i think general mcchrystal been working very hard on the plus side of this -- general mcchrystal will be working on the supply side of this. also, convince them to quit growing and producing it on the supply side. >> although we have made progress in columbia, your question about the overall drug trafficking from columbia and the neighboring regions. >> there is still an extremely high level of drugs don't do the region. and to your points if we are thinking out of the box, acting that is an area where we need more creative thinking. they are creating some nine submergible submarines to move cocaine from -- they are creating semis submergible submarines for cocaine. >> thank you. >> gentlemen, welcome. i want to congratulate all three of you on your nominations. i am confident that all three of you will be confirmed. i'm glad to have a chance to ask some questions. i will start with general mcchrystal. we talked before the hearing and i mention that i had a chance to travel to afghanistan and pakistan last week. it is hard to see a lot in five days but we had back-to-back meetings. we

the nominee is general stanley mcchrystal. carl levin of michigan is the chair of the senate armed services committee, this last two hours 40 minutes. good morning. the committee meets this morning to consider three military nominations, admiral james stavridis, lieutenant general douglas fraser, nominated to be general and 6 ft. admiral star vitas -- admiral stavridis. and lieutenant general stanley mcchrystal, nominated to be general and commander of nato international security assistance force and commander u.s. forces afghanistan. on behalf of the committee, we would like to thank each one of you for your service to our country, your willingness to continue to serve. we also want to acknowledge the sacrifices that you and your families made along the way. the support that our military families of pride -- supply is critical. we want to do all we can to support them. if confirmed, these three nominees will be meeting today's concerns in their areas of responsibility, and preparing for tomorrow's. one of the most immediate c

general mcchrystal, you and i have talked about this. i appreciate all of you visiting me in giving you the time that you have. you have been very, very busy. but the nebraska national guard has been in afghanistan on these agricultural programs, and that the oklahoma guard is -- would you give a brief assessment as to what successes or failures that have been? >> my information is second- hand, but all i have gotten is very positive. in the importance of the agricultural part of -- i know the importance of the agricultural part is key. >> i have heard that from a lot of commanders in the field and others. let me get my three or four programs that are my favorites for yes-or-no answers from the three of you. it would be on training 12 06, 12 07, at 12 away, as it -- 12,008, as it applies to the special forces. i think those three, four programs are among the most significant programs that we have going for us right now. do you agree? >> yes, sir, i agree. >> yes, sir, based on three years its outcome, they are approaching indispensable.

beyond general mcchrystal taking additional measures once he hits the ground. to determine how we can do a better job with regards to the civilian casualties. is that it on this? >> what is the pentagon's assessment of the success that pakistan armies have had? >> i think it's been three, four weeks now or longer, and i think i spoke about that three weeks ago and we were a week into it then. it's been five weeks since this operation is underway. i think we are greatly heartened by the fact it's gone on as long as it. one key thing we were looking for in terms of pakistan military operations is sustainability. clearly this operation is sustained. and in doing so i think they have enjoyed great success. so we are pleased. we are encouraged. and we are hoping that the offense continues to the point that the militants in this region are defeated. and we are working with the pakistanis to provide them with whatever they need, wherein reason, to ultimately prevail. >> do you approve for the pac army to move into al-qaeda. do you think they are willing to do that? >>

to general mcchrystal, he made reference to it. the current goal, the strength of the afghan national army, 134,000. as of april, there were 86,000 troops assigned to the army. president obama has approved the deployment later this year of 4000 soldiers as trainers. they will and then work with the afghan security forces. but i'm a very much concerned, as many of us are, about the size of the army, the lack of a higher end-strength goal. i join with senator lieberman and 13 other senators in a letter to the president to urge him to support now the increase in the end-strength the levels for the afghan army and the police, to hire rangers that were recommended by the afghan defense and interior ministers for the army. that range was between 250,000 and 300,000, which would mean a double the current target. admiral, let me ask you first, because general mcchrystal has commented on it. i then want to ask the general the same question. do you believe that the realities on the ground in afghanistan and necessitate growing the afghan nat

>> was general mcchrystal of part of this? >> general mcchrystal was a part of all this, as these briefings, yes. >> did the bee one hit the wrong house or have the occupants in the house change in the interim? >> as i said there is no indication that the p1 breaking off from a positive i.d. on its target resulted in the civilian casualties. that was not part of the briefing we received. it was just noted as one of the problems associated with these events. not that it was the cause of the civilian casualties. i am going to let them speak to the incident. >> what about the video? is that going to be released? >> i don't know what their determination is going to be on that front. i can tell you the video was part of the presentation that was given to the secretary today. >> i have one follow-up then i do have a question when you come back around on a different subject. by virtue of you saying that the crew took-- i think your words were great care, are you foreclosing then, any possibility of charges for further investigation o

