so, the earliest point, it was important that we had a -- iraqi army, iraqi police and iraqi... >> but the first thing that happened was the iraqi -- >> and running their own economy. >> the first thing happened was the iraqi army was disbanded, so for -- the problem is, come back to it, whatever it is like at the moment, the learning process was by and large borne by the iraqi people, and, it was painful, and, unfortunately the views which you say you disagree with, may have been those that were predominant in washington, in march, 2003. and that is the... >> all i can say is, never a view i've agreed with but it is important to understand the iraqi army has been built up again and the iraqi police have been built up and when we left basra we were satisfied there were 30,000 police and army now trained to do the job, but our troops could be in a position to leave and be sure there was security control for the people of basra. >> just, very briefly, the costs of reconstruction. you gave a figure, i think before lunch of 45 billion pounds as an estimate and clearly these were costs that

iraqis were protected superbly by the iraqi security forces and the iraqi people came out and voted inlarge numbers. and all are bridging in -- anbar, there were no bad problems. there were few incidents which produce casualties in a number of bombs, the iraqi security forces secure their population and provided a secure, credible election process. as a for our -- before i close i -- and take a few questions, the success did not just happen. the battle space is theirs. they set the conditions for the elections and through their hard work, if paid handsome dividends on sunday. the task did not begin on sunday, and since then they have provided for security on a daily basis. we know that they have an important role to play to the future and we look for to continue to partner with them. with that, i'll take your questions. >> thank you, general. >> i'm with the associated press. as we await the election results, will it change the pace of u.s. with the role? -- with a drawl? the boilers at this point, we have been told about the president's announcement last year during his june speech th

and in many ways, this has been a path that has also been followed by the iraqi process.the other problem that people don't understand is that elections are not events. they are basically processes. long-term processes. and many times we have to fight with what i would say is sort of impatience of the media, impatience of the stakeholders in a strong case of add in terms of the international community. that basically don't remember from where we started and where we are going. elections are also about building institutions, including political parties in many ways. and you have to build them through electoral engineering many times and you have to build them through rules of the game and basically through negotiation of the rules of the game. most people don't realize that the first documents that probably is negotiated after a conflict or during a conflict is not necessarily the constitution, but that part of the electorate of the constitution that has to do with electoral provisions, elect oral how we divide power, et cetera, et cetera then, two things that i learned. o

>> i would consider it as being maturing iraqi security forces across the board. they are in a status of development. we have been putting a lot of key pieces of the puzzle together. everything from unit level to division level and field workshops and medium level workshops at the region level. national level ability as well at taji with the base workshop as well as the navy. all the way from first line in the iraqi system all the way up to fourth line national level. those abilities are maturing much we have done a very good job at building capacity for the iraqi security forces to execute logistics. i think there is risk in some areas. we are targeting the risk areas with the objective of achieving ability by the end of mission. >> what are some of the specific things are you doing to build up the -- you are doing to build up the iraqi ability in general? >> there is a lot of training going on at the field level workshops and medium level workshops to make sure the ability there is adequate to support the level of maintenance. we are continuing to develop the ta

. >> you talk about the iraqi difficulty with syria.given the history of i ran in iraq, given the production of weapons and the like along those lines, it seems to be somewhat of an inconsistency given the iranian involvement in undermining iraqi stability. lay that out for me a little bit as to how this plays out. >> let me give you my read on that. i will bring in the syrian ankle thangle. the syrians in iraq have an active embassy. in addition, they have provided assistance, weaponry, and other resources to shia extremist militias. they continue to do that. they exert continuous direct pressure on some of the iraqi political parties. they actually get quite involved in it. their goal, as best i can tell, is to have a government which is largely dominated by one particular sect, at least at the senior level. i do not think, frankly, that the syrians sure that objective. i don't think their interest, as they perceive it, is the same peri. the iraqis that are in serious are absolutely not shia. they are sunnis and they are not islamists

it's broadcasting to iraqis, trying to form of violence against our forces and against the iraqis ando reason for this year against to promote that. they have in their capacity to turn that off. there are other things in that vein, mr. chairman. >> what do you believe is the current -- let me preface by saying a conversation the other day when i was in the middle east and he mentioned the degree to which they kept their word with respect to lebanon and lebanon has in fact been quiet over the period of the last months since the selection of the new government. can you speak to the syrian posture of lebanon now and what you'd see in the stakes for a better american relations with syria? >> we are firmly committed as i said to the lebanese sovereignty and stability and we have worked hard to build and strengthen the capacity of the lebanese institutions. we would like the syrians also to cooperate with the lebanese government institutions. it is a good step that they opened an embassy in beirut. it is a good step the announced during the press mr. to damascus that they would begin the sy

