the institute, she served for ten years as a senior professional staff member for near east and south asia on senate foreign relations committee. she writes frequently on national security matters with a focus on domestic politics in the middle east and south asia, u.s. national security and terrorism and weapons proliferation. adl first began working with ms. pletka when she worked for the later senate helms, crafting important counterterrorism legislation at a time when the threat of terrorism against americans was seen as remote to all but a few courageous legislators. we're also gratified to have with us washington bureau chief of the jewish telegraphic agency. ron campius covers these issues in the halls of government day in and day out. his blog, capitalj, is a must read for beltway insiders following politics and issues of importance to the jewish community. ron will give the floor to each of our panelists to open with a few remarks and engage them in discussion before he takes questions from the audience. please consider what questions you'll have. there are mics around the room. m

south asia's largest jail is turning dangerous criminals into better citizens by putting them to work in some very nice surroundings and explains society is the one to benefit. it's a bustling factory in india men making everything from steel pipes to fabrics it's sat on a beautiful campus with manicured lawns and fountains a far cry from the hectic bustle of new delhi. but the workers in the seeming utopia actually have no choice about being here in fact they have no freedom at all because their inmates in south asia's largest jails the har. i mean all round it i make good clothes which is sold in the outside world nirmal singh is one of twelve thousand inmates in bihar and he's serving a life sentence for murder. now he makes one hundred rupees or two dollars a day for his work i feel that no matter what crime i committed in the past i don't want to commit any more or do anything room when i'm free i want to look for a job as a weaver. heart is a revolutionary facility in india housing everyone from high profile criminals like former prime minister is to common robbers the mastermin

threatened to carry out attacks in kenya after the country decided to send troops to pursue them south asia's largest jail is aiming to turn dangerous criminals into better citizens by taking a unique approach using creative rehabilitation and pushing an emphasis on work skills they say that scheme is showing real results as a prayer shri to explain. it's a bustling factory in india men making everything from steel pipes to fabrics. it's set on a beautiful campus with manicured lawns and fountains a far cry from the hectic bustle of new delhi. but the workers in the seeming utopia actually have no choice about being here in fact they have no freedom at all because their inmates in south asia's largest jails the har. i mean they round it and make good clothes which is sold in the outside world nirmal singh is one of twelve thousand inmates in the heart and he's serving a life sentence for murder. now he makes one hundred rupees or two dollars a day for his work i feel that no matter what crime i committed in the past i don't want to commit any more or do anything wrong when i'm sure i want to

south asia's largest jails the har. i'm a round i make good clothes here which is sold in the outside world nirmal singh is one of twelve thousand inmates in bihar and he's serving a life sentence for murder. now he makes one hundred rupees or two dollars a day for his work i feel that no matter what crime i committed in the past i don't want to commit any more or do anything wrong when i'm free i want to look for a job as we've. seen heart is a revolutionary facility in india housing everyone from high profile criminals like former prime ministers to common robbers the masterminds behind this chill provide training for in maids as well as other activities like meditation music and painting to calm their spirits. i object to was i give them that kind of a holistic reform correctional by was the mind gets dry cleaned and then they leave the prison i do not come back that big gets handed them says many convicts here at the hard jail save their learning skills on the sprawling four hundred acre campus that they hope they c

> is it realistic for the united states as it is disengages from the middle east militarily and south asia after huge conflicts, is it realistic to think our allies will take big leadership role as we may have a change in orientation and think about asia, for instance, in terms of really being both threats and challenges that we have to deal with? is that a realistic role for particularly our european allies to play? >> i believe it is. i have been one of the people that for a long time has says that the u.s. wants to have europe as a partner. i was born in europe so whenever i have discussions with europeans i say i'm just like you, i happen to have been raised in the u.s. you are no longer the problem, you are part of the solution. for most of my adult life, trying to deal with europe was the problem. how to deal with the communist and divided europe and how to bring central and eastern europe into the alliance, i think people ask me what i'm proud of. many of the things i'm proud of expanding nato. because nato continues to be the world's strongest military alliance. and so the question

