particularly catholics leaving north vietnam and going to south vietnam. now, the north vietnamese regime at this point will enter a period of consolidation in some respects. now, from 1954 to 1959, the north concentrated on building its structures and building the regime of north vietnam. but ho does some very typical way that the communists dist la reform. now, the communists at the same time they're doing this, they never abandon the struggle against south vietnam because, you know, again, this is the first step. you've got north vietnam, yes, but you haven't gotten -- the communists have not gotten what they really want. one of the primary ways they carry out their war during this later to be expanded into cambodia as well. and this is something that's very, very significant to the communist war effort in south vietnam, pivotal, pivotal for much -- for all of their war effort here once they really lunch the military struggle. now, the importance is critical here for supplies, logistics, for manpower and so on. so it's a very significant investment. 2 mi

you've got north vietnam, yes, but the communists have not gotten what they really want. one of the primary ways they carry out their war during this period against south vietnam is something that becomes a primary tenant of the way they fight south vietnam all through the course of this is through something they called extermination of traders campaign. this is basically you kill any official or anybody that's against your regime or anybody that's useful to the south vietnamese regime or you abduct them as well. it's basically this is a campaign. this is designed to destabilize the government, discredit the government of south vietnam. if you can't protect your officials, the government has no credibility. well, the communists can protect you if you come to us. it's certainly a way to intimidate anyone that opposes you. you can see the numbers here. fairly significant numbers. now also, again, preparation. this is the way of prepping the south for them to take it over. another way this they do this, in may of 1959 they begin building what is known as the ho chi minh trail

give the order to send troops into north vietnam. between 1965 and 1969 there are 325,000 chinese troops here. at one time there was 170,000. this is critical in many ways. to the north, they want these chinese troops because the more there are in north vietnam, it acts as a trigger. if the americans come north there will be a war with the chinese. there are chinese troops in north vietnam. in the north vietnamese' mind this is a great option to have. when you think about american options when we talk about this next week, think about american options for dealing with this war, keep in mind the chinese presence here and the factor that that brings to the table. in 1964 the north decided to consolidate their control of the central highlands. they're thinking that now they're getting prepared for what they think is going to be a final offensive against the south. after the gulf of tonkin incident and the fact that they couldn't negotiate a settlement, the north decided they had to start committing troops to the south. they believe they

north vietnamese called it. in 1965, the u.s. starts sending major forces into south vietnam. the soviets at this point heavily colved, the north, again, they're continuing to prosecute their strategy the way they had before. you've got the political elements of it, but you've also got the military elements of it. and part of the political element of it, this deception and propaganda campaign, when the u.s. becomes heavily involved, the north tries to do everything it cando. a communist victory is inevitable. they also mask and lied about their motives and their actions. they did this wonderfully, wonderfully well. and they did everything they could do to discredit the u.s. actions in the war. and they were often aided in this by sympathetic elements in the western press, anti-americanism both in the united states and abroad, and they proved very, very successful here. and all of this that they're doing is made easier by the fact that most foreigners don't know anything about vietnam. and they don't know anything about southeast asia. and also you have this strange -- this real

we didn't get americans into north vietnam, but we got third-country nationals into north vietnam, and those reports occasionally appeared on television screens in the united states, western europe. i'm unaware of that. mr. jennings, you've got the chance to go with the north kosanese unit. they will show you atrocities by the south kosanese. but as fate would have it, they aren't able to get there because there's a skirmish, there's some confusion, and in fact, the north kosanese are about to ambush a unit of south kosanese soldiers. i'm afraid to say that as a reporter-- and i hope this is taken as the hypothesis it is-- as a reporter, i think you make a commitment going in. you understand going in that the possibility exists that you may come upon a south kosanese unit. you also make the decision going in that you could come upon an american unit. my feeling would be as a reporter that you'd have to make that decision before you went, and that if you're in, you're in. i live in fear of coming upon an american unit as well as a south kosanese one but... you would film the north kosan

reform and in 1969 my colleague, jeff, recently mentioned the plan, which was a plan to press north vietnam by creating a massive attack. in 1970, when we invaded cambodia, mr. nixon's angst was with the united states pentagon, not with the enemy, because they had not evolved a suspiciously powerful or potent plan. mr. nixon wished to fire the united states commander in vietnam, general craig abrams, because he was not acting forcefully enough. in 1972, in the beginning of the year, when the north vietnamese launched the eastern offenses, mr. nixon immediately criticized the air force for not developing sufficiently potent plans for hitting north vietnam. in fact, the christmas bombings that occurred in december 1972, in which we sent 150 b-52 bombers, was prefigured the middle of april of that year when mr. nixon specifically wrote in memos that he sent to the pentagon, i want a plan thursday morning to hit hanoi with 100 b-52 bombers. he was constantly pushing and pushing. this is the kind of thing you have to explain. it's not limited. there was a plane shot down. the immediate response

