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

i am sure that in our operations meeting in brussels, it will,. kuntsevo will be a subject of discussion when we are in brussels later this week. >> do you have a recommendation? >> i wonder how paring down the force in packs that and whether u.s. forces will be part of that. i have not heard about us gaining forces in terms of nato drawdown in kosovo. it would speak to the success of the operation, but free up additional forces to use elsewhere, and hopefully they will increase 12 time. ok? thanks so much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> in the u.s. house, a plan to offer cash rebates to americans who trade in older cars for newark models. state department programs including the united nations peacekeeping and a measure to increase military and nonmilitary aid to pakistan. negotiators are trying to agree on a bill allocating almost $100 billion for additional iraq and afghanistan war spending. 6:30 p.m. eastern here on c- span. the senate continues work on the tobacco regulations with a procedural vote today at 53:30.

although i'm sure in operations meetings in brussels it will come up. i mean, kosovo will certainly be a subject of discussion when we are in brussels later this week. >> are you aware of any recommendation of that sort? >> i am not. i mean i'm aware that we were together out to get there. so i wonder how paring down the force impacts that and whether or not u.s. forces would be part of that. i have not heard discussions internally about of gaining any forces as a result of some sort of nato drawdown in kosovo. obviously that would be nice. it would speak to the success of the operation but also free up additional forces to elsewhere and hopefully alternately increased well time. okay? thank you so much. [inaudible conversations] >>> hall is c-span funded? >> private donations. >> tax payers. >> i don't really know shapira read >> public television. >> donations. >> i don't where the money comes ramesh. >> federal de. >> contributions from donors. >> 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a public-service, private business initiative,

on thursday afternoon he will then fly over to brussels, where he will participate in the quarterly meeting of nato defense ministers. they will discuss a range of organizational and security issues confronting the alliance but as you might expect, the nato operations in afghanistan will likely dominate their discussions. third and finally, the secretary returns to washington d.c. on friday evening and then early saturday morning heads up to washington state were later that afternoon he will deliver the commencement address at the university of washington, which i believe is an open president although i will not beheading out there myself. and i think that is it. ann. >> what can you tell us about the status of the investigation into the-- in afghanistan, where, where does the investigation stand and to what degree has the inquiry found u.s. forces culpable? >> the anchor aires stands, i think it is wrapped up. it is being briefed to a number of people within this building. i think the chairman was briefed on it last week, the secretary was briefed on at this morning by brigadier general th

and then on thursday he will fly to brussels to discuss a range of security issues of the alliance. and the nato operations in afghanistan will likely dominate those discussions. thirdly and finally the secretary returns to washington, d.c. on friday evening. and then early on saturday morning heads to washington state. where he will deliver the commencement address at the university of washington. which i believe is an open press event although i won't head there myself. >> what can you tell us about the investigation into the nato force incident in afghanistan. where does the investigation stand and to what degree has the inquiry of the u.s. force [inaudible]? >> the inquiry stand i believe is wrapped up and being briefed to a number of people in this building. i believe that the chairman was briefed on it last week and the secretary this morning by the investigative officer in charge. i think, cen-com, who has commissioned the findings and i can tell you sitting in the brief, that this incident was exhaustively investigated. this briefing, in fact the secretary took today, i thin

he was also stationed in brussels, covering a small be, russia, middle east, south africa, and you are a. he demonstrated versatility as editor of the book review sessioction. he is the author of several books, and the reason c-span is here today televising this session. given his business better, it is a special honor to welcome him to the conference today. ladies and gentlemen, our keynote speaker, columnist for "the new york times," david brooks. ♪ >> thank you. "the times" is way cooler than "the journal." i am not used to this level of enthusiasm, except for the time was a student at syracuse. i was actually a student at florida state. i am going to talk all about washington. you have come here to our capital at a unique moment when we are like the business center of the universe. i used to cover business. i try to cover culture where ever it is going. in the 1990's i covered silicon valley when it was the business center of america and maybe the world. i used to hang around places where all the ceo's had these water guns, places where people had luxury cars that came from compani

