>> sir, i think there is already robust activity in nato, and we're seeing some nato countries step forward in terms of presenting their special operations forces as subject matter experts in particular disciplines and then serving -- using that to attract others to exercise and train with them. so there is a synergy that's occurring bilaterally in areas where the united states isn't involved and multilaterally and bilaterally where we are. i think that my shortest answer to that would be to explore ways to operationalize the nato soft coordination center, and i'm not knowledgeable enough about how nato works organizationally to understand the details and nuances of that. the nato soft coordination center director is now a dual hatted american two-star general who serves in his primary role as the commander of special operations command european command. so i would suggest exploring ways by which we might form a separate director for the nato soft coordination center. >> one question moving away from nato involves where we are with our gunships. certainly with asoc in my district, it appear

it was really a different nato. on the one hand we have become a much more unilateral guarantor among the nato countries for security issues. we have brought countries into the nato alliance that could only be called protectors, they don't add to the security of the united states to have them as members of the nato. we add to their security. all we have to do as look at what happed in georgia last year. and contemplate what that would have looked like if they would have been a nato member to understand the implications of that. there is not time for a full discussion of that but that is on my radar screen and i look further -- and i look forward to discussing that with you. you said you would agree that our goal in terms of increasing the afghan national army would be higher than what is now proposed, is that correct? >> sir, i believe it when it would. >> would you agree with senator lieberman approach? >> i believe we have to look at it. there is significant growth that is going to be required. >> can you tell me

my shortest answer would be to explore ways to see the nato center, and i am not sure how nato works for the nuances of that. the nato core center is that of the leader of the role of the european command. i would suggest exploring ways by which we might form a separate director for the nato soft coordination center. >> one question moving away from nato of the gunships. it appears in my district there is a short fall. but the budget doesn't address additional funding for short falls this year. can you talk about your plans for that short fall and to maintain and upgrade the existing aircraft out there. >> yes, sir, we have a recapitalization program for the rest of the fleet of mc-hj's. will come into the program. that was a higher priority than the ac-130 gunship because of the ages of air frames involved. the recent level of activity in afghanistan helps us understand how important precision gunfire is. and we understand clearly that our capacity is insufficient. and that other flat forms, substitute platforms don't bring the same response to troops in contact that an ac-130 does.

the secretary-general of nato a dutch officer -- he informed the nato meeting that nato troops have to guard pipelines that transport oil and gas that's directed for the west. and more generally nato has to protect sea routes used by tankers and other crucial infrastructure of the global energy system. all of that just opens up a few phase of western imperial domination. the polite term for it is bringing stability and peace. that's what's happening now. afghanistan and pakistan, obama is building enormous new embassies and other facilities on the model of the city within a city in baghdad. these are like no embassies anywhere in the world. and they are signs of an intention to be there for a long time. right now in e[giraq, something interesting is happening. obama is pressing the iraqi government not to permit the referendum that's required by the status of forces agreement. agreem forced down the throats of the bush administration which had t war aims in the face of massive iraqi resistance. washington's current objection to the referendum was explained two days ago by a "new york t

any thoughts that you -- nato allies. any thoughts about how we can get our friends to do their share? to provide civilian technical expertise to build the country's governance capacity. the another issue relates to russia. vice-president and secretary clinton have called for resetting u.s.-russian relations. there are opportunities to build common security interests, including the development of a unified response to the threat of a nuclear-armed iran. the president, secretary clinton and secretary gates, and general jones have all commented positively about the prospects of the united states and russia working on a common missile defense as a way of deterring nuclear -- iran's nuclear ambitions. i recently explored that possibility on a visit to moscow, prague, and warsaw, and came back with positive things to explore. i invite your comments on whether that could change the overall dynamic in the region, and might cause iran to recalculate in the nuclear weapons ambitions. we would welcome comments that you might have o

