a question for ambassador vershbow. if the stated goal is to decapitate the leadership of the lra, as i understood from the question before, we are not using aerial drones or observations. would we be authorized to take out the leadership with drones if they were being observed? >> congressman, at the present time, the use of drones is not envisaged in this operation. i think that kind of intelligence that is most important to the success of this operation is the human intelligence gathered on the ground. that depends on closer ties between the military forces of the countries involved and the local populations. our training and assistance has as part of its broader objective helping them to acquire and make better use of that kind of ground intelligence that could make a difference. i think the question of a party sama for drone strikes against extremist terrorist groups is a more delicate matter which is probably not suitable for commenting on in this open session. but the focus is on a advising and assisting the grou

alexander vershbow. he is currently the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, i s. eight. prior to his appointment he served as u.s. ambassador to the north atlantic treaty organization from 1998-2001. u.s. ambassador to the russian federation from 2001-2005, and u.s. ambassador to the republic of korea from 2005-2008. i would like to kindly remind our witnesses to keep your oral testimony to know more than five minutes. and without objection the witnesses written statements would be inserted into the record. we will begin with you, mr. ambassador yamamoto. >> that is a very much, madam chairwoman. ranking member berman and audit numbers of this committee thank you so much for having this hearing here today. on a very important and very difficult topic. and for the opportunity briefed the committee on the application of the ongoing u.s. strategy to help our regional partners litigate, mitigate the threats posed by the lord's resistant army. we are deeply grateful for congress

alexander vershbow.ambassador to the north atlantic treaty organization from 1998 to 2001. u.s. ambassador to the russian federation from 2001 to 2005 and u.s. ambassador to the republic of korea from 2005 to 2008. i'd like to, kindly, remind our witnesses to keep your oral testimony to no more than five minutes, and without objection the witnesses' written statements will be inserted into the record. we will begin with you, mr. ambassador yamamoto. >> thank you so very much, madam chairwoman. congressman berman and the other members of this committee, thank you so very much for having this hearing today on a very important and very difficult topic. and for the opportunity to brief this committee on the implementation of the ongoing u.s. strategy to help our regional partners mitigate, eliminate the threat posed by the lord's resistance army. we are deeply grateful for congress' widespread report of the recovery act that was signed last year. the legislation sent a very strong message not only the suppor

question for ambassador vershbow. if the stated goal is to decapitate the leadership of the lra, as i understand from your question before, we are not using air yell drones, and are we authorized to use predators to take out the leadership if they were seen and observed? >> congress nan, at the present time, the use of drones 1 not envisioned in this operation. i think that the kind of intelligence that is most important to the success of this operation is the human intelligence gathered on the ground, that depends on closer ties between the military forces of the country's involved, and the local population, and so our training and assistance as part of broader objectives helping them to acquire and make better use of that kind of ground intelligence to make the difference. the questions of authorities for drone strikes against extremists and terrorists, is a more delicate matter, not suitable for commenting on in this open session, but, again, the focus is on advising and assisting forces on the ground so they can g

alexander vershbow. he is the assistant secretary of defense. prior to his appointment, he served as u.s. ambassador to the north atlantic treaty organization from 1998-2001. u.s. ambassador to the russian federation and u.s. ambassador to the republic of korea from 2005-2008. i would like to remind our witnesses to keep your oral testimony to no more than five minutes. without objection, the written statement will be inserted into the record. we will begin with you. >> thank you very much. thank you for having this hearing here today on this very important and difficult topic. and for the opportunity to brief this committee on the implementation of the u.s. strategy eliminates the threat posed by the large resistance army. we are grateful for the bipartisan support. the legislation sent a very strong message not only that -- that we will help protect civilians and bring an end to the lra threat. we have appreciation to the americans have expressed their concerns for humanities under siege in to the people who are here today. from 2005 to 2006,

alexander vershbow. prior to his appointment, he served as u.s. ambassador to the north atlantic treaty organization from 1998-2001. u.s. ambassador to the russian federation and u.s. ambassador to the republic of korea from 2005-2008. i would like to remind our witnesses to keep your oral testimony to no more than five minutes. without objection, the written statement will be inserted into the record. we will begin with you. >> thank you very much. thank you for having this hearing here today on this very important and difficult topic. and for the opportunity to brief this committee on the implementation of the u.s. strategy eliminates the threat posed by the large resistance army. we are grateful for the bipartisan support. the legislation sent a very strong message not only that -- that we will help protect civilians and bring an end to the lra threat. we have appreciation to the americans have expressed their concerns for humanities under siege in to the people who are here today. from 2005 to 2006, they moved to the more remote border regions