it is a big treat and pleasure for me today to welcome the marine corps commandant, general james amos, to bookings. peter singer and i would like to welcome you all. we have the opportunity to hear from the common bond on a number of issues that i know this crowd needs no briefing on. the report everything on the status of marine corps operations to the status of the war in afghanistan, and how various budget exercises may be going at the pentagon, to the extent we can talk about those. but i want to begin briefly with a word of appreciation for the general. i was very fortunate to be with him and his team recently in afghanistan, watching him and his outgoing sergeant major. it was an inspirational experience to watch how these two applauded, supported, and boosted the morale of their marines. i know it went in both directions. they gave you inspiration. they were incredible to watch in the field. i wanted to make that brief observation. but really i wanted to welcome you to brookings. i will ask everyone else to join me in a round of applause. [applause] and of course there are some

next, a discussion with general james amos on the future of the marine corps, including their mission in afghanistan, and data operations against libya, and the military share of the federal budget. this is about an hour and 20 minutes. >> good morning, everyone. it is a big treat and pleasure for me today to welcome the marine corps commandant amos to brookings. peter singer and i would like to welcome you all. we have an opportunity to hear from a, not on a number of issues that i know this crowd needs no briefing on their importance. everything from the status of marine corps modernization efforts to the status of the war in afghanistan, to help various budget exercises may be going at pentagon to the extent we can talk about those today. i want to begin just briefly with the word of appreciation for the general. i was very fortunate to be with him and his team recently in afghanistan, watching him in his outgoing sergeant major interact with their reigns. it was inspirational to watch how these two applauded and supported and boosted the morale of the marines and i know it went in

. >> now, general james amos, a confidante of the u.s. marine corps talks about afghanistan -- commandant >> good morning. it is a treat for me today to welcome the marine corps commindant, james amos. peter singe rand i would -- singer and i would like to welcome you. we have a number of issues, and -- we have the status of modernization and the war in afghanistan. major budget exercises at the pentagon. i want to begin briefly with the word of appreciation for the general. it was a pleasure to be with him in afghanistan recently, watching him and the outgoing sergeant major. it was inspirational to watch how they boosted the morale of the marines. they give you inspiration and were incredible to watch in the field. i wanted to limit to the -- welcome you to the brookings institution. and i hope that everyone else can join me in a round of applause. [applause] there are some big issues. if i ask you to give your assessment of how you see things, based on everything you are falling in washington? >> we have a great trip and we were on the

it's a big, big treat and pleasure for me today to welcome the marine corps commandant general james amoso brookings. i'm michael o'hanlon. peterson and i would like to welcome you all. we have an opportunity here from the commandant on a number of issues that i know this crowd needs no briefing on their report, everything from the status of marine corps modernization efforts to the status of the war in afghanistan, to have various budget exercises may be going at the pentagon to the extent we can talk about those today. but i want to begin just briefly with a word of appreciation for the general. i was very fortunate to be with him and his team in afghanistan recently watching him and his outgoing sergeant interact with them rates. it was an inspirational experience to watch how these to a plotted, supported and boosted the morale of the reins and i know it went in both directions because they give you inspiration. they were incredible to watch in the field, and so i just wanted to make that brief observation, general. but really i want to just welcome you to brookings and look for to th

sheila bair, and testifies about financial regulations and the banking system, and then general james amos on u.s. strategy in afghanistan, and after that, on the patriot act. on tomorrow's " the washington journal, we will discuss the u.s. supreme court decision requiring california to reduce its present population. then the republican senator will talk about the house gop proposal to make changes to medicare. after that, historian and author douglas brinkley joins us for a celebration of the world war ii memorial, and in the afternoon, a member of the palestinian council will discuss the recent unrest and the arab world and what it means for the peace process. that is live at the carnegie endowment for national peace. >> you are watching c-span, bringing you politics and public affairs. every morning it is "washington journal," connecting you with journalists, and weeknights, congressional hearings and policy forums. also common on the one -- also, on the weekends you can see our signature programs and saturday, ."he communicator's you can also watch our programming any time as c- span.o

james mcavoy dropping by. we have music -- [ cheers and applause ] music from bon iver. we have the cars reuniting. that's pretty cool. amos you gotta check out, next week. [ applause ] but first, i'm so excited. our next guests just released their critically-acclaimed second album, "helplessness blues." we're thrilled to have their first american tv performance in support of it tonight. with the song "sim sala bim," please welcome fleet foxes! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ he was so kind such a gentleman tied to the oceanside ♪ ♪ lighting a match on the suitcase's latch in the fading of night ♪ ♪ ruffle the fur of the collie 'neath the table ran out the door through the dark ♪ ♪ carved out his initials in the bark ♪ ♪ then the earth shook that was all that it took for the dream to break ♪ ♪ all the loose ends would surround me again in the shape of your face ♪ ♪ what makes me love you despite the reservations? what do i see in your eyes ♪ ♪ besides my reflection hanging high? ♪ ♪ are you off somewhere reciting incantations? sim sala bim on your tongue ♪ ♪ carving off the hair of someone's young ♪ ♪ remember when you had me