ambassador, retired lieutenant general, karl eikenberry. welcome to both of you. let me start with you, admiral mullen, on the question of u.s. resolve. this was a poll taken by "the washington post" and abc news this week and these were the results. is the war in afghanistan worth the fight? no, 51%. has american -- have the american people lost that will to fight this war? >> well, i'm a vietnam veteran myself. i'm certainly aware of the criticality of support of the american people for this war, and, in fact, any war. so, certainly, the numbers are of concern. that said, the president's given me and the american military a mission and that focuses on a new strategy, new leadership, and we're moving very much in that direction. i am very mindful and concerned about the threat that's there. the strategy really focuses on defeating al qaeda and their extremist allies. that's where the original 9/11 attacks came from, that region. they've now moved to pakistan. afghanistan is very vulnerable in terms of taliban and extremists taking over again. and i don't think th

ambassador eikenberry is superb and as the former commander of the forces in afghanistan has a unique ability to integrate civilian and military issues. his deputy was our gaffer -- ambassador in to -- two of the world's largest american embassies, egypt and the philippines. the number three person, who was already mentioned, tony wayne was a former assistant secretary of state and just came directly from buenos aires as ambassador. the number four person is a former ambassador as well as -- and we have an additional election unit out there headed by ambassador tim carney. on the united nations side, kai runs you asuperb operation and his senior deputy is an american. peter gathbrathe served as our first american ambassador to croatia and was the deputy in east timor so he has long u.n. experience. and on the military side, admiral mullen and general petraeus pure and simple sent the first team in. stan and david are the two best people now available in the united states army and as vikram importantly said and i want to draw your attention to this, the best counterpropaganda is to red

so far the first time, we have tandem couples in significant numbers starting with ambassador eikenberry himself. and so on that point we agree with you completely. it was a self-denying situation and i will continue to talk about it with the security officers and ambassador eikenberry. on your first point, i of course -- of course security is the underlying component. that's why i mentioned the police. without security you can build a school, you can build a bridge, and one grenade, one mine sets it off. so we understand the did, completely the integration of the two. but as you've seen and this is refered in a lot of reporting been done lately including the washington post piece on page 3 this morning by karen de young and her colleague, we are trying to integrate the civilian and military. general petraeus and i and our whole teams have had two full-day sessions on this to integrate. if i go into details i'm going to take up a lot of time for smug already know but of course you can't could civilian growth unless you have security. it's obvious. what? >> [inaudible question] >> i think

chef michael's canine creations. >>> we're back with mike mullen and retired general eikenberry.let's continue the conversation. here are the three leading candidates in afrg. i want to move on to a major challenge. you have a new strategy for dealing with this, admiral. help me understand. the numbers are stunning. 2001, afghanistan produced 185 met rick tons of opium. in 2008, look at how much that has gone up, 7,700. from 12% of the poppy crop to 93%. do you have a new strategy that allows you to target drug kingpins if you believe they are supporting the taliban and insurgency. is that correct? >> actually, we've had that for many months. and specifically changed our rules of engagement so that kingpins, laboratories, individuals who support, transport, specifically, these products are also able to be both either captured or killed. but we're just -- >> if there's a pro u.s. government, how does that happen? >> i just think it's something that -- has not been the focus of the afghan president specifically over the last seven or eight years. some of the things we're seeing rig

the "post" reports that ambassador karl eikenberry sent a cable to secretary of state hillary clinton in june requesting an additional $2.5 billion for development and civilian government projects. the ambassador reportedly said the increase is needed "if we are to show progress in the next 14 months." >>> we want to devote a considerable amount of time tonight to a story that we had been reporting about regularly since our debut last fall. and i'm talking about the ongoing drug violence in neighboring mexico. a problem that sometimes spills over into cities in this country. you'll recall that earlier this week, president ob mexico with president felipe calderon and the canadian prime minister stephen harper. the president praised what he described as mexico's "courageous effort" to combat drug trafficking and drug violence. and he spoke about how improved coordination between the mexican military and local police officers would help in the fight. but one of the biggest problems the federal government in mexico is confronting in its war on drugs is police corruption. the very police s

