the nato training mission- afghanistan under lieutenant general bill caldwell reports that recruitment for the afghan army and police now actually exceedd monthly recruitment goals. these forces lord above -- these forces are above where they need to be to meet the end strength goals for october 2010. what is disturbing and hard to comprehend is that the training mission still does not have enough trainers to process all the afghan recruits signing up. figures show that of the more than 5200 trainers that we need, onny 2600 are on the ground. secretary gates as deployed 850 u.s. soldiers and marines to afghanistan to serve as a%- according to a may 29 report -- excuse me -- from lieutenant general caldwell, the training miision has yet to receive 750 trainers pledged by nato members. further, last week the nato's security general announced that an additional 450 trainers needed to meet training requirements it is totally unacceptable that this shortfall persists. for whatever reason that they do not send additional tramp -- combat troops, it should be willing to provide trainers who fi

we pressed general caldwell -- are you saying that these young men in the countryside were listeningo the speech in west point? he said that was not the point for the point was that the leaders of afghanistan got the point. that the bad get moving and they did. it has had an impact in terms of recruitment. to is very, very important number one that we have a long-term committed to afghanistan and i very much support that, but that it not be that the principal source of their security is the continuing large presence of american troops. that is what that th -- that is why that july 2011 date is an important part of that policy. you have general mcchrystal and general petraeus who agree that -- oh agree with that. i asked general mcchrystal if he agreed with that. gol>general thpetraeus also agrees with that. what happened to down the road they think our troops are needed. general petraeus said it would be his obligation to tell the president. that is not what general petraeus is about and that is not where general mcchrystal has been and that is not where secretary gates has been. no

general caldwell was in charge of the 20 over there and he said the report was inaccurate and general rodriguez said it was more accurate. i'm sure it is somewhere in between. but in terms of these guys and the expressions on their faces and a pride that they had, you think they have lost some of that, or do you think they still have the capability of being great warriors and taking this thing over? >> well, they are great warriors, but they are in a tougher fight. it is easy to stand tall when the enemy is not that significant. again, we went through this in iraq as well with the iraqi security forces. they not only relatively went down, but absolutely because they were so trend by the deteriorating security conditions. that is what we have to make sure does not happen in afghanistan. if i could read the report by the special inspector general for afghanistan, general arnold bilbao -- by the way, we had a very good relationship -- general arnold fields. by the way, we had a very good relationship when i was in iraq and i think very highly to -- highly of him. the cbs radio, truthfull

general caldwell was in charge of the 20 over there and he said the report was inaccurate and gneral rodriguez said it was more accurate. i'm sure it is somewhere in between. but in terms of these guys and the expressions on their faces and a pride that they had, you think they have lo so of that, or do you think they still have the capability of being great warriors and taking this thing over? >> well, they are great warriors, but they are in a tougher fight. it is easy to stand tall when the enemy is not that significant. again, we went through this in iraq as well with the iraqi security forces. they not only relatively went down, but absolutely because they were so trend bthe deteriorating security conditions. that is what we have to make sure does not happen in afghanistan. if i could read the report by the special inspector general for afghanistan, general arnold bilbao -- by the way, we had a very good relationship -- general arnold fields. by the way, we had a very good relationship when i was in iraq and i think very highly to -- highly of hi the cbs radio, truthfully, more

as general caldwell has also observed, there is a way to reduce attrition fuuther through considerably augmented partnering, training, education, and recruiting. initiatives are being pursued in each of these areas. in all of our efforts, we and president karzai are emphasizing the importance of include city on the part of the afghan government and its leadership. especially in linking local governing structures to the decision making in financial resources in kabul. much more needs to be done to help the afghan government as irresponsibility for addressing the concerns and needs of afghan citizens. the national consultant of peace held at earlier this month was a constructive step in this effort, providing an opportunity for president karzai to address some of the political tensions that fueled the insurgency and promote reconciliationnand local reintegration as means to contribute to a politicall resolution of some of the issues that exist. the council he conducted on sunday further this process, and the effort to set political conditions for progress. another critically important pa

i don't know if you heard or mention that the task force that we have formed -- >> general caldwell. >> -- this is one with the rear admiral who you will remember at the time she was a one star joint contracting command iraq commander. she is now a two star and is going to go out and lead a task force that will compliment what the contracting command in afghanistan is doing to really get into the details of this and to look at some of these issues that are out there. also to get down to the subcontractors, to follow the money, to from this. >> i know, secretary, we asked you to put in the qdr now contracting plans that the defense authorization bill we're asking that the qdr can include contracting. we, i think, if we've learned anything over the last five years we've learned that if we are going to be fighting a counter insurgency far away, contracting is an essential piece of that mission, and we clearly, if we haven't learned that lesson, then we're in real trouble. let me briefly on the afghan national police, i would certainly want there to be an acknowledgement somewhere that w

we have pressed general caldwell. was he saying the men in the countryside and the afghanistan listening to the speech in west point? he said, no, that is not my point. if the leaders of afghanistan got the point that they better get moving. they did. it had an impact right than in terms of recruitment. is very, very important, first, that we have a long-term commitment to afghanistan and i very much support that. it not be the principal source of their security is the continuing large presence of american church. that is why the july 2011 date is a critical part of this policy. it is critical they have a commander who supports the policy and we do with general petraeus and general mcchrystal by the way whom i asked specifically whether it was his own personal opinion that it was the correct policy, not just that he supported it but that he agreed with it. general petraeus also agrees with this policy. now, the question will be asked, what happens if you change your mind and down the road you think more troops are nee