we support iraqi operations, but almost every operation is ... iraqis are involved in. every operation is led by iraqis. we provide support. we advise them during operations. i would argue in reality we really have moved very close to where we think we'll be on the first of september already. >> lehrer: general, you've been at this a while. you've been in iraq a while. does the progress and particularly the time it's taken to get where you are now, to get where iraq is right now, is this about what you expected? are you surprised that it's gone so slowly or gone so quickly? what's your own expectations, have they been met? >> i would say depending on when you ask me that question, i would probably give you a different answer. having been here since 2006 almost continuously, back in 2006, if you asked me that question i would not have thought we would have gotten here as quickly as we have. that was at the height of sectarian violence, moving towards civil war. things were fairly dark here in iraq. if you told me just three years later , three short years later we'd be w

iraqi refugee crisis. it's a fantastic book so i would recommend it. and there's a new memoir by matt gallagher about fighting his platoon leader in nearly 2008, 2009. it's again fantastic. i'm going to agree with tom and something big a little later, but i want to disagree. but ink and i told tom this, i think he's too wed to the narrative that the surge failed. i don't think that the goal of a counterinsurgency campaign ways by a third party on behalf of the host nation government is to lead to some political breakthrough or create time and space for political breakthrough, but to create time and space for a political process. and i think we've actually done not in iraq. the other thing you said yourself that general petraeus walked back the skill of our ambitions in iraq and said were trying to get out of here with the shirts on our back. we initiated the sofa agreement. i think that is a testament to some of the good work done by the ms as well as via our folks on the ground in iraq aired i think they

by any measure, this was an important milestone in iraqi history. dozens of parties and coalitions, men and women, some 50,000 voting booths were cast ballots. millions of iraqis the exercised their right to vote with enthusiasm and optimism. today's voting makes it clear that the future of iraq alone to the people of iraq. the election was organized and administered by the iraqi independent highet electoral commission with critical support from the united nations. hundreds of thousands of iraqis served as pull station workers and as observers. as expected, there were some incidents of violence as al qaeda and irain iraq tried to dt the process by murdering those who were exercising their democratic rights. overall, the level of security, the provision of these destabilizing a taattacks were solved by iraqi security forces. i want to extend my admiration for our civilians and men and women in uniform who continue to support our iraqi partners. this election is also a tribute to all those who have served and sacrificed in iraq for the last seven year

don't you think that if we are able to help the iraqi -- the iraqis and the afghans that this would help bring peace sooner, therefore, not cost lives? that's kind of like basic it seems to me. >> better coordination would lead to better results including victory faster, yes. >> and, therefore, not the waste of money and the loss of lives; correct? >> presumably. >> presumably, is that the way you want the record to say? you can't say yes. again -- >> it's not a hard question. mr. bever? .. >> so we always -- >> attribute her, i was in congress. we didn't appropriate the money that we need for coordination. so i don't put you out there as somehow you have caused the loss of lives, or that you have wasted money. i put us all in this together. and it seems to me you deal wit. and it strikes me again like the ambassador, it's hard for you to say what is reality. i'm giving you a chance, doctor. >> sir, i am quite sure that, looking back over the past eight years, yes, there has been waste associated with the lack of coordination and very likely the loss of life, although i cannot verify you

this far. >> ( translated ): i congratulate the iraqi people for this victory, because the iraqi people are the winners who spoke on the victory day of the election on the seventh of march. >> brown: both the voting and today's announcement were accompanied by scattered violence. hours before the results were released, two bombs exploded outside a restaurant 50 miles north of baghdad. more than 40 people were killed and dozens more were wounded. the election brought allegations of fraud from some iraqi politicians, but international observers declared it "fair" and "honest." the u.s. government has praised the election process. today, top american military commander ray odierno called on political parties to "refrain from inflammatory rhetoric or action". for more, we go to ryan crocker, a former career diplomat who served as u.s. ambassador to iraq until last year. he's now the dean of the george h.w. bush school of government at texas a&m university. and joost hilterman, deputy program director for the middle east and north africa at the international crisis group. he was in iraq duri

