considered sort of a godfather of the taliban but now the pakistani taliban were rocketing his house and that's firing rockets at, not throwing rocks at. and his wife was under threat. this is the character study of what happens when the taliban sort of go wild. but i needed to get -- i needed to meet the younger generation and be able to kind of figure out what was making them tick. so in october of 2007, through a mutual friend, arranged to meet a young journalist in the main city of swat which is north of islamabad. and i was going to go spend several days there with him as a guest of the swat -- the pakistani taliban. and this is a time when it was a really interesting time because the taliban were very much playing for public sympathies. and they were interested in having journalists. they were not -- they hadn't sort of turned the corner yet where they had lost all inclinations towards being -- towards providing some sort of alternative judicial structure. i think now they've -- now they are no longer sort of -- it's not a hearts and minds game anymore. it's a pure terror game

sort of the godfather of the taliban and now the pakistani taliban were rocketing his house, and that's firing rockets, not throwing rocks at. he was severely under threat. this was the character study of what happens when the taliban sort of go wild. but i needed to meet the younger generation and be able to kind of figure out what was making them tick. so in october 2007, through mutual friend a range to meet a young journalist about four hours knows wes from islamabad. and that is going to go spend several days with him as a guest of the squad, the pakistani taliban. this was a time because the taliban were very much playing for public sympathies. and they were interested in having journalists. they had so turn the corner yet where they had lost all inclinations toward being, toward providing some sort of alternative, judicial structure. i think now, now they're no longer sort of -- is not a heart to mine anymore. so in october 2007, we get in and come in on a wednesday evening, and my translator, just as a quick word, these people, the sixers for translators, guides, second pair of

believed that the bus carried fresh taliban fighters sent to help those under attack. only the source of intelligence used to determine that the bus carried insurgents has not been made known. admiral mike mullen claimed the goal of the operation was to have no civilian casualties. a brookings 2009 constitution report -- institution report estimates that 10 civilians doo you for every militant kill -- for every militant killed. an artist -- article published, called "america's secret presence reveals the seek rel detention facilities." i ask unanimous consent to submitt that. the bombings must stop, the alleged torture of afghans captured in such night raids and the slaughter of innocent civilians only serve to embolden -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. berman. mr. berman: thank you, madam chair. i would like to yield an additional two minutes of our time to the ranking member to be added on to herr time and subtracted from our time -- to her time and subtracted from our time and now i'd

the taliban was born in kandahar. and as evidence on the evening news, there is an effort to reclaim that historic city. but as i talked to the governor of the river province, he said that the only thing that the taliban has anymore with population is threats. they don't have popular appeal, or so he told me. the very idea that u.s. forces or forces in the nato coalition would withdraw would leave a vacuum in which the taliban would flow. and it has been discussed here eloquently by congressman duncan hunter who wore the uniform in harm's way. that vacuum would not just be filled by the taliban about by their evil al qaeda. so i think this resolution is wrong on the law. i think it's wrong on the facts. but lastly, let me just say, i believe it's not supportive of our troops. i mean, it's impossible for me in the many trips i have made to visit soldiers in iraq and afghanistan, impossible for me to meet with those soldiers without being profoundly inspired. i will acknowledge the gentleman from ohio has spoken in glowi

but -- the more taliban we get. but i want to quote a line, what the purpose of giving the president the power, which was an illegal transfer of power to the president to pursue war at will. it says, the authorities to authorize the use of united states armed forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the united states, the taliban didn't launch an attack against the united states, the government of afghanistan didn't launch it. the best evidence is that of those 20 individuals, two of them might have passed through afghanistan. a lot of the planning was done in germany and spain and the training was done here in the united states. oh, yes. the image is that they all conspired, a small group of people, with bin laden, they made this decision. right now the evidence is not there to prove that. but certainly bin laden was very sympathetic, loved it and wanted to take credit for it. and one of the reasons why he wanted to take credit was that he said it would do three things for what he wan