i need to attribute more countries to nato and more to this conference. what we're seeing actually is an extension of special operations, cooperation beyond nato and those who parts pailt in -- participate in other operations where they work with a nato soft country are now becoming part of this team. so this first annual conference we came to was actually attended by some non-nato countries because they choose to develop those and it's encouraging to see this play out. >> if you want to work with the host nations and many are participating in this and learning the necessary skills to implement that policy. i want to ask a little bit about some of the contracting issues and something we dealt with and what we always tried to do on this committee is find ways to enable socom to have a more nimble approach to acquisition, so that the normal processes are difficult operating with such speed and technology that's rapidly changing and if you go through a acquisition process the time you acquired the product it's out of date. we tried to speed it up in a couple

that is it a battle zone of contribution for nato. -- that is a potential zone of contribution for nato. i look forward to the interactions with our allies, and working with general mcchrystal to hear what he needs and attempting to facilitate that. >> my time is expiring, so i want to stay this in a different matter. you had very strong statements in the q&a on the rising ballistic missile threat to europe, particularly that posed by iran. as a consequence, you argue that "the deployment of ballistic missile defenses in europe would make a significant contribution to the protection of the u.s. in europe from a middle east and ballistic missile threat." you also very strongly said that "we need multilayered missile defense capabilities station and operational in the region before a fretfully emerges to ensure, in european allies and partner'' security in this vein." the petric programs are very important, but cannot defeat "the entire range of threats by themselves." i want to thank you for those statements. i cannot agree with you more. i look forward to working with you on those and o

we did not find other similar coordination in nato that we had met. that's a major, major challenge in afghanistan. how to get our partner nations -- it would be far too ambition to say on the same page but at least in the same book when it comes to how we're going to confront afghanistan and pakistan. and nato is set up the way it's set up. it's an important alliance. it's very difficult to manage that many different countries coming from that many different perspectives so i certainly have a fair amount of respect that the difficulty the organization faces but we went through all that meeting on that with increasing frustration and we didn't have as much time as i would like is to visit the force and it was inspirational and we saw that it can work. you can, in fact, bring that many different nations together to coordinate in a way that is effective and i guess my plea would be that the forces over there try to spread that message more broadly among the other aspects of nato. it would be very, very critical. >> sir, if i could make -- >> please, go

>> i want to ask you if you feel that the partnership with nato and the special operations capability is working well? >> we were addressing this earlier, the special operations coordinated center, is an up and running organization that is not fully capable yet, but the relationships that have occurred have developed a strong bond among the special operations forces. i was able to go to the first conference, and 28 countries came to the conference, it was remarkable how similar the conversations were and how the vision has across the special operations forces. some of them say that they have more in common with the special operations forces of other nations than their own nation because of the way that they exercise together. there is the opportunity to take this to the next step, i am just not certain of the next step is. we may explore a way to operate -- operation allies this -- operationalize this. >> i took a trip to iraq and we visited the special operations forces, nato command, and i cannot tell you how impressed we wear with the coordination, we did not find a similar accord

convergent of views with the president and of course france is delighted to have fully reintegrated natoas i said to the american president. so really, it is a pleasure to work with barack obama. we work regularly together. he knows that france is a friend of the united states. we basically coordinate on all major issues and we are determined to continue that. barack, welcome, welcome to your family. >> it's wonderful to be back in france, particularly on this day because this day marks not only the triumph of freedom, but it also marks how the transatlantic alliance has allowed for extraordinary prosperity and security on both sides of the atlantic. the fact that france fully reintegrated into nato this year under president sarkozy's leadership is just one further indication of the degree to which u.s.-french cooperation can help to underpin not only security in europe but also a more secure and prosperous world beyond europe. i very much appreciated president sarkozy's leadership on a whole range of issues. he mentioned a number of them. france's leadership within europe and understand

it made possible the achievements that followed the liberation of europe, the marshall plan, the nato alliance, the prosperity that flowed from each. it was a noble then, but so much of the progress that would define the progress then -- it wasunknowable then, it came down to the battle for a slice of beach only 6 miles long. nor particularly it came down to the man who landed here. those who now rest in this place for eternity, and those who are with us here today. perhaps more than any other reason, you, the veterans of america are why we still remember what happened on d-day. you are why we keep coming back. for you remind us that in the end, human destiny is not determined by forces beyond our control. you remind us that our future is not shaped by chance or circumstance. our history has always been the sum total of the choices made and actions taken by each individual man and woman. it has always been up to us. you could have done what hitler believed you would do when you arrived here. in the face of a merciless assault from these clips, you have all the boats offshore, made a b