let's give general mcchrystal the opportunity. further, let me add, mr. clarme, this amendment is intended -- mr. chairman, this amendment is intended to make the administration lay out its strategy. but we already have the administration to lay out their goals, their timelines and conduct regular assessments. that's the way that general mcchrystal should be judged. let's do that. i do oppose this amendment very respectfully. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair will note that the gentleman from massachusetts has 1 3/4 remaining. and the gentleman from california has 3 twaurts minutes remaining. mr. mcgovern: i'll let the gentleman proceed. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield at this time to a young man who joined the marine core the day after 9/11, served two tours in iraq and one in afghanistan, the gentleman from california, who is a member of the armed services committee now, one minute. mr. hunter. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hunter: i thank the ranking member and i'd like to asso

stanley mcchrystal is an expert in counterinsurgency which we need so badly in afghanistan. but, no, we're not going to get him approved. at least for now. republicans are so opposed to everything they even oppose putting people in some of the most important positions in our government. we believe, the majority believe, democrats believe, those who have chosen to serve our country must be able to work without delay. mr. president, republicans across the country agree with that also. we have 40 members of this body, republicans, who don't represent republicans across this country. republicans, if given the chaps, wouldn't they approve general mcchrystal? of course they would. and the other people i have mentioned. we believe these they have chosen to seven our country must get to work without delay. president obama was elected, shouldn't he have the people he wants to work with him? perhaps those watching and listening think this is how the senate always operates. mr. president, you are a new senator. this isn't how it used to operate. let me put the delays this context: in t

general mcchrystal. walk me through what would happen is america lost in afghanistan and pakistan collapsed. >> in the near term i would not predict the future but i think that it would break down into civil war. i don't believe that the towel bun with takeover afghanistan, i think it would go back to what it was earlier. -- i don't think the taliban would take over afghanistan. if there was that kind of safe haven in afghanistan with the ongoing problem of pakistan, i think pakistan would find winning their insurgency very difficult, if not impossible. it is a nuclear arms stacy have nuclear weapons under questionable control. >> amro, do you agree? >> i do. and then there is the nato failing. i would add that to the list of the outcomes. >> this is one to be difficult, war expansible -- it will be more expensive. i support present obama's efforts to interject more troops. do you feel constrained at all to ask for more troops? is any constraint on you to ask for more troops? can you make that request wi

the new american commander in charge of afghanistan, stanley mcchrystal. he will oversee all u.s. and nato troops in the country to fight it taliban insurgency launching more tax than ever. mcchrystal took command from general david mccarron and during a low-key ceremony earlier today and kabul. mkiernan was fired one year into a two-year assignment. we have a pilot on our independent line. caller: i am democrat, but that is probably irrelevant. the subject to talk about -- you are talking about this morning is airline safety. back in the 1990's when the faa was a collusion of the airline pilots association came in with this "1 level of safety, while the one thing they did was impose a retirement age on the 135 or air taxi carriers, which they had and the major airlines. there was never any reason for this other than the desire for younger pilots to advance to the captain's seat. we've been advanced to age 65, but only because the europeans went to 65. but getting to the commuter situation, there are a two major problems. one is that you force the older pilots outcome of the ones

i agree with general mcchrystal that we need the afghan people on our side. right now the two greatest threats of them being on our side are number within the civilian casualty issue, both real and in some cases i think generated by taliban propaganda, but we need to get better at countering propaganda, getting our own message out. but also it is a very, very real concern. of course the other issue is the efficacy of the afghan government which the people of afghanistan do not believe in. i think certainly the best approach there is to try to go local as much as possible. the afghan people are far more likely to trust their local tribes and work with their local provincial governments than they are to fly off on whatever the national government winds up looking like, not to say we shouldn't try to make the national government a little better as well. in balancing now afghanistan going forward, how do you see the best approach to striking that balance and with regard to pakistan, this issue affects pakistan as well. in fact, david kill cullen testified before

general mcchrystal i think set the standard aggressively at the operational level. and that command is serving as a higher sorts of the headquarters. we wake up with 85 members of the special operations command going to work in agencies of government. some you may expect and some you wouldn't, and small teams two to four people, with an o 6 colonel. and we wake up in tampa with those in our headquarters. full members of the team sitting on the discussions and on the global collaborations kind of briefings and this has provided a transparency that is helpful. and it's hard now to imagine back what it was like back when we used to look around the room and see only uniform members. it's a good solid team. >> and that's something that we want to encourage, to get agencies to work side by side. you have done an excellent job and sprinkling those in other places. other agencies need to do that as well. and we want to see that happen more and more. and in particular some title 10 or title 50 conflicts between intel and dod, can be resolved better if we have more sharing ba

are they waiting for general mcchrystal to craft them? >> the secretary has asked the general when he and general rodriguez, should it senate concerned -- and from the two of them, go to afghanistan to undertake a 60-day review of the situation on the ground there. this would be to try to get their feet on the ground, get at few of what is going on the ground, to get a situation of what should be the changes in the strategy should be made, and particularly from a personnel standpoint, try to determine the needs and what can be done to try to consolidate and get the most we can from the resources we have on the ground. the president has authorized 68,000 personnel. we are up to 55,000 on the ground right now. it is a rapidly growing operation, and the secretary wants to make sure that everybody is being utilized effectively. he does not want -- he does not want bloated headquarters. he wants to make sure that there are as many people operational, outside the wire, working, and gauging as possible, and by sending in the general rodriguez, t