but -- the more taliban we get. but i want to quote a line, what the purpose of giving the president the power, which was an illegal transfer of power to the president to pursue war at will. it says, the authorities to authorize the use of united states armed forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the united states, the taliban didn't launch an attack against the united states, the government of afghanistan didn't launch it. the best evidence is that of those 20 individuals, two of them might have passed through afghanistan. a lot of the planning was done in germany and spain and the training was done here in the united states. oh, yes. the image is that they all conspired, a small group of people, with bin laden, they made this decision. right now the evidence is not there to prove that. but certainly bin laden was very sympathetic, loved it and wanted to take credit for it. and one of the reasons why he wanted to take credit was that he said it would do three things for what he wan

we must defeat al qaeda and the taliban. this means taking all necessary steps to ensure al qaeda does not have a sant wear in -- sanctuary in afghanistan or pakistan. at the end of last year i hoped that the war debate in this country ended and we would give a chance for this strategy to work, we would give a chance for those soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors who have been sent there to carry out their mission, to be successful. i had hoped as a nation we could move toward a place of action. we wouldn't be in a position of second guessing before we've even had a chance to complete that mission. during the debate last year, no one said that it was going to be easy. the current operation in afghanistan has been successful, but has not come without challenges. however, as we stand here

their job was to kick the taliban out of the country and make it safe for the taliban, capture the cityf marcia sharif. if they captured months are they could go to kabul and kandahar and the whole country would follow in this domino effect. i forgot to mention that he was talking to only 12 guys. [laughter] cal spencer, one of them who is six weeks earlier had been this routine training mission and was thinking i'm getting too old for this stuff and i've got to go. so in the end, the accomplished what planners might not take a year and a half and they did it in a little more than six weeks, involving about 300 personnel. it's not exactly accurate because the reality is thousands of conventional people followed on shortly thereafter it. but the reality is that it costs roughly 100 million bucks here at the beginning and they didn't push the taliban out of afghanistan. they did go after these training camps and they did it in a way that probably none of us in this room, could we don't fully know about what these guys do, can really describe her talk about, which is really the point of th

by supporting their efforts to disrupt and dismantle and defeat al qaeda and the taliban. as many of you know, my daughter-in-law, lindsey, served in iraq and afghanistan. i also have two committee staffers, one in the army reserves and one in the marine reserves who are on their way now to afghanistan. this is not their first time in battle. both of these gentlemen have served bravely in iraq, but the prospect of entering combat never becomes routine. they, like my stepson, douglas, who served as a marine fighter pilot in iraq, have recounted to me how the debates in congress, to mandate a withdrawal from iraq, demoralizes u.s. troops. the request of my staffers to me as they embark on their mission to afghanistan is to provide them with all of the tools and all of the support that they need to defeat the enemy and to win. they ask that we strengthen our commitment, our resolve to the mission in afghanistan and pakistan. our enemies are redoubling their efforts. we must also. in june of last year, osama bin laden noted that u.s. efforts had been, and i quote, transferred t

we must defeat this resolution and the taliban and the al qaeda and support our military. last saturday, march 6, was the anniversary, the 174th anniversary of a battle at the alamo where those people walked across that line rather than give in to the enemy and they -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: i thank the lady. they were led by a 27-year-old individual from south carolina by way of alabama. he said at the alamo, i shall never surrender or retreat. and they did not surrender or retreat because war was hard then. and it cost them all their lives. but victory was attained later. and freedom was obtained. war is hard. it is always hard. and we shall not give in. we shall not you surrender or retreat. it is in our interest and the interest of america to defeat the enemy and let them have no doubt in their mind we will be victorious. that's just the way it is. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio. mr. kucinich: i yield four minutes to mr. filner from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized fo

we seem unable to eradicate the taliban enemy. they scatter before our troops into lawless regions and then once our troops leave, without an effective government in afghanistan, it's hard to see this pattern changing as the local population cannot count on the taliban ever being gone for good. this is a costly war without an end in sight. it's a costly war to our brave soldiers and to their families. it is a -- it is costly because resources desperately needed to feed the hungry to find a way forward on health reform and to fix our failing schools are being redirected to an effort whose success is questionable. here at home, we have had precious little debate over this war. we have seen our troops' numbers rise to above those in iraq and yet we have no real benchmarks or goals after which we will leave. we continue to spend massive amounts of money to maintain the occupation of both countries and worst of all we ask our brave men and women in uniform to continue to sacrifice their lives and bodies to this war without our nation sa

