mr. bowers? >> um to express my appreciation to co-chairman shays and the other commissions testifying today. i'm here today in the capacity as a regional program director for south central and east asia with mercy corps and international managing development nonprofit organization currently working in over 40 conflict countries such as iraq and afghanistan and i myself with a country in afghanistan in 2004 to 2006 in the early days of the prt formation. the mercy corps has worked continuously iraq since 2003 with projects benefiting 6 million iraqis and afghanistan we have worked there since 1986 under the taliban regime as well as post and currently working 12 provinces and the north central and east part of the country. both of those countries received u.s. taxpayer support or usaid department of state and others. today i will provide information and example to illustrate why mercy corps has observed that development and contingency operation currently practiced by the u.s. government is large

mr. bowers. >> thank you, mr. chairman.other commissioners, we very much welcome today's hearing as a continuation of conversation that some commissioners begin with our country, directors and kabul not too long ago. ago. save the children country director would have liked to have been present today, but i am based in washington and i'm here instead to talk with u.s. assistance through smart develop an approach can best serve the needs of vulnerable children who come after all, represent the future of their country. i submitted a comprehensive statement for the record and so i would like to is briefly highlight the circumstances that children face in afghanistan, briefly mentioned the work of save the children and then talk about the importance of accountability and the smart development approach our agencies employed in afghanistan. children always the most vulnerable. children in afghanistan for the worst chances of survival in the world. about one out of every five children dies before the age of five, mostly due to prev

mr. bowers? >> i checked with a colleague before coming into my understanding is we haven't lost any in afghanistan. we have had national employees held but not lost any expense. >> mr. powers? >> we have lost staff before in the past, most of our casualties lately have been natural causes deutsch avalanches and airplane crashes. >> but i'm talking doll violence, been killed. >> our rate of the ability to stay safe there is remaining high right now. >> this question would be relevant to you. >> we have staff on the ground of afghanistan and we haven't taken any. >> thank you very much. mr. -- mr. tiefer? >> it's a learning experience for me. i -- my students a the university of baltimore law school there is such a thing as grants in the legal world and i don't know enough to really teach it to them. i will know a little more after today. i also want to express my respect for the chairman and the insatiable appetite for going to afghanistan that i think led the way to the trip by chairman shays whi

mr. bowers?>> you know, i've i have also worked in kosovo before afghanistan and that is often the situation we run into u.s. military personnel who served in that operation as well who said why can we do it like kosovo when we are in afghanistan or iraq? the conditions there really aren't the same, so if you know not to dodge the uber-question of can -- what is the future model of the blended approach, it really is contextualize but certainly i would think many ngos see and value and understand there are times when the u.s. military in recovery, humanitarian assistance role has a place. there are operations that they can bring. in pakistan during the floods last year there was certainly a role for the u.s. military to help the pakistani government and its people but then there was a clear role in what the ngos can do. >> sorry to stop you there but on the role you mentioned in pakistan with the military you are the one that -- wasn't the military ruled there largely a relief role? as opposed to

mr. bowers. mr. kostin? >> ditto for the appreciation of focusing on the issues with your commissioner i would say that this would've on your looking at afghanistan, sort through the issues that kind of confront you. one is the question is a good. one is corruption, one is capacity i think that all three counts when you look at community-based approaches that's one way to tackle a big portion of those and that's what i think we've been discussing today and what we can bring to the table. >> mr. mcgarry speaker just appreciate the opportunity. i miss you when you're in kabul, so as ms. richard mention we're one of the organization that was was pushing for the duration of severe -- sigar a few years ago. and very grateful. >> i want the commission to know that when mr. mcgarry took the oath and said i give them a second time he said i do. he get married on saturday so this is part of his honeymoon. [laughter] >> was in it i suppose to say i will? we all get it wrong. all groups get it wrong. we say i do. [laug

mr. bowers. >> thank you. i want to express my appreciation to co-chairman shays and to the other commissioners on the commission for opportunity to testify today. i am here today in the capacity as a regional program director with south, central, and east asia and a nonprofit currently working in 04 countries such as iraq and afghanistan. i myself was a country director in afghanistan from 2004 to 2006 in the early days of the prt formation. mercy core has worked in iraq since 2003, projects benefiting six million, we have worked there since 1986, as well as post, and currently work in 12 providences in the north, central, and eastern part of the country. both of those countries receive u.s. taxpayer support through usaid, department of state, and others. today i will provide information to illustrate why mercy core has observed the development and contingency operations currently practiced by the u.s. government is largely designed for failure. this is primarily due to the lack of conceptual clarity about th

so this fellow, back in the '60s, his name was mr. boweran and he fell so in love with this invention -- is that the regular flavor or the barbecue spice? the regular flavor? mr. bower said when he died he wanted to be buried in a pringle can which he was. his ashes were put in the pringle can. i'm a fan of the regular but the cheddar and the blooming onion flavor isn't going over so well with the staff here. just letting you know. >> continuing on with the pringles. there was a guy in new york, you heard about this? >> it's really true. >> this really happened. a guy in new york was fed up with the bus that moves across town very slowly. infamous bus. a very slow bus. so he decided to ride a toy tricycle across town and see who would win and he won. >> he beat the bus by a good -- what was it? like three minutes? >> i used to take the 23rd street bus. you needed a day to get where you needed to go. >> he's a comedian or something? >> yes. if you come to new york you might think you're looking at several house cats just running around on th

mrs. elizabeth bowers, the farmer gathered about are the studious and conservative, and kept open house for all visitors of no. the latter was surrounded by loving folk, young and old. in this not have a good time was impossible. to mrs. reason belongs the honor of being able to hold a son-in-law. her string of french blood major clean of entertainers and covered her with a case in the social functions that were irreproachable. many pages later, richard added a third woman, her mother. so if i can go back. that's mary joseph lyons. her mother to the left. mother was the life of a migrant of young single and married folks who found in her asocial woman whose company was as agreeable as when she was a maiden. with her it was possible to have a good time without fuss and feathers. her guests were frequent. they danced, played or sung, play games or so for charity. and all alike founded opportunity to pass many delightful hours with her in the home where courtesy, sociability and friend and his reign supreme. it was permissible for families to move from one circle to another. no hard and fast l

bowers. they gathered about and studious and conservative keeping open house of all visitors of note. it was surrounded by loving folks young and old. not to have a good time was impossible. to mrs. reason belonged the honor. heifer strain of french blood made her queen of entertainers and covered her with a taste in social fungses that were ire -- fangses -- functions. they added a third woman, her mother. if i can go back -- that's mary joseph lyons. she was the group of young single and married folks who found in her a social woman whose company was agreeable as when she was a maiden. with her, it was possible to have a good time without fuss and feathers. her guests were frequent, they danced, played, or sung, played games or sued for charity, and all alike found an opportunity to pass delightful hours with her in the home were curtesy and socialability reigned supreme. it was possible to move from one circle to another, no lines were drawn. however, the same persons could be met now in one circle now in the other. you can understand how somebody like james with his play acting career, with his brushes with the law, with his time spent in prison, with his hard labor, so fort