ambassador eikenberry is superb and as the former commander of the forces in afghanistan has a unique ability to integrate civilian and military issues. his deputy was our gaffer -- ambassador in to -- two of the world's largest american embassies, egypt and the philippines. the number three person, who was already mentioned, tony wayne was a former assistant secretary of state and just came directly from buenos aires as ambassador. the number four person is a former ambassador as well as -- and we have an additional election unit out there headed by ambassador tim carney. on the united nations side, kai runs you asuperb operation and his senior deputy is an american. peter gathbrathe served as our first american ambassador to croatia and was the deputy in east timor so he has long u.n. experience. and on the military side, admiral mullen and general petraeus pure and simple sent the first team in. stan and david are the two best people now available in the united states army and as vikram importantly said and i want to draw your attention to this, the best counterpropaganda is to red

sy'uns da ee"mseth press" we'll talk to the chaiane otht f ejofsief staff, mike mullen and karl eikenberry and plus we will have a deba on health care with senators hatch and schumer. >>> there is reaction tonight to a claim by former homeland security secretary tom ridge that he was pressured to raise the nation's terror threat level just days before the 2004 presidential election. in a move he said he believed was meant to sway the vote. ridge says in a new book, the pressure came from top advisers to president bush, former defense secretary donald rumsfeld and then-attorney general john ashcroft. a spokesman for rumsfeld called the claim nonsense. thterror threat level was not ra posed by hurrito bcahehrbet nei posed by hurricane bill which has been losing steam as it churnsut in the atlantic.t itexpected to pass between be thanuds. md aiaiand mo.orr both the east coast and bermuda are already feeling its effects. whether channel meteorologist jim cantore is in bermuda and he has got the very latest. jim. >> reporter: conditions with bill have been getting worse all afternoon. a steady

now if it is nation building, and general ambassador eikenberry as we know extent a recent memo to secretarylinton saying, i need two and a half billion more in nonmilitary, plus military. then we are getting very deep into something here that we don't do very well, we don't understand. this area of the world is at the crossroads of the most dangerous, complicated, imusable combustible region on earth, you have three nuclear powers all bordering each other and aspiring nuclear power in iran, pakistan is connected to the future of afghanistan. regional strategic concepts have to be laid out in this, and it isn't just the military. i fear that we could find ourselves bogged down, drifting dangerously deeper and deeper into a situation where it becomes very difficult to get out, and we become isolated. you know, the dutch are coming out next year. the canadians are looking at coming out in 2011, the british. >> they are up against the wall. >> this is an election. >> right. >> so i am willing to wait to see what mccrystal says but i think gates points, secretary gates has been very important po

ambassador eikenberry is superb and as the former commander of the forces in afghanistan has a uniqueility to integrate civilian and military issues. his deputy was our gaffer -- ambassador in to -- two of the world's largest american embassies, egypt and the philippines. the number three person, who was already mentioned, tony wayne was a former assistant secretary of state and just came directly from buenos aires as ambassador. the number four person is a former ambassador as well as -- and we have an additional election unit out there headed by ambassador tim carney. on the united nations side, kai runs you asuperb operation and his senior deputy is an american. peter gathbrathe served as our first american ambassador to croatia and was the deputy in east timor so he has long u.n. experience. and on the military side, admiral mullen and general petraeus pure and simple sent the first team in. stan and david are the two best people now available in the united states army and as vikram importantly said and i want to draw your attention to this, the best counterpropaganda is to reduce

president himself to general jones at the national security council, secretary clinton and ambassador i eikenberry. this is a team of stability. i think the team of afghanistan, the act of courage and determination, we need to help them gain credible momentum so his commitment can be appreciated and the american public can be persuaded that the commitment was wise, timely and effective. >> ashraf ghani, we thank you very much for taking the time in the midst of a campaign and sitting there in a tent in afghanistan for joining us. thank you. >> it's a pleasure to be with you, and it's an honor. >> i think the previous administration are sort of having a blind date with bush and karzai. so what do you think? i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. >>> now we have abdullah abdullah. he was the one-time foreign minister of afghanistan with strong ties to the u.s. he was a key figure in the northern alliance, the opposition group that helped the united states stop the taliban in th

ambassador eikenberry is superb and as the former commander of the forces in afghanistan has a unique ability to integrate civilian and military issues. his deputy was our gaffer -- ambassador in to -- two of the world's largest american embassies, egypt and the philippines. the number three person, who was already mentioned, tony wayne was a former assistant secretary of state and just came directly from buenos aires as ambassador. the number four person is a former ambassador as well as -- and we have an additional election unit out there headed by ambassador tim carney. on the united nations side, kai runs you asuperb operation and his senior deputy is an american. peter gathbrathe served as our first amerin@marr!g ,rrbd'@ '#@r pule of law. counternarcotics. the illicit financing. that's what we're doing. the payoff is still to come. we have to produce results and we understand that. and we're not here today to tell you we're winning or we're losing. we're not here today to say we're optimistic or pessimistic. we're here to tell you that we're in this fight in a different way with