the taliban would rule by the edict of terror. it would mean the return of a nightmarish tyranny to afghanistan. women would see the rights they have gained disappear as the taliban once again made women noncitizens. and banned young girls who for the first time are learning to read from schools. recall mr. speaker -- mr. speaker, i believe that now is not the time to turn our backs on the afghan people. it is not the time to counter the mission of our troops. especially when they are engaged in the first major offensive of president obama's reaffirmed counterinsurgency strategy. let us send a message to the terrorists that the united states is committed to our mission to prevent the return to power of the taliban. let us soundly defeat this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i a

by supporting their efforts to disrupt and dismantle and defeat al qaeda and the taliban. as many of you know, my daughter-in-law, lindsey, served in iraq and afghanistan. i also have two committee staffers, one in the army reserves and one in the marine reserves who are on their way now to afghanistan. this is not their first time in battle. both of these gentlemen have served bravely in iraq, but the prospect of entering combat never becomes routine. they, like my stepson, douglas, who served as a marine fighter pilot in iraq, have recounted to me how the debates in congress,

however, the taliban does have that. they move into local areas and build political parties, political organizations. they understand how the tribes work, how local politics works, they understand that two villages in remote areas don't need a justice system. they don't need, you know, police. they don't need government institutions. what they need is someone to broker disagreements over water or land rights or cattle-grazing lands between these two villages and tribes. so you have these taliban roaming mullahs brokering agreements because they understand how the local system works, and they're very, very good at it. the vietnamese forces were very good as political organization at the grassroots. and that is what will make a sustainable political apparatus in afghanistan work, and i think the second point i want to make is you never want to underestimate just how weak the government is in afghanistan and just how, how close it is to collapse and just how much it depends upon the presence of the u.s. forces in the distric

speaker, the danger that is posed by the afghan taliban as the pakistani taliban with both work from pakistan is something that becomes more obvious every day and when he refers to the murders of people in pakistan by the pakistan taliban he is referring to violent incidents that are happening every day as a result of the efforts of the taliban. we are working with the pakistani authorities so we can make inroads into the taliban that has had some success with the leadership of the afghan taliban in only the last few weeks but at the same time we will work with the pakistan security authorities and we will continue to say to the pakistani people we will help children with education. we ask you to work with us so madrasahs cannot have an evil influence on the young people of pakistan. >> the prime minister will know that government expenditure on advertising and marketing and self-promotion went up by more than 40% last year. will he cut it out? >> we already announced government advertising budget and consultant budget. he should know that. >> mr. david clement. >> february was design

the two have connections? pakistan and-- afghan, taliban, and pakistanital bin. >> our operations have curtailed the border crossingsy taliban, al qaeda, and their associates are on the run. pakistan was once considered to be a safe haven. no longer. people are running away from pakistan. because they have seen the seriousness, the resolve of the people and the armed forces. where is mullah omar now? >> i wish he was in my pocket, but he isn't there. >> rose: if you knew where he was, you would call for a drone missile attack? >> we'll get him. if we knew where he was. we would go for him. >> rose: most people believe he's in pakistan. >> people speculate about it. it's all a guessing game. >> rose: the central point you've made is you've begun to close the borders so people are running out of pakistan knowing it's not a safe haven, correct, because you're coming after them? the best evidence of that is what? >> the best evidence of that is recognition by you as our allies that many of, you know, the big names have escaped, and they're looking for new disindestinations. >> rose: people like mullah omar? >> no, i can

