now that general petraeus is still taking over. have to hope that the friction that did exist between general mcchrystal and eikenberry will now be dissipated with a new commander. >> general petraeus was a field commander and there was criticism by your fellow democrats in the senate. it was suggested that he had been cooking the books on the statistics in iraq. do you think he has overcome all that? how far is the support of general petraeus among senate democrats? >> i have not checked but i think it is strong. he has proven himself in the field and he is a supporter of the president's policy. it is the architect of the counter insurgency strategy. i have not heard any of those kind of commons from my colleagues -- comments from my college. these events happened quickly but i have not heard anything like that today. cr>> what the differences in the field in iraq and can stand? >> i would give you two or three reasons. general petraeus no counterinsurgency strategy better than anybody. he wrote the book on it. it is a counterinsur

i think general petraeus will bring that. but he will also bring a fount of experience from his time in iraq, including how to oversea a counterinsurgency fight which involves improving the government, the economics and the social structure which in afghanistan is so fragmented. in iraq... >> couric: pulling... >> woodruff: pulling it together? >> pulling it together, synthesizing it and seeing to it that securing the people is but one element of a larger strategy to see to it that the afghan government gets built in a way that endures over time rather than collapsing again and again into civil war. >> woodruff: colonel peter mansoor, ely elaborate on that. you did work closely with him in iraq. >> well, what i would too old what greg had to say, besides a relationship that i'm injury general petraeus will attempt to forge with president karzai is he will attempt to forge a better relationship with ambassador eikenberry. he had a very successful team relationship with ambassador crocker in iraq and it was one of the reasons w

and the fact that general mcchrystal's replacement is general petraeus means there will be almost no change in policy, and, of course, the problem is, if the original counter-insurgency strategy was not working before, if you bring in a smoother version of general mcchrystal in general petraeus, but someone who is committed to the same basic policy , it's not clear that the underlying problems that i think have caused this disarray in the obama administration's national security team are going to go away. the problem is , as the old saying goes, failure is an orphan. success has many fathers. and afghanistan now is a failure and that's causing a lot of friction in the national security team. >> suarez: well, professor, allegation we saw today, the commander of u.s. forces and nato forces in afghanistan serves at the pleasure of the president . but doesn't that person also have many other constituencies? is there repair work that now has to be done with nato, with the countries that were derisively talked of in the "rolling stone" article? >> well, you bet. the nato coalition is frag,

is not where general petraeus is. it has not been word general mcchrystal has them. it is not for secretary gates is. nothing is etched in stone. the president could change his mind. that is the decision of the commander in chief. it is agreed with the by the commander in the field. that policy is what is the key here. not the personalities that we have seen over the last few days. the policy is critically important. >> it sounds like you are seeing what republicans are saying that you are agreeing that conditioned on the ground could dictate a change in that july 2011 date. >> the decision is made. where would to start reductions in july. what happens -- can the president change his mind? he may decide to go the other direction. he may decide to do it more quickly. a decision has been made. they agree with that decision. based on the projection of what the conditions will be in july 2011. their best estimate. it is decision. it is not to go. can anyone change their mind? that is a given. that does not mean that they d

that is fine with general petraeus. thank you. >> finally, defense secretary robert gates and the joint chiefs of staff chairman admiral mollen held a briefing at explaining why they agree with the decision to replace general mcchrystal. they spoke with reporters at the pentagon for 40 minutes. devoted, devoted themselves to clean and fair elections, support this legislation because they understand that the american voter has a rig to know who is spending all these moneys on these ads and they don't want foreign controlled corporations dumping millions o >> general mcchrystal is one of the finest warriors of this generation who has an extraordinary record of fighting some of this country proxy most lethal enemies in iraq and afghanistan. it was these and other qualities that led me to recommend him for the command last year. like the president, i believe the poor judgment exercised by general mcchrystal with regard to the "rolling stone" profile has made his continuing presence unacceptable. his attitudes are unacceptabl

