the delay in the kandahar campaign. the resiggation of two senior afghan security officials who seemingly were among the most competent members of the cabinet and had strong coalition support. the role of local powerbrokers, including members of the karzai family, and can the heart. the growth of militias and the counterproductive activities of some u.s.-hired private security contractors. and apparent differences with the karzai egime over approaches to reconciliation with the taliban. general mcchrystal acknowledged these press report -- press reports but emphasized that you have to step back and see the trend in direction. this morning we want to hear from our witnesses on how they see these trends. my focus is and always has been on getting the afghan national security forces trained and equipped to take over the responsibility for their country's security. doing so is the key to success in afghanistan. as general mcchrystal said at a press briefing last week, the afghan security forces are "the strategic main effor

-- in helmand and kandahar. how many afghan troops are there currently in kandahar and helmand and how many do we expect will be there in september? >> i would be happy to get that for you for the record. pf i could, rather, just provide the overview of what is that we are trying to accomplish in that area -- we touched on the importance of getting the afghans in the lead we had a video teleconference with the general mcchrystal this morning, in fact. secretary flournoy and i participate in that. pn that, and he described how he would use the additional elements of the brigade going into the kandahar belts, the district surrounding kandahar city, to work with afghan partners so that they can do what president karzai also wants them to do, as he announced in the council on sunday, to the 400 or 500 or so local leaders there in discussing what is coming to kandahar province, and that is that afghan forces lead wherever that is possible. >> what percentage of the time do you figure they will be in the lead in this,

in kandahar, we bought. in the market. i did have security around me, but i have hundreds of afghans and around me as well. p bought the bread directly from them and talked to them while we ate it. this is an up and down process. that defines the experience of counter insurgency. there is no hell that you can take and plant the flag and then go home to a victory parade. -- there is no hill that you can plant a flag in ending go home to a victory parade. we were hearing was about certain activities. that all the sudden, we expanded our forces into an area. iraqi forces were starting to stand up in certain areas. that is the case again in certain areas of afghanistan. i think it is essential that we realize the challenges in this kind of endeavor. it is also essential that people do realize there has been progress, but there have clearly also been setbacks. beyond that, i would like to reiterate what you said as a designation of vital national security interest. that is a code word and sign of commitment. that is a rhetorica

. >> just briefly there's been a slow down in kandahar. general mcchrystal said he was going to slow down a little bit. karzai did go there recently, very recently. he hadn't done that enough, in my opinion. but he went, had a meeting with the kandahar leaders, senator levin and i did a couple of years ago, met with a lot of their people, and they all are serious individuals, respected in their local areas, and he called on them for support and a majority of the audience raised their hands when he asked for their support. i think general mcchrystal saw that as a strong, clear call for unity and that karzai displayed extraordinary ownership of the operation. how would you evaluate that and does that indicate that we're not doomed in kandahar, but actually maybe laying the ground work for successful operations? >> that was, indeed, one of the most important of the political shaping operation. there was also another shia counsel that president karzai held about 15,000 to 20,000 of local elders and leaders. it was so inclusive a number of them

than the 7250 afghan troops now in kandahar. the level of afghan security forces in kandahar, both army and police, is scheduled to rise to only 8500 personnel by the fall, according to a chart provided by general mcchrystal last month. the influx of isaf forces in and around kandahar will outpace the increase in afghan forces by october according to that chart. the current slower pace of operations in kandahar provides the opportunity to get more afghan combat capable forces south to take the lead in operations there. adding the afghan army in the lead in operations in kandahar is the insurgency is worst nightmare -- the insurgency's worst nightmare. the afghan army enjoys the support of the afghan people and they are strong fighters. according to recent "new york times" survey, only 40% of afghans have a favorable view of the united states. general petreaus, i hope you will promptly review the deployment of capable afghan security forces to try to get more afghan troops down to the south and in the lead in operations there bef

