and i want to say how -- just with regard to as the presentations now particularly iraq, lib yarks certainly egypt, how appreciative we are as americans of your being there and the incredible service and dedication required to do your jobs. and i want to, on behalf of the we don't get an opportunity later on behalf of all of us in this room, like to thank you for your service to the united states. [ applause ] >> i now like to call on the ambassador of u.s. embassy bahrain. >> thank you very much. thanks for being here. it is an honor to be here with such distinguished colleagues whose jobs are much more difficult than mine sin bahrain f. any country might deserve a do over of the events of last year would be bahrain. if you look at the situation before february of last year, bahrain was a model of prosperity, a great place to do business. they had succeeded in diversifying their economy beyond petro chemicals, manufacturing, banking, financial, services sectors, and creating a moderately vibrant middle and working class. in 2010, bahrain was ranked 33 of 183 countries on the world bank's ea

with general mattis about the report al qaeda is making a comeback in iraq, and general mattis said al qaeda come back is particularly noteworthy in western iraq and even al qaeda's threat is extending into baghdad. general, you've served in iraq with distinction. you understand not only with your current responsibilities in afghanistan, but the importance of what we've done in iraq, and obviously, the role that iran can play in iraq, not only in iraq but currentlyta can you help me -- what was the perception of us not leaving a follow-on force in iraq and afghanistan given your need to, of course, make sure that we execute a strategic partnership, and, second, whatke from that ad in making sure that we have that follow-on ag >> back in november of last year president karzai, i think, wisely convened something the lawyer jerga, which in this case was over 2,000 afghan notables from all walks of life came together for several days to answer in essence two questions. should there be a strategic partnership with the united states? and should afghanistan pursue liba the first of the two being the preeminent outcome of th

and i just want to say, just with regard to presentation, now particularly iraq and libya, and certainlyegypt how appreciative we are as americans of your being there and the incredible service and dedication required to do your jobs. and on behalf, if we don't get an opportunity later, on behalf of all of us in this room, i'd like to thank you for your service to the united states. [applause] >> i'd now like to call on ambassador krajeski of the u.s. embassy, bahrain. >> thank you. thank you very much and thanks for being here today with such distinguished colleagues whose jobs are much more difficult than mine is in bahrain. i think if any country deserves or my deserve a dual over passionate do over, would be bobbing. if you look at the situation before federal or of last year, bahrain was a model of stability and prosperity. it was a great place to do business. they had succeeded in diversifying their economy beyond petrochemicals, building diversified manufacturing, banking, financial, services sector, and creating a moderately vibrant middle and working class. in 2010, bahrain was

i just want to say how, just with regard to the presentations now particularly iraq and libya, certainly how appreciative we are as americans of your being there and the incredible service and dedication required to do your jobs and if we don't get an opportunity later, on behalf of all of us in this room we would like to thank you for your service to the united states. [applause] i would now like to call ambassador krajewski of at the u.s. embassy bahrain. >> thank you very much and thank you for being here. it is an honor to be here with such distinguished colleagues and our jobs are much more difficult than mine are in bahrain. if any country might deserve a do-over of the events of last year it would be bahrain. if you look at the situation before february of last year, bahrain was a bottle of stability and prosperity. it was a great place to do business. they had succeeded in two diversifying their economy beyond petrochemicals building diversified manufacturing banking financial services sectors and creating a moderately vibrant middle and working class. in 2010 by rain was ranked

iran's belligerent and unhelpful role in afghanistan and iraq is worrisome, particularly with reports indicating their co-option of those governments at senior levels. so madam secretary, what additional pressure can we bring to bear to offset the iranian influence in afghanistan and iraq. serious questions persist about whether elements of the pakistani government support prominent insurgent groups fighting against our troops in afghanistan. in other mideastern coun middle countries -- and to the forces that work there, including radical islamist groups. your budget request doubles down on that approach by requesting a $770 million middle east and north africa incentive fund, a finned with almost no restriction on how it can be used. even though press reports indicate that egypt may have decided to lift the travel ban on our ngo workers, we should not reward egypt with aid when it is demonstrating hostility to western democratic agencies and it is engaging in an ongoing dance between authoritarians and the husband him brotherhood. the administration did the right thing by cutting off

