general kai, in i went to kabul. barely mentioned in the western press. president karzai went to new delhi, beijing, and washington and tokyo. these contacts are significantly narrowing the gap , the historic gap which is over 60 years old, between afghanistan and pakistan. please remember-- and your viewers-- please remember that on the day pakistan was-- declared independence, afghanistan opposed its entry into the u.n. in 1947. they have a disputed border. they are a pashtan ethnic group. there are massive historical issues here and president obama has sought to help the two work together for the simplest of reasons-- if they work together, there's mutual benefit for them and for the rest of the world because that is the area of the world , that border area, where the great threat to our national security, homeland security, that of our european allies, and indkra all lie. the last few months have seen a real dialogue, encouraged by but not guided by the u.s. that's what we do. that's what i think should have been years and years ago, and that's the po

ray suarez talked with her from kabul earlier today. >> suarez: jean mckenzie, welcome. recent action represented the largest nato one-day loss of life since last year. are taliban fighters were active than they've been in previous months? >> i think that would be a pretty accurate assessment. the taliban has declared an offensive called the victory. they have warned that they are going to step up their attacks. i think that that's what we're seeing. there were five nato soldiers killed the day before. at least three were killed today. so we've seen 20 soldiers lose their lives over the past three days. of course, there are more soldiers in afghanistan now than there were because of the u.s. troop surge. this is also contributing to the rise in casualties. we have more boots on the ground in more dangerous places. that, combined with taliban's new aggressiveness is making life very difficult. >> suarez: there was also violence around the peace jirga, the conference of 1500 tribal and political leaders that meant to discuss president karzai's efforts to reach out to the t

michael hastings is with us from kabul, afghanistan. he's the author of the article in "rolling stone." anything you left out? anything you're sorry about? >> no, i think i did my job to the best of my ability. obviously, in the magazine story, there's always tons you leave out. so -- but in terms of regret, certainly no regrets. >> larry: all right, we have us a couple of excerpts from the article. i ask you to comment on them. number one. according to sources, you write, familiar with the meeting, mcchrystal thought obama looked uncomfortable and intimidated by the room full of military brass. that was -- without specifics, who told you that? >> without specifics, who told me that? >> larry: that's a cute way of asking. >> -- mcchrystal -- people very close to general mcchrystal and confirmed with a number of people very close to him. so i am very confident in my sourcing there. >> larry: on the first one-on-one meeting, you say it was a ten-minute photo op. obama clearly didn't know anything about him who he was. here's the guy who's

you come over to paris when we're going on a nato trip, see the general, meet him, and then come to kabul a few weeks after that to see him in the war zone, kind of a different sort of spin or a different twist on the normal profiles? but then what happened was -- >> larry: why do you -- >> -- while i was in paris, the volcano in iceland exploded and so i ended up getting stuck with the general and his staff. >> larry: why do you think they did it? i mean, we know that "rolling stone" is a kind of a left wing magazine. they are not exactly on the left side of the political spectrum. why did they let it happen? >> i think one of the main reasons was they wanted to reach a different demographic than they had from the other profiles. a number of young officers read "rolling stone." i think by featuring general mcchrystal in the magazine like that they would reach an audience they normally wouldn't reach. >> larry: when you finished the article and you knew it was going to be published, did you know that an uproar was coming? >> i knew that there would probably be some sort of response. my so

polling numbers from the "new york times" in the case 99% of afghans support the kabul government over the taliban, while only 40% have are favorable view of the united states. the elders we met at a local shura in southern afgganistan told us that we should trainnand eqqip the afghan security forces to provide for their country's security and then depart. last week, general mcchrystal announced that i sat -- isaf would slow the expansion of the afghan and coalition troop presence in canada are in order to allow time to secure the support of local tribal leaders for that effort. i trust general mcchrystal's judgment on the timing. his right that when you go to protect people, the people have to want you to protect them. i would rather delay a few more months and have more afghan forces in the lead when the security presence is exppnded and operations begin more forcefully. our top priority is the training, mentoring, and partnering in the field with afghan troops and placing them in the lead in operations according to isaa, the growth of the afghhn security forces is on track. the nato