that goes for kandahar and the war itself. it is time for the president to state unequivocally that we will stay in afghanistan until we succeed. we need to begin our realistic debate about what it will take and how long it will take to achieve our goals. and i look forward to having that discussion with our witnesses. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator mccain. >> thank you very much for inviting me here to testify today. i like to give yyu an update on recent progress and remaining challenges in afghanistan. as you know, president obama announced a number of key refinements to our strategy last september, including the deployment of additional u.s. servicemen and women. today, over 18,000 are deployed and the remainder will be in place by the end of the summer. our own troops will be joinedby over 9000 international troops, approximately 60% in place in afghanistan and more will come in the coming months. currently the main operational efforts for isaf and our partners ccntinues to be the central helmand

than the 7250 afghan troops now in kandahar. the level of afghan security forces in kandahar, both army and police, is scheduled to rise to only 8500 personnel by the fall, according to a chart provided by general mcchrystal last month. the influx of isaf forces in and around kandahar will outpace the increase in afghan forces by october according to that chart. the current slower pace of operations in kandahar provides the opportunity to get more afghan combat capable forces south to take the lead in operations there. adding the afghan army in the lead in operations in kandahar is the insurgency is worst nightmare -- thensurgency's worst nightmare. the afghan army enjoys the pport of the afghan people and theare strong fighters. according to recent "new york times" survey, only 40% of afghans have a favorable view of the united states. general petreaus, i hope you will promptly review the deployment of capable afghan security forces to try to get more afghan troops down to the south and in the lead in operations there before th

his visit to kandahar just a few days that the admiral referred to us very important in terms of helping set the stage iv the continuation of the campaign there. so i think that we have some clear-- we have clear goals. i think frankly the narrative over the last week or so, possibly because of the higher casualties and other factors, have been too negative. i think that we are regaining the initiative. i think that we are making headway but the thing that i would say, two other points i would make senator. one is, people need to remember we have only been out this new strategy for about four and a half months. we don't even have all the surge troops in afghanistan. >> could i ask you, before my time runs out, is that leahy lobbied implemented in both afghanistan and pakistan? >> we are working to ensure that the leahy law is being implemented in both places and we could discuss it further with you in a closed session. >> i suspect it will require a closed session but i just think that because, i discussed it with you privately as well as with the admiral and it is something that-- it is

in kandahar, bought bread in the market down there. yes, i had security aroun me, but yes i had hundreds of afghans around me, as well, and bought the bread directly from them. sat there, chatted with them while we ate it. again, this is an up and down process. and that defines the experience of counterinsurgency. where there's no hill that you can take and plant the flag, and then go home to a victory parade. rather, progress is almost the absence of something. i remember in iraq, when all of a sudden i realized we were making progress, it was, we were hearing less about a certain activity. say a car bomb or a suicide attack. and all of a sudden we had expanded our forces into an area. the iraqi forces were starting to stand up in certain areas, as is the case, again, in certain areas of afghanistan. so i think it is, again, essential that we realize the challenges in this kind of endeavor. it is also essential that it is both the undersecretary and i noted, that people do realize there has been progress. but there clearly have also b

many afghan units will be in the lead in kandahar.f that happens, the greater success -- the greater chance of success we will have. >> is this an inopportune time to be a reopening debate on afghanistan and the july 2011 debate? >> this is a democratic body and it is always appropriate to debate policy, i believe. our troops are owed everything. they are owed the best training, the best equipment, the best support. they are also owed the best advice that we can possibly give, the bbst spots that we can possibly have that will lead to success. they are entitled to that and i have no problem with that kind of debate next week. i did not have a problem last week with that. i think we owe that to our troops and they expected. they know the american people support them. this is a huge difference from of vietnam. the troops know that the american people, regardless of position and policy, support them. the differences on policy will be argued with our policy makers but we will support those troops and a long as they continue to be in iraq