particularly. returning from employment in iraq and afghanistan have been disproportionately affected by the depressed job market. a year ago more than 1 million veterans were unemployed, and in february, that number had to climb somewhat to the 770,000 figure i mentioned earlier. we should not sit by as a country and allow such human talent to go underappreciated and underemployed. this is a problem that we can build our way out of literally. economists estimate that for every dollar we investment in public infrastructure, the economy produces another $1.44 worth of economic activity. that is why i reintroduced originally hr-494 to create thousands of infrastructure jobs in our region and across the country, and shared my proposal with president obama, and he joined me in calling for a job corps. the proposal was actually inspired by the original. the conservation corps, which during the depression of the 1930s was created. to alleviate chronically high employment. and it worked. it's amazing to look at the numbers within three months. three months. not years. over 300,000 americans were employed thr

but diplomats in the region say it's important for iraq to pull itself away from those who had influence on it before particularly united states, iran and turkey. this is a way to sort of gain more friends in the region. >> warner: this is the first time in more than 20 years iraq hosted an arab league summit. i gather they went to extraordinary lengths to prepare for it. >> absolutely. the baghdad government spent a half billion dollars to make this summit happen put tens of thousands of security men in the streets. basically put the city on lockdown. there were checkpoints everywhere, most of the city was without phone service for the past two days. they renovated hotels planted flowers and i have to say that the summit did go off without incident almost. today as arab leaders walked into the palace we heard a couple telltale booms. officials later confirms it was a couple of mortar rounds that fell, no casualties. but you know in the bigger picture this is a big deal for baghdad not just to say it's a safer place, a place where people might want to do business but it's trying to reassert itself in the arab wor

what jumps out at you here having worked with and studied soldiers particularly those serving in iraq and afghanistan? >> well, i can't comment specifically about the accused soldier but what i can say is there's a phenomenon known as berserk or going berserk that has been reported throughout all times in almost all wars. homer wrote about an episode about in which achilles went on a rampage and committed several atrocities following the death of his friend. while this is a rare ten onnom it has been reported. jonathan shea writes about his patients experiencing something similar in vietnam. it's a horrible event that can happen. it doesn't lend itself to scientific study very well. >> jeff: general, just to get more specific here. one issue clearly has been raised about the multiple deployments. what is known and what is not known about the impact of deployment deployments, multiple deployments on soldiers and marines? >> we really don't know a lot. i mean we know for sure that we've got tens of thousands of soldiers who have gone on multiple deployments and not displayed any of this

international political support for the afghan government, particularly in europe about how to find afghanistan initiatives after 2014. in iraq, then it's been sporadic high-profile attacks continue. prime minister maliki's recent aggressiveness against sunni political leaders have heightened political tensions. but for now, we believe the sunnis continue to be the political process as the best venue to pursue change. elsewhere across the middle east and north africa, those pushing for change are confronting ruling elite, such caring ethnic and tribal divisions, lack of experience with democracies, stalled economic development, military and security forces and regional power initiatives. these are fluid political environments that offer evidence for extremists to produce a more assertive in political life. states were authoritarian leaders have been toppled such as tunisia, egypt and libya have to construct to reconstruct the political systems are complex negotiations among competing factions. and nowhere is this transition i believe more men egypt, which i think will be a bellwether and of course and so strategically importa

iraq managed to hold a summit, it's back in the international sphere. but in terms of substance, there is a lot that divides the arab league nations, particularly syria, and it comes down to the issue of golf states wanting more intervention, other states, like iraq, not so sure about that. >> i think, in that respect, as it happens, iraq is really in the middle ground, because iraq is not simply arguing for preserving the regime but it is also strongly arguing against pushing syria towards breakdown. iraq, out of self interest, knows exactly what sort of back wind will blow on iraq itself if the syrian state was to break down or if there is civil war in syria so really, out of self interest, i think iraq is drawing the line to say, give kofi annan initiative a good support and good chance and i think this has been a point of consensus that at least united the conference. >> but in terms of what disunites, what keeps them apart, this issue is very divided amongst them, isn't it? >> i think, as i said, some minimum has been achieved, which is an endorsement of what's going on. no new initiative has been launched because you cannot undermine the current ini