it is unlikely general petraeus will -- cannot sweep general mcchrystal's name and under -- under under the rug. host: two colors and he road is -- two callers in a row on the political future of mcchrystal. caller: unemployment bill. i want to know when they are going to get on board and past the unemployment bill. there are over 1 million people now that have no money to pay their mortgages and their utilities and their groceries. if they take these people off the unemployment, they are going to end up on welfare, which is going to cost the government even more. so, why can't the democrats and republicans come together, some agreement, and do something for the unemployment bill. it seems like they don't discuss it until late at night. i have been watching c-span -- everyone is tired and wants to go to home. host: de know anybody collecting benefits? caller: yes, i know quite a few. many of my friends. host: next is a long island, eileen, republican line. caller: there is one thing i think we are forgetting, that americans are pretty tough. we have been. i am 72 years old. i did not ha

effort in afghanistan with general petraeus tabing the reins now from general crystal? guest: there will be change of staff, you can expect that. the big question is change of strategy. the white house and the pentagon all said this is not a referendum on the counter insurgency strategy, the war plan and the campaign. that said, any new general has the right to go in and make the changes that he needs. and they made the case that nobody knew this stuff better than general petraeus. he signed off on all of mcchrystal's decisions. but just in the last 24 hours, i think the biggest concern from troops that we hear, especially out in the forward bases, are the rules of engagement. they feel like they're being restricted a little bit. that because of the premium on preventing civilian casualties that too often they have to wait before they can engage. they think it's hurting them. they think it's causing guys to get hurt and killed. so in the last i guess second half of yesterday, we heard from petraeus that said that will be one of the things hell be looking at. -- he will

caller: i am sorry about general petraeus and my thoughts and prayers are with him. president obama is getting more mature. i think that he came across as not blaming the situation on george bush, as many have. he has accepted the responsibility that he has as president for this situation. this is the problem of bp. not any particular president. it is president obama is responsibility. he is taking responsibility, and i must respect him for that. he also acknowledged in his speech the creator, and i think the creator is on his side now. that will help him in this situation. as far as dangling in the ocean off the gulf of mexico, i know what it can do to our environmeets. it will hurt the wallets of every american, no matter where you live. april 15, 2011, we will realize how much of an effect we have had. host: what are the beaches like they're in sarasota? -- there in sarasota? caller: we have the widest beaches in the country and there are small dots of oil starting to appear. independent organizations giving be able to count on them. the range is just unbelievable

general petraeus participated in our review last fall. he helped to design what we have in place. general david petraeus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watches hearings on line at any time on the c-span video library. it is washington your way. >> c-span recently joined members of an environmental group on a visit to grand bayou, louisiana, and a village of native american fishermen. one fisherman gave a tour of oil polluted marsh areas. >> this is the grand bayou village. we have been in this region for centuries upon centuries making our homes and having a life peer in this region. we are native american. we have lived in this region, as i said before, forever. we have seen over a period of time the changes that at come to the environment. some of it is natural, but the majority of it has been human induced. we have managed to adapt and adjust our way of living in order to remain here. we are facing a situation right now with the gulf disaster and the oil and the dispersants used to sink that oil. we are facing something we had never faced before, the unknown. we have no

this is critical that you have a commander who supports that policy and you do with general petraeus and general mccrystal to i asked whether it was his own personal opinion that that was the correct policy, not that he supported it but that he agreed with it. what happens if you changed your mind? it would be the obligation to tell the president's that they changed their mind. that is not where secretary gates is and has been. nothing is etched in stone. the president could change his mind. those are what we have seen, the policies which are critically important. conditions on the ground could dictate a change in july. >> can the president change his mind. this is a decision, not a goal. the president can make a decision and changes mine -- change his mind. that is the decision, that is the order. i think it is critically important. the republicans had never agreed with that because they cannot accept what i believe which is the reality which is the only way we will succeed in afghanistan is if the afghans take responsibility for their responsibility because the people of afghanistan