jones at the national security council, secretary clinton, ambassador holbrooke and ambassador eikenberry. this is a team of stability. i think the team of afghanistan, really is an act of courage and determination. we in afghanistan and the region need to help him gain credible momentum so that his commitment can be appreciated and that the american public can be persuaded that the commitment was wise, timely and effective. >> ashraf ghani, we thank you very much for taking the time from the midst of a campaign and sitting there in a reed tent in afghanistan for joining us. thank you. >> it's a pleasure to be with you, and it's an honor. >> i think the previous administration in the united states are sort of having a blind date with bush and karzai. ( car door closes ) ooooch! hot seat! hot! hot! hot! time to check your air conditioning? come to meineke now and get a free ac system check. at meineke, you're always the driver. >>> now we have abdullah abdullah. some analysts say he has the best shot of unseating hamid karzai. he was the one-time foreign minister of afghanistan with strong

this area mike mullen, chairman of the joint chief's of staff and retired lieutenant general karl eikenberry. good morning to both of you. this was a poll taken by the washington news and abc news. this is the result. is the war in afghanistan worth the fight? no, 51%. has american -- have the american people lost the will to fight the war? >> well, i'm a vietnam veteran myself. i'm aware of the criticality of the support of the american people for this war and in fact, any war. certainly, the numbers are of concern. the president has given me and the american military a mission. it focuses on new strategy and mission. i am mindful and concerned about the threat that's there. the strategy focuses on feeding al qaeda and their extremist allies. that's where the original 911 attacks came from, that region. they have moved to pakistan. i don't think that threat is going to go away. they still plot against us, see us as somebody they want to kill in terms of as many arican lives as possible. in that regard, we are focused on executing that mission. >> let's talk about the focus. the commander on

tomorrow david gregly on "meet the press" will meet with two men, admiral mike mullen and karl eikenberryhis sunday on "meet the press. " you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's ogressive. call or click today. jo. >>> >>> we continue to watch hurricane bill spinning toward bermuda at this hour. that's what you see. dangerous waves are pounding the island. people are waiting out the storm inside their homes and hotels. former president bill clinton to and hillary clinton were vacationing earlier this week but they were able to cut their trip short and got out on thursday night. meantime a tropical storm warning is up for the coast of massachusetts. todd santos is here with more on bill. todd, another good morning to you. >> i at leas

they have a new ambassador, carl eikenberry and new envoy and new military commander, stan mchrystal petraeus, good night that guy that turned around iraq is overseeing afghanistan. the end of the day i think the big challenge on afghanistan you have to build a country. it's going to take us a decade and the success will be afghan police and afghan soldiers. in the short run, yeah, 21,000 more u.s. troops, thank god for that. nato is there. that's good news. although they aren't except for the britts and canadians, nato doesn't carry much of a load. we have a long haul. richard engel knows more about this than i do. the pak intel service and pak army has got to get control of their border and that another huge challenge. >> thank you both. look forward to having you join us again soon. >> good to be with you, carlos. >> what do you think about the u.s. reaction in afghanistan? we want to hear from you. go to twitter.msnbc.com and you'll see my picture there. click on it and shoot me a tweet. or you can go to twitter.com/carloswatson, congressman harold ford and i will be reading some

. >> waiting to hear from the ambassador, carl eikenberry, former general and also general mcchrystal, what numbers they want, what troops they need and what money they want for afghanistan. get together bigger picture what is the end game, has jim jones, has the president laid out for the american people how long we will be there how long they expect to take and what is their goal? >> none of that is clear. this is increasingly become barack obama's war, to use my expression, his war of choice. we are going to be putting in more troops. we are going to be spending more dollars, economically as well as military any that country. it's not yet clear what exactly is achievable, given the weakness of of a again institutions, the weakness of their police and military, given the fact that pakistan is still a sanctuary. and as you again this story, the strength of the taliban, they are effective fighters. indeed, we are up against a far more formidable opponent than afghanistan than we ever were during the worst days in, say, iraq. so, exactly what the american people should expect what kind

