forces from afghanistan. i speak today as the daughter of a lieutenant colonel who fought in several wars, one who knows the trauma and devastation of wars on families. i want to be clear that our service men and women have performed with incredible courage and commitment in afghanistan. they're doing everything we ask them to do. but the truth is, they have been put in an impossible position. they are fighting in a way with no military solution an no end in sight. only a political and diplomatic solution and a regional stabilization strategy will end this war. in fact, this concern of war without end is why i oppose the resolution authorizing military force on september 14, 2001. it began a series of of blank checks that we have been writing for nearly a decade there. there are few things we know with certainty regarding the situation of afghanistan. we know that corruption persists unabated and in many cases has been fueled by the u.s. occupation and influx of foreign cash. president karzai has proven himse

forces afghanistan. thank you for your years of great service to this nation and your willingness to serve once again. let me also extend thanks to your families. support is so essential to yours and the nation's success as is the tradition of the kennedy i would invite each of you to introduce any family members or friends who may be here with you to make your opening remarks. general thurman's nomination as the commander of u.s. forces in korea comes at a time of significant change and simmering change on the korean peninsula. our commitment to peace and stability in the region remains steadfast and alliance with the republic of korea is as strong as ever. the strength of that alliance will be particularly important over the next few years as we are embarked on an ambitious realignment of our forces on the peninsula and need to deal with the unpredictable and aggressive behavior of the north korean regime that continues to follow the destructive path of an international pariah. general thurman experien

and they swept across afghanistan controlling 90% of afghanistan. this fighting eruption -- taliban, al-qaeda -- saw four million refugees into pakistan. the introduction of a gun, kalashnikov, and drug culture. finally in 9/11, the terrible, disastrous terrorist attack on the world trade center and the u.s. military offense e in afghanistan -- offensive in afghanistan, all al-qaeda and taliban ran into the mountains and be cities of pakistan. therefore, ladies and gentlemen, religious mill tap si we saw -- militancy we saw in the east in the indian-held kashmir, religious militancy in afghanistan is followed entirely on -- has fallen entirely on pakistan in the center. this is how religious militancy was introduced. we are not the perpetrators. the situation in pakistan was perfectly normal until 1979, but things started getting disturbed after that for the reasons that i've told. pakistan, therefore, ladies and gentlemen, faces four menaces, i would say. number one is the menace of al-qaeda who are there in our mountains. but i think over time the

from afghanistan. can i commend him for setting a timetable because that is the way to accelerate the process in kabul and make president hamid karzai set up and engage in some of the talks that are already taking place and i agree with my right hon. friend is wrong to internationalize this process. it has to be done through tribal structures in afghanistan and fought by themselves and for themselves. is not something we can supervise from the un. >> i thank my hon. friend for his questioning. across the house -- has to the afghan led. we don't want to see a sort of bad tribal -- that would lead to future instability. clearly it has got to be a proper reconciliation process. what i am scene and a timetable has existed, is a positive engagement from afghanistan and pakistan in talking about their shared future and in the end we can push and encourage and work with but in the end those two countries have to make decisions together about how to be more secure. >> welcome the fact that peace negotiations a

forces in afghanistan. thank you all for your many years of great service to this nation and your willingness to serve once again let me extend our thanks to your families to support. i would invite each of you to introduce any family members or friends who may be here with you when you make your opening remarks. the general thurman nomination as the next commander of u.s. forces in korea comes at a time of significant change would simmering tension on the korean peninsula. our commitment to peace and stability in the region remains steadfast. our alliance with the republic of korea is as strong as ever. the strength of that alliance will be particularly important over the next few years as we embark on an ambitious realignment of our forces in the peninsula and the to do with the unpredictable and aggressive behavior of a north korean regime that continues to fall of the destructive path of an international pariah. general thurman's long experience in positions of leadership and maintaining well- trained e

afghanistan has come a long way. today afghanistan is no longer a haven for global terr. its economy is growing. it has a developing legal system and basic building blocks of what could be a successful democracy. in helmand province which we should remember with cantar was a stronghold of taliban and the insurgency there's a growing economy -- one of the areas to include in the first phase of transition, is a sign of the transformation we helped to bring about. as we enter this new phase of transition i'm sure the house will want to join me in paying tribute to our for service men and women who have made such incredible sacrifices to defend our national security. we have been going about our daily lives, they have been fighting in the heat and the dust giving up the things we take for granted. that is the true character of the british army and why we are so proud of all our forces and the families who support them and we are so grateful for everything they do and i commend this statement to the house. >> mr. speaker, i join the prime minister paying tribute to our forces