some still, frankly, are being addressed now that general caldwell is in command. he's been in command about six months now. literally, the establishment of the nato training mission in afghanistan itself, which is an input, not an output, but that is a hugely significant development for all of this. but there are a number of initiatives that have been already begun now. just to give you one example. instead of a three-year afghan police for officers training program, they've now got an officer candidate school to complement this because there's a war going on out there and we need officers in the interim as well. it's a six-month program which we think will be good and will provide leadership on a more immediate basis to enable the kind of progress that we know we need urgently and not just have this very long process. there's also been a change. there was a procedure with the police and the number of different areas where they were recruited assigned and then trained when they got to it. and now the process is very much to recruit, ttain and then assign. just th

there was an increase, a surge, in recruitment in the afghan army according to general caldwell. he said the reason for that was because the afghan leaders understood that this is not open-ended. they got on the stick. they got on the phone. they started to work in different ways they could stimulate recruitment. recruitment jumped dramatically. we pressed general called will, are you saying these young men+ in the countryside were listening to the speech at west point? he said, no, that is not my point. my point was that the leaders of afghanistan and got the point that they better get moving. they did. it had an impact right there in terms of recruitment. it is very important that we have a long-term commitment to afghanistan. i very much support that. it shall not be that the principal source of their security is the continuing large presence of american troops. that is why july 2011 date is a critical part of this policy. it is critical that you have a commander who support the policy and you do with the general petraeus and general mcchrystal, by the way, you i asked specifi

some still, frankly, are being addressed now that general caldwell is in command.e's been in command about six months now. lirally, the establishment of the nato training mission in afghanistan itself, which is an input, not an output, but that is a hugely significant development for all of this. but there are a number of initiatives that have been already begun now. just toive you one example. instead of a three-year afghan police for officers training program, they've now got an officer candidate school to complement this because there's a war going on out there and we need officers in the interim as well. it's a six-month program which we think will be good and will provide leadership on a more immediate basis to enable the kind of progress that we know we need urgently and not ust have this very long process. there's als been a change. there was a procedure with the police and the number of different areas where they were recruited assigned and then trained when they got to it. and now the process is very much to recruit, train and then assign. just the recrui

lieutenant general caldwell, who is in charge of training efforts in afghanistan told us that when general- when president obama announced the date, slavery charge of the local leaders and boulders, resulting in a surge of recruits for the afghan army. general patraeus said that he agrees with the policy of setting the july 2011 date. and indeed, he told me that if he ceases to do -- to agree, that he would advise his commander-in-chief, which he has the responsibility to do as a military commander. it is my hope, and i hope the senator mccain and other members of this committee would join in this, that we can vote on general patraeus' nomination by the end, of possibly, even today. thaksisenator mccain? >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me thank our distinguished with this for joining us here today for an end -- a very unexpected an extraordinary hearing. i want to welcome general patraeus' wife, holly. if we all know that general patraeus, like all of our fighting men and women, could never do his job without the support of his entire family. as mrs. patraeus, we sincerely thank you and we

in the following section, i will be quoting from henry caldwell and others.ccn you tell i just finished graduate school? in 1887, john mayo road up into the hills with silver dollar sewed into his clothes, taking his wife with him in order to make a good impression. he bought the first mineral rights using a so-called broad form, which he popularized across the mountains that came to be known as the coal fields. the methodology of the dwindling -- swindling and manipulation is documented, the call buyer would spend hours admiring the mountaineers course, all comments were dropped on every phase of his hosts accomplishments. he marveled at the ample contents of the mountaineers smokehouse, and sever the rich flavor of the good ones apple butter. after such a visit, he and the man of the house would get down to business. before long, the deed or option was signed with the uncertain signatures, sometimes just an "x"of the mountain air and his wife. i will read briefly to you from three of them i happen to have on hand. all the coal, minerals, and mineral product

rita caldwell who was the chair and the former director of the national science foundation and currentistinguished professor of the university of maryland. the committee noted that our national parks are among america's favorite icons and, as such have the support of most of the people in the country. they are the translators of america's grat outdoors. they are the remaining bastions of biodiversety. but in the 21st century, it is clear that they alone cannot sustain our heritage. national parks are neither fully representative of our national natural systems nor are national parks isolated islands able to accomplish their mission of keeping resources unimpaired for future generations up against the modern pressures that abound today. the park service will need to grow in a manner in which they operate and work within a broader context. therefore, the science and natural resources committee recommends, one, that the president of the united states should establish a task force including the national park service and other federal agencies involved in conservation, along with their stat

the nato training mission in afghanistan, under lieutenant general caldwell, now actually exceeds monthly recruitment goals. these forces are above where they need to be to meet the goals for october, 2010 at 109,000 police personnel. the training mission does not have enough training to process all the recruits who are signing up to join in the security forces. the most recent available figures show that more than 50 to 100 traders that we need and only 50 are on the ground. according to a may 29 report from lieutenant general called well, the training mission is yet to receive 700 pp trainers -- has yet to receive 750 trainers. it is totally unacceptable that this shortfall persists. nato members who do not send additional combat troops, or to attend -- who intend to reduce their troops, should operate theater.m uppethe 42 at cannes groups can -- 42 afghan groups can operate independently. there is some doubt on the accuracy of that assessment. but they do not explain why the u.s. coalition forces, that are --ally leading operations it is our troops who are concentrated in the areas whe