last week i attended the nato meeting in brussels along with partners and allies who are contributing troops to afghanistan. in brussels, i was pleased to introduce general crystal to the nato defense ministers and it to our troop contributing partners. he is now on the job and in the midst of a 60-day review of operations. he brings unparalleled energy and determination, as well as substantial counterinsurgency experience and expertise to the international military effort in afghanistan. i look forward to the results of his review, which should represent a more comprehensive and effective civil military approach. one of the key takeaways from brussels was an agreement in principle to set up a new command structure, including a new operational headquarters. i look forward to the north atlantic council's approval of a new command organization next month and to the senate's confirmation of lieutenant- general david rodriquez, who with approval, would assume command of the day to day military operations of this headquarters. another important take away from this is a commitment from nato

i need to attribute more countries to nato or more to this conference. what we're seeing is actually an extension of special operations cooperation beyond nato, and those who participate in other operations where they may work with the nato soft country are now becoming part of this team. so this first annual conference we came to last year was actually attended by some non-nato countries because they choose to develop those relationships. it's really encouraging to see this play out. >> it's invaluable as the mantra of counterinsurgency by through and which you want to work with the host nations. many are learning the necessary skills to implement that policy. i want to ask a little about the contrasting issues. what we have always tried to do on this committee is find ways to enable socom to have a slightly more nimble approach to acquisition. so the more normal processes are difficult when you're operating with such speed and so much technology that is rapidly changing. if you go through a normal 18-month acquisition process. by the time you have acqu

jim marshall and i introduced nato first bill. with the chairman supporting it, six out of eight of the bills is in the national defense authorization act. as the u.s. and russia begin or start negotiations, this treaty expiring at the end of 2009, it's important for us to set some framework. this amendment would limit the use of f.y. 2010 defense funds to implement reductions for u.s. strategic nuclear forces pursuant to a treaty with russia. for example, start, unless the president certifies that the treaty, one, provides sufficient verification mechanisms. two, does not limit u.s. ballistic missile defense systems, space capabilities, advanced defense capabilities. the amendment also requires a report on u.s. and russian nonstrategic nuclear weapons. i want to thank our staff who worked diligently for the drafting of the nato first bill and also for the accomplishment of these amendments. i want to thank the chairman who has continued to work in a bipartisan way to accomplish a number of provisions in this bill that are importa

i do think turkey is an important ally in nato. they are helping us in afghanistan in that critical effort. they have a growing economy. they are interested in further integration with europe. i would encourage that, so i have said publicly i think turkish membership in the eu would be important. president sarkozy, as an actual member of the eu, has a different view, but i think it is important to note he strongly supports the work that turkey is doing in nato. i believe he is interested in further economic integration. and what the u.s. wants to do is to continue to encourage discussions and talks and a process whereby turkey can feel confident that it has a friendship with france, with the united states, with all of europe, and to the extent it is defining itself as part of europe, that it has an opportunity to be a partner. but again, that is something that will have to move forward not based on what the united states says, but rather a dialogue between the european union members and turkey. in all of this, i think europe and fr

the european security and foreign policy needs to be incorporated in nato policy and nato policies to be compatible with what we're doing and the european level by way of security and foreign policy. in many ways we have made progress and been more successful in the this about in the past but there are still in number of it chasms that need to be bridged, and number of obstacles amended to be relieved. let us remind of a complex between turkey en three's and things don't always run smoothly and integration of of defense policy and nato policy. we need to work on this because it is an obstacle to us and we're also facing enormous challenges looking at the nuclear program of north korea, iran and also the challenges in afghanistan and pakistan. fighting piracy on the horn of africa. addressing the issue of failing states, all for example, the share one suffering of people seemingly encouraging both dictators, the one who is a ruling in darfur. let us remind ourselves also the situation in iran. i think we are saying be it. america and europe or in germany that we are deeply moved by the