in afghanistan. um, can you talk a little bit about what pakistan's assessment is of that process now, not only the core group process, but reconciliation in general, reports of united states meetings with taliban officials? and, also, what pakistan can bring to the table. pakistan has talked frequently about needing to have a seat at the table. what do you bring to the table? the americans have said you need to, you need to, um, either sever your relationship, for example, with the haqqani network or bring them into this, into this process. what can pakistan do in order to make this process work better? >> first of all, we support a reconciliation in afghanistan because we understand that wars, essentially, always end through some kind of reconciliation and talks anyway. so the reconciliation process in afghanistan has to be led by the afghans. it's their country. and to bring to an end the internal conflict in afghanistan that started after the departure of the soviets way back, '89 the soviets wen

. >> it's a story about afghanistan but it's about one woman and one family in afghanistan so it really personalizes some of the challenges of that country. it's called the dressmakers of speed and tells the story of >> guest: it tells the story of a young woman who is supposed to be a teacher and ended up becoming an entrepreneur because there were so tough on so many people and she was left as the head of a family with five brothers and sisters counting on her and she became an entrepreneur and a dressmakers because there was nothing else women were to able to do. >> host: the interesting thing is she had never sewn before and became a successful dressmaker. >> guest: in the course of spending years going back and forth in afghanistan writing the book which i really think celebrates the unsung heroines whose stories are never told during the war. what i learned is that she realized pretty quickly on that she was actually sort of lousy seamstress but she was a really good businesswoman, and the seamstresses kept coming to her house, the young and girls who knew the families were counti

from afghanistan. can i commend him for setting a timetable because that is the way to accelerate the process in kabul and make president hamid karzai set up and engage in some of the talks that are already taking place and i agree with my right hon. friend is wrong to internationalize this process. it has to be done through tribal structures in afghanistan and fought by themselves and for themselves. is not something we can supervise from the un. >> i thank my hon. friend for his questioning. across the house -- has to the afghan led. we don't want to see a sort of bad tribal -- that would lead to future instability. clearly it has got to be a proper reconciliation process. what i am scene and a timetable has existed, is a positive engagement from afghanistan and pakistan in talking about their shared future and in the end we can push and encourage and work with but in the end those two countries have to make decisions together about how to be more secure. >> welcome the fact that peace negotiations a

>> through the afghanistan constitution, and afghanistan has made huge steps forward. and so knowing president karzai as i do, i know he wouldn't agree to an afghanistan that was miles away from the sort of human rights and development he wants to see progressed. however, i do think we got to have a hierarchy, as it prrks and the hierarchy of need from the u.k.'s point of view is to focus on security and the capacity the afghan government has to secure its own country. otherings things do have to take their place behind that. >> mr. john woodcock. >> the prime minister seems to be guaranteeing that the 12 orders will be ordered, is that right? >> one of the things we made will be ordered. >> mccloud. >> peace and civility in afghanistan, it can't help by leaving a long-term lasting legacy. [inaudible] it's really important for education for all, especially young girls. >> i do agree we want to see a long-term stable afghanistan that cannot be possible from excluding half the population from education. you have a right to cross north afghan in the middle east. you have

is pulling about 1/3 of its troops out of afghanistan by next summer. nato wants the handover to take place quickly. although there are questions about their abilities, the afghans say they are up to the task. that international troops and the afghan government have been very active in our province. there have been a lot of reconstruction projects. foreign soldiers have been making their presence felt. people feel safe. we are ready to take control of our destiny. >> afghan military personnel hold talks with american officers. for months, they have been planning for the start of the u.s. withdrawal. communication is still the biggest problem. but there is broad agreement on the plan of action. the u.s. has increased the pace of training of their afghan allies in recent months. the afghans need to be qualified before they can provide security. u.s. forces trained afghan policeman or retrain a pilot in five weeks. training provided by the germans in northern afghanistan last four months. but i set demands that the basic standards should be similar. >> the