because we did, iraqis are showing the freedom and democracy are iraqi dreams and increasingly iraqi realities. iraqis are choosing to resolve their differences through cooperation and dialogue, not violence and repression. they are demonstrating that iraqis share the same basic aspirations as you and me: safe neighborhoods, opportunity for themselves and their children, equal access to justice, a chance to elect those who would govern them and to live under laws of their own making. yesterday the citizens of iraq once again reaffirmed that a nation's past need not determine its future. when citizens of courage are devoted to a just cause that is greater than themselves. now i'll be the first to admit that iraq still faces many difficulties: a limited but lethal terrorist threat, the unhelpful meddling of some of its neighbors, weak political institutions, a still developing economy, and a culture of distrust that will take a long time to heal. there's much hard work still to be done in iraq, and the united states must remain fully seized with it. in the weeks ahead, we must support

killing 25 iraqis. u.s. forces left patrolling to their iraqi counterparts. today general the general said that bodes well for the planned u.s. troop drawdown. >> i believe we'll be at 50,000 by the first of september. everything is on track for that to happen. as the secretary has said, unless there's a catastrophic event, we don't see that changing. we think this is another milestone. but there's more to come. >> ifill: top u.s. and u.n. diplomats in iraq also hailed the election as a success. >> i think it was really a very good day for iraqi democracy. i believe it will be a real foundation point, a real new beginning for a u.s. relationship with iraq we hope will stretch decades to come. >> this day has been a triumph of reason over confrontation and violence. iraqis are making history. >> ifill: more than 6,000 candidates competed for 325 parliamentary seats. millions of ballots are now being counted with final results not expected before thursday. the ballots were opened and the results of the list were examined as well. and then the results will be se

there's a lot of iraqis alive today because of the surge. it was a real achievement. i think they failed though because the purpose of a stated purpose of the surge was it to improve security, create a breathing space which a political breakthrough what occurred. that has still not occurred. it may occur this year and it may not all of the basic questions that lead to violence in iraq between the surge are still hanging fire out there. how do you share will revenue, what is the difference between major groups, what is the disposition of the city of kirkuk, will iraq a strong central government or be a loose confederation? what is the role of iran? all of those lead to violence in the past. all of them could lead to violence again. the leading changing the security equation that i see is that the force that intervened to stop the civil war of 06, the americans will not be available if these questions lead to widespread violence again. what did petraeus do? i agree that the increase in troops was almost a side show in terms of the importance of defense. i think the sing

i think the real hope i see is an iraqi people which which has suffered. it's suffered for decades under saddam hussein and they want better leadership and to date i don't think they've had it. >> lehrer: but they're going to have to rise up and say "enough of this." >> absolutely. and you saw glimmers of this in the provincial elections last year where people were voting for different types of candidates and this' my slope that new faces emerge in the iraqi leadership. >> lehrer: we'll see what happens. gentlemen, thank you both very much. >> brown: and now, to the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: the head of the u.n. mission in afghanistan said today it's high time talks with the taliban went forward. kai eide held a final news conference after two years on the job. he conceded peace in afghanistan within the next year or two is unachievable. and, he said the overall strategy has to change. >> i believe that the focus is too much on the military side, too little on the political side, the civilian side, that

every iraqi leader had a grin on his face. he was beaming with pride with his ability we respond to the challenges. they worked their way through. the iraqi people knew they would. they are encouraged by what they saw. i will close by thanking our great soldiers. they aren't aligned by the state department folks and other agency friends in the same make this a real team of teams. it is constantly changing. thank you to you for asking lots of questions today. i know that there were a lot of the things competing with iraq now. we believe that as well. thank you for your time. i will stand by for any final questions. >> we are good form here. thank you again for your time. we hope that will get another of state. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >>, a subcommittee books of the annual budget request for the department of housing and urban development. the him what led 935 eastern time. >> sunday, your chance to talk to karl rove live starting at 10:00 e

attempt to try to build the new iraqi security forces, and i know these are forces some iraqi generals have talked about with secretary and ethnic divides. but what lesson is important from your perspective and maybe we can begin in a direction. tom, you are nodding your head. maybe we can begin and turn to linda next. .. by the civilians and the purging, the potential purging of their ranks. not to say there aren't terse but i think by and large and i would like to credit general dempsey, martin dempsey in his tour as the new sticky commander to train and equip command over there because he really pushed through a major process of purging and especially in the national police, which was heavily think carrion. the re-gluing of that force. and there was also a critical intel contribution made eared one of the programs is called seven fail and they relied on iraqi officers to rely the political chain of influence going up to the prime minister's office. and so i think that they are -- coming you know, it's a long-term effort. we spent in tecate in salvador. we need to look at this as a l

