dr. abdullah: that's what we offered. we have kicked the door for negotiations open and we hope the taliban will seize the moment and seize the opportunity. if they believe by any chance they can overtake by military force or through violence, that will not happen. laura: what about the threat from islamic state? we had president ghani talk about that. dr. abdullah: the threat from isil is something that nobody can ignore especially in conditions like afghanistan where some are under the taliban influence and there is some insecurity in some parts of the country and these sorts of groups take advantage of the sort of situations in parts of afghanistan. is it an immediate dramatic, imminent threat today? so far no. we need to maintain focus on it and we need to bring the focus of our partners over the potential which exists there so not to let it to grow. laura:ow, this week you have been talking a lot about women's rights in afghanistan. yet, only a week ago a woman was lynched and killed in your capital kabul. how long u

dr. abdullah abdullah. we appreciate you joining us. 9800 troops, is that enough? as 2015 is concerned, the challenges we are faced with , the mission is to train and assist. that will help us to deal with the challenges as well as achieve what we need in terms of training for our own security forces. the upcoming few months will be challenging times for afghanistan but our security forces with support from the current level of u.s. forces will be able to address those challenges. alix: at some point when the u.s. winds down its troops president obama does targeting only 1000 troops there by the end of his term. are you going to need more continued support or will you be able to wind down u.s. support troops? dr. abdullah: i would save the cooperation will continue beyond 2016, but at the same time, the nature of that cooperation will be different. there'll be counterterrorism efforts and cooperation in a strategic hardship agreement. and in support of our national security forces, national army, national police and other elements of security institutions have to t

dr. abdullah visited arlington national cementary to pay their respects to our fallen heroes. we are grateful for that gesture of gratitude and we know it meant a lot to the families as well. we'll see the bonds again between our people on display when president ghani has an opportunity to address congress tomorrow. so, with a new government in afghanistan and with the end of our combat mission, this visit is an opportunity to begin a new chapter between our two nations. president ghani and dr. abdullah, i thank you both for your strong support of the partnership between our two nations. yesterday, they had a chance to spend time in camp david with our respective teams and had excellent discussions on how we can move forward together. today guided by our strategic partnership, we focused on several areas. first, we agreed to continue to keep in place our close security cooperation. afghanistan remains a very dangerous place and insurgents still launch attacks, courage suicide bombings against civilians. president ghani is pursuing reforms to further strengthen afghan security

dr. abdullah and i have met with the leaders of our neighbors and china, among others. their commitment for building mutual security across nation includes ending the financing and sanctuary for extremist groups. the second initiative is to build up the ability of our rmed a forces to project -- to project their elected government across our entire national territory. our partnership with the united states now transforms into the resolute support mission has given afghanistan a well-trained army that is bringing the fight to the enemy. we are no longer on the defensive, but have taken the offensive. on december 31, 2014 all combat operationser were handed over to afghan national security forces. general john campbell has declared that afghan's army's professional and morality meet all of the military expectations. thanks to our army we will negotiate with the taliban from a position of strength not weakness, to the hard fought gains are not lost. [ applause ] >> the third initiative will be our push for national reconciliation. the taliban need to choose not to be al-qa

dr. abdullah, intense and compassionate campaigns on the most modern officials. that is the need to end corruption. taking the action that is will build transparency into government and guaranteeing support for the impartial rule of law. campaigns became forums for public debate, in the final election, not only more than seven million afghans turned out to the polls, but more than 38% of the votes were cast by women. 90 of them would never have previously had a chance to speak politically with their own choice. there's no denying that the election was hard fought, but in the end we chose the politics of unity over the politics of division. the national unity government brings together all parts of the country to make the government where disputes -- an arena where disputes are resolved. dr. abdullah and myself may not initially agree on every issue, but we both believe deeply that spirited debate will produce better outcomes than will confrontational stalemate. we not only work together, we like working well together. afghanistan country perception is what's suit