i just returned from a trip to afghanistan. i cannot describe how impressed i am with the commitment, the dedication and the work carried out every single day by our men and women in uniform and those in the civilian services. i met and spoke with them in kabul, bases and air force bases and small villages. quite simply, they are incredible. but over and over and over again, i heard the same message, this is not sustainable. the strategy that we are pursuing in afghanistan is not sustainable and it is costing us too much in human lives and financial resources to continue. it can't continue for another 18 months as called for by the president, let alone even longer. i stand here tonight more convinced than ever that it is time to forge a new path, a new strategy, built upon past and present accomplishments and more aggressively focused on reducing the military footprint in afghanistan than the plan described by the president last month, accelerating the transition of combat operations and intense international and regional effor

government would then afghanistan. -- within afghanistan. they are overseen eventually by the undersecretary for defense. >> i want to know who was in charge of the plan. so when you decide we're going to spend $500 million, $400 million -- i guess that is another question. how much is $17 billion, much of it will come from defense and, to that will come from state? >> i can speak for u.s. aid. i believe the request for u.s. aid assistance is around the $3 billion level. >> the president is asking for $17 billion in 2012 for reconstruction. does anybody here know how much of that is going to be under control of the defense department and a much is going to be under control of the state department? >> again, i can say $3 billion from u.s. aid, and possibly another $1 billion from the state department. but i cannot speak to the rest. >> is that from the defense department, mr. sedney? >> the department of defense budget and the subcommittee has funding for operations in afghanistan which include funding for the afghan security forces. about $1

in afghanistan. i was only help -- hopeful to lead a small sample of those downrange, to look them in the eye and let them know how much i appreciate what they and their families do for our country. looking forward i knew that it would be very difficult for me to express my feelings for these young men and women, in a way that would allow me to get through this speech. a personal message from me to all of the servicemen and women across the world was published and distributed in the military channel. i will just say that here -- i will think of these young warriors, the ones who fought and keep on fighting, and those who never made it back until the end of my days. and as i was contemplating this moment i thought about something becky told me in january 2005 when i was as to the first director of national intelligence. i was wrestling with this decision and i told her she could make it easier if she said she did not want to go back to washington. she said, you have to do what you have to do. this is

is pulling about 1/3 of its troops out of afghanistan by next summer. nato wants the handover to take place quickly. although there are questions about their abilities, the afghans say they are up to the task. that international troops and the afghan government have been very active in our province. there have been a lot of reconstruction projects. foreign soldiers have been making their presence felt. people feel safe. we are ready to take control of our destiny. >> afghan military personnel hold talks with american officers. for months, they have been planning for the start of the u.s. withdrawa communication is still the biggest problem. but there is broad agreement on the plan of action. the u.s. has increased the pace of training of their afghan allies in recent months. the afghans need to be qualified before they can provide security. u.s. forces trained afghan policeman or retrain a pilot in five weeks. training provided by the germans in northern afghanistan last four month but i set demands that the basic standards should be similar. >> the sec

they controlled 90% of afghanistan. this fighting, the eruption of taliban, al qaeda,, the .ntroduction of a kalashnikov finally, 9/11, the terrible terrorist attack on the world trade center in the u.s. military offensive in afghanistan, all of the al qaeda and taliban ran into the mountains and cities. therefore, ladies and gentleman, religious militancy we saw in the east, in kashmir, and religious militancy in afghanistan had pakistan and in the center. this was how religious militancy was introduced. the situation was perfectly normal until 1979, but things got disturbed after that for the reasons that i have told you. pakistan, therefore, ladies and gentleman, faces four menaces, i would say. number one is the minister of al qaeda. while they were in our mountains, they were reduced in number. the second menace is the talent and, who were dismantled and the organization disrupted after 9/11, but in 2004 there was a resurgence of the taliban and now it is the taliban who have strength in afghanistan and in the trib