1969 my colleague jeff briefly mentioned that doug hook planned and that was a plan to pressure north vietnam by creating a massive attack. in 1970 when we invaded cambodia mr. nixon's angst was with the united states pentagon and not with the enemy because they had not e viefld significantly powerful or potent plan in 1971 when we invaded southern laos, mr. nixon wished to fire the united states commander in vietnam general craig abrams because he was not acting forcefully enough, in 1972 when the north vietnamese launched the easter offensive and they criticized the air force for not developing sufficiently potent plans for hitting north vietnam. in fact, the christmas bombing that occurred in december 1972 in which we sent 100 b-52 bombers against hanoi was prefigured as early as april of that year when mr. nixon specifically wrote in memos that heen i want a plan thursday morning to hit hanoi with 100 b-52 bombers. mr. nixon was constantly pushing and pushing for the most forceful option imaginable. this is the kind of thing you have to explain. it's not limited to vietnam for that matter

of course, you have a regional war that develops here as well between north vietnam and the united states. and this, of course, spills over and allows cambodia and so on and south vietnam, the fighting in north vietnam as well particularly on the air side of it. a lot of this is conventional. again, it's not all. that's not the whole thing. it's only part of the picture. and you also have to keep in mind that the cold war context of what is going on here, because we don't -- when we think about vietnam, we don't automatically think about this being a coalitional war. we sometimes even overlook the south vietnamese role in it. some of the literature, for example. you almost think there's no south vietnamese army he'ding the book that there's pretty

vietnam. they kill koreans indiscriminately from south and north. >> there is no protest. >> i remember once whenia and vietnam grenade to the sisterly journalists on my way back from north vietnam and 67. wilford urchin met at his house in north vanden said was that bad? i said yeah, it was really bad seeing people dying every day. i said it's bad. he said yeah, it's bad. i've been there. but it's not as bad as the korean war because i was there. he said with a finished bombing pyongyang, there were only two buildings left in the entire city. and in fact, throughout north korea, every single building was destroyed during that war except the building and pound a job think we show convincingly that the japanese didn't know the carpet bomb the experience were were killed. as just another bomb. they reacted when soviets bombed the chariot. the soviets were heading towards al qaeda, which is sacred territory of the japanese. so we tried to show his soviet entry into the far east that made the japanese give up, not states. very strong. these days the thing that if you had a dissenting voice doing the

vietcong attacked an american base and johnson called a cabinet meeting to sanction the bombing of north vietnam. >> johnson was not looking for advice but validation and it was actually johnson looking for ratification of what he already decided, he goes around the room asking all these people, his advisers to tell him what they think about this decision to launch these attack and humphrey announces he thinks it's a mistake. >> johnson was furious with him. and the bombing of the north began. >> congress gave us this authority, in all this 1964. to do whatever may be necessary, that's pretty far-reaching. the sky's the limit. >> while there may have been no limits on johnson's expansion of the vietnam war, there would now be limits on his vice president. >> i knew him intensely for those years of the '60s and that was the most tortured period of his life as he was trying to be vice president, serving the president who was taking us to war in vietnam. even if he had misgivings as an independent thinker. >> after their public disagreement, humphrey was frozen out of all discussion of vietnam. joh

it was a hidden war. >> and be i remember once when i journalist on my way back from north vietnam thissaid, was it bad? and i said, yeah, it was really bad. seeing people die every day is bad, you know? is and he said, yeah, it's bad, i've been there, but it's not as bad as the korean war, because i was there. and he said when they finished bombing pyongyang, there were only two buildings left in the entire city. and, in fact, and throughout north korea every single building was destroyed during that war except the building where they were negotiating a peace set settlement. story, our history on chapper one which is really hiroshima and nagasaki, japanese didn't know the difference between the thousands of people were killed, they were devastated by it, and the atomic bombs. first. they reacted when the soviets invaded manchuria because the soviets terrified them and they were heading towards sacred territory for the japanese. so we tried to show it was really the soviet entry into the bomb from the united states mopg other things. >> the dissent, of course, in the '60 and '70s was ve