. >> thank you very much, general petraeus. general, let me start with you, relative to the issue which i raised about the afghan army not being adequately released down in this out with a major fighting is taking place and will take place in the months ahead we have thousands of troops and afghanistan and half of them are deployed in, and and kandahar -- in helmand and kandahar. how many afghan troops are there currently in kandahar and helmand and how many do we expect will be there in september? >> i would be happy to get that for you for the record. pf i could, rather, just provide the overview of what is that we are trying to accomplish in that area -- we touched on the importance of getting the afghans in the lead we had a video teleconference with the general mcchrystal this morning, in fact. secretary flournoy and i participate in that. pn that, and he described how he would use the additional elements of the brigade going into the kandahar belts, the district surrounding kandahar city, to work with afghan partners so th

from what i've seen enciling my interaction with general petraeus and general mcchrystal senator, and mean we all have angst about this, but we have got tremendous leadership team. we have put the resources in and it is a very, it very difficult counterinsurgency and as i said in my opening statement and as i've said before i thi kandahar's the center of gravity for this. i think we will know by the end of the year obviously where we are with respect to reversing the momentum and that is one of the key objectives here. what i'm concerned about and i know people are focused on july 2011, we all are in away that we are just not going to know until we get much closer to july 2011, how many troops and where they will come from, the case then the place. .. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you again foyour service. i thk you've been terrific, and i know how hard it is, so thank you very much. the question i wanted to ask, one on afghanistan and one on china. let me take china first. things like here are eurocentric. out west, we look west, and for 30 years now, i've been goi

guest: i think general petraeus epitomizes the a political. have to note that a lot of the special operations guys are dealing back-and-forth about the guyfact that general mcchrystal was a democrat and voted for president obama and had fox news turned off in his headquarters. ironic. i think general petraeus and any general officer is interested in serving the best interests of the country, and regardless of who was in charge. we had a lesson and that last week about civilian control of the military. that is clear in that principle has been reaffirmed. . . >> he will soon be in kabul. and he will provide the strong leadership required to meet the challenges ahead. and in the interim, the british would tunnel nick parker is the acting commander -- the british lt. nick parker is the acting commander of isaf. >host: not miss a beat, but thee will be a style difference between general mcchrystal and general patraeus, correct guest? guest: yes, but not the perceptible. general patraeus was one of the shapers of afghan policy, been mcchrystal's of s

central command general, david petraeus, to replace general stanley mcchrystal as the top commander in afghanistan. let's take a look at the president's remarks earlier today. then we'll talk with michael. watch. >> but war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president. as difficult as it is to lose general mcchrystal, i believe that it is the right decision for our national security. the conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. >> larry: all right, michael hastings, the obvious first question is, how did you get this? how did you get access? how did you get this whole thing done? >> when my editors and i at "rolling stone" came up with the idea to do a profile of general mcchrystal, i simply just e-mailed general mcchrystal's press staff, said we wanted to do a profile, and said if you could give us anytime to hang out with the general that would be great. i was expecting actually no access or perhaps, you know, one or two days or 45-minute interview. when the respons

general david betray us, -- general petraeus, was here at the committee. he said -- he fainted halfway through this hearing, due to what he described as dehydration. >> we are receiving testimony on the progress in afghanistan, with the commander of central command. the troops deserve our support, and the committee gives them that full support. and the support of their families as well. >> thank you. >> last month, it was announced

from what i've seen encircling my interaction with general petraeus and general mcchrystal senator, and mean we all have angst about this, but we have got tremendous leadership team. we have put the resources in and it is a very, it very difficult counterinsurgency and as i said in my opening statement and as i've said before i think kandahar's the center of gravity for this. i think we will know by the end of the year obviously where we are with respect to reversing the momentum and that is one of the key objectives here. what i'm concerned about and i know people are focused on july 2011, we all are in a way that we are just not going to know until we get much closer to july 2011, how many troops and where they will come from, the case then the place. .. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you again for your service. i think you've been terrific, and i know how hard it is, so thank you very much. the question i wanted to ask, one on afghanistan and one on china. let me take china first. things like here are eurocentric. out west, we look west, and for 30 years now, i've b