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug method of work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country this is why countries next to afghanistan have the greatest density of drug flow. simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug flows into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with gaza. from europe. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most amphetamine based drugs a manufactured with poland the baltic states germany bug area and many other countries with underground drug labs some cells are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to rush of through the various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate it's nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are net amphetamine. ecstasy and other similar drugs. but also their parents as well. well yo

even though we are in two wars afghanistan and libya so people are rather surprised shocked. those people mostly on twitter feed certainly social they're. trying to. jump to conclusions too early i have to say though the latest breaking news is that actually the police officer he was going to this can and. should be juve. he is actually a tall and blonde and he has according to newspapers and norwegian works. so this is this is rather might be more complicated than we think it's too early to tell. indeed that was recorded just as the news was coming through just a minute or two later that the the helpers of global jihad said they take responsibility of course doesn't necessarily mean that they did do it let's discuss this issue with. an analyst from the center for naval analysis dr will mccann thanks for joining us live from the united states tonight from virginia there much appreciate it unconfirmed reports of this group i just mentioned there that help was a global jihad claiming responsibility for the attack how grounded could those statements be do you think what we know

security in afghanistan has only. said that drug production cannot be fought because it damages the security situation in the country so it's a kind of. in this respect to the be worthwhile to note a nato operation in helmand province which produces the most opium poppies the operation was called iraq which translated from persian means together. the operation was presented as a brilliant military success considerable kilometers and hectares of the province were reportedly cleared of insurgents but the production of opium has never stopped that's why i have a peaceful settlement is necessary but we've started talking about this at long last it was highlighted at the london conference on afghanistan in two thousand and ten the autumn conference in kabul also stressed the need to find a peaceful settlement but the latest initiative was voiced by the us president barack obama on negotiations with the taliban and the latest resolutions of the united nations security council which divided responsibility between the taliban

>> roger, control. >> let me give you an example in southern afghanistan. so if you look at where the majority of the population is... >> narrator: the military leadership says there is no contradiction between protecting the afghan population and kill/capture operations. >> we've undertaken, you know, roughly 3,000 operations in the last 90 days, so this is an unprecedented op tempo here in afghanistan in these types of operations. >> narrator: according to major general john nicholson, kill/capture missions create space in which conventional troops can improve security. >> by maintaining the initiative against the enemy, that enables the majority of the force to focus on securing the population, so the two are essential and complementary. if we did not have this level of operational tempo with special operating forces, then it would be tougher for our conventional forces to secure the population. ( shouting and gunfire ) >> narrator: conventional forces across afghanistan are fighting hard to secure the major population centers. ( gunfire ) >> see the wom

special envoy to afghanistan. his new book is called the wars of afghanistan. please welcome to the problem peter tomsen. have a seat. >> thank you. >> jon: my first question to you is simply this. really? (laughter) really? >> it's pretty big. >> jon: really? >> yeah (laughter) don't drop it on your toe. >> jon: let me ask you this, volume 2, what period of wars does this cover and how much of the amazon is now gone? (laughter) what period of wars are we dealing with her. >> actually it's six, two in the 19th century, one in the early 20th century, and the rest with the soviet invasion and afterwards. >> jon: starting in '79. >> right. >> jon: what is so alluringly invadable about-- (laughter) >> jon: afghanistan because everyone seems to want to do it they don't have oil. they don't appear to have mineral wealth, although i think they've recently discovered that. they appear to just have a tightly knit group of tribes who don't care for being invaded. >> exactly. and in our case we called it an intervention. some call it an invasion. the big, the most importa

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug mafia work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country this is why countries next going to stand have the greatest density of drug flow. simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug flows splits into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with kazakstan. what percentage of drugs. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe most of the netherlands where most of. them in base drugs are manufactured with poland the baltic states germany bulgaria and many other countries with underground drug labs some cells are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to russia of. various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate its nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are methamphetamine. l.s.d. ecstasy and other similar drugs. they're. testing peopl

afghanistan but i think. it's a situation where not a huge negative effect on draco control particularly among those people who are linked with her but this guy in kandahar a moment ago. was a link to the cia it's often been said that he was a us puppet and had been working for the cia does this mean though that washington now has less control over afghanistan i mean how would they replace this undoubtedly influential figure. of course he was blamed to. pair off the cia as i mentioned before but he did night to be linked with c. to be working for a for a. c c. he confirmed that the. past couple of years he confirmed that he had a good relationship with american troops in america. particularly in kandahar because of this i think that americans lost one off there one of the important. members. of the or troops or. he had an important role in fighting against the taliban. militants insurgents in. afghanistan but at the same time he was accused of being involved in corruption in drag trafficking and everything be