we completely remodeled the iraqi currency. >> you were looking at these things. the problems which arose in the aftermath, could they have been mitigated if the coalition had been much better prepared to get into action on the issues you mentioned right at the beginning? and if it had the broader economic support that we did not to get until after the second resolution was passed in the middle of may by the united nations? >> yes. it was not -- their only two or three or four or five countries. by the month of may, the united nations came into play. the u.n. was part of the reconstruction program. we needed the imf and the world bank. what we have concluded in the treasury with that we would need all these organizations to be involved for the reconstruction to be successful. >> at what point did it become obvious to you before the conflict that is planning was defective? >> i don't think that we were fully aware of all the tensions within the united states? >> of how bad it was going to be? >> i feel that we should of course have been able to more quickly and do

i think the iraqi's, the iraqi politicians themselves are looking at this in a different way. the risk is that those elections end up, the iraqi stem cells can endorse those elections. that is a very real risk. we believe the iraqi leadership is moving in the right on this issue now. >> hussein can i ask you to elaborate on the question? i'm not quite sure i understand. speeds i am just questioning the sustainability of the u.s. effort if the u.s. has to intervene in every issue such as the elections of presidents or policing-- my question to ambassador feltman right now and in the issues otherwise in the middle east. >> he i think it is not sustainable. we don't have the manpower in the middle east is not the only region in the world where the united states has a serious, has a vital interest in no i don't tank that kind of effort is sustainable but i think some sort of, i mean i think a general framework is possible and one of the things that, again my general framework would be, my general framework would be to punish enemies and reward friends. reward friends in the region

military operations had on iraqi refugees in the iraqi refugee crisis. it is a fantastic book.would recommend it. there is a new memoir about matt gallagher about fighting his platoon leader in 2007-2008. again, it is fantastic. i'm going to agree with tom on something big a little later. but i want to degree. i think i have told tom this, i think he is too wed do the narrative that the surge failed. i don't think that the goal of a counterinsurgence iy campaign waged by a third party on behalf of a host government is to create time and space for a political breakthrough but to create time and space for a political process. i think we have done that in iraq. i think it is happening now. also you said petraeus left saying we just want to get out with the shirts on our back, but we initiative jated the s.o.f.a. agreement. i think they deserve credit about that. i am not sure i would be so quick to say the surge failed. a, it may be too early to make that judgment. b, i think an important political process is taking place and has been taking place that we can take some credit for,

not just our country about the weaponry that the iraqi government held. and of course, at that time, there was a greater certainty amongst the intelligence community that this weaponry was there. i think we have learned that intelligence can give us insights into what's happening but we've got to be more sure as people have recognized about the nature of intelligence that we were sing from certain people. >> thank you. >> prime minister, i wonder if i could just pick up one vital detail from your conversation, which is that in march of 2002, the cabinet's office produced an options paper, a streamic review of the -- strategic review of the courses available with iraq, the continuing containment of regime change in different forms. obviously a very important paper which we discussed with mr. blair. did you see that paper? >> i don't recall seing that paper. my main involving in looking at the options started in june. >> do you think this is one of the most senior members of the cabinet that you should have seen that paper? you are going to have to obviousl

finally, results from the iraqi parliamentary election should show whether the prime minister or his main challenger won, with the race so tight and accusations of fraud hanging over the process, some are demanding that the votes be counted again. our correspondent is in baghdad asking how widespread the called far for a recount. >> coming from all sides. early on in the counting process that we heard from many people about concerns over how the counting was being carried out. and then we heard from the president and the prime minister himself. the language that he used when he called for a recount, warning of threats to stability and invoking his position as commander in chief, raised concerns in some quarters that possibly he might not accept the results. some are pointing out that he seems to be raising these concerns and the race has become much tighter. the election commission has so far stood firm, refusing all demands for a retail. i met the election commission chairman in baghdad, and he said that with all of the allegations hanging over the process, why did he not just agree