we have not tough the operation in kandahar. those shipping of there, it is an enormous the complex operation. we understand that. we need to make sure we get the forces there in which a significant part of his last 10,000 zero be included in that. you make adjustments. i have felt for many months it would be the end of the year before we really knew where we were in kandahar. there is work going on now to execute that operation that involves not just the security side in the military side, but it also has the government's peace. we're putting that in place. i do not to underestimate or understate the challenge. >> i would say this. i do not believe we are bogged down. i believe we are making some progress. it is slower and harder than we anticipated. for all of the reasons, i think we are moving forward. the kandahar campaign has been under way for several weeks. what general mcchrystal was talking about when he mentioned it delay was to take more time to set the political framework around kandahar before proceeding. i spent pr

in kandahar, bought bread in the market down there.es, i had security around me, but yes i had hundreds of afghans around me, as well, and bought the bread directly from them. sat there, chatted with them while we ate it. again, this is an u and down process. and that defines the experience of counterinsurgency. where there's no hill that you can take and plant the flag, and then go home to a victory parade. rather, progress is almost the absence of something. i remember in iraq, when all of a sudden i realized we were making progress, it was, we were hearing less about a certain activity. say a car bomb or a suicide attack. and all of a sudden we had expanded our forces into an area. the iraqi forces were starting to stand up in certain areas, as is the case, again, in certain areas of afghanistan. so i think it is, again, essential that we realize the challenges in this kind of endeavor. it is also essential that it is both the undersecretary and i noted, that people do realize there has been progress. but there clearly have also bee

as part of the kandahar operation. now, that's an issue we've been working on for a long time. >> ifill: and it's part of this overall counter-insurgency strategy? >> it's a central, central issue for the campaign in kandahar, to get electricity to the people as part of our overall counter-insurgency. but the point i want to make is david petraeus raised it, ambassador eikenberry immediately said he supported what general pretrace was proposing, and since i'd already been working on, i them-- as soon as the call was over-- i called the head of a.i.d. and the deputy secretary state jack loo we're working on it to accelerate an ongoing process. tomorrow morning we will have an international secure television conference on kandahar electricity. this is not dysfunctionality. i know what disfunctionality is when i see it. i've been there. >> ifill: i bet you do. but let me ask you about another set of relationships, and that's with karzai. >> he is the legitimately elected president of the country. it was a messy election,

in kandahar, bought bread in the market down there. yes, i had security around me, but yes i had hundreds of afghans around me, as well, and bought the bread directly from them. sat there, chatted with them while we ate it. again, ts is an up and down process. and that defines the experience of counterinsurgency. where there's no hill that you can take and plant the flag, and then go home to a victory parade. rather, progress is almost the absence of something. i remember in iraq, when all of a sudden i realized we were making progress, it was, we were hearing less about a certain activity. say a car bomb or a suicide attack. and all of a sudden we had expanded our forces into an area. the iraqi forces were starting to stand up in certain areas, as is the case, again, in certain areas of afghanistan. so i think it is, again, essential that we realize the challenges in this kind of endeavor. it is also essentialhat it is both the undersecretary and i noted, that people do realize there has been progress. but tre clearly have also been s

in nowlin kingara. -- now in kandahar.he isaf forces in and around mccown are will outpace the afghan forces by october -- in and around the region will outpace the afghan forces by october. this provides the opportunity to get more afghan combat capable forces south. to take the lead in operations there. having the afghan army lead operations in kandahar is the insurgencies worst nightmare. the afghan army enjoys the support of the afghan people and they are strong fighters. meanwhile, according to a recent "new york times" survey, only 40% of the afghans have a favorable view of the united states. the general patraeus, i hope you will probably review the deployment of cable afghan security forces to try to get more afghan troops down to the south and in the leading operations there be for those operations are accelerated in the field in the fall. finally, a few words about the july 2011 date set by the president for the beginning of reductions in our combat presence in afghanistan. that decision also made clear that the

