| 00:00:00 | I MUST SAY, ISN'T IT TRUE THAT YOU'VE RECEIVED DAILY BRIEFINGS AND VISITS TO AFGHANISTAN KEEPING UP WITH THE SITUATION THERE? |
| 00:00:11 | >> SENATOR, I HAVE MADE A RECENT VISIT TO AFGHANISTAN. |
| 00:00:15 | >> YOU GET DAILY BRIEFINGS, I HOPE. |
| 00:00:17 | >> I DO, SENATOR. |
| 00:00:18 | >> YOU'VE REACHED SOME TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS? |
| 00:00:21 | >> I HAVE, SENATOR. |
| 00:00:22 | >> WELL, ALMOST EVERY ANSWER YOU'VE GIVEN IS WE'RE GOING TO DO STUDIES AND ASSESSMENTS. |
| 00:00:27 | I HOPE YOU AT LEAST HAVE SOME INITIAL THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS HOW WE SHOULD PROCEED. |
| 00:00:36 | SO I GUESS MY FIRST QUESTION IS, DO YOU KNOW WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS COMMAND IN AFGHANISTAN HAS MADE TO WASHINGTON ABOUT THE TASKS THAT U. |
| 00:00:45 | S. FORCES MAY BE NEEDED TO PERFORM BEYOND 2014? |
| 00:00:51 | I'M SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT FORCE LEVELS, WHETHER MAIN MAINTAINING AT 68,000, GRADUALLY DRAWN DOWN, WHETHER THEY SHOULD STAY THERE UNTIL 2014? |
| 00:01:03 | WHAT IS -- DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE. |
| 00:01:07 | >> I HAVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS. |
| 00:01:09 | >> THAT'S INTERESTING TO ME, A GUY THAT'S GOING TO TAKE OVER COMMAND HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS. |
| 00:01:15 | DO YOU FEEL PREPARED TO ASSUME THESE RESPONSIBILITIES? |
| 00:01:18 | >> SENATOR, I DO PREPARE -- PREPARE TO ASSUME THESE RESPONSIBILITIES. |
| 00:01:23 | >> YOU HAVE NO IMPRESSIONS OR IDEAS AS TO WHETHER ON THE TROOP DRAWN-DOWN ISSUE BETWEEN NOW AND 2014? |
| 00:01:31 | >> SENATOR, I THINK I HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FRAMEWORK IN WHICH THE DECISION OUGHT TO BE MADE. |
| 00:01:37 | I HAVE IDENTIFIED WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT VARIABLES THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED BUT HAVE NOT BEEN INVOLVED IN DETAILED PLANNING. |
| 00:01:46 | >> YOU'RE A BLANK SLATE. |
| 00:01:47 | DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ANY STRATEGY IN AFGHANISTAN CAN BE SUCCESSFUL WHILE MILITANTS CONTINUE TO ENJOY SAFE HALVEN IN PAKISTAN? |
| 00:01:55 | >> SENATOR I THINK OVER TIME SAFE HALVEN IN PAKISTAN NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. |
| 00:02:00 | >> DO YOU BELIEVE THE ISSUE OF CORRUPTION, WE CAN SUCCEED WITH THE LEVEL OF CORRUPTION THAT EXISTS THROUGHOUT AFGHANISTAN? |
| 00:02:07 | >> SENATOR, I BELIEVE CORRUPTION IS MOST SIGNIFICANT STRATEGIC CHALLENGE TO MEETING OUR OBJECTIVES IN AFGHANISTAN. |
| 00:02:15 | >> SO HAVE YOU GOT ANY THOUGHTS HOW WE WOULD GO WITH THE ISSUE OF CORRUPTION? |
| 00:02:20 | >> I DO. I HAVE REVIEWED THE FRAMEWORK IN WHICH CORRUPTION'S BEING ADDRESSED BOTH AT U. |
| 00:02:26 | S. CENTRAL COMMAND, U. |
| 00:02:28 | S. EMBASSY IN KABUL, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY FORCE ASSISTANCE. |
| 00:02:31 | >> YOU THINK IT'S SUCCEEDING? |
| 00:02:33 | >> I THINK THERE'S PROGRESS MADE OVER THE LAST 18 MONTHS AND IN PARTICULAR SINCE THE TOKYO MEETING. |
| 00:02:39 | >> DO YOU BELIEVE THERE'S BEEN ANY PROGRESS IN THE SAFE HAVEN ISSUE IN PAKISTAN? |
| 00:02:46 | >> SENATOR, IT'S NOT APPARENT THERE'S BEEN ANY PROGRESS WITH SAFE HAVEN ISSUE IN PAKISTAN. |
| 00:02:54 | >> IF CONFIRMED, WILL YOU PROVIDE THIS COMMITTEE WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT YOU WOULD ULTIMATELY MAKE THROUGH YOUR CHAIN OF COMMAND WITH REGARD TO SIZE AND PACE OF THE DRAWN-DOWN OF U. |
| 00:03:07 | S. FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN? |
| 00:03:08 | >> I WOULD, SENATOR. |
| 00:03:09 | >> THE REASON WHY I KEEP RAISING THIS ISSUE WITH YOU, AND WHY I FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT IT IS, THAT EVERY TIME I HAVE BEEN THERE AND TALKED AND HAD CANDID CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR COMMANDERS AT LITERALLY ALE ALL LEVELS THEY BELIEVE WE NEED TO KEEP THE 68,000 THERE UNTIL THE 2014 DATE. |
| 00:03:32 | IF WE START A, QUOTE, STEADY PACE WITHDRAWAL THAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH A LOT OF THOSE MISSIONS THERE. |