. >> bite -- iraqi elections. >> this was an important milestone in iraqi history.dozens of collisions field thousands of candidates, men and women. ballots were cast at some 50,000 voting booths. in a strong turnout, millions of iraqis exercised their right to go with enthusiasm and optimism. today's voting makes it clear that the future of iraq belongs to the people of iraq. the election was organized and administered by iraq's hi electrochemistry -- the commission with support from the united nations. thousands of iraqis served as pull station workers and -- pull station workers. there were some incidents of violence as al qaeda in iraq tried to disrupt progress by murdering innocent iraqis who were exercising their democratic rights. but overall, the level of security and the prevention of the stabilizing attacks speaks to the professional ability of the iraqi security forces with -- which took the lead at providing protection at the polls. i want to express my admiration for the thousands of americans on the ground in iraq. whether civilians or men and women in

not just our country about the weaponry that the iraqi government held.of course, at that time, there was a greater certainty amongst the intelligence community that this weaponry was there. i think we have learned that intelligence can give us insights into what's happening but we've got to be more sure as people have recognized about the nature of intelligence that we were sing from certain people. >> thank you. >> prime minister, i wonder if i could just pick up one vital detail from your conversation, which is that in march of 2002, the cabinet's office produced an options paper, a streamic review of the -- strategic dv and how we dealt with them. a no-fly zone had been an issue of course. there were options available to us. it was only when we became clear that we had to look at specific options. >> the treasury role was your role, as a very, very senior member of the cabinet. here was the government looking at the fundamental question of whether you continue the movement. people were pushing for regime change there. the government was looking at thi

>> they are two iraqi sisters who are 18 and 21 years old at the start of the war.ey're filled with hope for what the americans will do for iraq because they have suffered horribly ended the iraqi regime. the older sister goes to work for the americans and falls in love with an american contractor and the other sister is struggling to get her degree at the university which becomes harder and harder as the americans lose control of the country and radical islam gains control. >> where did you meet them? >> early 2003 at the start of the war. >> you talked to two other women. >> heather:is the u.s. soldier, a reservist at the start of the war who eventually becomes in charge of the biggest initiative to bring americans version of women's rights to the middle east and the other is a boston american activist and she is working for women for women international in iraq trying to help iraqi women with grass-roots efforts. >> you followed them through on your stay in iraq and where was that? >> i was there in 2003 until 2005. >> what >> did you see? >> tremendous change. w

these iranian tensions can undermine iraqi security in the delicate political situation. how do you foresee dod using its future relationship with the iraqi security forces to steer iraq 's defense strategy and acquisition of weapons systems in order to avoid high rainan meddling that could jeopardize iraq 's stability? >> well, in truth, senator, i don't think we'll have to steer at all iraq's leaders and its security force leaders share a concern about neighbors who arm, train, fund, equip and direct, proxy elements on their soil and they have continued to carry out operations against these illegal elements, and i'm confident that they will continue to do that in the newspaper tour, even as we -- future, even as we draw done. they've conducted a number of unilateral operations against these elements as well. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator hagan. senator wigger. >> general petraeus, senator levin began asking early on about iran, mentioned the u.n. resolutions, asked about being more explicit about the possibility of a blockade, a quarantine

>> they are two iraqi sisters. and they are 18 and 21 years old at the start of the war. the americans will do for iraq because they had suffered horribly under the iraqi regime. the older sister goes to work for the americans and ends up falling in love with an american contractor and the other sister -- she's struggling to get her degree at the university, baghdad university, which becomes harder and harder as the americans really lose control of the country and the radical islamists gain control. >> now, when did you meet them? >> i met them in early 2003. just at the start of the war. >> throughout your book you look -- you talk to the sisters and you talk to two other women. who are they? >> captain coin, she's a u.s. soldier. she's a reservist. she's there at the start of the war. and she eventually becomes in charge of really the biggest initiative to bring americans' version of women's right to the middle east. the other woman is a palestinian american, an activist and she is working for women, for women international in iraq trying to help iraqi women build a gra

. >> host: iraqi is used to say they knew what he was doing. >> guest: and he was inside them even after he was overthrown they felt they continued to suffer from the effect. >> host: we both saw it in action and it was the -- >> guest: saddam hussein's sun was the human incarnation of the pornography of totalitarianism with rape and all kind of crimes so that one is easy to say that orwell would have seen that regime as it was and there would have been no defense of sovereignty from state sovereignty or this was an antiislamic war or arab war. he would have seen it as a modern secular totalitarian regime which is what it was three on the other hand -- >> host: i would say saddam hussein -- >> guest: toward the end he used sunni is one for his purposes, that's right. the other side of it is the language used by the bush administration both before the war and after the invasion which in many ways was mendacious and euphemistic and misleading. it was the kind of bad language that allows bad political fought which is the subject of politics in english language may be the best known of the e