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug mafia work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country this is why countries next to afghanistan have the greatest density of drug flow. simply because they are closer to the epicenter of the other way the drug flows into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with calyx not. drugs from europe. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most of the fishermen based drugs in a fractured poland the baltic states germany big area and many other countries with underground drug labs cells are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to russia of through various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate its nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are methamphetamine. l.s.d. ecstasy and other similar drugs. not all children but also their

the police in afghanistan are fugs. we eatow they are -- we them and train them and now we have a trained and equipped thugs. you think via administration has decided we still need to be there? >> the administration uses some of the language in saying that we need to change your direction. he is doing so in a very slow pace that keeps us in this nation-building capacity. i think it is very hard to reverse course. that has proven itself time overtime as our nation becomes involved in foreign settings. every once in awhile, we need to reevaluate early, ask ourselves about the fundamental reasons we are there, and as if the current strategy best serves our national security and the current strategy does not. tavis: how do you all know that pulling out troops by the end of next year is a wise strategy? is that not something that the military leaders on the ground would know best? what we're not talking about taking and eliminating one strategy and having no other strategy. all we're saying is this. for example, let's take o

we cannot do that." >> rose: with afghanistan? >> with afghanistan. am i doingin afghanistan gha what lyndon johnson did in vietnam 40 years before. >> rose: my assumption in the surge in part-- and you assume he thinks it has strategic significance and importance there because you don't want afghanistato be a haven for terrism d at the same time when he was going through this there were only, like, 100 members of al qaeda that there. allknow that. my assumption has always been just your point. i think he was influenced by the idea that, look i'm not sure this is going to work but i'm not prepared not to the do it and see what the consequens are. i'm mo prepared to do in the this case because i've described this as a war of choice... i've described this as a war of necessity, not choice, as iq was characterized a aar choice. >> i think you're absolutely on it and what we tried to do literally in chapter 9 of this book is to describe the mind-set of obama when he was handling time and time again questions relating to afghanistan. for example, in the su

enormous drug production as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug mafia work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country. this is why countries next to stan have the greatest density of drugs. simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug since a lot of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with kazakstan. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most amphetamine based drugs are manufactured poland the baltic states germany bulgaria and many other countries with underground drug labs. are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to russia through various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate its nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are methamphetamine. l.s.d. ecstasy and other similar drugs. testing people on mass would be far too radical no of c

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug methley a work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country this is why countries next going to stand have the greatest density of drug flow simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug flows splits into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with catholics done. what percentage of the drugs does russia get from europe. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most amphetamine based drugs are manufactured poland the baltic states germany bulgaria and many other countries with underground drug labs labs and cells are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to rush of through various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate it's nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are methamphetamine fetterman l.s.d

we cannot do that." >> rose: with afghanistan? >> with afghanistan. am i doingin afghanistan gha what lyndon johnson did in vietnam 40 years before. >> rose: my assumption in the surge in part-- and you assume he thinks it has strategic significance and importance there because you don't want afghanistato be a haven for terrism d at the same time when he was going through this there were only, like, 100 members of al qaeda that there. allknow that. my assumption has always been just your point. i think he was influenced by the idea that, look i'm not sure this is going to work but i'm not prepared not tohe do it and see what the consequens are. i'm mo prepared to do in the this case because i've described this as a war of choice... i've described this as a war of necessity, not choice, as iq was characterized a aar choice. >> i think you're absolutely on it and what we tried to do literally in chapter 9 of this book is to describe the mind-set of obama when he was handling time and time again questions relating to afghanistan. for example, in the summ

we have to remember these young men in afghanistan, and to a lesser extent in iraq, but in afghanistan, they're agrarian, so when the planting and harvesting seasons come and go, the attrition rates wax and wane accordingly. the general in charge of our iranian training monitors the situation. i don't have the number, but it's in the number of 10,000 and growing in the literacy rate, the soldiers we've accrued learning english. you can develop it, and it's a little more challenging to develop the leaders to lead them. >> if you could get to my office maybe kind of what you see those trend lines look like over the last several years and where we're going in literacy atta attainment within our security force that afghanistan has, as well as the retention rate? can you do that? >> yes. the last time i touched them, the trend line on attrition was testing positive, which means we were gaining control of it. the trend line on literacy training was also training positive, but it's a very -- you know, that is a -- an enormous slope to climb for all the reasons you suggested. but both trends a