especially in linking local governing structures to the decision making in financial resources in kabul. much more needs to be done to help the afghan government as irresponsibility for addressing the concerns and needs of afghan citizens. the national consultant of peace held at earlier this month was a constructive step in this effort, providing an opportunity for president karzai to address some of the political tensions that fueled the insurgency and promote reconciliationnand local reintegration as means to contribute to a politicall resolution of some of the issues that exist. the council he conducted on sunday further this process, and the effort to set political conditions for progress. another critically important part of our joint civil military campaign in afghanistan is promoting broadbased economic infrastructure development. we have seen improvements in the government's ability to deliver basic services such as electricity, education, basic health care, and provides positive effects in other areas including security and economic development. we've worked closely with the i

embassy in kabul. i look forward to working with the you special representative, and most importantly, with president karzai and members of the afghan government. indeed, i have spoken in recent days with all members of this team, including president cars by, -- president karzai, and richard holbrooke. we are all united. as i noted in my testimony before this committee, i was part of the process that helped formulate a strategy. i support the president's new policy. i have offered advice, and i assure the president i will do the same as the conduct assessments over the must be over the months ahead. -- over the months ahead. i specifically agreed with the messages of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed in his address at west point in december, when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, and the funding for an additional 12000 afghan security -- 100,000 afghan security members. this includes the 201

they are in the lead, indeed in some areas, limited areas, but kabul is one of them.ther areas and other mission sets, there are some functional missions, convoy, escort and some other tasks that -- for which they're in the lead. but they are very much in the fight throughout the country. and there is nobetter, perhaps more tragic metric that shows that than the fact that they -- their losses are typically several multiples of our u.s. losses on an average. >> senator, we do have an institutional trainer shortfall of about 450. we continue to press our nato allies to step up and fill those gaps. that said, the secretary's made clear that he intends to deploy additional u.s. personnel to bridge the gap as necessary because this is such a critical mission. it is a long pol and attentive of what we're trying to do in afghanistan. in addition, there are some continued shortfalls, although we've made a lot of progress here in what we call omelets and palmlets, the mentoring teams that are embedded with afghan army and police units. you know, we started out with a requireme

ambassador to kabul, karl eikenberry, had sharply disagreed with general mcchrystal's call for more troops last year. but today he told afghan recorders: that mission has been especially costly this month. with 80 international troops killed, the most of any month in the eight-year war. but secretary gates and the chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen, defended the war effort. >> i do not believe we are bogged down. i believe we are making some progress. it is slower and harder than we anticipated. but for all the reasons the chairman just articulated, i think we are moving forward. >> woodruff: gates said petraeus was the natural choice for afghanistan because he already know it is players and the plan. afghan president hamid karzai had argued that the surest way to make progress was to keep general mcchrystal on the job. but a karzai spokesman today voiced confidence in petraeus. >> we hear from lots of sources so that he is one of the senior most generals in the u.s. army so it is a show of respect to what's happening here in afghanistan. >> reporter: around kabul, ordinary

got to support the military strategy with a political surge, of which the piece being launched in kabul poday is part. i spoke to president karzai today about a political solution where everybody feels that the government of afghanistan is a government for them. >> is my right hon. fend aware of the concept of the sovereign bridgehead. that could meet our needs in afghanistan for a fraction of the cost in life, limb, and expenditure, and would he consider taking a briefing on this subject in the present and, if possible, of thservice chiefs of staff? >> i am grateful to my hon. friend for asking that question. i know he has great expertise about this area. i understand the idea of a bridgehead. i think that while it is worth examining, there are difficulties with it, which is the current strategy of counterinsurgency is about trying to protect the public in afghantan from the insurgency and to enlarge the area of the country where normal life can continue. what is in our national interest? that is what we should focus on, afghanistan that is stable enough and secure enough to bring our