mission that marks the transition of our forces from a combat role to one of advising and assisting iraqi security forces, as we draw down our forces in iraq and increase our efforts in afghanistan we must not losing sight of other developments in the centcom aor, i want to highlight the developments in two countries in particular, wryemen and iran, i yemen we have seen an increase unal qaeda as it exploits the country's security, economic and social challenges. the threat to yemen to the region and indeed to the u.s. homeland posed by what it is now called al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is demonstrate by suicide bombers trying to carry out operations in the capital and the attempt to assassinate the assistant minister of near yer in saudi arabia and the attempted bombing of the u.s. airliner on christmas day and the number of us have been increasingly concerned over the past 2-and-a-half years by the developments we have observed there and last april i approved a plan developed with our ambassador in yemen, u.s. in attention agencies and the state department to expand our assistance,

now, we asked the iraqi prime minister how he assesses the security situation. most definitely significantly better and also about the state of mind of iraqis. >> translator: i would ask you to listen to the people and how they are now staying until midnight on the streets. see the streets of baghdad, which were deserted, and life used to stop early in the evening. >> mr. prime minister, to respectfully disagree, people that we're talking to say they're still as scared. they're still scared of an attack. they're still scared of being caught in the crossfire. of course the situation is better, but they do carry that fear within them. >> translator: they are talking about incidents like what we see happening now, but they are not talking about violence that used to happen when they wouldn't move between neighborhoods. >> reporter: but for many iraqis, it's not about just having the ability to move from one neighborhood to another. remember, this is a nation that has suffered through seven years of war and seen some of the more brutal things that one man can do to

has no preference on the outcome. >> all we want is the iraqi people to have an opportunity to selectheir leader. we want to provide the environment that allows the election to come off like it did. >> reporter: power has privileges. helicopters are always waiting. the coffee is never cold. inspiration comes from the soldiers themselves. >> i've had the joy to work with so many great young men and women. it is really opened my eyes to this is a hell of a generation of young people we have today. >> reporter: sounds like you are leaving? >> not yet. >> reporter: before 2011? >> i think i will probably leave before 2011 but that will be somebody else's decision. >> reporter: all troops are supposed to leave by the end of 2011. he's known for build-up in 2007. the surge with the tribal leaders' decision to turn against al-qaeda are credited with stemming sectarian violence. when americans dying by the dozens every machine he knew it might drive the death toll higher. >> in the may-june timeframe when casualties why going up they were difficult times. >> reporter: you made the right decis

these iranian actions undermine iraqi security in the delicate political situation. how do you foresee dod using its future relationship with the iraqi security forces to steer iraq's defense strategy and acquisition of weapon systems in order to avoid iranian meddling that could jeopardize iraq's stability. >> i don't think we'll have to steer at all. iraq's leaders and its security force leaders share a concern about neighbors who arm, train, fund, equipped and direct proxy elements on their soil. and they have continued to carry out operations against these illegal elements. and i'm confident that they will continue to do that in the future even as we draw down. they conduct a number of unilateral operations against these elements as well. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator hagan. senator wicker? >> thank you, mr. chairman. general petraeus, chairman levin began early on asking about iran. he mentioned the u.n. resolution, asked about being more explicit about the possibility of a blockade or quarantine and you said that the president was

millions of iraqis voted at thousands of voting stations throughout the country. the democratic process is succeeding in iraq. the people there, despite extraordinaryly -- extraordinarily difficult challenges, are able to express themselves in free elections. sunday was a good day for the future of iraq. but those elections would not have taken place but for the decision of president bush in 2007 to send over 20,000 surge troops to iraq in order to establish, and i quote, a unified democratic federal iraq that can govern itself, defend itself, and sustain itself, end quote. and those elections would not have been possible but for the sacrifices of our troops and their families. just four months ago, mr. speaker, president obama announced a surge strategy for afghanistan. he committed 30,000 additional forces to a counter insurgency strategy that i believe will help to strengthen the government in afghanistan, its security forces, as the surge did in iraq. now, since president obama's announcement we have seen considerable results. for example, last month our troop

take individuals who were willing to to go to al-qaeda and how we were going to immesh them in the iraqi structure. it has taken some time but iraq pays the salaries of the so-called sons of iraq who have not been provided jobs in various ministries and what have you. and a number of them have indeed already transitioned in that form. so that's what we have to be sensitive to here as well. and recognizing afghanistan is a country that doesn't have the financial means that iraq has. and so that's yet another dynamic that we're wrestling with. but we're indeed taking advantage of some of these opportunities in very careful ways in partnership with our iraqi colleagues. >> what strikes me this is a large country, 20, 25 million people will soon be drawing down our troop levels. many of them now are going to have to be concentrated in some of the more dangerous arizona. -- areas. and that leaves a lot of areas that we don't have any presence in or ves presence. -- very little presence and we may be desperate enough that we may have to take some chances with leaders that we believe are pretty