>> in this case, it's general petraeus and general mcchrystal. it's president obama.e one who is commander in chief who accepted their judgment. he basically overruled vice president biden and others on his staff. and so nobody wants to be at war for ten years. but the other hand, nobody wants to have our country struck again. this is the difficulty of being commander in chief in the age of terror. i think the president has got it right. i think he's doing it the right way. i hope he continues doing it that way. i think he's doing it right. >> larry: pete hegseth, how about the fact that the afghanistans are awfully rough people to fight? you're in their territory. you're on their rocks. >> it's definitely a tough fight. listen, it's going to be long. it's going to be tough. but it's interesting to hear john say what he said. has he not learned the lesson we learned in iraq? obama learned it. petraeus helped us win the war in iraq. now we've got an opportunity to apply those same principles to afghanistan. to say a lighter footprint is going to help our operations the

[general petraeus faints] >> general petraeus return to room 1 or later and said he painted because of the week -- dehydration. [applause] [applause] [laughter] [inaudible] >> my apologies. i ot a little bit lightheaded. it wasn't senator mccain posing questions. -- senator mccain's questions. [laughter] i just got dehydrated. >> you have told us your more than ready to go. you always are. you're that kind of an incredible person. i have consulted with colleagues, anddwe're going to overrule you. we're not going to continue. we would feel better about it, we will try to continue tomorrow morning. 9:00 is fine. you look great, we would just feel better. i know if you have checked your schedule or not, but we thank%- both of you. >> can i mentioned that i would finish the thought that i had when the general felt a little ill, your one of america's greatest heroes. we look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. >> think you, mr. chairman. >> i know you feel better, but we feel better doing it this way. we stand adjourned until tomorrow morning, tentatively at 9:00. >> thank you, chairman.

in that timeframe," general petraeus replied. the president replied that if you cannot do we use a and 18 months, no one is going to suggest that we stay. there was agreement on that. he goes on to say that obama was trying to turn the tables on the military to box them in after they had spent most of the boxing him and. if after 18 months, the conditions in afghanistan stabilized, then the troops could begin to come home. if the conditions did not stabilized enough to begin an orderly withdrawal of u.s. forces or if they deteriorated further, that would undermine the pentagon's belief in the effectiveness of more troops. at the conclusion of an extra field in his west wing office, referring to vice president biden, he was adamant that in july of 2011, he will seek a lot of people moving out. you can bet on it. i do not know if that book is adequate. it does have quotations in it. -- i do not know of the book is accurate. it does have quotations in it. there is a disconnect between the comment you just made in response to the cha

senate has confirmed general david petraeus as the new commander for u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. the vote today was unanimous. senators from both sides of the aisle had nothing but praise for the four-star general. >> david petraeus has proved that he say winner , and we need to give him every opportunity and remove every obstacle so that he can can help the united states and our allies win in afghanistan. >> we can be certain that when confirmed, he will bring highly experienced leadership and a profound understanding of the president's strategy in afghanistan , which he helped shape as commander of the u.s. central command. >> sreenivasan: petraeus was a key architect of american strategy in iraq and afghanistan. he replaces general stanley mcchrystal, who was fired for criticizing civilian leaders in the obama administration. also today, nato reported another american soldier killed in afghanistan. that made 59 u.s. deaths this month. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen. >> ifill: the administration's war strategy has com

a few years ago, there was criticism about general petraeus. it was not long after that that we had won the war in iraq. by august, we will have had all of our war fighters out of iraq. we will be down to 50,000 forces there that are man the backup to the iraqi forces. they are there in a training and capacity -- backup capacity. there are still attacks, bombings, but they are so far reduced that the iraqis are able to handle it themselves. if we can have the same kind of success in afghanistan, which we do not know -- i remember when mcchrystal wrote his analysis of how things were one year ago. he said we have one year's time to get something in place. well, we lost several months in the review. now the troops are on the way and we will pretty much all be there by the end of the month. then we can start to see how we can be successful. but they need that window. i would say until december. the president also said by next july, one year from now, when he would start with crawl. that is based on conditions. i think we pretty much understand tha

general petraeus, good to see you again. about a month going you were kind enough to host me and senator nelson and we talked about a number of issues. i want to follow on what my colleague from alabama talked about. when we had that meet weg talked about your confidence in president karzai as a partner for our country in this effort to fight the taliban and fight al qaeda. and these recent comments that president karzai made in kandahar are welcomed, but they follow his comments that were reported around the 10th of this month that he had loss faith in the u.s.'s ability to defeat the taliban. and i wanted to get an update from you about your confidence level in our partnership and in his leadership in fighting this war. >> well, senator, thanks and great to see you again as well. if i could just start off by saying that i think that the quote statement that he lost faith in the u.s. is a newspaper account, not certainly a quote directly from him and it's more a characterization from some second, third hand sources and it d