if confirmed, i would work with our nato and il and afghan partners to support the effort. -- nato and eu and afghan partners to support the efforts. like you, i am keenly aware of the efforts on the part of the coalition, many of, sacrificed greatly and invested heavily to support afghanistan. if we are both confirmed, i will of the honor of working for my friend admiral stavridis, and might force one could nato partner nations -- might force will include made a part -- but would need a partner nations supporting afghanistan. i look forward to listening to, learning from, and leaving this team -- and a leading this team in our common a challenge. since 9/11, our forces have learned a valuable lessons regarding the treatment of detainees, and made mistakes along the way. when i took command in 2003, i found the treatment of detainees followed existing guidance, but needed improvement. our facilities are limited, our expertise and specialties were insignificant, and we lacked organizational experience at every level. in the months and years that followed, we invested considerable energy

afternoon he will then fly over to brussels, where he will participate in the quarterly meeting of nato defense ministers. they will discuss a range of organizational and security issues confronting the alliance but as you might expect, the nato operations in afghanistan will likely dominate their discussions. third and finally, the secretary returns to washington d.c. on friday evening and then early saturday morning heads up to washington state were later that afternoon he will deliver the commencement address at the university of washington, which i believe is an open president although i will not beheading out there myself. and i think that is it. ann. >> what can you tell us about the status of the investigation into the-- in afghanistan, where, where does the investigation stand and to what degree has the inquiry found u.s. forces culpable? >> the anchor aires stands, i think it is wrapped up. it is being briefed to a number of people within this building. i think the chairman was briefed on it last week, the secretary was briefed on at this morning by brigadier general thomas it

germany has been a strong partner in the nato mission in afghanistan. we honor those who serve there, including american and the german soldiers who gave their lives there this week. the chancellor and i reaffirmed our commitment to a new relationship with russia. in moscow we will continue to explore ways in which the u.s. and russia can advance our common interests, a joint commitment to reducing our nuclear arsenal and strengthening global proliferation. in meeting these challenges will be neither quick nor easy. i am reminded of the lessons from my recent visit. the chancellor took me to eight broke church devastated in the second world war. thanks to the donations of the germans, americans and people around the world it was rebuilt. and it was restored. today it stands as a stunning symbol of what is possible when countries work together. in that spirit, i want to welcome my friend, angela merkel. >> thank you. we have very but fond memories of your visit to our nation and moving memories to the former concentration camps. we are more aware that ge

and the nato operations in afghanistan will likely dominate those discussions. thirdly and finally the secretary returns to washington, d.c. on friday evening. and then early on saturday morning heads to washington state. where he will deliver the commencement address at the university of washington. which i believe is an open press event although i won't head there myself. >> what can you tell us about the investigation into the nato force incident in afghanistan. where does the investigation stand and to what degree has the inquiry of the u.s. force [inaudible]? >> the inquiry stand i believe is wrapped up and being briefed to a number of people in this building. i believe that the chairman was briefed on it last week and the secretary this morning by the investigative officer in charge. i think, cen-com, who has commissioned the findings and i can tell you sitting in the brief, that this incident was exhaustively investigated. this briefing, in fact the secretary took today, i think it was scheduled for half an hour. it went for one hour and had to be rushed

many of the nato militaries have me and others from human right swatch come to them. they are close to our people in afghanistan and iraq. we have a working relationship with the israeli defense forces, which i am proud we are able to sit down with them, meet with their lawyers and operational people and understand from their perspective what they are doing at any given time. other militaries we have a fairly adversarial relationship with. if you look at the russian military at this point, we are not as popular with the russians. the burmese junta, we do an awful lot of work trying to expose what is going on there. that is to give you an idea of our relations with militaries' worldwide, we believe is important to engage with the military's. they are the ones who are at the pointy end of the spear. what are we doing when we go into a war zone. we are trying to look at all factors. we are looking at government, military's and other factors. although we have a good relationship with militaries, we are looking at bringing out abuses and the abusers do not want us to publi