iraqi voters defied violence. inside this article in "the wall street journal" he writes about some of those next steps. here is part of charles levin's piece this morning. the piece in "the wall street journal." but we will start asking you about the comments by lindsey graham yesterday on "face the nation close " about closing guantanamo. we do want to show you the first of a couple of clips from senator lindsey graham. >> do you think you can get the republican votes to close guantanamo and open another facility in this country, because that is going to require a considerable amount -- >> i can't do it by myself. if we get kolly take more shawmut and a co-conspirator back to the military commission, that would -- if we can get khalid sheikh mohammed and co- conspirators back to the military commission. to put aside partisanship, rally around this president, stand by his side and say, let us close gtmo safely. with that kind of help, that would reassure americans we are taking good, logical decisions, we can do

envoys kind of hands-off bit where he said let's let the iraqi's sorted out. there's just some deep cleavage is in very deep issues, and traditionally war in the scenarios have involved some kind of mediation and envoy. so i think some group of friends, you know, i think the diplomatic measures need to be taken to try to help steer what is a too iraqi process. and i think that we can get there, but we need to rely on people. and i find it very ironic, that in my view, one of the greatest statesman of iraq is a kurd. here's a man who is willing to reach outside of his sectarian and some very heavy sectarian pressures within his party, and both kurdish parties, frankly, and be willing to sacrifice repeatedly some of the kurdish demands to get some of the deals brokered. and while i do think that the central figure of iraq is the arab power-sharing arrangement, that kurdish is a close second to very much need to stop kurdish expansionism and put together a reasonable formula what a kurdish regional government's powers are going to be. and farsighted kurdish leade

no. 2, would you explain why the iraqi army was fired in 2003, 2004, whenever that happen?nk you, bye. guest: i think i tried to explain the differences between the soviet invasion of afghanistan and the u.s. intervention now. two of the reasons i pointed out was the ideology, the communist ideology, anathema to afghans, which is a very devout country. we are not doing that at all. secondly, the external support that we provide for the mujahedin in afghanistan and terms of weapons in financing for the which had been -- for the mujahedin. with respect to the iraqi army, my understanding, i was not involved in this decision, was that it was seen as saddam 's arm and we cannot let the country progress if we left that intact. that was a mistake. host: richard fontaine, a former foreign policy adviser to the mccain campaign in 2008, that you for your insight. guest: thank you very much. host: when we come back, we'll preview at a white house forum on workplace flexibility. more of your calls. first, an update from c-span radio. >> paul, and caught 3:00 p.m. in washington, d.c. s

second, the iraqi insurgency was with attacking the old social iraqi order directly, the tribe or let's say -- [inaudible] and the taliban have managed to play very kleopferly with the tribal system, weakening the tribal system but in a very indirect way. third, iraqi is about fighting mostly in urban areas, and afghanistan, of course, is more rural. fourth, of course there is sanctuary. the iraqi insurgency had no real sanctuary, nothing to do with the kind of -- [inaudible] pakistan is offering the taliban. and for this reason we have to address what these comparable between the two situations. and we have to be careful not making comparison that is too far. the second point is that very often comparison give negative results, and negative results like in -- [inaudible] are very interesting. comparison for me is mostly useful when you can get an idea of what is missing in your context. for example, in afghanistan we know that we do not have political parties. that's a key point. and you know that in iraq political parties, whatever they are, have been a key in the political process th

that was in the heart of iraqi shiites. the islamic council supreme council for iraq was hammered in this provincial elections. it was practically wiped out and had very few places where it had a hold on which to negotiate collisions maliki's state of law and certainly no place where they were particularly powerful year and a place which was particularly powerful. the reason i want to highlight this initially is to see one of the issues we've all been consumed with here in washington and an extant in baghdad as well is the issue of the justice accountability commission. i have written in sharp criticism and have challenged the legality of it but i also am concerned we not overestimate the impact of this process and its contribution to the the legitimization of the process as some like to paint it and at the same time i like to point out the reason this has become so big is the party is associated with the iraq national alliance were looking for a wedge issue to bring themselves back politically from the debacle of january,