tuesday, the confirmation hearing for general david petraeus. standard -- obama finds a general. there's an editorial supporting the confirmation. that hearing begins on tuesday morning at 9:30. we will be covering both of these events. the elena kagan hearings continue through thursday. we have a special web site that will allow you to watch the hearings in a number of different ways. c-span.org/kagan. live coverage begins at 12:30 tomorrow. there is background and links to many documents. we will discuss many of the terms that will be coming up in the questioning of elena kagan. you may not be familiar with these terms. we will do so in real time. check it out online c-span.org. theresa, from las vegas, go ahead. caller: i have a general comment. thank you, c-span. it is early. whenever there are guests, specifically talking about financial industry, financial reform, i would love to get some background, specifically about what they or their group or their people -- were they were during the bubble or before -- where they were during the bubble

. >> brown: then interrupts from another confirmation hearing, this one for general david petraeus, the newly named u.s. commander in afghanistan said the u.s. has a long-term commitment to the war. >> it is going to be a number of years before afghan forces can truly handle the security tasks in afghanistan on their own. >> ifill: we examine the fallout from yesterday's arrests of 11 alleged russian spies living undercover in the united states. >> brown: ray suarez talks to film maker carol dysicker. her documentary explains whether afghan army troops are trained and ready. >> a lot of what i saw and came away feeling was not that there was so much something wrong, you know, with them as much as there was something kind of wrong with our expectations. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by chevron. this is the power of human energy. bnsf railway. and by the bill and melinda gates foundation, dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. and with the ongoing support of th

let me add my welcome to secretary flournoy and general petraeus. and i want to thank each of you for your leadership and also for your distinguished service. and also thank you to the men and women that you lead -- both of you lead at this service and commitment to our country is honored and really appreciated. general petraeus, you recently told members of the house armed services committee that training of afghan security forces is being overhauled. %-understand that training procedures for afghan police and security forces were being overhauled to avoid some of the mistakes made in iraq. general, can you give us an update on training efforts in afghanistan and any lessons learned since implementing those changes? >> with respect, senator, the training is being overhauled to avoid mistakes being made in afghanistan or shortcomings in afghanistan. that's not to say that there weren't plenty of shortcomings in our effort in iraq. in fact, we tried to share those with our afghan counterparts at various times during my different tours in iraq. in fac

. >> larry: the senate armed services commission hearings open hearings for general petraeus to replace general mcchrystal. will that be pro forma as well, james? >> of course it is. why don't they just send the man over there. >> larry: we love petraeus. >> it's a waste of time. air out afghan policy or lack of it. of course he'll be confirmed. >> larry: the new "usa today" poll shows 53% of america approve firing of mcchrystal. mcchrystal told the army today he's going to retire. what did you make of it all, dana? >> i talked about this at length on air and online as well. he should have, i think, resigned or stepped down. i believe there's protocol that you follow within the military. i also think that if the administration had perhaps maybe been stepped into more, he wouldn't have felt the need to fall on his sword in "rolling stone." let's not forget that this is a guy who was so unbelievably well trained he won't forget who he's speaking with when discussing something with a "rolling stone" reporter. it was purposeful. he did what he did to bring greater attention to afghanistan a

you heard general petraeus' testimony urging patients. do you agree? guest: i do. i have the opportunity to visit the country nine times. i indeed have had -- i have fears sick -- i have four sonss in the military. and i have a nephew who just completed his service in iraq with the air force. in afghanistan, i have been there nine times. i have been there in particular visiting my former national guard unit, 218th brigade, so i know from personal serving their, led by general bob livingston, we have 1500 troops from south carolina who helped train the afghan police and army units. so, i'm very, very optimistic. host: what specifically makes you optimistic? senators yesterday were questioning all the press reports about, that being more intense than we anticipated and taking longer in some regions. guest: those are all legitimate concerns. i followed testimony and concerns expressed. but specifically, we are training the afghan police and army units. we are ahead -- for the army, 105,000 -- actually 125,000 troops. we are on the way this year to have 135,000 troops.