i think she disqualified herself by going to north vietnam. the factor is giving aid and suffer to the enemy of war. that said let's move to the real issue. gloria all re d, my anger is directed to the media. i hate saying the media, but gloria all red, why people listen to this woman. clearly she knows this statute out -- it is a sexist statute out by the way. am i right? >> as a feminist -- you are right. do you need me to say yes? >> have i a very low self- self-esteem. >> a feminist saying that women are too weak to handle a verbal slur undoes -- how long has feminism been around, six years? i am kidding. all of the hard work that feminists have done is because women's feelings are too sensitive. she is being clever. she found an old -- >> she helped address that law. >> get him off the air, sec. >> schulz is not here. you are the only woman on the panel. what is your take on this. >> going after a law like this is a little cheap, and it does take away from the idea that we can handle it. at the same time, i think he crossed the line, but

hanoi freed the remaining american pows they claim they were still holding in north vietnam. >>> as newth begins to downsize his staff, his biggest legacy will be the day he called for kids to be janitors at a school. a georgetown alum recounts his days as a student yjanitor. >> i was at a private high school and to me it was embarrassing. i'm always working super hard. did i not feel empowered by serving my classmates. >> i would also ask you the question, did you find it useful to get the money? is there a reason why you were doing it? >> joining me now, and he said there was a reason why he was doing it. but joining me is michael crowley. former journalist jill zuckman and fred yang. welcome, all. michael crowley, let me start with you. newt gingrich having that thrown back in his face. by the way, it was supposed to be a speech on social security. it took him 30 minutes to get to that topic. >> sounds like newt. >> yeah. >> well, newt was doing a decent job i think of slowly rehabilitating his reputation. he left congress under pretty dark circumstances. i think he had a nice little

i said soften them up with an aerial bombardment, lbj's attempt to make the backs of the north vietnam liberation army look like child's play. then we put boots on the ground and we bought back the iraqis, i would say in maybe a couple of days. she told me, get your stocks together that you like. we will buy the heck out of them. buy the heck out of them. get in a ton of co-options. margin the most we can. the moment our soldiers see the whites of the iraqi's eyes, that's when we're going to do it, and that's exactly what we did. on february 23, 1919, we saunderred into the office and used every bit of our buying power to put as much of our capital and goldman sachs's capital to work as we could. ladies and gentlemen, do not try this at home. five days later the smoke cleared. cramer partners, up 28%. she said, all right, we're done. time it take out the catalogs, go to the movies, take long lunches. i said how long. now to moral of the story. how longer we doing this? until the end of december, idiot. we're lock it in. but i liked work. we just day-traded. took the summer off. had som

jane fond today, the outspoken liberal who famously traveled to north vietnam during the war, denounced american political and military leaders as war criminals, and even sat on an antiaircraft gun in an image that looked like she was trying to shoot at american planes. she has since apologized for that snapshot, calling it thoughtless. joining me now, leslie marshal, and lars larsen a syndicated talk show host with calm pass video met works. lars, i think people will be outraged over this. you tell me. >> i think they should be outraged over it. god bless kennedy and alito for where they are going with this. hanoi jane has no business playing mrs. reagan. mrs. reagan and her late husband are revered figures for conservatives. the idea that hollywood thinks that this young lady who called returning pow's liars and hypocrites and american leaders war criminals as you said is absolutely outrageous. hollywood should be ashamed of what they are doing. megyn: why would they choose her, leslie? >> well, quite frankly, what lars forgets is that she is an actress. i mean whether you like what s

think it failed their main purpose which was to force the other side to withdraw north vietnamese troops from south vietnam and to give up their insistence of a unified vietnam. that did not happen. but the point is vietnamization took a long time to come into play, by the time they came into play most american troop his withdrawn. okay, this is complicated. >> i have actually a slightly interpretation of laird's role and by the way. theon