i think particularly if assad regime in syria goes down that iraq and afghanistan will both become major battlegrounds between the united states and iran, between saudi arabia and iran. we've already -- iraq is not in a good state. nobody really talks about it, but there's still bombs going off and so on. and iraq is, and afghanistan, are the easiest places, obviously, for iran to play because of their long borders. so i don't -- this is a reason against the military option, and something that we should be aware of as we go forward. >> all right, very good. please join me in thanking our panelists on the first panel. [applause] we're going to take a short break to allow our second panel to come up here. we'll reconvene here at 10:45 sharp, so, please, be in your seats no later than 10:45. thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] >> so as you heard, a short break in in the forum on u.s. policy towards iran from the cato institute. up next, what to do if diplomacy fails. this break should last about 15 minutes, and we'll rejoin live coverage. right now, though, we'll go back to openi

the other part is, you know, anyone who's in afghanistan right now, particularly someone who's been in iraq three times previously and been injured, would obviously be under a great deal of stress. so stress is always a factor. i know for a fact that there is no issue with his marriage. it's a very strong marriage and, frankly, we're all taking offense at that. now whether there was alcohol involved or not i simply don't know. i haven't spoken to my client about that. >> have you spoken to him at all? i understand you had a short phone conversation. how did that go? how did he sound? >> he sounded distant and kind of like a deer in the headlight but okay. i conveyed his family's love for him. i told him i did not want to speak to him about specifics of the case because i don't trust the phone not being monitored. i can tell you that i just learned that he is now on his way to ft. levenworth, kansas, and i was to have a phone conversation with him this morning at 6:00 a.m. seattle time, but he's in transit to ft. levenworth right now. >> do you know if he'll be tried in military court or som

>> well, the military is invested quite heavily, particularly during the repeated deployments in iraqnd sending whole units of therapists to war zones to prevent and treat psychiatric casualties. and most people think this is a good thing, and the military is justifiably proud of how many efforts they've made on this front. as a psychologist, i was interested in following the minds of the documentary to get a feeling of, is this a good thing or not, to send psychologists to treat the military in war zones or is this an abuse of psychology? >> we know the soldier accused suffered head trauma, yet he was cleared of being a sniper and returned to active duty. so some psychologist had to decide that he was okay to continue to serve. as you look at the situation right now, what kind of pressures was that psychologist perhaps feeling as he's treating this particular soldier? >> well, in going into the documentary, we followed the deployment of a combat stress unit to afghanistan in the preparation for the deployment. there is quite a bit of recognition of these conflicting missions. in many

the other part is anyone who is in afghanistan right now, particularly someone who has been in iraq threejured, would obviously be under a great deal of stress. stress is always a factor. i know for a fact that ls there no issue with his marriage. it's a very strong marriage and we're all taking offense to that. whether there was alcohol involved or not, i simply don't know. i haven't spoken with my client about that. >> kasey kahne -- casey is standing outside. what do you know about this lawyer who is representing the soldier who killed 16 afghan civilians last sunday? >> reporter: that interview took place on sunday after he was still being held in kuwait. now you know he is being sent back to the united states. the attorney said he wanted to send his love to his family and we asked him if he expressed any kind of remorse about this shooting incident. the attorney said he would not have any comment on that. he did say, however, that the soldier seemed unaware of some of the circumstances surrounding this case, and that was very much of concern to the attorney. let's listen. >> he seeme