and east asia bureaus require an increase in speakers of languages such as arabic, hindu, and chinese, over our portions have tripled in the bureau of south and central asia affairs where language-designated position requirements have increased tenfold and in the bureau of eastern affairs corresponding with arabic requirements. the foreign service institute has expanded the foreign language training capacity to meet these demands and raise proficiency of existing foreign language speakers. more targeted recruitment, however, can help address the current challenges. and we're recruiting aggressively for certain priority language proficiency skills to address increasingly complex national security challenges, the department must have robust foreign language capabilities. therefore working in our inner agency with our interagency partners, we strongly encourage young people to study languages earlier in life starting in middle school and high school and continuing through college as my colleague just mentioned. to assist in building the pipeline, the bureau of educational and cultural affairs is providing language learning opportunities to t

foreign policy in the middle east and south asia. seth jones, what struck you the most about those remarks? >> well, i think it's very clear that the president is committed to pulling u.s. forces out of afghanistan especially combat forces. and his comment that the pace will be consistent and the forces will leave i think gives everybody a sense that he is committed to withdrawing the vast majority of the american forces from afghanistan. i think the trend is very clear. >> ifill: brian katulis, he laid out a lot of ideas for how the u.s. and the afghan forces will collaborate in the next year or two. are they achievable? >> i think they are. i think this speech was trying to strike the right balance between transition and ending this phase of the war. and offering enduring support. i think some of the most difficult challenges will come actually in the political and diplomatic sphere. he talked about peace with the taliban. he talked about the need to build enduring afghan institutions. i think this is one of the most difficult task

there is no way we're going to leave south asia, afghanistan or pakistan. we're engaged still in korea, we've got thousands of troops in germany. i mean, we have a global presence. the question is, how many troops should there be in a particular place and with what kind of lethal force? we're going to be training afghanistan, we're going to try to help them get in at least in the 20th century, if not the 21st. we're going to be doing the things that will stabilize that region. we recognize pakistan, which mitt romney refers to as such an ally, that's where the real threat is, that's where the real problem is. they're the ones with nuclear weapons. they have far more extremists and al-qaeda members. bear in mind that's where bin laden was, so i take issue with romney's description of pakistan as a close ally. there are many allies in pakistan, but pakistan is still a troubled stand. he needs to take a broader and deeper perspective on foreign policy, and until he does, he probably ought to keep his mouth shut. >> well, congressman, i think you gave it a lot

south asia, east asia, africa, the middle east, all over the world. so the racial configuration of our country has changed enormously since that law. >> professor kerber mentioned that one senator from pennsylvania that vilified the chinese, have you found that through history, a new immigrant group comes along and is sill phied almost equally? >> yeah. we all know that. we all know that. and i think one of the things i conclude from that or i like to think about is that we've had conflicting and contesting traditions in the united states, so that we have principles which are grand and eloquent and ethical and capacious. and they're difficult to live by and in every decade, in every generation, if you want, there's resistant. they have to be argued about. people have to be persuaded of them over and over again. they don't -- they're not static. >> we have a couple of minutes left. and i will wrap up by asking each of you if in that the issue is still fairly current, if you were called before congress to testify on the importance of the 14th amendment,

as you look across north africa, the horn, italy, south asia -- you see a range of regimes that are weakening. somewhere, al qaeda has gotten a foothold, and some like syria and in bali, where they are desperately trying, but now is not the time. we are pulling out marines and putting them into australia. that may not be the time to move also strategically to the east. >> so what you're saying is shrink the footprint, but keep the eye on the enemy. >> i think you said it better than i did. >> i have to say, this was one of the most conference of histories of the last 10 years that i have read all in one book. it was a good read. great to talk to you, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. .. >> this month as part of book tv college series will visit the university of virginia to talk to present to the professors and doctors. first toe of the author of a government out of sight. this is a little under have an hour. >> the book is called the government out of sight. this tree of national authority. the author is university of virginia professor brian bellows. breezy get the title? >> i ge

fortune of working with a group called the self-employed women's association in india and it works in south asia. i think over 2 million women. a lot of these women are very, very poor. and have been given no chance in life. you start to see what a little opportunity makes and a little difference makes and the empowerment of them in terms of whether one of the things we help finance and create credit for was a solar lamp and kind of how they helped design it so this can be reading, it can be general lighting, it can help with a cell phone. captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2008 captioning performed by vitac