the taliban did not attack us on 9/11. u know, after we went into afghanistan, immediately the concerns were shifted to remaking the middle east. we went in to iraq. use this as a justification. it was nothing more than an excuse. most americans, the majority of americans still believe that saddam hussein had something to do with 9/11. and i imagine most americans believe the taliban had something to do with 9/11. and it is not true. we need to change our foreign policy and come back to our senses and defend this country and not pretend to be the policemen of the expired. who seeks time? >> could i ask the madam speaker how much time is remaining on each side? >> certainly just a moment. the gentleman from ohio has 68.5 minutes. the gentleman from california, mr. berman, has 36 minutes. and the gentlemenwoman from florida has 27.5 minutes. >> all right. i will yield mr. kennedy three minutes. >> the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. kennedy, is recognized for -- i'm sorry. mr. rhode island is recognized for three minutes. >

>> we should talk with the taliban. >> taliban does not want to fight with nato. >> reporter: so the police bosses in helmand like this commander and this colonel have some job to do. banditry, the biggest opium industry on the planet and an insurgency backed by iran to the west, pakistan to the east. who would be a cop in helmand? no wonder the british have brought in am-cop, teams of super cops from kabul with a bit more real train to go get things going. >> originally we had bad policemen and therefore we needed this group to come in force, come over. the local population hated them. in some areas they still do. but with this group they came down. they completely got the population on the side and won it over. >> reporter: in the u.k., the police top brass might worry about the i.t.-system in a new building. here at a new police post they're worried the taliban will murder them by night. >> this is why we have these vehicles here. they have the night sights so they can be put on the road if there's a threat. they can be put on the road to protect. in the century position theirs wi

and most significant taliban capture since the beginning of the war. and mullah abdul can bureau, a senior -- kabur, a senior taliban leader. both were captured in pakistan which illustrates increased cooperation from the pakistan government thanks in large part to the administration's careful diplomacy. as "the washington post" put it on february 23, and i quote, pakistani security forces have long supported or turned a blind eye to afghan taliban members seeking sanctuary in pakistan. the recent arrests seem to mark a change in that attitude. clearly success in afghanistan will be positive -- deposited on the success of those in pakistan to act against sanctuaries. at the same time the leadership of al qaeda and taliban has been severely damaged through strikes in pakistan. and the new counterinsurgency strategy has been put to work in an important district in hallucinate monday province where american coalition -- hell monday province where american -- helmon province where americans have worked with the pakistanis. the gentleman has made some commen

it's a matter of fear for the taliban. that's the message we really ought to be getting out, is that the taliban are afraid of their neighbors ratting them out to u.s. and coalition forces. megyn? megyn: how do we combat that, colonel? >> well, you expand the control by the kabul government and the provincial governments over these areas where there are cell towers. about 40 percent of the country today has some kind of cell service, and we've actually been out in the field and seen folks, you know, rigging up little tiny antennaes on top of mud huts to try to get cell service. what has to happen is the government in kabul and provincial bottoms, all over in this country need to exercise control over the licenses that they have let, and make sure that those operating those towers know if they go dark, they lose their license. megyn: colonel oliver north, appreciate it, live in hel land province. >>> no shortage of cameras when president obama signed that health care bill but a whole different story today when the president

the good news is that pakistan is making greater effort to crack down on taliban and al qaeda terror groups on its soil and those efforts are yielding results which should help stabilize afghanistan. like mr. kucinich, i want the u.s. -- may i have an additional 30 seconds? mr. berman: the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. ms. harman: i want the u.s. military out of afghanistan at the earliest reasonable date. but accelerating the obama administration's carefully calibrated timetable could take risks with our national security. i share mr. kucinich's sentiment, but not his schedule. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from ohio. mr. kucinich: thank you. i want to thank mr. berman for agreeing to make this debate possible. i do appreciate it very much. and you have been open to that and i'm -- i think the country should appreciate that about you. i also want to say that this study, congressional research stud