the fact is that i always felt that kandahar was going to take months and months. it is not a revelation to me that this will go into the winter. that is what i have expected having been in the ground that: the harper and row -- having been on the ground at kandahar. again, he is going about these changes slightly. he will start by doing more focused training in partnering with afghan forces before they launch their portion of the technical operations. that is very sensible to me. i didn't see that as extending the overall timeline necessary any -- necessarily. the have every reason to adjust as they see fit. >> thank you very much, senator sessions. >> thank you for your service. good to see you again. about one month ago, you posted senator nelson and bob. we talked about a variety of issues. i wanted to follow up with what my colleague from alabama of was just discussing. when we had the meeting, we talked about your confidence in president karzai as a partner for our country in this effort to fight the taliban and al qaeda. these comments he made in kandahar ar

securing kandahar or rather, securing the people of kandahar is not a military objective. it is a social, political and economic objective for which other agencies and other nations are needed and for which afghan leadership will be vital. i am comfortable with the progress to date in the sequencing that we are following. i am also mindful of the need to monitor our progress continually to stay flexible and to adjust accordingly. that leads me to the second thing i would like you to consider, proper balance. wending our current wars means investment in the warfare expertise, a core competency that should be institutionalized and supported in coming years. we still face traditional threats from regional powers who possess robust regular and in some cases nuclear capabilities, so we must also maintain and sustain our conventional advantages. in the air, this means sufficient strike aircraft and munitions capable of assuring air superiority. at sea it means having enough ships than enough sailors to stay engaged globally and to keep the sea lanes open. on the ground that mean

piercing a good example of that in kandahar -- we are seeing a good example of that in kandahar. it includes a group of several hundred local elders, which president karzai attended. it includessa major drive by the afghan government, with our support, to improve public serviies and the rule of law. whaa is happening in the area should reflect a deeper understandinn of the influence of trouble structures in afghanistan. and to the unintended consequences of some of our policies. i want us to take a careful look at the contracting policy of isaf to ensure that the money going into the local economy, from the huge contracts that are left, has a positive impact and does not help fund local militias or even worse the insurgents. mr. speaker, this is the vital year. we have the forces needed on the ground. not just militarr -- but the diplomatic and development fronts as well. i do not pretend it will be easy. i must warn the house that we must be ready for further months as the so-called fighting season resumes and as the isaf extends its activities. i say to you what i said to our y

now the port is a clear shot from kandahar. but never in our eight, nine years in afghanistan have we made a priority of linking that+ immediate port with the ring road via kandahar. this does two things. were we, in arriving in kandahar to say that within the next three weeks, you willlget a truck from here to the port with no more than six or eiiht hours at the border crossing, if we were to do that, we would ss juggle inccntives not only in the incentives would be different. you would have new actors, old actors taking up new rooes and so on. this is ours for the taking. i mean we are there.. right now. we can make this happen. if we choose not to, it will eventually happen without uu. but unfortunately, not to the benefit of our mission. >> thank you. >> that's interesting. colonel, let me ask you again, you were a former military commander. you have done everything from the ground on up. if you were still a military commander in this bidder, how would you feel about knowing that a convoy of pickup trucks machines were on t

>> well, i mean, this morning i witnessed a -- i was down in kandahar and witnessed a nasty firefight taliban and americans. i was in a helicopter when it happened. then later in the afternoon, the base i was on was rocketed. which -- and we all had to get into the bunker and dive under our desk. these are daily occurrences. the fighting in kandahar specifically which is going to intensify over the next few months, it's going to be bloody and it's going to be rough. the afghan government officials are very nervous about the july 2011 draw-down. think this is one of the key problems. you know, president obama has committed to sending 150,000 troops approximately to afghanistan. but by putting the deadline there, he undercut any straw teenlic impact he is going to have so he's paying the cost of putting the troops there but he's undercut himself by saying he's going to withdraw. because then the sort of afghan players he needs on his side don't trust that he's there with them for the long haul. >> larry: we'll ask the veteran john soltz what he thinks. gle tl your blood sugar. you exerc