dr. abdullah visited arlington national cemetery to pay their respects to our fallen heroes. we're grateful for that gesture of gratitude. and we know it meant a lot to the families as well. we'll see the bonds again between our people on display when president ghani has an opportunity to address congress tomorrow. so with a new government in afghanistan and with the end of our combat mission, this visit is an opportunity to begin a new chapter between our two nations. president ghani and dr. abdullah i thank you both for your strong support of the partnership between our two nations. and yesterday they had a chance to spend time in camp david with our respective teams and had excellent discussions on how we can move forward together. today, guided by our strategic partnership, we focused on several areas. first, we agreed to continue to keep in place our close security cooperation. afghanistan remains a very dangerous place, and insurgents still launch attacks, including cowardly suicide bombings against civilians. president ghani is pursuing reforms to further strengthen af

dr. abdullah, here's some good news stories. you're not hearing it in the news, but you need to know this is happening. i give him 10 or 15 power point slides with pictures. that word doesn't get out because it doesn't sell but for every suicide vest that went off in kabul, there are nine or 10 that are stopped. there are good news out there. the chair: the gentlelady from guam, ms. bordallo. ms. bordallo:: i want to quote the national security plan saying, we must recognize that a smart national security strategy doesn't rely solely on military power. indeed in the long-term our efforts to work with other countries to counter the ideology and root causes of violent extremists will be more important. i strongly support this approach, general, however, i'm also concerned that the persistence we have shown in afghanistan and our presence there can have harmful effects on our long-term readiness. as we draw down to a force capable of protecting our security interests in the region, how will we capitalize and reutilize the equipment

dr. abdullah, here's some good news stories.ou're not hearing it in the news, but you need to know this is happening. i give him 10 or 15 power point slides with pictures. that word doesn't get out because it doesn't sell but for every suicide vest that went off in kabul, there are nine or 10 that are stopped. there are good news out there. the chair: the gentlelady from guam, ms. bordallo. ms. bordallo: i want to quote the national security plan saying, we must recognize that a smart national security strategy doesn't rely solely on military power. indeed in the long-term our efforts to work with other countries to counter the ideology and root causes of violent extremists will be more important. i strongly support this approach, general, however, i'm also concerned that the persistence we have shown in afghanistan and our presence there can have harmful effects on our long-term readiness. as we draw down to a force capable of protecting our security interests in the region, how will we capitalize and reutilize the equipment, a

dr. abdullah, intense and compassionate campaigns on the most modern officials. that is the need to end corruption. taking the action that would build transparency into government and guaranteeing support for the impartial rule of law. campaigns became forums for public debate, in the final election, not only more than seven million afghans turned out to the polls, but more than 38% of the votes were cast by women. many of them would never have previously had a chance to speak politically with their own voice. [applause] there's no denying that the election was hard fought, but in the end we chose the politics of unity over the politics of division. the national unity government brings together all parts of the country to make the government an arena where disputes are resolved. dr. abdullah and myself may not initially agree on every issue but we both believe deeply that spirited debate will produce better outcomes than will confrontational stalemate. we not only work together, we like working well together. [applause] afghanistan country perception is what's su

dr. abdullah here are some good stories. you are not hearing about it in the news that you need to know this is out here and they give him 10 or 15 powerpoint slides with pictures sewing -- showing good news stories in afghanistan and that word doesn't get out because it doesn't sell. for every suicide that went often coupled there were nine or 10 that were stop so there is good news out there. >> thank you very much mr. chairman, general campbell. thank you for your challenging leadership in afghanistan. i want to quote the 2015 national security strategy in staying quote we must recognize a smart national security strategy does not rely solely on military power. indeed in long-term efforts to work with other countries to counter the ideology and the root causes of violent extremist will be more important. i strongly support this approach general however i am also concerned the persistence we have shown in afghanistan and our presence there can have harmful effects on our long-term readiness. as we drive down to a force cap