they are in the lead, indeed in some areas, limited areas, but kabul is one of them. other areas and other mission sets, there are some functional missions, convoy, escort and some other tasks that -- for which they're in the lead. but they are very much in the fight throughout the country. and there is no better, perhaps more tragic metric that shows that than the act that they -- their losses are typically several multiples of our u.s. losses on an average. >> senator, we do have an institutional trainer shortfall of about 450. we continue to press our nato allies to step up and fill those gaps. that said, the secretary's made clear that he intends to deploy additional u.s. personnel to bridge the gap as necessary because this is such a critical mission. it is a long pole and attentive of what we're trying to do in afghanistan. in addition, there are some continued shortfalls, although we've made a lot of progress here in what we call omelets and palmlets, the mentoring teams that are embedded with afghan army and police units. you know, we started out with a requir

the national consultative peace jirga held in kabul earlier this month was a constructive step in this effort, providing an opportunity for president karzai to build consensus and address some of the political tensions that fuel insurgency, and to promote reconciliation and local reintegration as means that can contribute to political resolution of some of the issues that exist. the council that he conducted on sunday in kandahar furthers this process, and the efforts to set the political condition for progress in kandahar. another critically important part of our joint civil military campaign in afghanistan is promoting broad-based economic and infrastructure development spread we are seeing improvement in the afghan government possibility to deliver basic services such as electricity, education, and health care, and provide positive effects in other areas, including security and economic development. we have worked closely wiih the international community and afghan government to support a robust strategies for these areas -- water, governance, education, health, and road programs. w

support that military strategy with a political surge, of which the peace jirga being launched in kabul an example. i spoke to president karzai about this yesterday, and stressed to him the importance of working towards a political solution in which everyone in afghanistan feels that the government of afghanistan are a government for them. >> is my right honorable friend aware of the concept of a sovereign base bridgehead area, which could meet our needs in afghanistan for a fraction of the cost in life, limb and expenditure? would he consider taking a briefing on this subject, if possible in the presence of the service chiefs of staff? >> i am grateful to my honorable friend for asking that question. i know that he has great expertise in this area. i have understood the idea of a bridgehead, but while it is worth examining, there are difficulties with it. the current strategy of counter-insurgency is about trying to protect the public in afghanistan from the insurgency and enlarge the area of that country in which normal life can continue. what is in our national interest -- that is wh

once you get outside of kabul, it is a different sort of territory. was struck by the comments made by the recent resignation of the intelligence minister who had claimed that karzai felt that the united states and the west was not committed and is casting his lot with the taliban. that does not bode very well for long-term picture. i would be curious what your thoughts are on that particular statement. also, how can we actually get to the point where we can have enforcement of laws and the spirit behind those principles. i would be curious how you see that potentially emerging. finally, the peace jurga or the peace consulting jurga -- message that came out loud and clear from the recent events which is a positive development , thank goodness, the homicide bomb attempt which was not successful physically but it was successful in terms of getting the western media to focus on that event. i think a taliban is recognizing that even failures tactically can become strategic successes. how do we change that to focus on the things that matter? thank you. >>

that will extend its risk beyond cobble -- kabul.lan we are employing is dependent on our ability -- the ability of our military and our nato partners to provide security to the afghan citizenry. this report presents strong evidence that this is not occurring. security in any meaningful sense does not extend beyond the security gates of our military bases. i hope that the department of dense takes the recommendations contained in this report seriously. and sees that they are implemented in their own lives -- and the phone list. it presents for irrefutable evidence that our overall strategy in afghanistan needs to be examined and overall. it is not something that can be salvaged with time and troop levels. i look forward to hearing the witnesses. >> will not receive terror mounted -- testimony from the first panel will force. i will introduce all three. william phillips, the principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the army for logistics, acquisition, and technology, as well as career management. he served previously as