there has been some success with the afghan taliban in only the last few weeks.me time we will continue to work with the pakistani authorities and say toçó>4)qÑi pakistani people, we will help children with their education, we ask you to with us so that the madrasahs cannot have an evil influence on the advertising and self-promotion went up by 40% last year. in that it isn't working with -- will he cut 0 -- it out? >> we are going to end the advertising budget and consultancy budget. he should know that. >> is the prime minister aware that february was designated as scones awareness month? does the attempt by the party opposite to pose as a party fit for government not qualify as one of the biggest scams in history and would he join me in logging on to scam nesty.com to draw attention to this latest example of scams? >> mr. speaker they're a party led by the airbrush and they're financed from offshore. >> my constituents, steven oliver, at the age of 30, died in tragic and mysterious circumstances late last year. the family be of steven are very disappointed by

host: what do most people in afghanistan think of the taliban? guest: if you look at the polls, the people do not want them coming back in the power. which is one of the things we have going for us. the problem is that when you look at the thing that people want most, it is security. the thing that security forces have not been able to provide. this position where the taliban is present to support them for survival reasons. taliban is filling in for the government in some ways, dispensing justice. the afghan government has not been able to provide -- those of the two main things. host: horton, north carolina. independent line. good morning. caller: i do not understand why we are still there. we are supposed to be training them people. what happens is we send our people over for six months of basic training, they go over there and they fight. why does it take so long to train men to do that? host: you touched on that before. guest: on the american side? host: the training of the forces. guest: in many cases you are starting from the ground up. you

were going to reverse the taliban's momentum. going to strengthen the capacity of afghan security forces and the afghan government so they can begin taking responsibility and gain the confidence of the afghan people. our strategy includes a military effort that takes the fight to the taliban while creating conditions for greater security and a transition to the afghans, but also a civilian effort that improves the daily lives of the afghan people. and combats corruption. a partnership with pakistan and its people, because we cannot uproot extremists and advance security and opportunity unless we succeed on both sides of the border. most of you understand that. many of the tubes that i ordered to a afghanistan have begun to arrive. more are on the way. we will continue to work with congress to make sure you have the equipment that you need. -- more troops are on the way. we are providing more helicopters and reconnaissance capabilities, more special operations forces, more armored vehicles that can save lives. in afghanistan you h

this friend inside our military system, deep inside has seen the taliban arguing among themselves, talibanighting mujahideen and all of them making fun of al qaeda because al qaeda is not doing anything, they are not in the fight. they are not delivering money anymore. so any time we get our enemies fighting among themselves. that is great news. so pakistan is going pretty well. the problem is actually in afghanistan. not with al qaeda. but with policies that are neither here nor there. a corrupt government. that's absolutely disgraceful and -- >> bill: the government is a disgrace. that's absolutely true. i think he should have slapped karzai in the photo on with them. give them one of these. like south vietnam. have the corrupt government in there and americans trying their hardest to do the right thing. let's go over to putin in moscow. another embarrassment for the russians. these people come in. they kill russians. so they have a lot of problems with fanatical muslims in the south part of russia and the satellite states surrounding them. will this make putin and the russian government

idea we should try to cut a deal with the taliban. perhaps with the help of historic allies of theirs in pakistan. personally i worry these ideas are ill-advised though i'm sure we look forward to the time when there can be reconciliation, particularly beginning with lower level taliban and probably not as zealots in that regard. i agree with secretary gates, that we need to first make the taliban understand that they are destined to lose this fight, before any serious consideration of reconciliation at the higher levels, can take place. and, therefore, i worry that the current public talk about reconciliation is counterproductive, and i want to ask you what your view is on that. >> well, i agree with secretary gates on that. senator, i think certainly thinking ahead to that moment when, perhaps, the taliban -- and we're talking about, senior level taliban, because -- indeed there has been what is called reintegration, at low and mid levels, in fact, yesterday, again, i've got to confirm it, but there were open reports about a couple o

host: what do most people in afghanistan think of the taliban? t: if you look at the polls, the people do not want them coming back in the power. which is one of the things we have going for us. the problem is that when you look at the thing that people want most, it is security. the thing that security forces have not been able to provide. this position where the taliban is present to support them for survival reasons. taliban is filling in for the government in some ways, dispensing justice. the afghan government has not been able to provide -- those of the two main things. host: horton, north carolina. independent line. good morning. caller: i do not understand why we are still there. we are supposed to be training them people. what happens is we send our people over for six months of basic training, they go over there and they fight. why does it take so long to train men to do that? host: you touched on that before. guest: on the american side? host: the training of the forces. guest: in many cases you are starting from the ground up. you cann