dr. abdullah, we are now in a position where the afghan security forces are not only more effective, but they are also better directed by the civilian government. we've been able to draw down and remove ourselves from the combat role as president ghani indicated, without collapse as was predicted. and afghan soldiers have fought. and they've fought well. and obviously there are still improvements to be made. but they are making significant progress. so the strategic partnership involves us continuing to help support afghan security forces that means financially, the internet commune -- international community will have to continue to support the region and the world and we've made a commitment to do that. continue to provide the kind of security, cooperation and support that is required training and assisting and advising on logistics and developing and enabling our capacity and all of the things that go into a modern military and a professional military and police force that can provide security on afghan soil by afghans and the cooperation and the strategic partnership involves buildin

dr. abdullah, we are now in a position where the afghan security forces are not only more effective, but they are also better directed by the civilian government. we have been able to draw down and remove ourselves from the combat role as president gahni indicated without collapse as was predicted. and afghan soldiers have 40 and they have fought well. and obviously there is still improvements to be made, but they are making significant progress. so the strategic partnership involves us continues to help support, afghan security forces that means financially the international community is going to have continue to provide assistance to the afghan government, which is carrying a significant security load not only for itself but for the region, and in some ways the world. and we have made a commitment to do that, we will continue to provide the kind of security cooperation and support sha the required, training assisting advising helping on logistics and developing all the things that go into a modern military, professional military, a professional police force that can provide security on

dr. abdullah abdullah it was a bitter divide after allegations of fraud. it's all sunshine and lollipops if you are to believe the staging and the stage craft that we have seen over the last three days. ashraf ghani has been very careful to thank the united states, the people of the united states, even going so far as to thank the taxpayers of the united states over the course of his three visits here. noting the number of american dead. that number 2,215, the trillions of dollars spent there. it's also an opportunity for the united states -- this speech for the united states congress to hear directly from the individual who wants money from this congress. we have seen a proposal from the secretary of defense and the administration during this visit to fully fund afghan troops. that comes with a steep price tag, estimated to be about $4 billion a year. there's also an $800 million aid package on the table. all of that is going to have to go through congress. there are many members of congress who disagree vehemently with the president's withdrawal plan. th

dr. abdullah visited arlington national cemetery to pay their respects to our fallen heroes.ateful for that gesture of gratitude. we know it meant a lot to the families as well. we'll see the bonds again between our people on display when president ghani has an opportunity to address congress tomorrow. so with a new government in afghanistan and with the end of our combat mission, this visit is an opportunity to begin a new chapter between our two nations. pez ghani, dr. abdullah i thank you both for your strong support of the partnership between our two nations, and yesterday they had a chance to spend time in camp david with our respective teams and had excellent discussions on how we can move forward together. today guided by our strategic partnership, we focused on several areas. first we agreed to continue to keep in place our close security cooperation. afghanistan remains a very dangerous place, and insurgents still launch attacks, including cowardly suicide bombings against civilians. president ghani is pursuing reforms to strengthen afghan security forces including r

dr. abdullah visited arlington national cemetery to pay their respects to their fallen heroes. we are grateful for that gesture of gratitude. and we know it meant a lot to the families, as well. we'll see the bonds again between our people on display when president gani has an opportunity to address congress tomorrow. so would a new government in afghanistan and the end of our combat mission, this visit is an opportunity to begin a new chapter between our two nations. president gani and dr. abdullah, i thank you both for your strong support of the partnership between our two nations. and yesterday, they had a chance to spend time in camp david with our respective teams, and had excellent discussions on how we can move forward together. today, guided by our strategic partnership, we focused on several areas. first, we agreed to continue to keep in place our close security cooperation. afghanistan remains a very dangerous place. and insurgents still launch attacks, including cowardly suicide bombings against civilians. president gani is pursuing reforms to further strengthen afgh