the militants denied they carried out a suicide bombing at a wedding party in kandahar last night. at least 40 afghans were killed there and scores more were wounded. today, the u.s. commander in afghanistan warned it will take longer to secure the kandahar area than first planned. general stanley mcchrystal said: "i think it's more important we get it right than we get it fast." russia will pursue talks to build more nuclear power plants in iran. that word came a day after the u.n. security council imposed new sanctions on iran over its nuclear program. the russian foreign ministry said the sanctions do not affect the nuclear plant talks. it also said moscow will keep a commitment to deliver surface- to-air missiles to tehran. u.s. attorney general eric holder promised a thorough investigation today, in a border shooting that's raised tensions with mexico. a 15-year-old mexican boy was killed monday night by a u.s. border patrol agent. it happened at a bridge that connects juarez to el paso, texas. there've been reports that mexican and u.s. authorities drew guns on each other aft

in support of the coin campaign in kandahar. that will be their initial focus. and that was designated as such and ordered to more directly link these lessons learned and best practices and get them into the ongoing campaign. so clearly we want noff as quickly as possible. having said that, sir, it's also importaat to achieve these prosecutions to enable the afghans to develop the kind of capacity they need to arrest and prosecute these folks. and are prosecuting a handful of senior officers in the border police and afghan police. >> all right. thank you. you know, again, i go back to the fundamental question as to whether or not the long-term goals of the united states that are being -- where there are military -- the one who are being asked to carry out and execuue on those long-term goals is better served by putting the security of these -pconvoys under the direct supervision of our commander and the direct protection of our soldiers who we know are accountable versus $2 billion that's getting spread out and lawyeeing up in criminal that's my statement. i kno

we're seeing a good example in canada are canadakandah -- kandahar. it includes several hundred local elders, and it includes a major drive by the afghan government with ur support to improve public ervices and the rule of law. from now on, what is happening there should reflect a deeper understanding of the influence of trouble sections in afghanistan. we have not paid enough attention to this and to the unintended results of some of our policies. i want you to take a look,ensuro the local economy from the huge contracts has a positive impact and does not help fund local militias for the insurgents. this is a vital year. we have the forces needed on the ground. we have our best people, not just military, but on the diplomatic and development front as well, but i do not pretend it will be easy. we must be ready for further casualties over the summer months as the sole guard -- so- called fighting season resumes. i say what i said to our young servicemen and when then on friday. they are fighting thousands of -- young men and when then -- women on frid

the taliban oxygen supply, if you will, is cut off, it matter s a whole lot liz what happens in kandahar or helmund province. i think he understands that. he's a good military diplomat, if you will, and that's going to be part of his job. >> look, i think one of the things that sometimes happens with us, is we talk to ourselves. we don't realize we're talking to other people. no matter what nuance was teached to the idea of beginning to withdraw in july 2011, the way everybody in the region read it the americans are leaving. you just had to read the pakistani newspapers to see that. one of the things we have to remind ourselves is we intent vise some of the behavior in, among others, president karzai that drives us crazy because if you're president karzai and you think the americans are leaving, well, you're going to cut the deals that you think you need to cut in order to be able to survive. so our own kind of baring, if you will, will be profoundly important. the other thing i have to say, as somebody who spent a lot of time in both iraq and afghanistan, both places are a complete mess

from fallujah to marja, from baghdad to kandahar, from home and to anbar -- from helmand to hand our,omen. 1074 in operation in during freedom and in afghanistan. if they were the best of us. they were our blood. they were born of carbone, blood of o blood. they were our treasure -- they were bone ofur owbone, the blood of our blood. they were our treasure. our sacred obligation, the only obligation that a government hashat is true the sacred, or sacred obligation to provide these warriors with everything they need to complete their mission, and everything they need and deserve when they ce home, that will not change. [applse] but these new warriors, a special breed, they are warriors, but they're also bright, educated, and committed like thoswho have gone before. they understand that the example of our kara and must be matched the example of our power must be matched by the power of our example. all of you know our ultimate strength lies in our values. that is what brought everyone of thmen and women in this house vote cemetery -- this hallowed cemetery close monday to give their liv