we're going to reverse the taliban's momentum. ment said that they can begin taking responsibility and gain confidence of the afghan people. and our strategy includes a military effort that takes the fight to the taliban while creating the conditions for greater security and a transition to the afghans -- but also a civilian effort that improves the daily lives of the afghan people, and combats corruption, and a partnership with pakistan and its people because we cannot uproot extremists and advance security and opportunity unless we succeed on both sides of the border. most of you understand that. many of the troops that i ordered to afghanistan have begun to arrive, and more are on the way. and we will continue to work with congress to make sure that you've got the equipment that you need, particularly as we complete our drawdown in iraq. we're providing more helicopters, we are providing more intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities, more special operations forces, more armored vehicles that can save lives. and here in afgha

they could be with the taliban. are we making progress? we cannot win this thing without pakistan, correct? >> i think that is right. you were talking about let's look at the movie rather than a snapshot. if we go back 18 months or two years and think about what was going on in that part of the world, there was a major offensive generated by islamic extremists, pakistani taliban. inside pakistan, there were of enormous amounts of the tax, the pakistani military was attacked, and that seems to have gotten their attention. in the last 18 months, the direction in general has been positive. the civilian government, one piece of the three you mentioned, was elected on the premise that -- benazir bhutto's husband ran on the idea that they needed to lead the fight against terrorism. that gave a political power to the pakistani military that had not existed. the military itself had been under attack and they responded. as far as the intelligence and -- intelligence service is concerned, i don't think it is one of you in that intelligence service be

troops fight the taliban. >> the idea is to take out the middle managers, the tecno crats in the taliban. by doing that you rip apart the whole structure of the organization. >> reporter: the number of troops killed in afganistan has doubled compared to last year at this time. as the president obama continue to prom additional support as the war continues. >>> coming up on the early edition, a controversial budget plan. >>> he has to play the part. >>> what the former mayor is saying about the current proposal. >>> rain falling heaviest to the east right now but a flash-floo >>> welcome back. 5:15 on this monday morning. a rainy monday it is. take a look, most of the rain, it looks like right now to the south and east of the eastern shore. and look toward the eastern, toward salisbury where the heaviest rain is falling. we had scattered showers mostly for the central and eastern part of the state and back to the west a little bit of activity there. it could be filling through the day, because there's a lot more moisture as low pressure develops off the coast and continues to strengthen.

. >> if this region slides backwards, if the taliban retakes this country and al qaeda can operate with impunity, then more american lives will be at stake. the afghan people will lose their chance at progress and prosperity. and the world will be significantly less secure. and as long as i'm your commander in chief, i am not going to let that happen. that's why you are here. i've made a promise to all of you who serve. i will never send you into harm's way unless it's absolutely necessary. i anguish in thinking about the sacrifices that so many of you make. that's why i promise i will never send you out unless it is necessary, but that's only part of the promise, because the other part of the promise is that when it is absolutely necessary, you will be backed up by a clear mission and the right strategy and you will have the support to finish the job, to get the job done. and i am confident all of you are going to get the job done right here in afghanistan. >> the president got in and got out very quickly, the entire visit lasted just a few hours. this visit came as the u.s. ramps up t

it would be a grave mistake to -- for us to allow the taliban to regain power in afghanistan. sometimes the lessons of history may be a little bit more difficult to explain. in this case when the taliban was in power they opened the country up to training camps for terrorists to attack the united states. and that was in 2001. it's not ancient history. so i hope we don't forget the lessons of history. in addition, as i said before, mr. speaker, we are in the midst. our armed forces, our coalition allies is in the first major offensive in president obama's new strategy so i think it would be a grave mistake if this congress does not emphatically reject the resolution today. and having said that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, there is nothing nothing wrong demanding our troops come home, including forcing that debate by using the privileges of the war powers resolution. there is nothing unpatriotic and demanding that our troops and their fa

