in brussels, belgium, u.s. defense secretary robert gates said the nato allies are "recapturing the initiative". but he also cautioned, "the road ahead will be long and hard." and in iraq, a suicide car bomber killed two american troops and at least three iraqis, and wounded 22 others. the attack on a military convoy happened about 80 miles northeast of baghdad. pope benedict xvi begged forgiveness today for years of sexual abuse by priests against children. it was his most public statement yet on the issue. the pontiff spoke at a mass for 15,000 priests in st. peter's square in vatican city. he vowed to ensure that such abuse is ended, once and for all. >> we promise to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again. and that in admitting to-- ministry we will do anything we can to the authenticity of their vocation we will make every effort to accompany prooetss on their journey so the lord will watch over them in troubled situations. >> sreenivasan: hundreds of cases of sexual and ph

nato secretary general told reporters in brussels that a handover to security could start at the end of the year but defense secretary robert gates who also talked to reporters after the meeting in brussels said the nato counterinsurgence as i considered a taliban strong hold needs more time to succeed. this is about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, the secretary general will make an opening statement and then we have time for questions. >> thank you for coming. considering the that i am competing with the opening ceremonies of the world cup, let me say i really respect your commitment to journalism. [laughter] >> the main item this morning was the meeting on afghanistan. where general mccrystal briefed us on the progress of operations. his assessment was very straight forward, the new strategy is working. it is delivering the different results. but the taliban are resisting every step of the way. so the going is tough for our soldiers and for the afghan people. what general mccrystal heard from all 46 nations around the table was equally straight forward. -- will

that it will not be possible in future for a british government to pass powers from westminster to brussels without asking the british people first. seems to me that is absolutely right. the referendum on the alternative vote was part of the coalition agreement, and he will be free to campaign on whatever side of the referendum he wants. that was part of the agreement that put together this government, which i believe is rolling up its sleeves and sorting out the country's problems. >> jim dobbin. >> about 1.5 million people suffer from involuntary tranquillizer addiction as a result of medical prescribing, and it totally ruins their lives. will the government consider investing in cost-effective, supportive, long-term withdrawal treatment programs to enable them to lead normal lives, come off benefits, and go back to work? >> let me praise the honorable gentleman for his interest in this work. i know that he is chairman of the all-party group that deals with this extremely difficult issue. the last government set up a review of addiction to prescription and over-the- counter medicines. we

have more work to do if we're to influence the tsunami of financial legislation set to come from brussels. legislation which could damage our competitors. i take some comfort in recent developments. i believe in a strong city. i do not want to undermine that city. i fully understand its importance and i want to be an even more vibrant powerhouse for the u.k. and for europe. the way ahead for us in the city is clear. we have to work with europe, shape the g-20 agenda, engage in constructive dialogue with governments to ensure london remained the economic powerhouse of europe, and contributed leadership on banking and financial services to the benefit of the whole you -- eu. you will not be surprised to hear that i have some observations. we need to move away from singling out banks to blame, and by implication, the city. based on my visit to some 13 countries as ambassador for the fans in mental services industry, i can tell you that the city is filled -- still the envy of the world. but that reputation is not god- given and there remains more to be done. financial-services are more mobile

i just met with general mcchrystal in brussels last week and i would tell you the general view of all of the alliance defense ministers was that we are moving in the right direction. we do now have all of the elements for success in place. this is going to be a long and a hard fight in general mcchrystal is condensed, confident that he will be able to show that we have got the right strategy and we we are making progress by the end of this year. but this is not something where week to week or month to month you can be able to say we are moving the front forward. that is not the kind of fight this is. >> progress in marjah bam is slow and steady and we see indicators all the time where bazaars aruba and where there were none before and as the secretary said this was a place run by the taliban for the last several years. they are still there and intimidating and they recognize that, but they are fundamentally, they have been displaced, but they certainly haven't been defeated in that particular area. we see an increase in the number of teachers who are there. there are some 80 plus teac

. >> neda secretary general told reporters in brussels that a handover of afghan forces could start by end of the year, the stress that more forces were needed. robert gates also talk to reporters after attending a two day meeting in brussels said that the counterinsurgency was considered a caliian stronghold and need more time to succeed. this is about 40 minutes. >> the general will make an opening statement. the may have time for questions. >> thank you. i am competing with the opening ceremonies of the world cup. but me say, i really respect your commitment to journalism. the main item this morning was the meeting on afghanistan. general mcchrystal research -- a brief us on the it operations. it was very straightforward. the strategy is working. it is delivering the results. taliban are resisting every step of the way. isef will stay as long as it takes to finish the job. it is central that an unstable afghanistan is a menace toward all. a stable afghanistan means a safer world. our focus today was on two issues, transition and training. afghanistan belongs to the afghans. transiti

robert gates also talked to reporters after attending the meeting in brussels says that the counter insurgencyuthern afghanistan considered a taliban stronghold needs more time to succeed. this is about 45 minutes. l , >> general mccrystal briefed us on the programs and operations. the assessment was very straight forward. the new strategy is working. it is delivering the intended results. the taliban is resisting every step of the way. the going is tough for our soldiers and for the afghan people. general mccrystal word from all around the table and he was equally straightforward. it is said that an unstable afghanistan where terrorism can find a safe haven is a menace to all. because a stable afghanistan means a safer world, our focus today was on two issues, transition and training. afghanistan belongs to the afghans. the transition is not only desirable, it is inevitable. what we discussed today was how to ensure that it happens in the right way. we will agree in the coming weeks with the government on the details road map for conditions. three fundamental elements are already clear. trans

he just a couple of weeks ago met with pentagon employers to travel to a nato meeting in brussels and sat down with them a long time and gave full accounting. he was the first person to say that it might not have been progressing as they would like, but it is still progressing, and he was defending what he was doing to the last breath. judging by secretary gates and admiral mullen's comments this week, they also thought that he was doing a good job and that is, again, not why he was removed. general petraeus on the july, 2011 date, he was in the senate armed services committee last week or before this week because this was the six-month point since president obama announced that date and came up with their strategy following last year's review. in that hearing, he was asked repeatedly if july 2011 was when it would pull the troops or start to pull out troops or transfer power -- what is it? i thought it was telling that the oversight committee in charge of this in the senate, the senators were still unclear about what that date meant. senator mccain likes to say that the white house s

i just met with general mcchrystal in brussels last week and i would tell you the general view of all of the alliance defense ministers was that we are moving in the right direction. we do now have all of the elements for success in place. this is going to be a long and a hard fight in general mcchrystal is condense confident that he will be able to show that we have got the right strategy and we we are making progress by the end of this year. but this is not something where week to week or month to month you can be able to say we re moving the front forward. that is not the kind of fight this is. >> progress in marjah bam is slow and steady and we see indicators all the time where bazaars aruba and where there were none before and as the secretary said this was a place run by the taliban for the last several years. they are still there and intimidating and they recognize that, but they are fundamentally, they have been displaced, but they certainly haven't been defeated in that particular area. we see an increase in the number of teachers who are there. there are some 80 plus teacher