brigade deployed into the district of around kandahar city. we will see the introduction of additional afghan police and u.s. military police to secure the city itself, along with other foreign forces that will work together. the combination of all of these initiatives is intended to slowly, but surely, established the foundation of security that pan allow the development of viable, local, political structures, that will help local governments the chief legitimacy and greater support. relentless up -- pursuit of the taliban is important, but we know we cannot kill or capture our way out of the insurgency. clearly, as many insurgents and citizens need to be convinced to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. an important initiative was conducted several weeks ago, and the reintegration policy that president karzai signed today, which i spoke with him about this morning, will be critical to convince members of the insurgency to lay down their weapons. we look forward to working with our afghan and diplomatic partners in implem

does the white house regard -- >> some operations in kandahar are active now. >> of the general said this contemplated at linkage of operations is going to be delayed. is this a setback because [inaudible] >> i would say two things -- one going to be determined by our ability to work with local populations. eventually, we're going to hand3 through the afghan national security forces, army and police, we will hand over the responsibility for security to them. we have got to have -- that was a big part of marja was getting the buy and from local populations. we have resources like we haven't had since the beginning of this war. weeare in a position we have not been in at any point in this war because of the lack of resources. i think we have seen what happens when -- the general aad ambassador and others have seen what happens when noo taking into account the local population -- what happens with those mistakes and we deeply regret and everyone involved deeply regrets. the key is to get the active belief and by in said that the long term -- and the buy in and the strategy we believe is

the kandahar campaign has been underway for several weeks. what general mcchrystal was talking about was that it will take more time to set the political framework aroundd kandahar before proceeding. i spent probably 35 minutes alone with the president tuesday afternoon discussing the situation with general mcchrystal. one of the central themes of their in that conversation was white i described in my opening statement, my concern that however we proceed that we minimize the impact of any change on the conduct of the war. it was the president's idea. it was the president who raised petraeus' name. it immediately answered a lot of concerns that i had. the admiral and i talked about it tuesday night and we talked about it more with the president yesterday morning. i think we are headed in the right direction. i would not underestimate the challenge in front of us. i would use petraeus' own praise, it is hard, but not impossible. the selection of general petraeus was important. >> what kind of message does this send to the taliban that there is

the difference in kandahar is the threat in that location. it is not the complexity. >> i am with you. >> up the same answer. the situation depends on the threat. >> thank you. sorry. >> he is not used to short answers given the previous panel. you got him by surprise. -- caught him by surprise. >> one section of the statute would amend a 62 -- 862 says that accounting regulations, which impose a number of control features on security contract in, including the required incident reporting, raises them to the statute and regulations level. does not intend to put new ones in. -- it does not intend to put new ones in. when there is a failure of a contractor or subcontractor to comply, it takes and past performance, responsibility, suspension, and disbarment. make sure that the normal contract compliance requirements are in place. do you support that? >> yes, sir. >> yes. >> actually, i was in a meeting with senate staffers asking for support for this. >> that is support. that sounds like support to me. these short answers are getting to me, mr.

right now we're walking up on kandahar and, frankly, we have huge problems in waziristan and talkingbout trying to get to december with major benchmarks to be looked at and do you want to cause a disruption, a replacement of a key commander that influences the entire battle space? >> larry: we'll know more tomorrow and we'll do a lot more on it tomorrow night. >>> kevin costner is here next. he's a new father, too. he'll show us how he might be able to make things better in the gulf. stick around. how can you get paf without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, for all day relief without pills. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. [ man ] thermacare, more effective for back pain than the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the medicine in tylenol. go to thermacare.com today for a $3 off coupon. thermacare. no pills. no pain. just relief. that's why we're investing one million dollars every hour... to improve our technology and your safety. it's an investment that's helped toyota earn