once you get outside of kabul, it is obviously a very different sort of territory. i was struck by the comment made by the reason resignation of the intelligence minister, who had claimed that basically, karzai felt that the united states and the west was not committed, has cast in his lot with the taliban in pakistan. obviously that does not bode very well f a long-term picture. i would be curious what your thoughts are on that particular statement. also, how we could actually get to that point where we can have even enforcement's. in all alone, it is how we enforce those laws and the spirit behind tho principles. i would be curious how you see that potentially emerging. finally, the peace jurga, one of the messages i think came out loud and clear from the recent event, which of course is a positive development, and goodness the suicide or homicide bombing attempt, which was not successful physically, but it was successful in terms of getting all the western media to focus on that event. i think the taliban is recognizing that even failures technically could become

about the movie that was centered around kabul.he vanity that we have with afghanistan makes us -- the affinity that we have with afghanistan. i know how deeply secretary clinton feels about -- the last time i had the opportunity, she was so happy mentioning to me the number of children who are back in school. that is the kind of afghanistan we all would like to think about and look forward to. anything india can do in trying to lift up afghanistan towards the frontier of children going back to school, mothers being able to freely communicate with their relatives and friends without fear, i think that is the kind of society for which we are working. our contribution in afghanistan is a very constructive nature. it is development driven, and we are concentrating, in spite of the price we of had to pay. there have been a series of attacks. i visited kabul twice, and i conveyed to those working under such difficult circumstances that india has been the target of attack. knowing the reason, knowing the motives, we are going to stay in

to that end, i think we should note that afghan forces are in the lead in kabul and in a number of other areas and missions. and they are very much in the fight throughout the country. so much so that their losses are typically several times u.s. losses. in short, our afghan comrades on the ground are indeed sacrificing enormously for their country, as are, of course, our troopers, and those of our isaf partner nations. thank you. >> well, thank you very much, general. and i am glad to hear of your support for that july 2011 beginning of u.s. troop reduction decision. since i continue to strongly believe that it is essential for success in afghanistan for everyone to understand the urgency for the afghans to take responsibility for their own security. now, this morning, after calling upon senator mccain to complete his questions, i'm going to be calling on senators for questions in the early bird order that was established yesterday morning, as i believe that we notified our -- all of our members' offices yesterday afternoon. senator mccain? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and we were interr

he is with the new american foundation just back from afghanistan, spent two weeks there in kabul? guest: about two weeks. host: and i want to get your reaction to the world section of the washington post. afghan forces apathy starts to wear on the u.s. platoon. in canada har, -- kandahar, what is your reaction to that? guest: it's not all that surprising. the biggest challenge, we tend to look at the violence as a metric of how we're doing but the real questions are a lot harder to pin down. how commited are afghan troops, how well trained they are, how secure is the political leadership in afghanistan in order to use those troops and security forces. how well are they able to adjuste kate disputes between afghans. this is how the taliban came to power originally in the 1990s is they were able to exploit the fact that the afghan government at the time was unable to have judicial processes to adjudicate disputes. and the taliban would come in and sort of say, well, the land dispute, here's the border. and so i think when we read stories like that one, that's the real story that's g

once you get outside of kabul, it is obviously a very different sort of territory. i was struck by the comment made by the reason resignation of the intelligence minister, who had claimed that basically, karzai felt that the united states and the west was not committed, has cast in his lot with the taliban in pakistan. obviously that does not bode very well for a long-term picture. i would be curious what your thoughts are on that particular statement. also, how we could actually get to that point where we can have even enforcement's. in all alone, it is how we enforce those laws and the spirit behind those principles. i would be curious how you see that potentially emerging. finally, the peace jurga, one of the messages i think came out loud and clear from the recent event, which of course is a positive development, and goodness the suicide or homicide bombing attempt, which was not successful physically, but it was successful in terms of getting all the western media to focus on that event. i think the taliban is recognizing that even failures technically could be

