yamamoto. he is the principal deputy assistant secretary for african affairs. he previously served as the u.s. ambassador to the federal democratic republic of ethiopia from november 2006-july 2009. deputy assistant secretary of state and the fear of afghan affairs from 2003-2006, and u.s. ambassador to the republic of djibouti to 2000-2003. we thank you for being here, mr. ambassador. and then we welcome mr. 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. >>

ambassador yamamoto, you said that we continue to take that under advisement. we have gone this direction before, but can you explain, if you are resistant as to why this has not happened, or are there other concerns that we may not be aware of? >> we had this special envoy who did a special job -- a fantastic job. after that, the issue is to assess where do we go from here. we heard loud and clear from the congress that a special envoy is needed. >> how long has the position been vacant? >> over a year now. a year-and-a-half. >> again, given the heightened intensity of these measures, i think this is an appropriate time to revisit this question with a certain sense of urgency. let's return as well to gain a broader understanding of the other international partners involved here. specifically in military operations. we talked about other international donors for relief work. and specifically, what is the ugandan army's effort going to be? it has been in the past to specifically mobilize. >> the specific amount of assistance on military supporting the army in th

. >> it would be shingo yamamoto because he's one of my favorite japanese competitors in "ninja warrior," a tv show on g4. >> i would sit down to dinner with rapper lil wayne, because i listen to a lot of his music, and the words that he says are just so inspirational and uplifting, because he's had a hard life, but he's turned it around, and i think that that's amazing. >> oh, that's a tough one, but emma watson. i'm really crazy about the "harry potter" series, and she's a really good actress. >> it would be emma watson from "harry potter," because i just loved her role in "harry potter." >> of course, with such amazing dinner companions, who'd have any appetite to eat? for "teen kids news," i'm katie. >> here's scott with this week's "flag facts." >> in 1886, france gave the u.s. a gift to symbolize friendship and independence. officially named "liberty enlightening the world," we call it "the statue of liberty," and she proudly stands at the entrance to new york harbor. >> the concept of liberty is an important symbol for new york. >> the flag of new york comes from the state seal,

ambassador yamamoto. >> thank you so very much, madam chairwoman.ery 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 support of congress, but of the american people. that we will help to protect civilians and bring an end to the lra threat. we also want to express our deep appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of americans who have mobilized and expressed their concern for the communities under siege by the lra and also the people who are here today and those who have the courage to stand up to atrocities of the lra. for two decades the lra has terrorized people across central africa. the lra has filled its ranks with abducting tens of thousands of children. from 2005 to 2006, the lra moved from uganda into the more remote bord

i remember a message came in that we gotne eagle and two sparrows and we knew yamamoto was the eagle and he was shot down. now analyzing that to bin laden, that was cpletely justified there. i think it would have been the same even if he happened to be born in the united states. >> charlie: if it was justified it certainly should be justified in the case do you think because the same circumstance somebody who was declared an enemy of the united states. >> you have to know the facts and you have to know how reliable they are to know the particular decision was justified. i can't say i know enough about the factual anysis that went into the particular decision or the legal analysis that went into the opinion that apparently justified or was the basis for making the decision. >> charlie: let's talk about two recent decisions you speak about and have spoken about in different forum. it is the decision of bush versus gore. >> there were five votes to do what i thoht should not have been done. >> charlie: was that a political act then? was that five people who decided we think this electio