to have the american president here this morning with us, after having met for the last time at the nato summit. we will visit a little bit of dressed in a later we will go to the former johnson training camp. -- the former concentration camp. i think that this is indeed a trip of a highly symbolic nature. let me remind all of us of the visit to the concentration camp we will take later in the day. it is important that the american president, barack obama, makes his first stop in dresden. this is a symbolic city. it was almost destroyed during the second world war. it was rebuilt after german reunification. it has turned out to be a jewel of german culture. the people here are so glad that you come to see them because it shows that you also pay tribute to the tremendous efforts they made in this 20 years after the fall of the wall. we have made very good use of that time talking about the political agenda, pressing issues. president obama gave a very important speech yesterday in cairo, which i think will be an ideal basis for a lot of fashion of a positive nature, particularly with the

and the united states pressed forward with the argument there should be nato expansion. and chancellor merkle went to st. petersburg where she met with president medvedev and declared she had no current interest in nato expansion and the russians were very thoughtful about that and please and i only cut off guest for three weeks of this time. [laughter] undoubtedly they wanted to influence the ukrainians and if the europeans got the message that the russians have them in a very uncomfortable position, through the administration they did not really object to that at all. the russians and americans are going to be competing again. that is yesterday's news. i don't think you what they should they will survive so let me go to the radical parts of the book and what other great powers of the 21st century? the bear in mind when in 1900 the predictions would have been the same as well. i am not impressed by a chain and -- china it is a third growth current tree with a majority of people a vast majority third less than $2,000 per year if that much it is two countries at odds and

what i have seen in nato is a reassertion of nationalism provide don't think the answer is there yet. we will see how it will unfold but i feel fairly pessimistic about the possible the if the europeans can do what i don't think the israelis or palestinians will pull off but i do thank you for noticing alfred because in fact,, the unstated father of what i am talking about is if you don't know, they the greatest strategist in american history and in many ways the founder of the american grand strategy certainly with the war college. >> with that no of light to thank you to go off the beaten track and of like to remind you george friedman book is available for purchase. thank you very much [applause] [inaudible conversations] george friedman founder and ceo of the stratfor a private intelligence and forecasting company and the author of "america's secret war". for more information visit stratfor with.com . .

germany has been a strong nato partner. as all of you know, we have great challenges in afghanistan, and increasingly in pakistan. but our collective commitment to making sure that we are not seeing the kinds of terrorist bases that could pose harm to all of our people, that we maintain that commitment. we also discussed the issue of iran, and not in isolation but in a broader context of avoiding a nuclear arms race that could be profoundly dangerous in the future. i said that i am committed to engaging in serious dialogue and negotiations with iran that if can't be done in isolation, it has to be done in conjunction with a t-5 plus one or the e-3 process, and germany will be a critical partner in that process . later in the summer i will be traveling to russia to discuss how we can reduce u.s. nuclear stockpiles and russian nuclear stockpiles. so our concern is not just iran but a broughter concern to increase nonproliferation so the threat is greatly reduced in our lifetime. and as the chancellor mentioned, my recent trip

and nato troops today. the change of command the pentagon hopes will turn the tide in an increasingly violent eight-year war. general mcchrystal took command from general david mckiernan during a low-key ceremony in kabul. he was fired last month by defense secretary robert gates one year into a two-year assignment. the u.s. and south korea have been pointed 11 underground sites in north korea where it it could conduct a third nuclear test. this, and of a summit between the two allies on the north's growing atomic threat. south korean president is on his way to washington for a meeting tomorrow with president obama appeared this just in it, prime minister von brunn's office says britain will hold a long- awaited in kuwait into iraq war -- prime minister board and brown. he pledged to examine mistakes made during and after the 2003 invasion. lawmakers and anti-war protesters have called for the inquiry to be held in public and to scrutinize what they say were a wide range of errors and post-war planning. the