Ñi>> senator mccain and graham y the leadership in kabul is shaky.o you think the president should consider replacing both ambassador eikenberry and holbrooke? >> i don't they get will be helpful for me to speculate on the kind of change. one change per day is enough. >> what about the civilian leadership being dysfunctional? >> i don't think it is dysfunctional. there has been some disagreement. that is pretty well known even before the article. between general mcchrystal and the ambassador, ambassador eikenberry. that disagreement was well known before then. now, there will be a different matter in the field and i don't know what the relationship will bait. i hope it will b much stronger. now that general petraeus is still taking over. i 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

in afghanistan, delegates at a k-frpb in kabul-- the peace jirga-- moved toward endorsing a plan to reachut to the taliban. but it was unclear which leaders the government could work with. meanwhile, eight afghan civilians died in violence in the south. and u.s. officials announced an american soldier was killed on tuesday. jury selection began today in the federal corruption trial of former illinois governor rod blagojevich. he allegedly tried to profit from his power to fill president obama's former senate seat. blagojevich arrived this morning at the chicago courthouse with his wife, patti. they stopped briefly before a phalanx of cameras. defense attorney sheldon sorosky said he will call white house chief of staff rahm emanuel, among others, as witnesses. >> i don't know if they're all going to testify. i don't know who the government is going to call. they certainly haven't told us yet. but they would all acknowledge the governor didn't do anything wrong. >> holman: blagojevich faces 24 counts, including racketeering and bribery. jury selection is expected to take up to four days. m

have predicted, nor what general mcchrystal reports nor the who have frequent contact with him in kabul. it is very significant, that is the next important milestone in setting the political conditions for the conduct of the military operations recognizing many of the security challenges in kandahar are related to political or economic disputes, tensions, friction and so forth. so that is a significant step forward. it doesn't mean the taliban is going to turn around and bow in his direction. they will continue their campaign of trying to intimidate and attack our soldiers and our afghan partners. but, this is very important in getting the people on the side of the government, knowing what is going to happen and he didn't hold out rosey futures. he said this is going to be difficult and fight the taliban et cetera. at the end of the day, his success is our success. so, working and clearly following the president's guidance of a couple of months ago whatever that was, that we indeed have to support the leader of the sovereign country that we are trying to help. >> so you are still as con

. >> sreenivasan: some 1600 delegates are expected to take part in the three-day meeting in kabul, but the taliban warned today the penalty for participating is death. the toll from tropical storm agatha rose today to 179 killed in central america. the weekend storm dumped heavy rain that left death and damage. the devastation was evident in a huge sink hole in guatemala city. it opened over the weekend, reached nearly 100 feet deep and 65 feet across and swallowed an entire intersection and a clothing factory. some 125,000 people have been evacuated in guatemala. the u.s. supreme court placed new limits today on miranda rights. by 5-4, the justices said criminal suspects must tell police if they're invoking the right not to talk to authorities. the decision came in a case from michigan. a man convicted of murder claimed he had invoked his right to remain silent by remaining silent. wall street tumbled today after the failure to plug the oil well in the gulf of mexico. the continuing spill weighed down energy stocks and the broader market. the dow jones industrial average lost more tha

president hamid karzai offered his own appeal to the militants during his closing remarks in kabul. >> dear taliban members who are dissatisfied, use this opportunity. this is the voice of the afghan people and this is the voice of peace. embrace it, come and join souse that we can rebuild our country with our own hands and make it peaceful and stable. >> holman: many taliban leaders rejected the jirga, and insisted there will be no peace talks until foreign troops leave afghanistan. most of the senior leaders of al qaeda in iraq have been captured or killed in the last three months. that word came from the u.s. commander, general ray odierno, in a washington briefing today. and "the washington post" reported the obama administration has greatly expanded special forces operations against al qaeda and other extremists. the account said units have been deployed to 75 countries, up from 60 a year ago. the president has made his choice for director of national intelligence. it was widely reported late today retired air force general james clapper will be nominated tomorrow. he's currently