. >>> turning to south asia now, a group of countries including pakistan has signed a deal to build a gas pipeline from turkmenistan, the long-delayed project could help ease pakistan's chronic energy shortages. it's also attracts attention from the united states as a possible way of adding pressure on iran. we have a report from islamabad. >> reporter: this involves construction of an 1,800-long kilometer pipeline to supply natural gas from turkmenistan to afghanistan, pakistan, and india. turkmenistan has some of the world's largest reserves of natural gas. u.s. firms initially drew up similar plans in the 1990s. asian development bank joined in 2002 with a feasibility study. but the project among the deteriorating situation in afghanistan. they met in turkmenistan on wednesday and agreed to quickly proceed with the plan. the agreement is due to last for 30 years, and cause higher prices for the gas. the agreement is likely to attract the attention of the united states. pakistan is building another pipeline to receive gas from iran. the u.s. is trying to isolate iran because of conc

that's not what you want to look like in south asia. we are not going to have a constructive relationship with pakistan. their governance doesn't work, their military is effectively running pieces of the country that the militants are not in the local region. we're getting out. and when we get out, this is going to be more of china's problem, india's problem, then it's america's problem. frankly, most americans are okay with that. >> that gives me a question of the whole nature of nato in the first place, and that is why is it a nato issue what the shape of afghanistan is? that is not north atlantic by any stretch of the imagination. and even if you look at the other nato involvements, you're not looking at something that looks like a mutual defense pack. >> where do we stand with the whole post world war ii rhetoric? >> the whole post world war ii order, whether it is the world bank or imf or nato, u.s.-led global stuff. well, the united states doesn't want to do as much of that lifting, our people are saying no, and meanwhile, a lot o

counterterrorism policy issues and operations, as well as security policy in the near east and south asia. during his service in the obama white house, his door has always been open to us, and he has been generous in sharing his time, his wealth of understanding, and his insights. please join me in becoming white house senior director for middle east and north africa, steve simon. [ applause ] >> thank you. steve's introduction reminds me of something i used to say before i came back into government when i was asked about the arab spring which was since i didn't see it coming, how do i know where it's going? i still feel like that a little bit. anyway, thank you all for being here and inviting me to join you this morning. it's an honor. it's truly an honor to address such a distinguished group. let me start by thanking all of you here today for the work that you do every day through the anti-defamation league to advance and protect our most fundamental american freedoms and values. for nearly 100 years, you have been on the front lines of the freedoms that americans cherish whether by com

vital arc that extends from the western pacific and eastern asia into the indian ocean region and south asia onto the middle east. by not acceding, we undercut our credibility in a number of focused multilateral venues that involve that arc i just defined. we're pushing for example for a rules-based order in the region. and the peaceful resolution of maritime and territorial disputes in the south china sea, in the straits of hormuz and elsewhere. how can we argue, how can we argue that other nations must an beside by international rules when we haven't joined the very treaty that codifies those rules? we would also help strengthen worldwide transit passage rights under international law, and we would further isolate iran as one of the few remaining nonparties to the detention. these are the key reasons from a national security point of view for accession. reasons that are critical to our sovereignty, critical to our national security. he again, as the secretary pointed out, i understand the arguments that have been made on the other side, but at the same time, i don't understand the logic of

frequently on national security matters with a focus on domestic politics in the middle east and south asia. u.s. national security and terrorism and weapons proliferation. adl first began working with miss pletka when she worked for the late senator helms crafting important counterterrorism legislation at a time when the threat of terrorism against americans was seen as remote to all but a few courageous legislatures. we're also gratified to have with us washington bureau chaef of the jewish tell graphic agency. he covers his issues in the halls of government day in and day out. his blog capital j is a must read for beltway insiders following politics and issues of importance to the jewish community. ron will give the floor to the panelists and engage them in discussion before he takes questions from the audience. please consider which questions you'll have. make sure when you ge up to ask a question that you give us your name and your region. thank you all for taking time to be with us today. [ applause ] >> our order today is going to be aaron, danny, david. add, which is appropriate. so