david know he will, former chairman of the nato -- former chairman and nato meteorology from canada. dr. gerard karam, university of alaska and fairbanks. dr. yuri israel of the russian academy of sciences, a senior member of the senior academy of sciences who i met and spoke to and also a member of the ipcc, united nations report who now makes it very clear that he does not believe in that report or manmade global warming. dr. ian pill in her of the university of melbourne. dr. diean douglas, climateologist. dr. harry listen, co-chairman of the ipcc, hydroology and water resources working group. dr. antonio zakiki, world federation of sciences. dr. iber gyver. so, this idea that all the scientists are in lock step in favor of the theory of manmade global warming is a lie. not just a lie, a damnedble lie aimed at cutting out honest communication. and who's doing that? who's making this adamant statement that all the scientists are in agreement with this? well, we've had people who say these things and have said things all along, there's the global warming alarmists now who are making

my amendment requires that any specifics shared with nato countries as well as non-nato troop contributing nations regarding the following -- mutually agreed upon goals, strategies to reach those goals and troop and resource levels. it also requires a listing of unfulfilled commitment of partners and the data for each reconstruction team from anywhere but the united states. current law permits installations to receive financial incentives for energy management measures, only from electric utility not a third-party provider afpbledruse air force base was poised to accept $300,000 for reducing their usage but was advised they had no authority to accept from any entity over than a yulity. my amendment would give them the authority to accept incentives from third-party providers. the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: i yield myself such time as i macon susme the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mckeon: while i will not oppose the amendment, i rise in opposition to express concern with the way the amendment is drafted. it would remove funding from lightweight torpedos to

. >> nato top officials recommend now to cut the alliance forces in kosovo by one-third by january. i was wondering if you could tell if the pentagon is preparing for that withdrawal of u.s. forces participating in the operation? >> i have not heard that, daphne. although i'm sure in operations meetings in brussels it will come up. i mean, kosovo will certainly be a subject of discussion when we are in brussels later this week. >> are you aware of any recommendation of that sort? >> i am not. i mean i'm aware that we were together out to get there. so i wonder how paring down the force impacts that and whether or not u.s. forces would be part of that. i have not heard discussions internally about of gaining any forces as a result of some sort of nato drawdown in kosovo. obviously that would be nice. it would speak to the success of the operation but also free up additional forces to elsewhere and hopefully alternately increased well time. okay? thank you so much. [inaudible conversations] >>> hall is c-span funded? >> private donations. >> tax payers. >> i don't really know shapira

we have provided important support to enhance nato capabilities so our forces do not bear the entire burden of the efforts in afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe. i believe we should support nato's capability to contribute especially at a time when irregular threats are only increasing and partnerships will be the utmost of importance. it increases the budget request to address the command's unfunded requirements. these forces are at the tip of the spear to counter terrorism. the bill includes measures to strengthen the department's ability to operate in cyber space and to address vulnerabilities to our information technology systems. the bill establishes a joint program office to coordinate the cyber capabilities across the department and continues to push the department to establish processes for the timely acquisition of needed information technology systems. finally this bill continues our previous support of science and technology programs. sustained investment in this area is very important for our military forces to maintain their war fighting capability, not just now,

we had lunch in berlin and we talked about german-american relations, nato, the transatlantic alliance and her concerns about a world that she sought as drifting in a very dangerous way. that included a german american draft, attention and building in our relations affecting each other's interests. after our first meeting with left mean a deep impression of this leader and head in many occasions to meet dr. miracle in both my senate office in washington and in germany. each time i met with her i was more impressed with her insights and an ability to move very quickly to the center of an issue. i also was struck by her decency and humanity. now this should not be surprising considering issue is raised and shaped under the yoke of communism as she grew up in east germany. she has lived there and witnessed the devaluation of the individual, the wanton disregard for human dignity. and the breaking of the human spirits. her life has been about inspiration and, inspiration and leading her pupils to a better place or all are free to live in a democratic society based on respect for the indivi

we have worked closely together at the g-20 summit in london, the nato summit, and the eu u.s. summit in prague. i admire her leadership and pragmatic approach to getting things done. she had the german people have welcomed me twice, during the day of summit, and again this month. i am pleased to return the hospitality today. the chancellor shows -- agrees with my belief that no nation can meet the challenges of today alone. the united states and germany will continue to play a leadership role across a range of challenges. we are building on the bold steps we took at the summit by aggressively confirming the global economic crisis. i underscored our commitment to strengthening financial regulations, and i welcome the chancellor's commitment. as we prepare for the summit in italy and look ahead to the g-20 summit in pittsburg, we agreed on the need to avoid protectionism and embrace collective action that creates a sustainable growth and shared prosperity. i reiterated america's commitment to stand with germany and the lead with confronting the energy and climate change crisis.