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 going to be received in the civilian life. i mean, i think it showed an insularity --. >> woodruff: ho

even in kabul security is shaky. just today an afghan man working for the united nations was shot and killed in his vehicle at a busy traffic circle in the afghan capital not far from the u.s. embassy and an american military base. and in a new report, the special investigator general for afghanistan now says u.s. officials have overestimated the ability of the afghan military and police units. the assessment released last night says the rating system the military uses to judge the effectiveness of afghan troops has not provided reliable or consistent assessments of their abilities. petraeus conceded the ground war is likely to escalate. >> indeed it may get more intense in the next few months as we take away the enemy's safe havens and reduce the enemy's freedom of action, the inurge sends will fight back. >> reporter: the general plans to arrive in afghanistan by next week to take hands-on control of the war's execution. we'll have more on afghanistan later in the program and tomorrow night we'll have a news maker

said they must be held accountable for last week's failed taliban attack on a peace conference in kabul none of the delegates was hurt, but two attackers were killed. today a spokesman for karzai justified the move. . >> this could have been a national chaos. a national crisis. someone has to take responsibility for this. while we understand that this was a loss for the government, losing two important people, in the meantime it's a gain for the people of afghanistan. >> holman: u.s. defense secretary robert gates reacted to the removals while en route to london. he said they do not signal trouble for the afghan government, but urged karzai to appoint successors "of equal caliber." officials in egypt today declared israel's blockade of gaza a failure. an egyptian security official said his country will keep its border with the palestinian territory open indefinitely. meanwhile, the israeli navy shot and killed four palestinian divers off the coast of gaza today. they were believed to be planning a terror attack on israel. the militant group al-aqsa martyrs' brigades said the men were me

the full story, which begins early on the morning of november 27, 2004, at bagram air base outside kabulwhere lieutenant colonel mcmahon had been meeting with his superiors. he hitched a last-minute ride on blackwater 61, joining two of his soldiers for the two-and-a- half hour flight into a dusty airstrip at farah. 40 minutes later, the plane's wreckage would be scattered near the top of one of afghanistan's tallest mountains, far from any logical route. what was your reaction when you first found out that the plane had crashed at almost 15,000 feet? >> mcmahon: well, what the heck were they doing up there? it was clearly not anything to do with the mission or where they were going. >> kroft: do you think they were lost? >> mcmahon: oh, absolutely. absolutely. >> kroft: we decided to retrace the flight, to try and find out how blackwater 61 got so far off track on a morning when the flying conditions were perfect. some of the answers you'll hear from the pilots themselves in this cockpit voice recording recovered at the crash scene. >> captain noel english: yeah, with this good visibili

pakistan's north waziristan was linked most recently to a deadly suicide bombing in the afghan capital kabul last month. traveling in pakistan this weekend, u.s. envoy to the region richard holbrook said this network moves with i am punity across that border in a remote area in which the pakistanis don't have resources. afghan president hamid karzai has sought to negotiate a peace settlement with some taliban leaders in the region. but this weekend ambassador holbrook said talking to the network was out of the question. shahzad, while not directly linked to the network, is adduce accused of training with the pakistani taliban. he may now face life in prison. joining us now is the reporter from public radio in new york city. she was inside the courtroom this afternoon. and steve coll is president of the new america foundation. he's written extensively about the taliban, pakistan and afghanistan. to you first, was the plea of guilty a surprise? >> i don't know if you can call anything a surprise in this case. remember they had shahzad without even appearing in court the first two weeks after h

in fact, our involvement goes all the way back to right after the fall of kabul and barbara air force base in the middle of the night -- bagram air force base in the middle of the night in leading the general mcchrystal for the very first time. we applaud the president's decision in defense of our nation. we think no one is more qualified than general patraeus to achieve a successful conclusion of the afghan conflict. we praise the seevice of general mcchrystal and thank him for his service to our nation and wish him well and every success in the future. we are confident that general patraeus' leadership will have a positive effect on the situation in the region. we still have concerns about the civilian side. in fact, it might -- you might suggest that the consideration might be given to the reuniting the crocker-patraeus team. we still have concerns about the civilian side of it and the non- military side of these equations. relations between the ambassador and president karzai, whether there is a sufficient civilian side on the ground. the hearing for general patraeus' confirmation

lot of the press about corruption and so on and so forth but the reality is there are ministers in kabul doing their jobs and their afghan soldiers and police out there who are dying in even greater numbers than we are fighting for their country. >> i met a number of those ministers and i have a e

