sent people back and forth in a day back when you had to have a regiment in china you sent the force marinesand they stayed there and stay stay there until they were the mission was done in the case of the fourth marines i think was like ten years or so because we have so much money in our expectations of of what we give our troops in a field or so high and so expensive we can't mentor or anybody because to mentor him would require you to live with them and to basically wear what they wearing travel like they travel and do what they do and we don't do that i mean with with very few exceptions some special forces units that do that. you see good mentoring done in certain areas of the south but it depends on which battalions they're in which regiment is there as to as to how effective it is not everybody's uniform and and how they do this and so it doesn't matter in the end because they're gone in seven months and so every year the afghan officials are dealing with a different person who is full of good intentions and and knows that right now the big thing is we're not going to kill civilians

these african-americans or whatever name people were calling people back then in the army navy air force marines and god forbid that they be officers we can't have gays doing that i mean we're americans you know and i think that representative king has lost sight of that trying to find these hobgoblins that aren't there they might be in terms of the psyches of individual lunatics like major nidal but you know it's a stupid this is stupid stupid premise that it's going to affect morale or the chain of command or anything on that level or you know even law enforcement officials will admit to that they have really radically shifted the way that they're starting to try to pursue terrorism cases since nine eleven is there looking for a loan of wealth of the problem isn't necessarily some type of radicalization that's widespread within the greater they're looking for a lone wolf but you know for me too if you want to talk about the fact that you say you know that maybe that or ins and their families are being targeted by people that is a horrible horrible thing why not ask. maybe we should be fighting

what started as operation rook iraqi freedom with shock and awe, we remember that drama and forces and marines and third id crossing the burm and coming from kuwait to iraq. we did it with optimism and in baghdad in a couple of weeks and then ali babas and the thieves started and anarchy and looting started and that matacicized in the iraqi insurgency and getting it from the shiite militia and the sunni tribes and turning in al-qaida terrorist. >> and even in the southern part of iraq. it is been. and nearby bosra. we thought for a while the enemy had the upper hand and in 2005, 6, 7 and ied's and infernal booby traps were chopping us up and in hum vees with van vass sides and i remember taking the jacts over the doors. what i found talking to the troops. it is not one or two tours, it is three towers and three times for the troops and maybe more . incredible toil on like one million service member that is sebed for the past nine years. >> can you imagine. a million have passed through the desert sands. it is a extraordinary preoccupation and many believe were not for iraq afghanistan would ha

from the army, air force, marines.acted in some way by this war. >> reporter: was the war worth it to you? >> as an infantryman i was on the ground a lot. i talked to a lot of families and individuals in the iraqi populus. >> reporter: staff sergeant josh aguilar was on the ground when it began. his first of three deployments. >> i felt as long as i gave somebody else the opportunity to have the same democracy, same hopes and freedoms that we can have every day, maybe some of those things that i did, some of the sacrifices that my friends made were worth a little bit of something. >> reporter: he retired six months ago and starts school in january. >> reporter: sarah, how about you? was it worth it? >> i'm on the fence. there have been a lot of iraqi casualties, but how many more would there have been? >> reporter: the staff sergeant is a pararlegal in the air force reserve and works at a private security company. >> reporter: you were a teenager building bombs. how did you process that? >> you build those bombs. they

navy, air force, and marine aircraft covered the pull-out from above. at the border crossing, cnn caught up with one of the commanders in this convoy. listen to him. >> feeling of elation. it really is. to see what we've accomplished in the last 8 1/2 years, and then to be part of the last movement out of iraq. it's -- hard to put words to it right now. >> combat operations in iraq officially ended for the u.s. august 31. it was a couple of days ago that we saw the ceremony that officially ended the mission. it was a matter of hours ago that the last u.s. troops, the last convoy pulled out of iraq. this is an historic drawdown and the largest we have seen since the war in vietnam. i want to turn to cnn's michael holmes who was with s. marin-- u.s. marines when they drove into kuwait in 2003. michael holmes was there again and watched the last u.s. convoy arrive at the iraq/kuwait border crossing. i know a much different mood today from all those years ago. a lot of ways, has it really hit the young men and women what they have been a part of and the his