attacks on iraqi forces.is not a television station that is broadcasting to syrian audiences, mr. chairman. it is broadcasting to iraqis. it is trying to foment violence against our forces and iraqis. they have in their capacity to turn that off. there are other things in that vein, mr. chairman. >> what do you believe is the current -- policemen preface it by saying i had a conversation the other day with president assad when i was in the middle east and he mentioned the degree to which they kept their word with respect to lebanon and that lebanon, has in fact, been quiet over the period of the last month since the election and the new government. can you speak to the syrian posture and what you see in terms of the stakes for lebanon in terms of better american relations with syria? >> we are firmly committed, as i said, to lebonese sovereignity and stability. we have worked quite hard to build and strengthen the capacity of lebonese institutions. we would like the syrians also to cooperate with lebonese gov

most iraqis are secular, they don't want a relickous state. and they were getting a state that was increasingly religious, increasingly controlled by shiite religious institutions. and they voted against it. >> are there implications at all for potential violence because of the dramatic nature of the shift in the relative youth of this semi democracy? >> i think you will see protests starting tomorrow, or if not even sooner. it's now nighttime in baghdad. but over the last few days, there have been anti-allawi movements, anti-allawi decisions. alley himself was a member of saddam hussein's baath party. he is is a shiite, he's secular. among certain circles, he's a controversial figure. iran does not like ayad allawi, iran has back protests against him in the past and analysts i've spoken to and politicians, including people very senior in the iraqi government, expect that iran could very soon start to stir the pot more against allawi after this move. >> understood, richard, we're fortunate to have you here today, thank you for your information

and this thing could take months and they say iraqi politics is complex.fficult enough getting the election going and a law passed. now the election is over and still, really the hard work has just begun. >> quickly, we know there's allegations of fraud. now that the time is going by, do you see more of a momentum for people to question the process, regular iraqis starting to question the outcome? >> reporter: well, that's right, tj. so far iraq's independent commission said over 2,000 complaints of different political parties, different politicians, rather, have been lodged but they're saying that they don't have any evidence of real large-scale, widespread fraud or manipulation. nonetheless, the longer this goes on, the more not only candidates question this and want to make sure it's done on the up and up but iraqi people, as well. everybody want this is process to be out there in the open and to be transparent. but the longer this takes, the more people get frustrated and nor see people question the proce process. >> mohammed, we appreciate you jumping

our interests were in providing or helping the iraqis provide a safe, secure, free, and fair election12 million iraqis went to the polls this month, 62% of the population, relatively free of violence. it's taken a while to count the votes. we now have the outcome t's a very close margin between prime minister maliki and allawi and now the tough part. stle to form a coalition government. last time in 2005 it took a long time. it was marred by horrific violence. our hope is they can do this quickly and without the violence we saw last time. >> when americans see there are soon going to be more troops in afghanistan than iraq, from a big picture perspective how should americans view that? >> i think twofold. they should see it as a sign of the incredible progress that's been made in iraq since the surge was under way in february of 2007, a dramatic decline in violence, and a dramatic decline as you noted in the number of forces we have, just under 100,000 now. we are due to get down to 50,000 as per the president's directive, come september 1st, and then be completely out of iraq of cour

iraqis are learning about that. it is difficult. it's a difficult learning curve.ut we find it to be extremely positive. they have access to international media. you have access to the internet. you have access to a lot of of did rent kinds of information. and i think it helps to shape iraq for the future and will help to push iraq to the future. >> on our new set, i do hope in the months ahead, you get a chance to come home for a few days and see your world champion new york yankees. it pains me a bit to say that. but i know you'd like to see a ball game. >> there's nothing like a red sox/yankee game. there's no greater rivalry in all of sports. i wish good luck to both of them. i hope the yankees finish on top. >> maybe we can go together, the beer's on me if we can. thank you so much, sir. >> thank you, john, it's great to be with you. >> up next, the most important person you don't know. one-time punk rocker who's become a thorn in the politician's side. natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel, yet a lot of natural gas has impurities like co2 in it. controlled fr

were training iraqis in the use of chemical weapons.h of those pieces of her mission were from a tortured detainee. who was tortured severely by the egyptians, gave up this information and appeared in the mouth of our secretary of state. we also know, many of you will remember those alerts in the spring of 2002, shopping malls are going to be attacked. we saw this film of shopping malls. a few weeks later, financial situations are going to be attached. allah that came from the person whose experiences i just read to you tonight. this came from abu zubaydah. he is in the brim, he is being tortured and he says shopping malls are going to be attacked. that goes out immediately as an orange alert to the united unitd states and affects all of our lives and it was complete nonsense. so one of the disadvantages certainly is, it can give terrible information. those who support using these techniques will say that is true but ordinary interrogations sometimes produce false information as well and that isn't decisive. that is not dispositive. but