dr. abdullah are very committed to this.it is written in the constitution, and so as they work with the taliban if there's reconciliation down the road, i think one of the key parameters will be the constitutional hold and inside the constitution talks about respect of women's rights. again i think with the first lady come with president ghani come with ambassador kim and his team at the embassy with the 30 40 plus ambassadors i interact with periodically they'll have this that most in the mine. it comes up in different meetings on the. it's sort of a drumbeat that senior leadership and the other ministries continue to hear. and they understand how important it is that they abide by the constitution where they want to go. i think leadershileadershi p will make a difference and understand in my realm come in the security realm what we changed it is everything these conditions base. we signed letter of commitment to provide finance to provide fuel come on and on and on. this is one of the same ways we look forward in this area

dr. abdullah visited the national cemetery to pay respects for fallen heros we are grateful for that gesture. of gratitude. and we know it meant a lot to the families as well. so with a new government in afghanistan. and with the end of our mission, this visit is an opportunity to begin a new chapter between our two nations. i thank both for your strong support. and yesterday, they had a chance to spend time in camp david with our respective teams. today guided by our partnership we focused on several areas. first, we agree to continue to coop in place our close security cooperation. afghanistan remain as very dangerous place. insurgents still launch attacks. president gahni is pursuing reforms to further strengthen forces including respect for human rights and is part of the on going nato mission the united states will continue to train, advise, and assist afghan security forces. as we announced yesterday we will work with congress on funding to sus scene 352,000 afghan police and troops through 2017. at the same time, we will continue to conduct targeted count ever terrorism operations and

dr. abdullah, the ceo it is really a new dynamic. i have had to deal with president karzai when i first got there in times before, and i think the american people -- all the people need to understand that every time president ghani or dr. abdullah address the crowd they thank the international community and thank the nuss particular, thank then the families for the sacrifice of their sons and daughters. you never would have heard that before. it's a completely different atmosphere. i think the president will talk to all of you about that. i think he is quite proud of that. quite proud that he has taken on his leadership rope as a -- leadership role as manier in chief, visiting training sites and military hospitals. i attend their national security conferences. i am able to talk to him about different security issues at any time. i think he would tell you he spend probably 40% on security and 40% on economics butlk but i think we really talk about where afghanistan has come where the security forces are where it would not be without t

dr. abdullah abdullah what is the chief executive officer now in afghanistan, they will be meeting with presidentbama. there will be a press conference in the white house and on wednesday a speech by ghani by a joint meeting of congress. >> mike thank you very much. >>> the war in afghanistan is now the longest overseas conflict in american history. it began in the wake of the attacks on september 11th, 2001 it has lasted more than 15 years. the total cost of the u.s. war in afghanistan depends on your accounting methods. some economists say it has cost as much as $4 trillion. the human tally is staggering as well. we're joined by a former foreign correspondent reporting from both afghanistan and iraq he is live tonight in boston. charles how much does it help that mr. ghani has this american background. he taught for many years in the united states. his daughter lives here in new york. those ties to america, how important are they to this relationship? >> i think they are really important. i think there's a whole new tone that has been set between kabul and washington. and you could really hear

dr. abdullah we are now in a position where the afghan security forces are not only more effective, but they're also better directed by the civilian government. we've been able to draw down and remove ourselves from a combat role as president ghani indicated, without collapse as was predicted. and afghan soldiers have fought and they've fought well. and obviously there's still improvements to be made but they're making significant progress. so the strategic partnership involves us continuing to help support afghan security forces. that means financially. the international community is going to have to continue to provide assistance to the afghan government which is carrying a significant security load not only for itself but for the region and in some ways the world. and we've made a commitment to do that. we're going to continue to provide the kind of security cooperation and support that is required. training assisting, advising, helping on logistics, all the things that two into a modern military and professional military, professional police force that didcan provide security on afghan soil