course of our talks, germany and italy, others who are involved in commercial relations among the nato alliance. as i recall, this may be an oversimplification, at another juncture of difficulty in negotiations before progress at the 6 party talks, there were measures taken for the banking systems of various countries in the world, in which apparently north korean assets because of the leadership of others, were obstructed from being a value to them. that seemed to have a greater effect at that point than many of the threats or pressures coming through diplomacy to the un or other nations. can you give us some insight, as you look at that particular method with regard to the current north korean situation or that of its leadership as to what kind of pressure is involved, these terminations of the banking system? >> that is a subject we continue to examine, a subject which is covered in part by the u. n. security council resolution which is pending adoption in new york. it is one which we are exchanging views with our partners and allies in the region. i am not able to go very far at th

nato and united nations affiliate's. we need that to back them up. we need to get more stern in the nuclear area over there. we need to get inspectors to find out what he is doing and not allow this to continue. host: thank you, secretary. the secretary of state, in canada, made remarks over the weekend. "we obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the iranian people." back to the phones and our discussion around the iranian election and the position that the united states has been put in. especially with regards to the nuclear situation. georgia, republican line. go ahead. caller: the media had it like ahmadinejad was going to lose. he won in a landslide. obama said that they should be able to make their own nuclear power? that there should be to states in israel and palestine? let's go by what he says pertaining to this. the reason that ahmadinejad won in a landslide, you know that iraq had no bombs or anything? we preemptively attack of them and killed millions of their people. he is popular among his people because

. >> i serve on the nato parliamentary assembly and i have been able to meet with allies and they are proud of the contributions that they are making, certainly in afghanistan and what i would like to ask you for -- i would like to ask you for the record, explain the impact of the capabilities of these partners in the current fight in afghanistan, and can you talk about iraq as well? >> from your visits to the coordination center, you understand how this is coming together and this is bonding across the special operations. this has stimulated the activities of some special operations forces, being provided to the effort in afghanistan. should i talk about how the special operations are performing, and what the activities are in afghanistan -- i am not certain my monitor should is enough to give a coherent enough answer on that. i will say that in my discussions with the leaders, there is a feeling of community forming, across the nation's special operations community, and i would say that this is special operations forces -- the special operations line is something around which these

he was overseas as ambassador to nato at the time the scandal broke. however, he was " involved with nixon's political operations -- quite involved, as i write in the book about local favors and activities. he was very close to nixon's top political operatives who were implicated in watergate. host: you wrote about his being influenced by adlai stevenson in the 1950's. how did donald rumsfeld in the becoming a republican? guest: he came from a conservative district on the north shore in chicago. he could not have gotten elected if you were not conservative. but he was not a neo - conservative. sometimes people confuse him as being part of that community. he was always quite mainline conservative. some people might be surprised to learn that when he was younger in congress he had the image as a moderate republican, a reformer. he led a group that came to be known as rumsfeld's raiders and challenged some of the old-guard republicans in leadership. host: you wrote that his transformation process did not go as some conservative critics wanted. in august 2

the european orientation and nato relationship make it a bridge of stability between the euro atlantic committee and the nations of central asia and the arabian gulf. how would you describe our relationship with turkey today? >> thank you. although i am definitely greek, my father -- my grandfather was born in turkey and he came through grease on his weight to the united states. i think i have a cultural understanding of both of those nations. turkey is a very important friend and ally to the united states. i would categorize our relationship at the moment it is a strong relationship. we are conducting a great deal of information and intelligence sharing. we recognize the threat to turkey post that the kurdish separatist movements, and i believe it is an important as strong relationship and one i intend to focus on is confirmed. >> general mcchrystal,