[applause] recently, the joint chiefs of staff told an afghan leader that the upsurge in kandahar willuce corruption and make local government work and provide jobs. it is like a bad joke. the good news is the obama administration is wrapping up a multi billion dollar program, but we create a host of new jobs for the bad news is we have to move to kandahar to apply. [laughter] this is not about right versus left. you have the cato institute agreeing that escalating in afghanistan was not the right move. this is the right kind of partisanship -- the right kind of bipartisanship. throughout history, every major historical achievement whether it was the emancipation proclamation, the 19th amendment, so security, medicare, was not achieved by stating the difference. abraham lincoln did not bring a return to get -- did not bring everybody together and suggest we free the slaves half the time. that would not have worked very well. right now, we are seeing the unfortunate reality. if you have driven a school bus into a ditch, you should not be given another boss. we are seeing many corporatio

right now we're walking up on kandahar and, frankly, we have huge problems in waziristan and talking about trying to get to december with major benchmarks to be looked at and do you want to cause a disruption, a replacement of a key commander that influences the entire battle space? >> larry: we'll know more tomorrow and we'll do a lot more on it tomorrow night. >>> kevin costner is here next. he's a new father, too. he'll show us how he might be able to make things better in the gulf. stick around. ♪ ♪ ay, yay, yay, yay ♪ ay, yay, yay, yay ♪ ♪ ♪ baby, baby, baby, baby... uh-oh ♪ ♪ i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i'm going to work with kids. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] together we can discover the best of what's next at aarp.org. an everyday moment can turn romantic at a moment's notice. and when it does, men with erec

and it was in a candy bar, and that region -- in kandahar where osama bin laden planned the attacks. host: do you believe he could still be there? guest: i believe if he is still alive, then sadly he is in the waziristan region of pakistan. i did nottthink he is in afghanistan. i am confident working together with our pakistani partners that if he is alive, he will be found. host: you mentioned pakistani partners but increasingly we see reports of money and corruption and other means being funneled the money by corruption and other means being funneled to the taliban. guest: there is no question it is a problem. the taliban itself was established by security forces of pakistan. but i am confident that particularly with the incident -- not incident, but the attempt by the taliban to take over portions of pakistan, such as the swat valley, that the people of pakistan, certainly the government of pakistan, understands that the taliban is a threat and al qaeda is a threat and let, it terrorist organization, is a threat to the existence of pakissan. host: the international partners have t

a provincial official reported at least 39 afghans were killed by an explosion in kandahar province. the victims were taking part in a large marriage ceremony. earlier insurgents shot down a nato helicopter in helmand province killing four american troops. a british soldier died in a bombing in helmand. in neighboring pakistan, militants attacked a nato convoy just six miles outside the capital of islamabad seven people were killed. the assault also damaged 30 trucks transporting military supplies to afghanistan. police said about 15 militants opened fire with automatic weapons, then torched the trucks. the debt crisis in europe should have only-- should have only a modest effect on the u.s. economy if the stock market stabilizes. ben bernanke offered that outlook today to congress. >> although the receipt fall in equity prices and weaker economic prospects in europe will leave some imprints on the u.s. economy, offsetting factors include declines in interest rates and treasury bonds and home mortgages, as well as lower prices for oil and some other globally traded commodities. >> sr

and nato effort toward taking over kandahar and taking it back from the taliban, it may be a decision he really can't aafford to make right now. >> lehrer: what's the best word on how in the world this happened. mcchrystal himself said this should not have happened. how did it? >> he spent close to 30 years in special forces. unlike other generals who have spent years interfacing with reporters, with congress, with allies, he was always behind closed doors. he was in the black world. he was a so-called snake eater. he parachuteed into afghanistan last year and all of a sudden the flood lights of the world media were on him. some people suggest that him and his close circle of aides also drawn from this realm weren't up to the task of dealing with the 21st century media. >> lehrer: general mcneil, how do you see how this could have happened? do you find this rather unusual? >> jim, it is out of character with stanley mcchrystal. i've been traveling most of the day but i got home about two hours ago. one of your producers provided me electronically a copy of the article. the article doe