dr. abdullah talk about what the conversations are over. >> and with the withdrawal of troops in 2016 therecurity vacuum in that country and questions as to whether or not the taliban can re-emerge in a strong and potent way to take down the central government. and they want to avoid that. and the ways to do that is to bring the taliban, as extreme as they are and having seen what they've done in past into the political fold of that country. but to do so they are setting very strict conditions. the complete denouncement of violence the promise of maintaining women's rights the women's rights gains made since the american invasion. so they are trying to get the taliban to commit to that. it doesn't seem that these talks have even taken off the ground yet. this is a concept you'll objective by the central government and no indication that the talks have begun yet. >> ayman mohyeldin and chris johnson ing johnsoning, thank you. and we'll be right back. look here! so when your day goes on and on and on, outlast it with new secret outlast clear gel. jack's heart attack didn't come with a warning

dr. abdullah, we are now in a position where the afghan security forces are not only more effective, but they're also better directed by the civilian government. we've been automobile to draw down and -- able to draw down and remove ourselves from a combat role as president ghani indicated without collapse as was predicted. and afghan soldiers have fought, and they've fought well. and, obviously, there are still improvements to be made, but they're making significant progress. so the strategic partnership involves us continuing to help support afghan security forces, that means financially. the international community's going to have to continue to provide assistance to the afghan government which is carrying a significant security load not only for itself, but for the region and in some ways the world. and we've made a commitment to do that. we're going to continue to provide the kind of security, cooperation and support that is required, training, assisting, advising, helping on logistics, helping on developing enabler capacity, all the things that go into a modern military, profession

dr. abdullah, i thank you for your strong support between our two nations and yesterday they spent time inth our respective teams and had discussions on how we can move forward together. today guided by our strategic partnerships we focused on key areas. first we agreed to continue to keep in place our close security cooperation. afghanistan remains a very dangerous place. and insurgents still launch attacks, including cowardly suicide bombings against civilians. president ghani is pursuing reforms to further strengthen afghan security forces including respect for human rights and as part of the ongoing nato mission, the united states will continue to train, advise and assist afghan security forces. as we announced yesterday, we'll work with congress on funding to sustain 352,000 afghan police and troops through 2017. at the same time, we'll continue to conduct targeted counter-terrorism operations and we agreed to maintain a dialogue on our counter-terrorism partnership in the years ahead. now, at our peak four years ago, the united states had more than 100,000 troops in afghanistan. in s

dr. abdullah we are now in a position where the afghan security forces are not only more effective but they are also better directed by the civilian government. we have been able to draw down and remove ourselves from a combat role, as president ghani indicated, without collapse as was predicted. afghan soldiers have fought, and they have fought well, and obviously there are still improvements to be made, but they are making significant progress. the strategic partnership involves us continuing to help support afghan security forces. that means financially. the international community will have to continue to provide assistance to the afghan government, which is carrying a significant security load for not only for itself, the region, and also the world. we made a commitment to do that. we will continue to provide the kind of security, cooperation, and support that is required training, assisting, advising, helping on logistics, helping on the capacity, all the things that go into a modern military a professional military, a professional police force, the at can provide security on afghan s

dr. abdullah, chief executive officer and that's an important point as you note they are working togethersaw both of them. i saw both of them together. i kind of watched their relationship. and they have agreed to work together in a multi-sectarian, if i can use that phrase, way, which is exactly what didn't happen in iraq. was the devolution to deck terynismteryn -- sectarianism and that led to the cruel force of isil represented -- or exploited and to the situation we're now in. so we have an opportunity in afghanistan for those two critical reasons that are so different from iraq to get an outcome that really is cemented. >> general, would you like to comment on that? >> we've got a -- there's a terrorist network that stretches from afghanistan to nigeria, and we have to keep pressure on it along its entire length. and i think afghanistan is and will remain an anchor point for that pressure. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. >> thanks, mr. chairman. i want to shift to an area where both of you have demonstrated a lot of attentiveness and caring which is the