. >> particularly anyone who has been in iraq three times previously and has been injured will be underalways a factor. i know that there is no issue with his marriage. it's a very strong marriage and frampgly we're all taking offense at that. whether there was alcohol involved or not, i don't know. he seemed to be unaware of some of the facts that i talked to him about which makes me concerned about his state of mind, obviously. >> you're sort of thinking about putting the entire war on trial and how maybe the military treats its soldiers. am i being fair? >> i think it's a real question. you know, i'm old enough to remember the massacre in vietnam and how that hastened the end of that war. maybe a tragic event like this will get people to rethink the war in general. i don't want to put the war on trial but i think that people should start thinking more about why we're there and how long we are going to stay there. >> joining me from new york is sebastian younger. we heard the defense attorney saying that the men and women who serve back to back tours of duty and suffer ptsd and are re

iraq. general mathers said that the al qaeda comeback is particularly the or the in western iraq and even said that al qaeda is threatening to extend into baghdad. general, you understand not only with your current responsibilities in afghanistan but the importance of what we have done in iraq and obviously the role that iran can play in iraq -- not only iraq but currently afghanistan. what was the perception of us not leaving a follow-on force in iraq and afghanistan, given your need to make sure that we execute a strategic partnership? and second, what lessons can we take from that as we go forward and making sure that we have a follow-on agreement in afghanistan? >> back in november of last year, president karzai i think wisely convened something that in this case was over 2000 afghan notables from all walks of life who came together for several days to answer, in essence, two questions -- should there be a strategic partnership with the u.s., and should afghanistan pursue peace with the taliban? the first of the two being the preeminent outcome of this. /ñ??????????????ñ? the

held in baghdad key decades it hasn't been particularly well attended some of the countries not sending their top diplomats to get involved in that now iraq's foreign minister said that the country rejected calls for foreign intervention as a means of ending the conflict he did say to the country's behind the syrian people's base of freedom but you can see that's quite a difference of opinion to some of the arab league countries that have been seen very much to be pushing for arming the opposition and first sending in arab peace to intervene we've seen a guitar call for that to happen so there is definitely a difference of opinion whether the abbe's case davil to bridge those divisions m.a.c. see that it certainly thought that today of course there is talk of the attention that they'll be hearing from cave and possibly endorsing that six point peace plan the six points now very similar to the arab league initiative. at the beginning of the year the removal of the forces from some of the conflict areas the release of political prisoners all it with its sunni important but of course it doesn't have the alternates and it doesn't cool the presi

case it hasn't been particularly well attended some of the countries not sending their top diplomats to get involved in that now iraq's foreign minister said that the country rejected calls the foreign intervention as a means of ending the conflict i think he did say to the countries behind the syrian people's bit of freedom but even he that's quite a difference of opinion to some of the arab the countries that have been seen very much to be pushing for arming the opposition and sending in i have chased into the we seen a guitar coup for that to happen so there is definitely a difference of opinion whether the abbey is going to be able to bridge these divisions it remains to be seen it is certainly still that today of course there is talk of the attention that they'll be hearing from casey and possibly inducing that six point peace plan the six points now very similar to the arab the initiative at the beginning of the year the removal of the forces from some of the conflict areas to release political prisoners although it puts it seem important but of course it doesn't have the ultimatum and it doesn't call for presid

iran's belligerent and unhelpful role in afghanistan and iraq is worrisome particularly with reports indicating they. option of those governments at senior levels. so madam secretary what additional pressure can we bring to bear to offset the iranian influence in afghanistan and iraq? in pakistan the level of cooperation as we know that we get from the government continues to fall short. serious questions persist about whether elements of the pakistani government support prominent in searching groups fighting against our troops in afghanistan. and other middle eastern countries i have had concerns from day one about the frustrations approach to the arab spring and to the forces at work there including radical islamic groups. the administration appears focused on spending a lot of money in search of a policy. your budget request doubles down on that approach by requesting a 770 million-dollar penalty in north africa, a fund with almost no restrictions on how it can be used. even though press reports indicate that egypt may have decided to lift the travel ban on our ngo workers, we shou

