at how we move forward on these issues. and i don't think that there should be an assumption that we will simply continue down a path in which north korea is constantly destabilizing the region and we just react in the same way, by after they've done these things for a while, then we reward them. now, with respect to iran, i've made very clear that we are not taking the same position. i'm curious that you would suggest we're taking the same approach when i'm spending an awful lot of time back home answering people who are concerned that what we're doing is too radical. and we are breaking significantly from past approaches and we are saying we're willing to have direct negotiations with the iranians on a whole range of issues without preconditions. in an atmosphere of music -- mutual respect and resolve. like president sarp cozy, my view is

it is one which we are exchanging views with our partners and allies in the region. i am not able to go very far at this point. we are looking at all mechanisms which would enable us to help to persuade north korea to come back to a negotiating framework. >> can you describe from your own experience or your own history of this situation how those financial instruments worked? as the public looks at this and tries to wonder stand something of that complex nature, why was this effective in regard to north korea? >> i can't go into much detail on this. not because i am reluctant to comment, but because i was not involved in these efforts at this time. we are looking at the possibility of additional measures which will be targeted, and which would, as you suggest, address the issues of specific north korean deposits and holdings outside the country. this becomes very complicated because north korea would have relationships with banks and financial institutions of other countries, we have to be sure we are coordinating this with those governments. but this is particularly

this disaster from unfolding and if iran does attain nuclear weapons, to take converted action with allies to contain and deter it. very quickly we realized it's not just the iran program in isolation, but as ilan said once iran opens this door, this pandora's box, there will be a cascade of nuclear proliferation in the middle east, and that's not exactly the most stable region to begin with. so i'll just quickly coover the ten recommendations we came up with in this report, and if you're watching at home it's available on our web site and also in our iran briefing room which is a web site attached to the heritage.org web site. our first recommendation was to adopt a protect and defend strategy aimed at neutralizing iran's nuclear deter rent. we need to strengthen deter reasons against the threat once it emerges by deploying enhanced missile defenses, especially to our allies in the region, israel and other countries threatened by iran. the u.s. navy also needs to be ready to deploy missile defense cruisers at appropriate places and times in the event of a crisis. and given iran's growing

i think you have seen a weakening of hezbollah's allies. in terms of communications, that is a victory for those as opposed to those in the region. in a way, what was so embarrassing to them was this notion that the islamic republic and ahmadinejad had more of legitimacy, more popular legitimacy, then our government. right now ahmadinejad is on shaky ground the other thing is -- is on shaky ground. the other thing is ahmadinejad and hezbollah are not going to suffer in terms of support. training, weaponry is going to continue. our revolutionary guards controlled these relationships. they are not directly affected. in terms of talking to their own public and palestine and lebanon, in terms of ideology, this is a setback. >> i think that-- >> hezbollah and hamas are completely different entities as far as iran. i would be very interested to know whether or not the kind of schisms that have developed inside of iran and become blatant are also being reduced within hezbollah. the father of the hezbollah movement is a major mousavi supporter, the

miller. >> i serve on the nato parliamentary assembly and i have been able to meet with allies and they are proud of the contributions that they are making, certainly in afghanistan and what i would like to ask you for -- i would like to ask you for the record, explain the impact of the capabilities of these partners in the current fight in afghanistan, and can you talk about iraq as well? >> from your visits to the coordination center, you understand how this is coming together and this is bonding across the special operations. this has stimulated the activities of some special operations forces, being provided to the effort in afghanistan. should i talk about how the special operations are performing, and what the activities are in afghanistan -- i am not certain my monitor should is enough to give a coherent enough answer on that. i will say that in my discussions with the leaders, there is a feeling of community forming, across the nation's special operations community, and i would say that this is special operations forces -- the special operations line is something around which th

we need more support from allied countries as well. nato and united nations affiliate's. we need that to back them up. we need to get more stern in the nuclear area over there. we need to get inspectors to find out what he is doing and not allow this to continue. host: thank you, secretary. the secretary of state, in canada, made remarks over the weekend. "we obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the iranian people." back to the phones and our discussion around the iranian election and the position that the united states has been put in. especially with regards to the nuclear situation. georgia, republican line. go ahead. caller: the media had it like ahmadinejad was going to lose. he won in a landslide. obama said that they should be able to make their own nuclear power? that there should be to states in israel and palestine? let's go by what he says pertaining to this. the reason that ahmadinejad won in a landslide, you know that iraq had no bombs or anything? we preemptively attack of them and killed millions of their people. he is pop

especially to allies in the region. israel and other countries threatened by iran. the u.s. navy also needs to be ready to deploy missile defense cruisers at appropriate places and times. given the growing ballistic missile capability we think it would be prudent to invest in missile defense. not only for regionally-deployed ones, but at home. the u.s. must be seen as providing robust missile defense for itself because of a secure america has to the credibility of allies in the region. news of the washington should warn any threat