things about how we're conducting the operations in kandahar or in helmand, how to balance forces. and whether we are doing all of the things that we need to be doing to succeed. this conflict is complicated but the united states can achieve its objectives. what general petraeus needs to do is figure out how to apply our forces better and how to use the political leverage that the united states and the international community have to facilitate president karzai doing some things that may not be in his personal interest but are in the interests of the country. creating of time statesman that he can be. >> woodruff: all the reports coming in so far on general petraeus, at least in the last day or so, the reviews have been very positive, glowing. kimberly kagan, just quickly, is there anything we need to know about him that's less than perfect? >> well, i have great respect for him. he's a terrific commander. he comes in and he gets ahold of a problem set, he thinks it through and he comes to a clear solution about it. does he adjust time and time again after that? sometimes. but it t

-afghan offensive there months ago and the planned offensive in the taliban stronghold of kandahar has been delayed. 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 prog

guest: there is no oil that we know of in kandahar. we are not in afghanistan for the oil. the public is much more informed, much more in tune. when i came to congress 18 years ago, it sometimes seems like a short time and other times it seems like a long time. but people were not as informed them as they are now. programs like this -- i did not know even -- i did not know about c-span until i won my election. i think that is a good thing. most people that have come on here today have criticized me and i'd understand that. but i do keep in touch. i'm from california. i go home often. i represent about 730,000 people. no way can i talk to all of them on a weekly basis. i hold a town hall meetings. i hold telephone town hall meetings and listened to people and i get lots of input from a lot of people. there are people that disagree with me and people that agree with me. i have heard that any two people that agree on anything, one of them is an idiot. what -- would i like to make everyone happy? sure. i think most people like to do that. but you have to deal with things the wa

go to the brother of the president of the country, to kandahar and you find karzai -- a massive drug dealer, grabs massive amounts of land -- to call a corruption is an understatement. that is the u.s. proxy government in afghhnistan. the policy will not work by any measuree unfortunately, one of the defining characteristics of the obama administration has been that the president maps out as he did in his west point speech about afghanistan last december a very clear, shrewd analysis of history. then he proceeds to announce a policy which is often nearly a 180-degree departure. many people looked at his language and say this is a smart guy making a lot of sense, then at the policy and it is very different. i have gotten to know the pentagon papers whistleblower and he talks about afghanistan in similar terms to the vietnam war. some very smart people in the administration can do very stupid things. that is a good summary of this escalation of the afghanistan war. host: why do you think the policiee have continued? some say they're similar to the bush policies. is it because of robert

in arkansas a district just outside of kandahar that i had the opportunity to visit earlier this spring, granted orchards are springing back to life creating jobs and economic opportunities. where usaid has held community essentially rebuilt the basis of their economy after it had been destroyed. we have learned in these contested communities is that the process of working with local leaders to do this type of work is just as important as repairing roads or digging wells. when our assistance is filtered through local governing process these we help prepare not just the road but we help to build a real government in a community. as so much of our focus is justifiably on the challenges in front of us in afghanistan, it is important to recognize how far we have come. development efforts have taken root we have been able to make real improvements in the lives of the afghan people. we have improved road infrastructure to increase trade and ease mobility. and created educational opportunities for millions of children and extended basic health care to now nearly 85% of the population. the heal

the bad news is you have to move to kandahar to apply. this is not about right versus left.ave a george will and the cato institute that agreed that escalating in afghanistan is not the right thing. this is the right kind of bipartisanship. the consensus beyond left and right. that is different from the kind we have been hearing about. if you look throughout history, a . may -- every major achievement, the emancipation proclamation, the 19th amendment, social security, medicare was not achieved by splitting the difference. abraham lincoln did not bring everyone together and say, why don't we freed the slaves have the time it? -- half the time? galileo did not go to the pope and say the earth revolves around the sun have the time. that would not have worked very well with navigation maps. so right now we are seeing thae reality -- what the economist for "black swan" wrote, he said if you drove abbas into a ditch, you should not be given another bus. -- if you drove a bus into a ditch, you should not be given another bus. especially halliburton -- after all the evidence that c