finally, at general petraeus -- finally, general petraeus is willing to take this challenge and this is testimony to his patriotism and his character. it would be easy to remain the commander of central command and to rest on his record of success. but when the commander in chief was asking, he took this new3 three years ago, he described the effort in iraq as difficult, but not impossible and is describes the challenge facing us in afghanistan. i am grateful that he agreed to return to the battlefield. >> thank you. i am supporting the decision of the president's to take the resignation of general mcchrystal, and to take general petraeus as the commander of forces in afghanistan. general mcchrystal is a great man and he has served this country with distinction for three decades. he was leading men into places that the rest of us could not follow, and he fought in ways that many of us could not. i was proud, one year ago, to support him for the command of afghanistan. his strong leadership and foundation for future success there -- i cannot ignore his lack of judgment with thh "rolli

we recognize the general petraeus, and i would not presume, assuming he gets confirmed, he will leave that job, and we will have to find a replacement. i am hopeful we can do that as quickly as possible. we also have an extraordinary deputy commander out there. i have all the confidence in general allan to lead until this transition is complete. in terms of process, is will be the normal process. someone will be nominated by the president, recommended by secretary gates, nominated by the president and then be confirmed by the senate. [unintelligible] [laughter] that is all i will say. >> i would like to go in a different direction. you are very supportive of one effort. can you tell us what you think would be the biggest challenge in the pentagon to find that much money? what would be the hardest? >> i am very supportive of this. i have seen it come in number of years. in my previous life as chief in the navy, i had expectations 2009, things't 8, in the budget would turn. historically throughout our country, it is amazing to go back from 1935 until now, it is almost a perfect sign cur

some have suggested that general david petraeus could take over the afghanistan mission himself. "the new york times" in other publications talking about potential successors to general mcchrystal. in that meeting today with his national security team, president obama will have hillary clinton, joe biden, tim geithner, rahm emanuel, and the list goes on of those who will be meeting with the president about afghanistan and pakistan. we want to know what you think this morning. should president obama fire general mcchrystal? marsha on the line for drepublicans, what do you think? caller: i do not think general mcchrystal should be fired. this is nothing but a witch huntt pt is awfully funny that he is making these kind of comments about the war when his own fiancee was murdered by al-qaeda insurgenns. none of the quotations else was directly related to general petraeus. -- i am sorry, general mcchrystal. they were all mentioned by unnamed advisers. i would think that in this day and age of reputable journalism, someone would want to mention those names. host: what do you think shoul

host: general petraeus was on capitol hill testifying about the progress made in afghanistan. he is back up there today. on c-span3 we will cover the house senate negotiations on financial regulations, and we will join that in progress. that starts around 11:00. plano, texas. liz on the democrats' line. good morning. and caller: good morning. i was thinking for every person out there working on a raiig, wouldn't it be nice if they were working on a wind farm? maybe doing work inland of the gulf. getting the science and technology education that provides that technology. we built the transcontinental railroad, why can't we have more efficient magnetically operated infrastructure? all of these things are possible. host: let's hear from gary in eureka, california. caller: just a comment about the miscalculation coming out of the callgulf. if that was fuel going into your gas tanks, they would know exactly how much it is and how much it costs. it is upsetting they keep adding more and more to the daily amount that is leaking into the floor of the ocean. host: as much as 60,000 oil

forces, general david betray us, -- general petraeus, was here at the committee. he said -- he fainted halfway through this hearing, due to what he described as dehydration. >> we are receiving testimony on the progress in afghanistan, with the commander of central command. the troops deserve our support, and the committee gives them that full support. and the support of their families as well. >> thank you. >> last month, it was announced for the first timm that more soldiers are in afghanistan and in iraq. year since general stanley mcchrystal took command of the naked-let the news from afghanistan has been largely negative. the increase in casuallies -- coalition, and afghan security forces. the mixed results in marjah and the apparent return of taliban intimidation and assassinations of local officialssthere. the failure of afghan government officials to deliver much-needed services to win local alllgiances. the delay in the kandahar campaign. the resiggation of two senior afghan security officials who seemingly were among the most competent members of the cab