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug mafia work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country this is why countries next going to stand have the greatest density of drug flow. simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug flows splits into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with kazakstan. what percentage of drugs. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most amphetamine based drugs are manufactured poland the baltic states germany bulgaria and many other countries with underground drug labs labs themselves are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to russia of through various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate its nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year. mostly these are methamphetamine. l.s.d. ecstasy and other similar drugs. so their paren

ambassador, have you lived in afghanistan? guest: i grew up in afghanistan. i was educated in afghanistan. i received my master's degree in afghanistan and have worked in afghanistan. caller: what is the price of fuel in afghanistan for gas and diesel? guest: for a gallon, is the equivalent of -- is the equivalent of $1.20. caller: $1.20 a gallon? last week on c-span, a u.s. representative from ohio quoted that gasoline costs $400 a gallon. i am glad there is no corruption in the united states but they are paying $400 a gallon for fuel. i do not think they're buying it from afghanistan. guest: you announced me a question about how much of the gasoline price is. i gave you the answer for the cost in the afghanistan market. -- you asked me a question about how much of the gasoline prices. where they get from, i do not know. the purposes they are using the gas for, i also do not know. the price i am giving you is the price in the local markets. host: this question is from twitter about secret talks going on with the taliban. do you feel the taliban should be par

as far as the withdrawal from afghanistan is concerned the picture is unclear so far it was said that the withdrawal would start and certain parameters for it had been set. thirty thousand troops by the end of the year but when i was in washington last september they were talking about the need to increase the military contingent in afghanistan exactly by thirty thousand now they're planning to return least thirty and so in fact nothing has changed i think the world community and you can disagree is beginning to consider the situation in afghanistan because several reasons behind the decision to military operation and the decision of the world community to interfere in the fans of this for the country. to put an end to the taliban rule to set up an interim administration and hold free elections. these tasks were supposed to be in six or twelve months but this september we'll see the tenth anniversary of that interference it's longer than world war two but the situation in afghanistan hasn't improved it's become even worse and. general petraeus for example is commanding the military op

security in afghanistan has only gotten worse. it said that drug production cannot be fought because damage is the security situation in the country so it's a kind of closed circle in this respect to the be worthwhile to know a nato operation in helmand province which produces the most opium poppies the operation was called. which translated from persian together. the operation was presented as a brilliant military success considerable kilometers and hectares of the province were reportedly cleared of insurgents but the production of opium has never stopped . that's what a peaceful settlement is necessary we've started talking about this at long last it was highlighted at the london conference on afghanistan in two thousand and ten with the autumn conference in kabul also stressed the need to find a peaceful settlement the latest initiative was voiced by the us president barack obama negotiations with the taliban and the latest resolutions of the united nations security council which divided responsibility between the taliban and

intervention expert stephen leatherman says washington will want to keep its grip on afghanistan because waging war is looking to. the president and. the security. guards to utilize five minute. the resistance and of ghana spirit and want to liberate a country go take any opportunity they care to tug any you fish up it any way will it any turning not only under one hundred thousand u.s. troops oh thirty or forty thousand other troops here or way over a hundred thousand private security contractors you never discuss the nature of media so combat forces may come out of private security forces may go when you take their course america always is wars not just to win them but to wage them because the profits are so great the war profiteers won each wars waged ten billion dollars we know all of coal down a rathole every month besides the regular affairs appropriations for all of you were rationed this is money down or all going to the war profiteers analysts also say the violence in afghanistan is being precipitated by local security forces which contain drug addicts and those connected to the

participating in the libyan and afghanistan war if it's the fault of nato and just last winter there were dozens of islamic militants arrested throughout western europe in connection with with planned bombings. of the people of norway reacting to this terrible event and one of the government's response to the attacks. yes well the police have told people to stay out of the city center to avoid using mobile for the exits to the borders of norway where shots immediately after the blast roads leading into and trains leading into the capital rules so holds it now we've heard that soldiers are on the streets with machine guns police are also being called the worst attack since world war two the worst shooting spree in history. ok thank you for that update. for more on the possible motives behind the attacks let's cross live now to keith harmon snow u.s. based war correspondent pendent investigator and i thank you for joining us on. can you can you hear a section yes you can yes officials in norway have described the attacks as the work of a mad men could individual crime on such a scale i