wit guts structure and gener mcchrystal and general eikenberry wile at the forefront of this, working interagency development, diplomacy, defense down of the grassroots level that actually works well together as the team other steps being put in place to do this now. reover as general mcchrystal notes in his new counterinsurgency guide which he just published this week, the afghan nationals acree forces have got to be partnered in a separate. they have to eveually lead this effort for the other is to be unified command structure with the afghan army and security forces down at the grassroots level. there's little to none of that today. that has not been a hallmark of our approach to date in afghanistan so this unity of effort, delivering the goods at the grassroots level thabuilds partnership between international security forces, the u.s. milary, nato military, afghan army and police and the development and diplomacy, that has to work seamlessly down at the basic level in afghanistan. our organizational struures starting in washington don't work that way. but we have got to get back

ambassador eikenberry is superb and as the former commander of the forces in afghanistan has a uniqueability to integrate civilian and military issues. his deputy was our gaffer -- ambassador in to -- two of the world's largest american embassies, egypt and the philippines. the number three person, who was already mentioned, tony wayne was a former assistant secretary of state and just came directly from buenos aires as ambassador. the number four person is a former ambassador as well as -- and we have an additional election unit out there headed by ambassador tim carney. on the united nations side, kai runs you asuperb operation and his senior deputy is an american. peter gathbrathe served as our first american ambassador to croatia and was the deputy in east timor so he has long u.n. experience. and on the military side, admiral mullen and general petraeus pure and simple sent the first team in. stan and david are the two best people now available in the united states army and as vikram importantly said and i want to draw your attention to this, the best counterpropaganda is to redu

the real issue here is, can ambassador eikenberry and generalcchrystal come back to washington, ask foresources they think will actually make the difference, and the authority, because it isn't just troops and money, it's the ability to force coordination, to put pressure, to get these forces effectively used. if they come back and they' not allowed to do this, and my guess at this moment is that is the white house policy, the president has failed before this strategic review begins. just to make it clear, i absolutely agree with what k has said about both the threat and the need for more troops. it is not just civilian resources. the question, frankly, in october will be, is this administration and this president going to be one bit more honest about afghanistan than president bush and his national security advisor?@@@ Áb 25,000, 30,0 additional troops this year, and sacrificed so many american lives, and nato lives, with the nato total fatali tally for this year now approaching 300 and the american numbers at 172, that at least tactically where we put these forces we can start to see

number two, i think we need to collectively, particularly general mcchrystal, general eikenberry, the other key international players there, we have to deliver unity of effort on the ground in ahanistan. we have talked about that for years. now we have to deliver on that promise. third we have to thank collectively, and this really rests in afghan hands, restore the trust between the afghan government and their people. that has been fractured over th last three and half years or so. during my era there, from 2003 to 2005, there was a great deal of respect, trust, cofidis, optimism between the people in afghanistan and three merging government. that his doctor today and that has to change. and then finally, to talk to one of our key vulnerabilities, i think we, in the united states, have got to look to rebuild popular support for this extraordinarily important and dangerous conflict. we simply cannot allow the population of the united states not to understand the reasons for our effort in afghanistan and not to be fully informed and be fully behind this extraordinarily important enterp

the president has continued to do briefings with ambassador and former general iken berry -- eikenberryok and others involved. what the president will want to do is review the report and then discuss and talk with all of those who have equities in it to get their viewpoints and ensure that each and every person is heard on this and that's what the president intends to do. >> going back to health care, rather than responding to dole how about responding to chris dodd who says he wants the president to come back and really frame this for us? >> i think the president will continue throughout this month to frame what's important about getting health care reform done, doing it in a way that steps in neutral and doing it in a way that improves quality of care, doing it in a way that changes the amazing amount of resources that it takes to provide right now 46 fewer million people that need health care with something that's more expensive than any other country in the world, strapping our economy and budgets. >> so he's going to, i guess, this is something -- i mean, chris dodd is somebody who

the president has continued to do briefings with ambassador and former general eikenberry and othersved. but the president will want to do is to review the report and discuss and talk with all those who have expertise in them, to get their viewpoints and insure that each and every person is heard on this. that is what the president intends to do. >> how about responding to christopher dodd who says he wants the president to come back and really frame of the health- care debate. >> he will franke what is important about getting health care done and doing it in a way that improves the quality of care and doing it in a way that changes the amazing amount of resources that takes to provide 46 fewer million people that need health care with something that is more expensive than any other country in the world. it is sapping our economy and budgets. >> christopher dodd is somebody who is in charge, it is his committee. he is asking for presidential leadership. >>ngñ he went through over 200 amendments and the president will continue to work on those. >> will he get the finance committee bil