personalizing of your enemy. >> the north vietnamese soldier did when i fought in vietnam, not only in the valley but in other very tough battles. he was a well-trained soldier. highly motivated, was not afraid to die. i think part of his motivation may have been that they were determined to drive the round-eyed western foreigner out of their country. and the thought struck me often in vietnam that we look just like the french. white, black, brown and we were in their country. killing them, dropping bombs on their cities. and i don't think it was very tough job for the leaders in vietnam to embut the very tough fight to get this round-eyed foreigner out of our country, which had been enslaved by the french for a hundred years. until this. i think they identified us almost like we were french. >> your enemy? you're discussing the -- is this characteristic of people's army of vietnam and the viet cong fighters or did you see a difference? >> oh, i think they're about the same. the same motivation. probably a similar motivation to the some of the iraqi terrorists. with all the british occ

think it failed their main purpose, which was to force the other side, to withdraw north vietnamese troops from south vietnam, and to give up on their insistence of a unified vietnam. that did not happen. but the point is that vietnamization took a long time to come into play and by the time it came into play, most american troops had been withdrawn. well -- >> okay. >> this is complicated. >> i have actually a slightly different interpretation of laird's role. and, by the way, the nixon library has quite an excellent laird oral history they did. in any case, i think that nixon's view of melvin laird, nixon and kissinger's i should say view of melvin laird was somewhat similar to what john kennedy thought about avril harriman, that he was the crocodile on the side of the creek who could bite your head off if you did it wrong. so laird's positions and what laird did and how he related to the president's enterprises was of huge importance to the white house, and that's why certain things happened the way they did during that period of the vietnam war. and i think jeff is right about laird's commitment to de-am

next weekend, a look at north vietnamese strategy with the vietnam war. for more information about american history tv, including our complete schedule, visit our web site at cspan.org/history. >> if you had said in 2006 that the world would be begging for the united states to use force again in the middle east within three and a half years, everybody would have said you were crazy. >> robert kagan is not only an advisor to the romney campaign, but serves on secretary clinton's advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years, actually, is that there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy. more than we expect. a lot of broad consensus. and i think what you're seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and probably there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with robert kagan on foreign policy and his latest the world america made sunday night at 8:00 eastern on cspan's q&a. >> all weekend long, american history tv joins our comcast cable partners in sri pohrevepo louisiana. shreveport, foun

next weekend, a look at north viatnamese strategy during the vietnam war with donald stoker, a professor at the naval war college in monterey, california. for more information about american history tv, including our complete schedule, visit our weps, at cspan.org/history. >>> all weekend long, american history tv joins our comcast cable partners in shreveport, louisiana, to showcase its shreveport, founded in 1836, has a population of about 200,000 people and is located about too miles northwest of baton rouge. you're watching american history tv on c-span3. >> we are standing in oakland cemetery, which was the original city cemetery that dates back to 1847. and it was the primary city cemetery until about 1895 or so. one of the reasons that 1873 is so important to this region and to this city is that the great yellow fever epidemic decimated the city and really changed the course of the history of north louisiana and this city in particular. within two weeks, we lost a quarter of the population of the city inside the city limits, 800 to 1,000 people are in this cemetery. if you pan ove

down towards the indo-china peninsula showers in southern vietnam and cambodia will move toward the northnd it could become heavy at times on thursday. now moving on to the americas, a large high-pressure system is bringing dry conditions across much of the eastern u.s., but to the north a low pressure system and spreading widespread snow showers across the eastern half of canada. then we also have other low pressure systems moving across the central rockies spreading winter storm conditions. as it moves toward the east, snow will change over to rain and spread rain to much of the eastern half of the u.s. on your wednesday. it's going to be particularly wet in the southern plains. thunderstorms are possible on wednesday. and it will turn severe on your thursday. to the west, dry conditions are continuing. that is raising the risk of wildfires in parts of texas as well as in new mexico. lots of warm air coming in from the south, pushing up temperatures. getting up to 16 degrees in chicago. 13 degrees in toronto. and 17 degrees for both b.c. and atlanta but to the west dipping down to 2 deg

vietnam archive interviewed veterans from the battles. it was after these battles waged in november of 1965, that north vietnamese forces engaged in ger la warfare. up next, excerpts from one of those worldries. we'll hear from harold moore. over the next hour, moore ruminates on the nature of war and leadership and we'll hear his recollections of the battles he knew would reverberate in washington and hanoi. this is the second of two parts and opens with moore talking about freedom of the press during wartime. part one can be viewed at cspan.org/history. >> what i -- that commanders did welcome and understand press coverage. but after the fact, they add that when the negative reports, tried to turn the volume down a bit. starting to have a problem with the way that a war was being -- i realized every now and then -- i would -- i thought it was -- or the american people. the people who send their sons and daughters off to war, they deserve to know what's going on. they depend on -- it was unfortunate -- >> is that correct? >> that's correct. >> this is one of your principles. >> that's right. >> and what was the situation there? you all