give him the presidency, to give him not just the bully pull put, pulpit but the army, navy, air force, marines the world's greatest arsenal. his oldest associates say he can receive results even if he is erratic, yet when they had him as speaker, he was out long before they were. newt was hardly this individual you'd give license to over the world's greatest stock pile of nuclear weapons. you don't give wmd in a crunch

not just the bully pull pit but the army, navy, air force, marines in the world's greatest arsenal.sults even if he is erratic, yet when they had him as speaker, he was out long before they were. he was hardly this sort of individual you would give license to over the world's greatest stockpile of nuclear

of spinelli marine force. in addition, he spent his childhood in afghanistan and has visited roughly 50 countries including pakistan, india, yemen -- yemen, lebanon, iraq, and iran. between him and his wife janet, his family has been connected with the armed forces since 1918. i would like to acknowledge the presence of mr. melvin bledsoe who is seated behind him. he testified before the house committee in march of this year. he is the father of the man convicted of murdering mr. long's son. this is a testament to two fathers who have considerable pain to stand together in the fight against islamic extremism. thank you for being here again today and thank you for your testimony back in march. i am privileged to recognized mr. long for his opening statement. >> ranking member thompson and distinguished members of congress -- since my son's death, my view of things have changed i have laid awake through my it was nightmares when she remembers being 50 feet away when my son was shot. i was a career marine. my wif

marine corps and 10 years as an officer. during his military career, mr. long served nearly eight years overseas and nearly 19 years in the operating forces of the fleet marine force. in addition to his extensionive oversea service with the federal government, mr. long spent his childhood in afghanistan and has visited roughly 50 countries, including pakistan, india, yemen, libya, syria, iraq and iran. between him and his wife janis, his family has been connected with the armed forces since 1918. i would like to acknowledge the presence of mr. melvin bledsoe who is seated directly behind mr. long. he testified this year. he is the father of carlos bledsoe who has been convicted of murdering mr. long's son. mr. bledsoe's presence here and in support of mr. long is a testament to how two fathers stand together in the fight against violent islamist extremism. thank you for being here today, thank you for your testimony back in march. now i am privileged to recognize mr. long for his opening statement. >> chairman, ranking member thompson, distinguished members of congress, since my son's death, my view of things have changed. i've lane awake to my life's night

the chemical, biological, initial response force is another example. when the marine corps look at the sarin attack in tokyo and decided they needed a response force available, they came in from the united states. the first time ever we had taken that kind of tears zero national capability and made it available to a partner in need. from the perspective of the people in japan, it demonstrated commitment and, symbolically, indicated that we were fighting back. that we were going to reclaim the atmosphere, the land, the sea. what you are looking at here is how we would present our daily situation reports to describe how they are making progress. next slide another example of the incredible partnership that we have. we think that joint support forces of the right concept here that brings together the unity of effort. with u.s. aid, it was our clear understanding of how to work closely with the government of japan for the lead federal agency in this case. it was critically important, in this case. they can work the funding issues in ways that the military is not able to.

>> remaining marines will be continuing to partner with afghan forces, training afghan forces. e will be plenty of operational commitments, especially in northern hell man left, north has plenty of violence that they are working to curtail. >>> as the marines draw down in afghanistan there is going to be some movement to australia, when are folks going to be going there and what are they going to be doing? >> at the start it is going to be relatively small. we are expecting about 300 marines next year to deploy to darwin. robertson barracks in the northern territory, specifically is where they will be based. primarily going to be training. going to be on a rotational basis. you are going to see every six months a new group of marines come through. won't be unlike the unit deployment program currently in japan. that program has been ongoing for years. >>> what are these guys, what should they expect when they get to darwin? it is a little bit of a tough town in some respects. >> it is a reputation of being a tough town. kind of got that small city feel, very isolated from some of