case and it hasn't been particularly well attended some of the countries not sending that talk to us to get involved in that now iraq's foreign minister said that the country rejected calls the foreign intervention as a means of ending the conflict and he did say that the country is behind the syrian people's bit of freedom but you can see that's quite a difference of opinion to some of the arab league countries that have been seen very much to be pushing for arming the opposition and sending in arab chiefs to intervene we seen a guitar call for that to happen so there is definitely a difference of opinion whether the abby's going to be able to bridge those divisions in a.c.c. this certainly thought that today of course there is talk of the attention that they'll be hearing from cave and possibly into seeing that six point peace plan. now it's been a week since the u.n. security council issued a statement endorsing kofi and iran's peace plan but is it actually being implemented. well i mean that's really the question because we have we would have six point three similar t.v. out of the initiative. at the beginning of

and every trip that i've been to iraq an afghanistan, when i talk to the generals and asked them if they need help, particularly with those who have traumatic brain injury or severe post traumatic stress disorder, what do they need, we get the same answer. well, they've got the resources they need to take care of them. but the interesting thing is on one of those trips that someone with much less rank approached me, pulled me aside, said they needed a lot more help. and one of the suggestions that they actually made was that i talk to the clergy. and so since that trip to iraq, every trip i've taken since then, i did talk to the clergy. and the interesting thing is they were telling me that more and more of the soldiers are going to them because they were afraid to seek help from a doctor because they're afraid of what other soldiers would say. do you find that true as well that they might be afraid to seek help while in the service because they might not get the promotion they're looking for? >> yes, sir. absolutely. i feel like it needs to start probably from the top on down because when you are in a unit lik

you are part of an administration that advocated democracy, particularly after the iraq war. and certainly highlighted it and made it a priority in talking to an egyptian government and other governments in the arab world. and yet really until the arab awakening, not much genuine change in the air world. and i always wondered whether in some ways america is a, the best agent to create change and be with, whether we are capable of doing it given that we have the strategic conflict always. thinking fan in thinking out about the role of the military, the role of intelligence. we are engaged in the war in iran where we had military forces in the go. we had the arab-israeli issue that is central to politics and to us in terms of national interest. and every time we would push in one direction, orally or with ngos, we still have to consolidate all these relationships with the very institutions that we are angry the regime that was not democratic. so if that's something that is inherent in american foreign policy that is difficult, how did you manage it when you in the white house,

iraq. general mathers said that the al qaeda comeback is particularly the or the in western iraq and even saidt al qaeda is threatening to extend into baghdad. general, you understand not only with your current responsibilities in afghanistan but the importance of what we have done in iraq and obviously the role that iran can play in iraq -- not only iraq but currently afghanistan. what was the perception of us not leaving a follow-on force in iraq and afghanistan, given your need to make sure that we execute a strategic partnership? and second, what lessons can we take from that as we go forward and making sure that we have a follow-on agreement in afghanistan? >> back in november of last year, president karzai i think wisely convened something that in this case was over 2000 afghan notables from all walks of life who came together for several days to answer, in essence, two questions -- should there be a strategic partnership with the u.s., and should afghanistan pursue peace with the taliban? the first of the two being the preeminent outcome of this. the afghan constitution says the voice o

part of our challenge and particularly the challenge of the syrian opposition is to disprove bashar al assad's theory. it's his theory that says look at lebanon, look at iraq, that's where we're headed if you don't back me. there's a real responsible on the part of the syrian national council, the broader opposition groups to show by word and by deed that that's, in fact, not where they have to go. >> what are the dynamics, if you would, between the syrian national council and free syrian army and the internal local groups, mr. ambassador? >> mr. chairman, a couple of things i'd say on that. the two organizations are separate. there is not a hierarchy between them. the syrian national council has its own executive body and a broader general assembly. the free syrian army, as best we understand, has its own leadership hierarchy. they are not organically linked. however, they certainly do talk to each other, and on the ground in syria local revolution councils are being set up now. if you watch, for example, al jazeera television, you'll often see the spokesman for the revolution council in homs talking about the atrocities going on there. it's a young man,