dr. abdullah the chief executive officer and that's an important point as you note. they are working together. i saw both of them, i saw both of them together, i kind of watched their relationship, and they have agreed to work together in a multi-sectarian, if i can use that phrase way which is exactly what didn't happen in iraq was the devolution to sectarianism. and that is what led to the opportunity that the cruel force of isil represented or exploited and to the situation we're now in. so we have an opportunity in afghanistan for those two critical reasons that are so different from iraq to get a outcome that really is cemented. >> general, would you like to comment on that? >> we've got a -- there's a terrorist network that stretches from afghanistan to nigeria and we have got to keep pressure on it along its entire length. and i think afghanistan is and will remain an anchor point for that pressure. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal please. >> thanks thanks, mr. chairman. i want to shift to an area where both of you have demonstrated

dr. abdullah we're in a position where the afghan security forces are not only more effective, but they're also better directed by the civilian government. we've been able to draw down and remove ourselves from a combat role as president ghani indicated without collapse, as was predicted. and afghan soldiers have fought, and they've fought well. and obviously there are still improvements to be made but they're making significant progress. so, the strategic partnership involves us continuing to help support afghan security forces. that means financially. the international community is going to have to continue to provide assistance to the afghan government, which is carrying a significant security load not only for itself but for the region, and in some ways the world. and we've made a commitment to do that. we're going to continue to provide the kind of security cooperation and support that is required. training assisting advising helping on logistics, helping on enabler capacity all the things that go into a modern military, professional military, a professional police force, that can pro

dr. abdullah are in a partnership, they want us there as a stabilizing force. i just hope that we're not about to throw away what progress we've made. secretary mabus, you and i have been friends a long time. remarkable testimony, actually. very profound statement that you had, which you of course, had to abridge during your oral remarks. you mentioned what thomas payne said about the cause of america is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. i almost want to substitute the worse "cost" there. it seems that it falls on the united states of america. you also correctly say for seven decades united states navy and marine corps have been the primary protector of this international system. we're doing it for everybody else. there is a sound basis in this proposition that rising international prospect is directly linked to the united states navy. thank you to our military and to our navy. we've kept the sea lanes open you say. we've kept freedom of navigation open for anybody engaged in peaceful and legitimate trade as the president said, we have been the ancho

dr. abdullah the senior -- the c.e.o. it is a new dynamic. i've had to deal with president karzai when i first got there. i think the american people, all the people need to understand that every time president ghani or dr. abdullah address a crowd, they thank the international community, they thank the u.s. in particular, they pick the u.s. out. they thank them for their support. they thank the families for the sacrifices of their sons and daughters. you never would have heard that before. it is a completely different atmosphere. i think the president will talk to all of you about that. i think he's quite proud of that. he's quite proud that he's taken on his leadership role as a commander in chief. he's visited training sites iraqis visited military hospitals, he en-- sites he's visited military hospitals. i eand attend their national security conferences. i'm able to talk to him about different security issues at any time. . but i think he'll really talk about where afghanistan has come over the last 13 years where its security forcesr whe

dr. abdullah and i will insist that the officials of our government have national standards for workplace fairness. [applause] thanks to your help and support, the opportunities for women are indeed changing. i'm sure that many of you have seen those stunning videos of fathers proudly taking their shiny-eyed daughters to show off their newfound skills in the ancient art of skateboarding. [laughter] they are but a few of the changes that are under way and must be protected. i am meeting frequently women who are entertaining idea seriously idea of becoming the first woman president of afghanistan and we will support them. [applause] i am pleased to state that we fulfilled our promise to name four women to the afghan cabinet. raising the woman share to 20% still too low, but at least our promise we are determined to name qualified woman to ambassadors and increase their number as deputy ministers, and we are working hard to attract and train a whole new cadre of woman into our government. i promise you years from now our ministry will have a whole new electorate with woman in leading positio