. >> well, i am and hopeful that general petraeus -- just less hopeful that general petraeus it -- thatgeneral petraeus will have much more coordination with the civilian sector, as he did in iraq. we need to have a much closer working relationship. obviously, the "rolling stone" interview reflected a schism. that is not helpful. secondly, i believe this administration realizes that aid dollars are essential. i want to say that i am one of those who believes that we very, very severely distracted our focus from afghanistan for the overwhelming majority of the time we have been involved with afghanistan. a surge early on, and then essentially a focused on iraq. only towards the end of the bush administration, when it was clear that the taliban or reorganizing and reforming, that al qaeda wasn't growing in strength as well -- that al qaeda was growing in strength as well, that the bush and ministration -- the bush administration was confronted with that, and this administration was confronted with an economic collapse. but we also have to focus on these two wars in iraq and afghanistan. i

that is the policy that general petraeus is pursuing. that is the strategy that all of our allies have fully endorsed, as has president karzai. now, it is tough. it is a tough challenge, for reasons that have been amply recorded. as i said, this is the third poorest country in the world. it has an extraordinarily high illiteracy rate. it has suffered through 30 years of war. and so, this is going to be tough. but what i expect is that by the end of this year, we will have seen progress on the strategy that was laid out. we will conduct a full review. those things that are not working, we will fix. those things that are working, we will build on, both on the civilian side and on the military side, as well as on the diplomatic side. because, ultimately, as was true in iraq, so it will be true in afghanistan. we are going to have to have a political solution, not only a military solution. now, with respect to the efforts of reintegration, i think it is too early to tell. we have to view these efforts with skepticism but also openness. the t

general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall, and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general david petraeus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watch his appearances at hearings, briefings, and other events online any time at the c-span video library. it's washington your way. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online, and you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube, and sign up for our schedule alert emails at c-span.org. >> and now clinton-era fema director james lee witt, he spoke at the clinton presidential library about relief efforts following hurricanes and haiti earthquake. he gave this talk before recently being hired as a consultant by b.p. this is about an hour. >> thank you. i would like to thank the foundation staff for the food work that they have done in this exhibit, as well as the library, and what this library's about. i also wanted to thank leona for all the support she's gi

general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall. he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general david petreaus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watches appearances at hearings, briefings, and other events on line, any time, at the c-span video library. washington your way. >> this weekend on c-span2's "book tv," alex heard recounts the death penalty trial of willie mcgee and the beginnings of the civil rights movement. jerry van dyke and his guide to spend 45 days and a dark cell after being captured by taliban fighters. he writes about it. a veteran wall street journal reporter with an inside account of rupert murdoch's purchase of "the wall street journal." find the entire weekend schedule at book tv.org and join us on at twitter. more than 30,000 viewers already have. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from our studios in new york is yalman onaran, senior writer at bloomberg news. what happened at

petraeus in there. but i have trouble believing that getting rid of a very successful general is in any way a good thing. it's a bad thing in that he had a very effective decision-making process in kabul, and petraeus is a great general and it's a great act of service for him to really accept the demotion to do the job for the country's need. >> woodruff: but, mark, you're saying you don't think this changes anything in terms of afghanistan. >> no, i think the policy, the policy differences between them are negligible. i disagree with david on general mcchrystal. i think what -- first of all, the president had to act. he didn't have a choice. he looked unable to act in the gulf, and understandably so, to cap that well. so he had to act here. and general mcchrystal left him no alternative. this was an act of suburb insubordination. i disagree, in the sense, judy, to me it was a terrible indictment of general mcchrystal and his closest aides, these remarks. what they reflected was, a., a sense of their own indispensibility. secondly, it reflected incredible obturks obliviousness to how those remarks were

i'm also pleased to nominate general david petraeus to take command in afghanistan, which will allow us to maintain the momentum and leadership that we need to succeed. i don't make this decision based on any difference in policy with general mcchrystal as we are in full agreement about our strategy. nor to i make the decision out of any sense of personal insult. stan mcchrystal has always shown great courtesy and carried out my -- out my orders faithfully. for him and his long record of service in uniform. over the last nine years, with america fighting wars in iraq and afghanistan, he has earned a reputation as one of our nation's finest soldiers. that reputation is founded upon his extraordinary dedication, his deep intelligence, and his love of country. i've relied on his service particularly to design and lead our new gentleman ji -- strategy in afghanistan. all americans should be grateful for general mcchrystal's remarkable career in uniform but war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general, or a president. as difficult as it is to lose general mcchrysta