i worked overseas for years with frequent travels to the arabian peninsula, africa, south asia. i became intrigued with the opaque indigenous but very effective ways of transferring money and value, so different from our own. for example, the pakistani businessman was referring to various forms of what we loosely call trade-based money laundering. it involves the transfer of valley ya commodities and trade goods. in addition to simple but effective customs fraud, trade-based value transfer is often used to provide countervaluation or a way of balancing the books in many global underground financial systems, including some that are used to finance terror. without going into detail, some of these trade-based value schemes are found in networks. most other regional forms of alternative remittance systems, the afghan transit trade, suspect international, lebanese, hezbollah networks, trading syndicate, and nonbank lawless regimes in the horn of africa. now, in theory, spotting anomalies in trade data and overlapping these anomalies with financial data, transportation data, travel da

with mullah omar in afghanistan and have to remember the people of afghanistan like the people of south asia or in general don't like a lot of the arabs hold a lot of kind of illusions about what nato can achieve for example the taliban opposed the nato intervention in libya didn't announce gadhafi at all but to said it's another attack on a muslim country a muslim should be very wary of this so really again like i said nato want to push away the and team putin is kind of currents within the tunnel of within the afghan resistance and want to maintain and bold start a collaborationist regime post twenty fourteen for the other regime change operation against russia china and also india does explain what that regime would actually be made up or what do you mean by that. well there was a reason why they got rid of the p.d.p. a government back in the one nine hundred eighty s. the p.d.p. a government was was progressive. massive land reform education program a liberation of women so what they what they've instituted basically through through through war and intervention in afghanistan is a regime

fortune of working with a group called the self-employed women's association in india and it works in south asia. i think over two million women. a lot of these women are poor and have been given no chance in life. you start to see what a little opportunity makes and a little difference makes and the empowerment of them in terms of whether one of the things we help finance and create credit for was a solar lamp and kind of how they helped design it so this can be reading, it can be general lighting, it can help with a cell phone. within the first week, they make it, they manufacture it, it's gone out -- they had over 10,000 sales of this which again we tried to help create the basis of financing. when i talk to, i remember one woman, this the poorest of the poor, these are people that would spend eight months a year in salt flats trying to gather salt and this one woman told me she said now because she has a sense of making it different for her children you know, they leave the children in a vil with you know, grandparents or others so they can start to get an education opposed to spending eight

pentagon official, commander of the third battalion fifth special force, had e led deployments to south asia and the persian gulf. in july 2001 he assumed the duties of military assistant to defense secretary donald rumsfeld and worked daily with the secretary for five and a half years. retiring from the army in 2005, he continued at the pentagon in a civilian capacity as secretary of defense for homeland defense in american security affairs. before joining us here this year, dr. buchy was a lead consultant to ibm on security policy. please join me in welcoming my colleague, steve buchy. steve? >> good afternoon and welcome to the heritage foundation. we are really glad to have everyone here. this particular subject is a very important one. it -- a year ago, the heritage foundation wrote a really fine report on the tragedy that occurred in japan. and now one year later, they have written a new one, which is again, an excellent analysis of what went on and what we can learn from our friends and allies in japan and how they dealt with this particular trarge. what we're going to do this afterno

i worked overseas for years with frequent travels to the arabian peninsula, africa, south asia.i became intrigued with the opaque indigenous but very effective ways of transferring money and value so different from our own. for example the pakistani businessman was referring to various forms of what we loosely call trade-based money laundering. it involves the transfer of value via commodities and trade goods. in addition to simple but effective customs fraud, trade-based value transfer often provides counter valuation or a way of balancing the books in many global underground financial systems, including some that are used to finance terror. without going into detail in some of these trade dates values schemes are found in cool wallet networks, most other regional forms of alternative remittance systems, the afghan transit trade, suspect international lebanese hezbollah networks, trading syndicates and non-bank lawless regimes in the horn of africa. now in theory, spotting anomalies in trade data and overlapping these anomalies with financial data transportation data and travel

on counterterrorism policy issues and operations as well as security policy in the near east and south asia. during a service in the obama white house, his door has always been open to us and he has been generous in sharing his time, his we'll of understanding and his insights. please join me in welcoming white house senior director for middle east and north africa, steve simon. [ applause ] >> steve's introduction remind me of something i used to say before i came into government when i was asked about the arab spring which was -- since i didn't see it coming, how do i know where it's going? i still feel like that a lot