march 31st in north carolina, we will have the first in the country, welcome home vietnam vets day. i want to thank you for the cooperation in making sure the va presence is there to make sure we are able to catch those who have fallen through the cracks and work with those who have problems and will have a va mobile presence there as we will from d.o.d. and a lot of private sector entities that are working on employment placement. i think this is a very, very special event that is long overdue. hopefully it is the first of a total of 50 that are held around the country. i thank you for your participation. i ask that chart number one go up. i asked for measures that were heading in the wrong direction when it comes to claims processing. i want to talk about the quality of va's decisions on disability claims. your goal is to have 98% accuracy. for the past three years, accuracy nation wide has been about 84%. as of december of '11, the offices around the country varied from 94 to 61. mr. secretary, in total, how much is va requesting for '13 budget to carry out all of the quality ini

north bay. >> get prepared. >> absolutely. >> thank you. >>> an iconic image of a vietnam war is in the -- is in a bay area museum tonight. crews spent the day putting together pieces to form a full huey helicopter. john ramos on the unique strategy involved in bringing it to oakland. >>> reporter: in 1968, the vietnam war was consuming the american psyche. and no symbol defined the war more than that of the huey helicopter. >> it just brings up all those memories that you had thought you had forgotten. >> reporter: bringing up memories is the job of the oakland museum of california. and today's task was daunting. construct a full-sized huey helicopter indoors as part of a new exhibit examining the events of one of america's most pivotal years, 1968. >> this will be a way to really elicit those stories and get people back to that time period. >> reporter: but there was a problem. a huey doesn't come apart. it's manufactured as one big piece. >> and so, how are we going to make this into parts? how do we make a huey kit? >> reporter: so a group of designers and vietnam vets got out saws and created a chopper that can be tr

march 31st in north carolina we will have the first in the country welcome home vietnam vets day. an all-day event. and i want to thank you for the va's cooperation at making sure that the va presence is there to make sure that we are able to catch those who have fallen through the cracks, work with those who have problems, and have a va mobile presence there as we will from d.o.d. and a lot of private sector entities that are working on employment placement. i think this is a very special event that's long overdue and hopefully it will be the first of a total of 50 that are held around this country. and i thank you for the va's participation. i'm going to ask for chart number 1 to go up. earlier i mentioned a mub of performance materics that seem to be heading in the wrong direction when it comes to claims processing. but i want to start by talking about the quality of va's decisions on disability claims. your goal is to have 98% accuracy. but for the past three years accuracy nationwide has been about 84%. and as of december '011 the accuracy rate at regional offices around the

vietnam. we are producing oil in the north sea in the uk and also norway and denmark and netherlands.n -- in the worst case we can mobilize all our own products to support our demand. >> so south korea is the world's sixth largest oil importer. how concerned are you at this point by the rising oil prices? >> well, understand that 2008 when the oil price comes $140, the time, i mean, it has been totally negative. so maybe -- we also may face such difficulties, actually higher price is very much a threat to the economy. it is true. >>> after several weeks of unrelenting rains across australia, the north is bracing itself for a tropical cyclone. we have a meteorologist standing by. >> the conditions across australia, new south wales, reports of possibly $1 billion in damages left from the floods there. and then you take a look at what's developing to the north and to the northwest, not a good story. tropical feature and a potential for development, plenty of moisture there, we have circulation there and low chance of development across northwestern portions of australia, around the city

vietnam and maybe. the us are suspended food aid in north korea after the country refused to cancel our rocket launch scheduled for made april washington says this breaks the deal in which north korea agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program and nuclear missile tests in exchange for humanitarian support yangon says the launch is just intended to send a satellite to space for scientific purposes to estimate crop production james corbet from a corporate report says the u.s. is using a few days and a withdrawal as a geo political tool. communally would be only affected this will have this to make the people of north korea even more dependent on pyongyang and central power they hold over the food supply and further drive north korea to two other sources of food aid will still be of course china obviously a rival for u.s. power and influence in the region so i think this is a. a clear example of the us shooting shooting itself in the foot if it is indeed attempting to really change the power structure of north korean society through its food aid could be used as a tool and instrument of national power which