| 00:03:44 | IF WE CAN'T ACCOMPLISH THE MISSION, I'M NOT SURE WHY WE SHOULD STAY. |
| 00:03:50 | AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK A LOT OF US HAVE TO WRESTLE WITH BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO START DRAWING DOWN RIGHT AWAY FROM THE 68,000, WHICH I AM -- KNOW THAT OUR MILITARY LEADERS BELIEVE THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT OTHER OPTIONS THAT THIS ATTACK THAT DESTROYED SIX HARRIER AIRCRAFT, DOES THAT CONCERN YOU? |
| 00:04:17 | I'M SURE IT MUST. |
| 00:04:18 | ISN'T THAT AN EXAMPLE OF THE BRAZENNESS AND CAPABILITIES THAT THE TALIBAN HAVE? |
| 00:04:22 | >> SENATOR, I THINK IT DOES REFLECT THE CAPABILITIES THE TALIBAN HAS. |
| 00:04:29 | >> AND YOU'RE CONFIDENT THAT THE AFGHAN FORCES WILL BE ABLE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN AFTER 2014 WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT ASSISTANCE FROM THE UNITED STATES? |
| 00:04:38 | >> SENATOR, I BELIEVE THAT THE AFGHAN NATIONAL SECURITY FORCES ARE GOING TO REQUIRE SOME LEVEL OF ASSISTANCE FROM THE UNITED STATES AS WELL AS COALITION PARTNERS IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL POST-2014. |
| 00:04:50 | >> YOU THINK WE'RE WINNING THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN? |
| 00:04:54 | >> SENATOR, I THINK WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS. |
| 00:04:56 | AS MENTIONED IN OPENING REMARKS I BELIEVE OUR OBJECTIVES ARE ACHIEVABLE. |
| 00:05:00 | >> DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCLUSIONS THAT YOU DREW FROM YOUR RECENT TRIP ON THE SECURITY SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN, PARTICULARLY IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFGHANISTAN? |
| 00:05:09 | >> I DO, SENATOR. |
| 00:05:11 | BROADLY SPEAKING, ONE OF THE STATISTICS I FOUND COMPELLING IS THAT 80% OF THE VIOLENCE HAPPENS TO WHERE 20% OF THE POPULATION IS. |
| 00:05:20 | ANOTHER STATISTIC I FOUND COMPELLING IS THAT 76% OF THE POPULATION IS CURRENTLY SECURED ABOUT AFGHAN NATIONAL SECURITY FORCES. |
| 00:05:28 | THE VAST PREPONDERANCE OF VIOLENCE IS TAKING PLACE OUTSIDE POPULATED AREAS. |
| 00:05:32 | THE TALIBAN HAVE BEEN DISPLACED FROM THE POPULATION AND I VIEW THAT AS A SIGN OF SUCCESS. |
| 00:05:37 | >> DO YOU BELIEVE AL QAEDA'S GROWING STRONGER IN AFGHANISTAN? |
| 00:05:41 | >> SENATOR I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT AL QAEDA'S GROWING STRONGER BUT THERE IS EVIDENCE OF AN AL QAEDA PRESENCE PRESENCE. |
| 00:05:56 | >> DOES THIS RECENT WARLORD REARMING ISMAIL KHAN, THAT IS OF CONCERN? |
| 00:06:03 | >> SENATOR, IT IS. |
| 00:06:08 | >> WELL, THERE'S I GUESS THREE OF US HERE, GENERAL THAT HAVE BEEN GOING OVER THERE FOR THE LAST 11 YEARS, AND WE HAVEN'T SEEN THE PROGRESS THAT WE HAD HOPED WOULD TAKE PLACE AND WE DO SEE QUITE OFTEN SENTIMENT ON THE PART OF AFGHANS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS THAT THE UNITED STATES SPENDS MOST OF ITS TIME ANNOUNCING WITHDRAWALS AND DATES FOR WITHDRAWALS RATHER THAN RECIPES FOR SUCCESS. |
| 00:06:46 | AND SOME OF US, AS I SAY, HAVE BEEN OBSERVING THIS FOR A LONG, LONG TIME AND MADE MANY, MANY VISITS AND MANY, MANY BRIEFINGS, ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED. |
| 00:06:59 | SO I HOPE THAT YOU WILL, IN YOUR ASSESSMENT, AND YOUR ABILITY -- WILL TAKE INTO SERIOUSING CONSIDERATION OUR ABILITY TO COMPLETE THE MISSION AND THAT IS A STABLE AFGHANISTAN THAT IS ABLE TO DEFEND ITSELF OVER TIME. |
| 00:07:22 | AND FRANKLY, I'M NOT SURE THAT'S THE CASE TODAY AND I AM NOT SURE THAT IF WE START DRAWING DOWN IMMEDIATELY THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL. |
| 00:07:36 | WE'VE SACRIFICED A LOT, AS YOU KNOW FAR BETTER THAN I DO, AND WE ARE GOING TO, ONE, HAVE AN ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER THIS MISSION CAN ACTUALLY SUCCEED OR NOT. |
| 00:07:47 | I THANK YOU FOR YOUR WILLING TONS SERVE. |
| 00:07:50 | I THANK YOU, MR. |
| 00:07:51 | CHAIRMAN. >> THANK YOU, SENATOR McCAIN. |
| 00:07:54 | SENATOR WEBB? >> THANK YOU, MR. |
| 00:07:56 | CHAIRMAN. |
| 00:07:58 | I'D LIKE TO BEGIN BY EXPRESSING MY |
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