. >> well, i am and hopeful that general petraeus -- just less hopeful that general petraeus it -- that general petraeus will have much more coordination with the civilian sector, as he did in iraq. we need to have a much closer working relationship. obviously, the "rolling stone" interview reflected a schism. that is not helpful. secondly, i believe this administration realizes that aid dollars are essential. i want to say that i am one of those who believes that we very, very severely distracted our focus from afghanistan for the overwhelming majority of the time we have been involved with afghanistan. a surge early on, and then essentially a focused on iraq. only towards the end of the bush administration, when it was clear that the taliban or reorganizing and reforming, that al qaeda wasn't growing in strength as well -- that al qaeda was growing in strength as well, that the bush and ministration -- the bush administration was confronted with that, and this administration was confronted with an economic collapse. but we also have to focus on these two wars in iraq and afghanistan.

general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall. and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general david petreaus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watch his appearances at hearings, briefings, and other events on line, any time, at the c-span video library. washington your way. >> beginning today, what to the confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee elena kagan, live on c-span 3, c-span radio, and at c-span.org north carolina rehearings every night at 9:00 eastern on c-span2. to learn more, read our latest book "the supreme court," candid conversations with all the justices providing unique insight. available on hardcover and e- book. the internet and energy -- information service, telecommunications is something else? it looked at the fcc process to be classified internet with members of the house communications subcommittee. "the communicator's" on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: jess bravi

general petraeus was asked a number of tough questions on afghanistan, particularly in hearings this week. specifically, what if and when the u.s. leaves? let's look in brass tacks. if the u.s. were to leave, what does that mean for the future of afghanistan? >> if we hear an announcement tomorrow that the u.s.'s leading -- is leaving in 2011, the type of announcement can create a rapid erosion of confidence. psychological effects usually set the tone for further advance. we have seen these things in other parts of the world. premature announcements, politickingwith war, wars have to fought or we should not choose to go to war. in my opinion. pakistan's war is not over. if it is over, why are we there? if we have not finished the work, should we finish it or not? this is an obvious thing. if the war is not finished and if the u.s. leaves tomorrow, in three hours, the afghan government will collapse. very obvious. secondly, can the world afford another boy in afghanistan, especially now that things have chaed? the world is not the sme as the world of 2001 or 2000. this world is much d

general david petraeus testified yesterday on capitol hill.ere is the headline from "the wall street journal." "bipartisan criticism as setbacks star of concern." starting at 9:00 we will have live coverage of that on c-span 3. joining us on the phone, roxanne coming to us from "of the hill." -- from "the hill." what do you expect to come out of today's hearing? caller: good to be with you. i would expect more of the same line of questioning and concerned, but the senate hearing this morning and later on in the house. the main areas of concern are the 2011 deadlines to start withdrawing troops from afghanistan and a date to study the conditions in afghanistan. both democrats and republicans are starting to become significantly concerned with u.s. strategy in afghanistan and are going to ask a lot of questions

general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall, and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general david petraeus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watch his appearances at hearings, briefings and other events online any time at the c-span video library. it's washington your way. a thaw week on "q&a," our guest is the director and producer of a new documentary on charter schools. it's called "the lottery." >> madeleine sackler, what was your immediate reaction when you read in the "new york times" the first sentence of a review when jeanette solos said was a little tweaking, "the lottery," would fit nicely into the marketing materials for the harlem success academy. >> i mean, i think it's an unfortunate description. i've talked to all the families in the film about it at length, because this is a film really about them and about their experience, and they think all of them were a little bit hurt by that because this is a true story. i mean, these are real