. >>> this is video of youtube of a fire fight in afghanistan between marines and taliban force. ened before thanksgiving. it's in the northern province where marines fought of an attack. the -- fought off an attack. it left one marine wounded. >>> they gave their lives defending our freedom but cremated remains of troops has been dumb npped landfill. and linda so is here with details and disturbing story how baltimore and cecil county may be connect. >> reporter: a company out of northeast maryland may have unknowningly taken the remains to ion sen rated. air force hired private contractors to dispose of medical waste but never told them cremated remains were included. one of the contractors was med trace incorporated the company based in northeast maryland. they took the items from dover to a baltimore incinerateor. the washington post uncovered the story. record show the ashes of at least 200, -- 274 service members were dumped in a landfill. that's more than the military acknowledge. the practice of dumping the ashes was never formally authorized and the air force never disclo

sit down at my table who were obviously you know well they were state department security forces they were marines in plain clothes but they were both about forty five fifty years old and say hey alex let's attack the state department together and i looked at them and just said guys i'm i'm not i'm nonviolent you know that and i'm just here to cover build a barrier like we're just checking something it's all a big joke so i've been followed around i've been in urban warfare drills peacefully trying to videotape. the federal government training because i had inside sources for martial law which is now admitted in the different federal acts that are public you know like the national defense authorization act but i mean a decade ago or more before nine eleven effect in ninety nine i would be in brooksville florida just trying to film in the town and i have it on tape in my film of the takeover people walk out of their houses and say you're alex jones the armies come to my door and said don't talk to you you're crazy and then that night i'm trying to film so i'm in a military base it's a municipal air

. >> one of the concerns that airmen have is that the air force became smaller as the army and marine corps grew, but the demands on the air force didn't shrink, they increased, and employment rates at 7 months. know more than 90 day deployments and 120 or what have you and there are caps and now there are folks on prolonged deployment and the force is getting smaller. what has to give? what are some of the tradeoffs? >> i think the key thing is is getting the right balance between active duty, guard, and reserve, and we are going to the air expeditionary force next construct which will operate on the six month rotational profile you mentioned. i think the key aspect of this is that we will need to manage tempo and we will be able again to be in fewer places simultaneously. not only is this a force management issue by it's an issue of managing expectations on potential taskers. >> there is a been a huge increase in reconnaissance. we're able to see far more than we ever have. we have more precision weapons than we ever had that we can strike exactly what it is we're looking at. does t

navy, air force and marines covered the convoy. >> it is a feeling of elesiatio.e've accomplish in the last 8 1/2 years, then to be part of the last movement out of iraq is hard to put words to it right now. >> combat operations in iraq ended august 31st of last year. this is a historic drawdown, the largest since the war in vietnam. this last convoy of u.s. troops, now that it's gone and crossed the border while you were sleeping, what was it like to be in that final convoy? our martin savidge rode along. >> reporter: still riding in the convoy the one that left iraq at 2:30 in the morning, now in friendly territory of kuwait on their way to camp virginia. it was a five-hour drive through the darkness. i'm riding with the protection of this mrap, this very large armored vehicle we're inside but also with the help of some military police out of ft. hood. they were the ones that provided the security for this final convoy and that's no small measure of course because there were very, very strong security concerns. that's why all the secrecy to make sure the last co

so army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard, everybody else -- well, coast guard is not involved -- but, everybody else, get on the stick, because that's next week. he has set a near-term goal. he wants the department to produce partial financial statements by 2014. as a first step, secretary panetta has called for production of statements of budgetary resources by 2014. a statement of budgetary resources is just one component of a financial statement, but it represents a big, important chunk of the whole. if credible statements of budgetary resources can be produced three years ahead of schedule, then maybe the full audit readiness by 2017 is indeed possible. i also understand that secretary panetta's near-term goal is being incorporated in legislation working its way through congress right now. that should help to move the ball further down the field. secretary panetta's decision to set a preliminary goal of 2014 will be a good gauge, a good test of what is and is not possible. can the defense department achieve full audit readiness by 2017? we won't have to wait six years to fin

[applause] members of the army, navy and air force and marine corp and coast guard along with their familieswe thank you for your service. >> that's right. and welcome to everyone here at home and merry christmas to you all. >> christmas is filled with angels and we get to meet every day angelos fox and friends. we meet people who overcame extraordinary challenges and most recently that comes to mind is a connecticut mom. each one of her three sons had facial paralysis. they had difficulty eating or smeeking and never smile. after years of senching, lisa found a surgeon to perform surgery and three months later her oldest son smiled for the first time. lisa is now working with operation smile to help thousands of other kid in the poverty stricken places get this surgery . the point, that her own family's ordeal made her reach out and help others. we see that spirits of generosity all of the time on our show. >> i was also touch happened by an angel on fox and friends. it was back in january and i interviewed roxanna green. mom of the little girl gunned down in tuson last january. i had to di