i wonder if you have strategy for how this interdiction works, and if nato would be in cooperation with other countries in the area that are affected by the flow of drugs. is there a clear road map? >> first and foremost, this is an afghan operation. our efforts have been to support the afghan governments' efforts in the problem of narcotics. we remain committed to counter narcotics in afghanistan. what we're talking about, here, is we would like to increase our efforts to alternative crop development, public information, and interdiction. eradication. it is up to the afghan government to determine how they go about their own counter narcotics efforts. we do support them, of course. >> they seem to indicate that they are happy with the policy and there was some discrepancy there. >> i have not seen any statements from the afghan governments. in the back? >> two questions about north korea. could you update the schedule? the second one is up "the new york times" reported yesterday that they are traveling to china and meeting people there. any comment on that? and what to think about the

government and people of afghanistan, our military men and women deployed and deploying to afghanistan, our nato and nonnato allies. and the enemy. focusing on an exit versus a strategy is irresponsible and fails to recognize that our efforts in afghanistan are vital to preventing future terrorist attacks on the american people and our allies. in march of 2009, the president rightly outlined a strategy for afghanistan and pakistan focused on disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al qaeda and its affiliated networks and safe havens. while we debate this amendment, our military men and women are deploying to the afghan theater as part of an additional 21,000 force being sent to fight the insurgency in the south and train the afghan national security forces. instead of focusing on an exit as the amendment calls for, congress needs to provide the funding and resources required to support the president's strategy and allow our military commanders to succeed. as the commander of u.s. sebtral -- central command, general petraeus has consistently stated it will take sustained, substantial resources to

contributions to the international mission in afghanistan, the middle east, and the upcoming 2010 nato summit in portugal. they will talk about instances of ratification for our bilateral legal assistance and expedition trees. i think we have a separate statement explaining that agreement. later on this afternoon, the secretary met with foreign minister ahmet of turkey. she is looking forward to hosting the foreign minister in his first visit to washington as foreign minister. they'll discuss the jiechi to partnership between our two countries -- the strategic partnership between our two countries. this will include counter- terrorism cooperation, turkey's yeu bid, and developments in the middle east, around, and north korea -- iran and north korea. she will meet with a member of the republic of korea, an important ally of the united states. they'll be discussing the upcoming summit between president of the united states and the president of the republic of korea. it will clearly talk about the current situation in north korea and the u.s.-korea alignment -- alliance. as the president

and our nato allies. we can cut a for your 05 steaming days off. an issue of significant strategic and economic importance. we are working in concert with -- not been contest to northern command from a european command, our friends and allies, and the department of state. >> the menil, have complicated, challenging, and important, it you are dismissed. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> how is c-span funded? publicly funded it. donations may be? i have no idea. >> government? >> federal funding? >> may be, i do not know. >> how was seized in pandit? 30 years, america's cable companies created c-span -- how is c-span funded? 30 years ago, america's cable companies face c-span as a public service. no government mandate or money. >> "washington journal" is next on c-span. this morning, a pentagon briefing on iraq with a juror not -- general odierno. later on in the day, in the that the elections in iran. live coverage from the woodrow wilson internat

i would also say that three or four years ago, if you had said that china, russia, the eu, nato, malaysia, india, the u.s., australia, canada, greece, turkey, would all be working together, that is a pretty interesting mix of countries but that is what we're doing because there is a common concern that we all have and i think we are making some good progress there. it is also an international effort. we created a task force, 151 to be a coordinating element for piracy and right now, the task force is being commanded by a turkish admiral, u.s. ship. >> other questions? >> i will spot here. >> has been some talk lately about getting rid of basically the idea or the goal of being able to fight two major conventional wars in different theaters. it is time to revisit the idea. i wonder what your take is on that and should we not retain the capability to fight, say, north korea and iran should they both flareup at the same time? >> i think that is one of the fundamental questions as we work through the quadrennial defense review is to determine what the needs and how do you put in place these f