brussels, sophisticated simplicity, the capital of cool. one special reason to visit india in 2009. any time is a good time to visit the land of taj, but there's no time like now. so come to india. and the list goes on and on. ireland, emerald ireland. go where ireland takes you. a beautiful picture of ireland saying come to our country. finally, australia. arrived for an experience to remember. departed with an adventure we'll never forget. come to australia. i tell you all of this and describe the fact that the country of turkey advertises on a golf tournament on television today, come to turkey, i tell you that because here's what's happened to visitors to the united states since the year 2000. since 2000 and 2008 we've had a 3% decrease visitors. 613,000 fewer people have come to the united states to visit per year than existed in 2000. so over eight years, we've actually lost ground and had fewer people visit the united states. contrast that with the number of international visitors around the world. up 40%, the u.s. down 3%. so, we have constructed -- republicans and democrats

speaking in brussels, the secretary also says that it does not appear that the capitol has made any military preparations to follow through on the threats. officials from scotland, indonesia, and thailand, and from the missions in geneva expect in announcement of a global swine flu pandemic to be imminent. the world health organization meeting in an emergency session today is likely to declare the first flu pandemic in 41 years. it would push drugmakers to fast-track production of a vaccine. finally, from the new york daily news the head of the white house military office forced out over the photo over the statue of liberty has become a senior fellow at the center for american progress. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. "washington journal" continues. host: our democratic senator, senator mary lenders from louisiana joins us. -- mary landrieu. guest: we have been busy looking for pat ford for renewable energy for america. it has been a tough debate, not necessarily republican against democrat, but region versus region. host: you recently passed a bill on drilling. guest

in i would encourage you not to come to germany more but go to brussels, but if you in the future try and find an interlocutor -- interlocutor you have a better chance of having the person to talk to and that is something that we need to do together. looking at the emerging powers such as china, india, brazil, we have to a ballot that the group of in g8 industrialized countries will not be able to solve these great challenges so they will be an interesting process and the next few years. what will be the form and structure and composition of such a new group? who will be those incorporating antibody in the trans-atlantic partnership? i think the teetwenty is a very format interesting because it denies the gang5 any emerging economies and i also think that the united states of america and europe ought to be driving and the ones who give this process momentum and commits others to join in. we now have a unique chance with a new administration in the united states looking at a loss of a conflict which were also on the edge of this and previous administrations. i often talked about this w

of account of the first and last world congress meeting of the patty bourgeois appropriately and brussels in 1898 and then he says this, he writes his mom various letters, because this huge panic of the bombs and there are all sorts of big bombs. if you go to the airport to his novel the explosions of bags left behind that are put in these things to blow up suspicious objects, those were invented precisely at this time of the dynamize so coses and there are lots of heat mail. i have read in pardons, literally hundreds of threats in all of paris saying i'm going to blow you up. you are mean to your domestics, you are mean to the people who live in your building, and we are going to blow you up. but what happens is it doesn't work out the way fortun thought it was, he had a brief moment of it revolutionary immortality and that is like what is going on now. execution seems still very paramount with emma goldman and a dream about what is going to be like when they are executed and this will be a mobilizing of other people the way that in terror now, but what happens and here i'm going to answ

islamabad, brussels, what happened there? today we are nuclear. free centrifuges, if you look at the memos of our meetings, you can see we have 7,000 centrifuges working now. mr. bush, after all this cooperation, iran had with afghanistan and axis of evil, and nothing happened to iran's dignity. e fred nigh bandwith military attack but what about now? mr. bush, during his last days said we are not after toppling the islamic establishment. mr. obama expressly said in 27 years and during your government mr. qahtani, america which toppling the establishment. today they announced they are not after this. which foreign policy has been more successful? which has created, which is brought humiliation for this nation? which foreign policy preserve our independence? which gave more concessions? for 15 years the european said we want to criticize the iran aunt raise issues that iran is not observing human rights. asking two questions about the holocaust into questions, to questions-- the whole human rights system in the west. they are crying, the israelis a

where his last position was op-ed editor and stationed in brussels covering a small beat, russia, middle east, south africa, and europe. and demonstrating impressive versatility, his first post at the journal was as editor of the book review section. in addition to his work at the times, david is a frequent commentator on pbs, cnn, and npr and is the author of several books. and he's the reason c-span is here today. televising this session. given his busy schedule, it's a special honor to welcome him to the conference today. ladies and gentlemen, our keynote speaker, op-ed columnist for "the new york times," david brooks. >> thank you. the times is way cooler than the journal, by the way. [laughter] the atmosphere in this room is a little like the times washington bureau. about nine times more enthusiasm. i'm actually not used to this level of enthusiasm except for back in the day when i was a student at syracuse university. i wasn't really a student at syracuse. i was a student at florida state. you guys have the whistle. so i thought i would shout out florida state. i'm going to talk a