to be part of the positive solutions in the middle east, south asia, and east asia. the main recommendation to our country is not to turn inward. not to be isolationists because we are having troubles here at home. and to avoid draconian cuts to our defense budget. there are a lot of people here who understand defense far better than i do. if the united states loses our military edge, our qualitative military edge, if we lose our power to protect for us and be a force for good globally. our foreign policy will suffer. and countries that we may not like very much may emerge as dominant countries. so the most important part of this report for me is that the united states lead nato and lead by a strong military in the future. $450 billion over 10 years is quite a significant contribution to budget cutting. if we go beyond that, if congress does, i think we'll be in big trouble as a country. i don't want to see that happen. i don't think anyone wants to see that happen. >> if you wait for the microphone and identify yourself. >> i'm harland. nick, there is no more articu

our government to protect american interests around the world, in europe, in the middle east, in south asiand certainly in east asia, so the first recommendation for the united states is really a recommendation to our political leaders in congress, to both political parties. we understand. i certainly understand as a citizen that every part of our society has to uphold the responsibility of reducing our budget deficit. the military is going to do that with nearly half of $1 trillion in cuts, but we go well beyond that and in danger to our. the greatest force for good in the world. as i said before, the second recommendation is that this should be with europe and that the united states and europe should be acting together on a strategic basis to be actors in south asia, in the middle east, in east asia, and third, there has been a lot of talk about a transpacific partnership. that was part of the president's initiative on asia, with which i certainly agree. how about a transatlantic partnership that goes beyond just data, which brings about a greater economic integration between north americ

fortune of working with a group called the self-employed women's association in india and it works in south asia. i think over 2 million women. a lot of these women are very, very poor. and have been given no chance in life. you start to see what a little opportunity makes and a little difference makes and the empowerment of them in terms of whether one of the things we

region willal supporters and there is a consensus they would like to see peace and civility and south asiand afghanistan is a -- it was all sent as part of the speech and i believe it hopefulliyy -- hopefully will be heard across the board. >> it's a very interesting development. i appreciate you coming inside the war room and explain from the afghanistan size side of things how it will be viewed. and coming up: so how did mitt romney spend his day? exactly. we'll look at how the power of the presidency can force its will on a campaign trail. you are in the war room on current tv. >>the war room needs your help. >>the only online forum with a direct line to jennifer granholm. >>our goal is to bring you behind the scenes with access to stories that you've never seen before. >>politicallydirect.com join the debate now. [ mocking tone ] i'm ms. brown. i'm soooo chocolatey. i'm giving away money to make people like me-eee -- is what he said. and i was like "you watch your mouth. she's my friend." friend is a strong word. [ male announcer ] chocolate just got more irresistible. find the all bro

that was the tsunami where everybody got warnings in south asia but some people didn't take them.ight. here is question number four. of the great american news quiz, the natural disaster edition. the movie 2012 showed the world being destroyed by a series of natural disationers. disasters. >> bill: that doesn't look too pleasant. >> no. >> bill: the movie was based on a prediction that the world would end in 2012, next year, a prediction allegedly made by which ancient civilization? and that is correct, the myans, very good. did you guys read the original mayans? >> >> bill: next year in 2012, that's it ladies and gentlemen, that's the end. everybody should start spending now and get out of the recession. >> i'm going to take more vacations. >> bill: all right. here is the last question. what do we have? a tie here. >> she is ahead by one. >> bill: i'm old and can't keep track. number one, i'm really not interested. number two, no, that's not true. [ laughter ] >> bill: that's a lie. many christians and jews believe the biblical story of noah's ark. >> like many people believes th

we're building a global consense dwrous support peace and stability in south asia. chicago, the international community will express support for to plan. i haven't made it clear pock stan that it can and should be an equal partner in this pro snes a way respecting pakistan's sovereignty, interests ask democratic institutions. a pursuit of a durable peace america has no design beyond an end to al qaeda's save havens and respect for afghan sovereignty. as we move forward, some people will ask why we need a firm side line. the answer is clear. our goal is not to build a country in america's image nor eradicate every vestige of the taliban. this will require more years, many more dollars and many more american lives. our goal is to destroy al qaed yachl we're on a path to do that. afghans want to assert their sovereignty and build a lasting peace. that requires a clear time line to wind down the war. others will ask why don't we leave immediately? that answer is clear. we must give afghanistan the opportunity to stabilize. otherwise our gains could be lost and the comma