-- fighting al qaeda and the taliban. >> two red arrow plans were on an exercise when they collided. >> they are pilots from the world's most famous of aerobatic team, so what happened next was completely unexpected. the moment of collision was caught of a mobile phone camera, the person filling it clearly in shock. the two pilots were on a training exercise at the atlantic air force base in crete when the crash happened. >> one went swimming aboard, and the other when downward and smashed into the ground. i saw a flash and pieces of the plane flying in the air like a grenade. >> it was a very lucky escape. one of the pilots dislocated his shoulder after rejecting from his plane, which was completely destroyed. the second pilot landed safely, unharmed. the day before, the team had given a breathtaking display at the very same airfield. they had arrived on the island on sunday for the first stage of training. with that level of skill, it is hard to imagine how such an accident could happen. britain's ministry of defense says an investigation will shortly be under way and that the pre-

the officials say the iranians are helping train taliban fighters in the use of small arms and are doingtraining inside iran. these officials did not say how many taliban fighters have been trained in iran or whether this was sanctioned at the highest levels of the iranian government. we also spoke with bruce riedel, a former ceo officer who did a strategic review of afghanistan for the obama administration last year. >> what are they doing specifically that we know of. >> iran and its allies like the hezbollah are masters at improvised explosive devices, at putting bombs along the sides of ditches and roads and they're trying to transmit some of that knowledge over to the afghan taliban. the iranian regime has always denied supporting the taliban and contacted by cnn about this latest information and iranian official at the united nations say these are absolutely baseless and wrong allegations and strongly rejected by the islamic republic of iran. u.s. military officials recently said iran was training the taliban and said what was going on inside afghanistan. general david petraeus has

. >> the nato commander and the afghan vice-president have visited more just days after it was declared free of taliban influence. that was the main focus of the largest military operation since 2001. the offensive was centered on central helmand province. police in dubai say all 11 suspects in the killing of a palestinian hamas commander say they are now in israel. it was revealed that the man was tried and suffocated in his hotel room. police say there are 99% certain the killing was carried out by my sob. old and weak seawalls are being blamed for the violent storms that have left 50 dead and thousands homeless along the atlantic coast of france. many died when the see wild was -- and the sea wall was -- when the sea wall was breached. radovan karadzic, leader of the bosnian serbs during the war of the 1990's has put up a stout defense. he described the conflict as just and holy. he blames muslims for starting it. he is beginning his defense as the trial resumes on 11 counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. we have been following the hearing from the hague. >> the international

. >> if this region flies backwards, if the taliban retakes this country and al qaeda can operate with impugnity then more american lives will be at stake. the afghan people will lose their chance at progress and prosperity. and theorld will be significantly less secure. >> the u.s. forces began a major push against the taliban last month in afghanistan. they are preparing for an even bigger one later this summer. >>> now to a developing story out of korea. this morning north korea is issuing a threat to tuesday and to south korea. it says quote, unpredictable incidences could occur if the two countries continue to disturb security at one of its borders. this warning comes two days after a south korean military ship sank due to an unexplained explosion. i want is estimated as many as 46 crew members went down with the ship. today military divers are set to explore the wreckage. the south korean ship sank near the disputed yellow seaboarder, the scene of two deadly naval fights between the two koreans in the past. south korean officials say they have no indication of north korean involv

the taliban would just sit back. there will wait us out, wait for withdrawal, and then we will have more of the same. to the young journalist the cold in calling obama batman or whatever -- that is just absurd. the offense is not just to republicans or independentss, but to democrats and to all americans because you are belittling the president of the u.s. down to some comic super hero. why is the u.s. military being kept in stonewalls and places like kabul? they're not doing much in the countryside. they are being held in the stronger areas where they can keep themselves protected. host: corbin, kentucky, on the democrats online. caller: i was watching news reports before the war began with the taliban executing helpless women for practically no reasons at all in the soccer stadium. since our troops have gone over there that nonsense has been stopped. i fully supported george bush and a matter of afghanistan, and also support obama in the matter of afghanistan. as an ex-marine, service- connected, disable, i think we