he said -- admiral mullen said -- and i wrote it down, admiral mcchrystal is literally waiting by an airplane. it's 2:00 in the morning thursday in afghanistan. dawn will soon be breaking, and our troops will not have a commander there. is this wh

joe mcchrystal set the standard aggressively at the operational level. the united states special operations command is serving as a model of sorts at the higher headquarters level. we wake up every day with about 85 uniformed members of the special operations command going to work in other agencies of government inside the national capital region. most of the agencies that you would expect and perhaps some that you wouldn't normally expect us to be in in small teams, typically two to four people with an 06 colonel or a navy captain as the team leader. we also wake up every day at our headquarters at macdill air force base in tampa with about 140 members of other agencies coming to work in our headquarters. important members of the team sitting in on all the discussions, thinking in on all the global collaboration kinds of briefings, and this has provided a transparency in the interagency environment that's very helpful. and i -- it's hard now having seen it in action for a few years to imagine to remember back what it was like before we looked -- back wh

and as i indicated, a number on judiciary but the topper is lieutenant general stanley mcchrystal to run afghanistan. i would hope that people would search their con shns and try to get these -- conscience and try to get these done. i can't file cloture on every one of these. so people watching this understand, it takes days for us to do that. but 25 nominations are held up. it would take until the summer until we finish the july recess and beyond for us to get this done, filing cloture on every one of these. i hope it doesn't come to that. mr. president, on another topic, in a single word, health care debate is about choices. our country, are you going to choose you can't take children to the doctor because it is too expensive? we tell small businesses they have to lay off employees because they cannot afford skyrocketing health care premiums as outlined by senator durbin yesterday an example of a small businessman that he talked about trying to maintain insurance for his employees. or will we choose real health care reform that ensures everyone can get the quality care they deserve

general mcchrystal, you and i talked about it. even in a war zone like afghanistan, same thing. it's now it's not just the united states military. the military can take the lead but it's all the other agencies of government to work in projecting our power in order to secure the interests of the united states. now, one area in your future command that is just still a basket case, i thought i'd ask admiral stavridis on this is haiti. and then let's pick up the conversation, general fraser. >> well, senator, of course, you and i have spent some time on the road together, including haiti, and it is indeed a nation in extreme distress. it's the poorest nation in the americas. it's one of the poorest four or five countries in the world. it was devastated last summer by three separate major storms, two of them high-level hirks. it has a big problem with soil erosion. i could go on and on. what am i encouraged by there? i'm encouraged by the nation' peacekeeping force which has done a superb job with very little u.s. military engagement. i'm very encouraged with what our ambassador has

of the joint chiefs of staff, now head of all intelligence for the afghan command under general mcchrystal, convinced me that we need a corps of experts in uniform who can deliver on years of commitment to the afghan deployment, who can build especially an expertise in the afghan languages. this amendment, the larson-kirk amendment, allows for arrangements of members of the military wishing to make a deployment for -- to afghanistan. d.o.d. and senior commanders feel that this language that will build a dedicated long-term afghan corps of enlisted officers will quickly become the leaders of our afghan nato effort. based upon our bipartisan bill that congressman larson and i introduced, our bill would laid out a $250,000 payment for a soldier willing to make a for the duration commitment. in my discussions with the troops currently in the field in kandahar, they are pumped up about the opportunity that this commitment would be. i feel that only a small number of soldiers would sign up, but each one of them, if strategically placed in key afghan areas, will become vital assets to our effort

i am without words to understand -- to try to explain my consternation at the fact that general mcchrystal, one of our most eminent, prominent, outstanding qualified soldiers, a man whose father won five silver stars; a man whose record is one of being the leading person in our military to do counterinsurgency. that's what he's an expert at doing. let's get the man approved tonight so he can go, leave, on an airplane to get over there and take care of the men and women. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: corner tomorrow. he was a great player. he had a setback last year. he was playing well early. and if he had that surgery, i am anxious to see what he has left in the cannon. he had a pretty good arm as we know. >> the minnesota vikings have 4 quarterbacks on their roster. taveras jackson played well last season. sage rosenfels played 6 games and neither flynn or john day of the booty have-- john david booty have taken 1 snap. brett favre had more passing yards than the current vikings quarterbacks did last season. >> the only

president, i'd urge my colleagues to support the nomination of general mcchrystal, and i ask unanimous consent that the full statement i prepared be submitted for the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bond: i thank the chair, and i particularly thank my distinguished colleague from utah. mr. hatch: i thank my colleague and join with him in his suggestions. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i want to associate myself with the remarks and concerns expressed earlier by both the judiciary committee's ranking member, senator sessions, and the distinguished republican leader and whip, senator mcconnell -- senators mcconnell and kyl. the white house talking points tell us that the supreme court nominee, judge sonia sotomayor, has more federal judicial experience than any supreme court nominee in a century. my friends on the other side of the aisle have aggressively circulated these talking points. i assume by stressing judicial experience they are saying this overwhelmingly deep, broad judicial record provides