the command was given to general gainous. night before was a huge dinner hosted by the provincial governor. i'm confident that you have met them on your many visits in there. at that dinner at that night with all the commanders and the leadership there, there was -- there was much discussion, almost to the point of tears, as the general recanted the last 13 months of general tullen's time in afghanistan in the helmand province. so they talked about how the marines saved the lives of his soldiers. how marines died saving the lives trying to retrieve a drowning afghan soldier. we have not seen the level of violence in helmand that we have seen in other places. my sense is that it's a result of strong relationships, a level of confidence. doesn't mean they're not going to be things that are going to happen, senator, you know this. but i will tell you that there is a great amount of confidence between the afghan national security forces, the provincial governor, the leadership, the prt teams from the u.k. there is a real sense of