that is their army, navy, air force, marine corps and all the different police forces to include the federal police cores, about 700,000 total. they are equipped with a very good equipment. much of that equipment is united states equipment and some of the best we have. .. lingering aestheticians, sunni, shia, arab are not what they need to be. the iraqis continue to work on that as well. and the government still is not completely formed. as you know the elections occurred in march of 2010. we still do not have a permanent minister of defense or a minister of the interior. the prime minister is heading up both of those organizations. we do have an act minister and then there are still security gaps that exist. their heirs sovereignty, their air defense capability, the ability to attacked two oil platforms and then the ability to do combined arms operations for an external defense, synchronizing their m3 with their armor, with their artillery, with engineers. they are not quite there with that capability. the third question, has it been worth it? that is a personal question that if you

and whether he's army, marine corps, navy or air force, two things are now true: he can join navy federalhe's going to save a lot of money on shampoo.

. >> and the power is back on in marin general after an outage forced the hospital to divert patients to other facilities. customers were left in the dark. outages being blamed on a third party crew that accidentally hit a pg&e line while doing digging work. it took two hours to correct. >> and finally there is a lawmaker reached an agreement and house republican leaders caved under pressure from within their own party and the white house. this from a compromise offered by mitch mcconnell. he says he called for a agreement. >> sometimes, it's hard to do the right thing. sometimes, it's difficult to do the right thing. >> president obama welcomed the payroll tax cut extension saying it's good news for holidays and the right thing to do for american families and the economy. the extension keeps the cuts in place for businesses and guarantees benefits for individuals. >> and in oakland water is back on for customers after a water main break left l 0 home was out service and sent a geyser of water shooting into the air. it started at about 4:20 this morning and five minutes later it just

i was there in june patrolling with the marines, and the afghanistan forces were in some ways like boyouts, kind of along for the ride. the americans organized the patrols. they were the ones who were dealing with villagers, it wasn't the iraqi -- i'm sorry, the afghanistan soldiers, and so i think there's a great worry will the afghans can lead this thing and there have been some commentators, retired army general david barnert who's commander in afghanistan, he's suggesting that the americans have to push the afghans forward in the lead, so that's something to watch. >> one indication of u.s. doubts is the fact that john allen, the nato and u.s. commander in the country is saying once we get back to the presurge level of sceagz, late stay there until 2014,late not keep drawing down. >> what's going to happen with pakistan? pakistan is the absolute key of what happens in afghanistan, that's certainly been the administration's position on it. what happens in pakistan? >> i agree with bruce ridel of the agency. they are basically calling the shots. i think that's true. the problem is th

marine major mark carlton is in quantico, virginia. seven years ago in the spring of 2004 the new mexico native was a 33-year-old captain training at the air force base before deploying to iraq. >> martin, you have a company of marines out here how many have been in a hostile situation like afghanistan and iraq before? >> i would say no more than two maybe three at best. >> i think this training in conjunction with visualization training and the cultural training we have had, i think we are as prepared as we can get them here in this type of situation. marines look for a fight. if they hear gun fire that's where they want to be. >> they would find plenty of it in iraq. april, 2004 second battalion fourth marines were deployed to ramadi iraq the capital of an albar providence. at the time it was the most dangerous city on earth. just another typical day for the marines and the army. >> when we join up with you in iraq you are a company commander. tell us what that means. >> probably the most great experience i have had. to take charge of 200 men and lead them in combat, nothing like it. >> in early july during a fierce gun fight in the center of

long served nearly eight years overseas in nearly 19 years in the operating forces of the fleet marine force. in addition to the overseas service of the federal government, mr. long has trails in afghanistan and is visited roughly 50 countries including pakistan, lebanon can this theory, iraq and iran. between him and his wife, his family has been connected with the united states armed forces since 1918. before he recognized mr. long for his opening statement, that to acknowledge mr. melvin put so, who was seated directly behind mr. long. mr. bledsoe testified before a committee, the house committee in march of this year. he is the father who was convicted of his murdered son. mr. bledsoe's presence here in support of mr. long is a testament to how to to considerable pain to stand together in the fight against violent islamic extremism. mr. bledsoe, thank you for being here today and for testimony back in march. i know privilege to recognize mr. lott for his opening statement. >> chairman kean, chairman lieberman, ranking member thompson, distinguished members of congress, since my son