vietnam and maybe and so on. the u.s. suspended food aid to northkorea after the country refused to cancel their rocket launch scheduled for mid april. washington says this breaks the deal with north korea to suspend its uranium enrichment program and your missile test in the face for humanitarian support says the launch is merely intended to send a satellite to space for scientific purposes an estimate crop production james corbet editor of the corporate report shows the u.s. could be using food aid withdrawals or geopolitical. it's really would be only effects that this will have is to make the people of north korea even more dependent on pyongyang and central power that they hold over the food supply and further drive north korea to other sources of food aid most notably of course china obviously a rival for us our influence in the region so i think this is a clear example of the u.s. shouldn't shooting itself in the foot if it is indeed attempting to really change the power structure of north korean society through move like food aid could be us

the offensive in vietnam was a huge military offense and a defeat for the north vietnamese.tered america support and that's what's happening now. the american people have said, we can't define the mission, no one can tell us what winning would look like. we have mission gallop to buildingbuild ing democracy it is time to come home. >> i think governor barbour and george are right in saying that the president is not communicating to the public a clear strategy for what we're doing over the next two years. we have made a commitment with our nato allies. we'll stay in afghanistan until the end of 2014, there is a timetable for the withdrawal. the argument that you would make is that if we pull the plug and rush out, we almost guarantee a civil war returning to afghanistan, a partition that would be very ragged and developments that would be contrary to our interest. the president somehow has to sell this proposition that we're not fighting for a victory to plant the flag and say we won it, we're fighting for a degree of stability and civility in this dangerous place. what i thi

veterans of of the vietnam war, which ended in 1975, will be honored today in charlotte, north carolinaamilies will be welcomed to the charlotte motor speedway for live entertainment and other festivities. organizers call it a homecoming celebration because vietnam vets never got a proper welcome home when they returned stateside decades ago. >>> 8:05 in new york. time now for a check of the weather outside. hopefully the weather will be nice for that celebration there in charlotte. >> a little bit of an issue. but just a little bit, especially during the morning hours. i think if they can be patient, it will be turn out to be okay in the mid-atlantic states, including charlotte. the east coast in general, we have some problems out there. take a look at this. this is a shot of columbus circle. right here. zipping around, right there. new york city, cloud cover right now for you. you can see in this picture, right? oh, look at that shot, how cool is that, all of our little new york city taxi cabs right there. let me talk to you about what the weather headlines are stacking up this mornin

vietnam in 2006. >> we will start in the weather center. >> we are tracking the storm. james, we see the north and look at san jose down to the south, they are try. >> that's what we ex he effected. we expected it to start in the south bay and it will take awhile to encompass the south bay as well. this is where the rain is at the moment and makes the horseshoe pattern. up along the coast and down along the east bay. we will push in. start in the east bay. and we see rain. continues to rain along highway four. delta seeing some weather. light this time. not substantial rain. and most of it is coming down in the form of mist and drizzle. there is a lot of moisture there. and highway four, martinez seeing it. and wet at times. the rain is picking up a little bit down near san ramon and livermore and pleasant ton we are seeing light trace amounts and there is moisture out there. don't be surprised if you run into it especially in 580 in livermore and 680. the east shore of the bay, from the bay bridge, it looks like all the way down. nimitz freeway ride into fremont looks dry and dry as well. and

march 31st in north carolina we will have the first in the country welcome home vietnam vets day, an all-day event, and i want to thank you for the va's cooperation in making sure that the va presence is there to make sure that we are able to catch those who have fallen through the cracks, work with those who have problems, and we'll have a va mobile presence there as we will from dod and a lot of private sector entities that are working on employment placement. i think this is a very, very special event that's long overdue and, hopefully, it will be the first of a total of 50 that are held around this country. and i thank you for the va's participation. i'm going to ask for chart number one to go up. earlier i mentioned a number of performance matrixes that seemed to be heading in the wrong with direction when it comes to claims processing. but i want to start by talking about the quality of va's decisions on disability claims. your goal is to have 98% accuracy, but for the past three years ration si nationwide -- accuracy nationwide has been about 84%. and as of december '11 the ac