the taliban will welcome home jihaddists back to their soil. they will expand their fight to the tribal areas of pakistan which has the potential to destabilize a nuclear power. while it would be easy to estimate what we have spent so far and what we will spend, it is impossible to know the call amounties that have prevented. there is no cost that can be put on stabilizing pakistan and no price that can be put on pakistan and india. failure in these developments will hurt our national security, yet a retreat will make it more likely. americans want peace. none of us want our friends or family to be deployed overseas. however, peace will not come until our enemies are within our destruction. until that day, talk of leaving afghanistan means our enemies will bring the fight back to us. there can be no peace in afghanistan. whether we leave today, tomorrow, this war does not end simply because we choose not to be engaged. the taliban will return. with their return, they will expand their efforts and provide sanctuary and will try to continue to mur

>> well, the military ought to be very much involved in driving the taliban as far out of afghanistan as they can. but now they're committed to a hearts and minds campaign. we're involved in a war in afghanistan where the enemy doesn't wear a uniform, lives among civilians who support them. and if you have rules of engagement that you don't attack at night and you can't attack if you might kill civilians, you end up giving the enemy a tremendous opportunity to stay alive. >> lehrer: do you see it the same way? >> i don't, really. as close as al qaeda and the taliban have become prior to 9/11 and certainly since, i think it's an error to conflate the two. i also think it's an error to imagine that any sort of... or any combination of kinetic military lethal steps-- whether they're done by intelligence officers or uniform military-- will suffice to achieve our ends. i think what's happening is increased pressure in all ways, pressure on the taliban, a change in policy... our policies in afghanistan. better cooperation with pakistan across the board. and as we talked about several months

. >> they come in firing their cannons but the taliban keep shooting back. >> they are multiplying. >> a desperately needed helicopter tries to get in but instantly becomes a target. >> we are taking fire. we just got hit in the lower belly. north sid eoe of the aircraft. >> the apaches clear a landing zone. >> we have casualties to move. >> we will be able to pick up two now and probably two more later. >> finally the reinforcements arrived and the battle turns. >> it happened a year ago in a valley controlled by the taliban. >> this has triggered an investigation into why the 49 men of the platoon were so exposed. >> in the platoon was under an incessant attack. they were surrounded by high ground and could only be supplied by helicopter lt. jonathan boston showed the video to his father. his father is a retired army colonel. >> i was shocked. they were getting attacked and probed every day. heavy attacks by enemy forces. >> bleak but the platoons -- -- they fought up and down the valley, sometimes calling in airstrikes on the houses they were in. >> we dropped 861 bombs with few qu

one of them has direct connections to the taliban.g down the taliban narco insurgency is a primary mission for the dea. the two detainees were captured with the help of the assist yan regional director for the dea in this part of the world. you are out there with the niu, the afghan counterparts and u.s. marines. what is going happen to the two detainees? >> once the detainees are back in kabul, they will be transported to the counter narcotics justice center. an afghan led facility and they will stand trial there before afghan judges with afghan attorneys. >> one had evidence linking him directly back to the taliban? >> yes, one individual had a taliban video in his cell phone. >> i'm oliver north for fox news. >> geraldo: thank you, sir. coming up, what do i'm at the doctor getting my shoulder looked at. as we're finishing up, i mention i'm going to the bathroom more often. he checks it out. good thing. turns out... my urinary symptoms -- such as going frequently, trouble going, flow starts and stops... and going often at night -- a

if the taliban can't gain populous support it can't win. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for one minute. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm honored to open the house this morning during the most important women's history month. our nation's foremothers stood up to injustice and by changing the course of history opened the doors of opportunity to all of america's daughters. it's our duty to recognize and honor these tireless efforts. the past summer our great nation celebrated 160th anniversary of the 1848 women's right convention in seneca falls, new york. as you know, this groundbreaking convention was dedicated to the key principle in the declaration of independence