once you get outside of kabul, it is obviously a very different sort of territory.i was struck by the comment made by the reason resignation of the intelligence minister, who had claimed that basically, karzai felt that the united states and the west was not committed, has cast in his lot with the taliban in pakistan. obviously that does not bode very well for a long-term picture. i would be curious what your thoughts are on that particular statement. also, how we could actually get to that point where we can have even enforcement's. in all alone, it is how we enforce those laws and the spirit behind those principles. i would be curious how you see that potentially emerging. finally, the peace jurga, one of the messages i think came out loud and clear from the recent event, which of course is a positive development, and goodness the suicide or homicide bombing attempt, which was not successful physically, but it was successful in terms of getting all the western media to focus on that event. i think the taliban is recognizing that even failures technically could bec

he has gone out to bases outside of kabul. he frequently went out into the field and really defended this. but we heard a lot of reports that the troops heard him, understood it was a policy but didn't seem to make it better. and what we heard when the news came down that mcchrystal maybe fire, they thought good that may be the end of his war. those were direct -- rules. not war. that's the question. i don't know. yes, it's one of the things that general petraeus will consider. that doesn't mean he is going to change it. host: our first call comes from tuscon, arizona on our line for republicans. peter, on the washington journal. caller: i want to know what you think of the fact that general petraeus took a step backwards, not in rank but in position. and the fact that what happened with mcchrystal? the privets and pfcs aren't running him out. these are staff. i would like to hear your answer to that. guest: you're correct. he is still a four-star but he steps back into the field as the war commander and he was or stilllis the

an excellent example was the recovery operation from the crash north of kabul last month. afghan border police found the site. the recovery actions were planned and executed jointly by the afghan ministry of defense and interior at the afghan national military coordination center. a recovery operation was executed by afghan caught -- afghan helicopters, and even the media were handled by afghan personnel. that is not the norm throughout afghanistan. nonetheless, the ansf are very much in the fight and sacrificing for their country and nothing more flights this more than the fact that their losses are typically several times hours. the taliban had been steadily expanding in the areas they control and influence. this year, isaf has achieved progress in several locations. the initial main effort has been in the central helmand river valley, and we have expanded security there, though predictably the enemy has fought back as we have taken away as sanctuaries in the distance of -- in the districts of marja and elsewhere. nothing has been easy but six months ago we could not hav

an excellent example was the recovery operation from the crash north of kabul last month. afghan border police found the site. the recovery actions were planned and executed jointly by the afghan ministry of dense and interior at the afghan national military coordination center. a recovery operation was executed by afghan caught -- afghan helicopters, and even the media were handled by afghan personnel. that is not the norm throughout afghanistan. nonetheless, the ansf are very much in the fight and sacrificing fortheir country and nothing more flights this more than the fact that their losses are typically several times hours. the taliban had been steadily expanding in the areas they control and influee. this year, if has achieved progress in several locations. the initial main effort has been in the central helmand river valley, and we have expanded security there, though predictably the enemy has fought back as we have tak away as sanctuaries in the distance of -- in the districts of marja and elsewhere. nothing has been easy but six months ago we could not have walked

. >> richard holbrooke is in kabul today. he has meetings with afghan officials as part of his regular travel to the region from the i think he met with the president earlier today. they talked about parliamentary elections. i know. i know. if they do. >> all three of those? >> yes. >> the present karzai meeting. >> [inaudible] >> that was a separate meeting of the security council. susan was in that meeting. >> richard holbrooke was in the same room? >> indeed. >> can you talk about the atmosphere there? >> my understanding is that prior to the meeting general mcchrystal reached out back to the embassadors to offer his apologies for the article. >> why do think the comment had been so widely discussed? >> i think our focus is on the ongoing strategy. all members of the national security team feel that general mcchrystal has made a save the vacant mistake. he will be coming back to washington to attend a pre scheduled a meeting with the president on afghan and pakistani policy. he will talk to the president directly. >> the s