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug method of work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country. this is why countries next to stan have the greatest density of drug flow simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug flows into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through a seven thousand kilometer border with. drugs. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most amphetamine based drugs are manufactured poland the baltic states germany bulgaria and many other countries with underground drug labs labs and cells are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to rush of through various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate it's nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are methamphetamine. l.s.d. ecstasy and other similar drugs. but also their parents as well. testing people on mass

participating in the libyan and afghanistan war efforts as part of nato and just last winter there were dozens of islamic militants arrested throughout western europe in connection with the planned bombings. how have the people of norway reacted to this terrible event and one of the government's response to the attacks yes well police have told people to stay out of the city center to avoid using mobile phones the exits to the borders of norway which shots immediately after the blast and roads leading into and trains leading into the capital we're also halted now we've we've heard that soldiers are on the streets with machine guns police also and it's being called the worst attack since world war two perhaps the worst shooting spree in history. ok bushell thank you for that update. well for more on the possible motives behind the attacks let's cross live now to keith harmon snow u.s. based war correspondent and dependent investigator i thank you for joining us on r.t. . can you can you hear us actually yes you can yes officials in norway have described the attacks as the work of a mad m

interest in afghanistan. it does not want to have a hostile afghanistan at its back. and, therefore, whether it wants to or not have to take responsibility for afghanistan. the american goal is that al qaeda should not be in afghanistan, but al qaeda is in yemen, somalia and cleveland trend what the point is if you look at south asia, do you disagree with those who consider pakistan and the pakistan-afghan to really be the most dangerously unstable part of the world? >> guest: i would not quote them as dangerous and stable part of the world. i think iran is potentially more, but it's not worth having -- it is certainly, the question had to get back into shape? de- stabilizing pakistan to the point that it collapses i don't think would create the security, making it the responsibly of pakistan, you know, make it what it is the it is a more interesting outcome. but the problem is that we have to ask more fundamental question. why are we in afghanistan, what was the strategy that president obama had in mind? president bush's strategy was a more modest one upholding key a

in northern afghanistan the most powerful person in northern afghanistan yesterday somebody killed the most powerful person in southern afghanistan there is no clear afghan leader in the north and now in the far more important the all important south there is no leader the canadians are pulling out the americans feel that they now have pacified this area and want to focus on the east they have relied upon. as their person their their man on the ground there is no one there right now someone in time is going to have to come forward there is no person right now with the stature of wali karzai generally speaking to oxy very recently the former chief of the pakistani intelligence service said the only way to ensure peace in the region is for the u.s. to hold direct talks with the taliban really interested to get your views on they smell the death of one cause and now force washington. that's a very interesting point for pakistan to say that because in the one nine hundred eighty s. when i worked as a newspaper reporter in afghanistan there were negotiations between the dean of the united s

falding in afghanistan let's talk live now to kind of speak as a retired u.s. air force returned colonel americans have big. u.s. troops are handing security over to afghan forces and i was just saying given this recent surge of taliban attacks targeting even senior officials how sensible do you think this decision is well it's sensible for the taliban to straight when you know when there is chaos and when the u.s. government is weak and it appears weak but. for the united states we can't stop it we caused a lot of this problem by. an invasion and occupation of afghanistan to begin with so we don't have credibility united states does not have credibility dear what it does seem to me though timing wise when you have betrayers general petraeus who was a commander in afghanistan now going directly as the head of the cia there is a possibility that we ourselves united states you know is a leading force or a force that stepping away the united states itself is picking a new side that possibility cannot be. investigated so i see you meant she time you mentioned timin

as a matter of fact afghanistan itself is the victim of global drug mafia work which creates the demand and the political will to continue production in the country but this is why countries next to stan have the greatest density of drug flow. simply because they are closer to the epicenter further away the drug flows into lots of different channels and then drugs get to russia for example through the seven thousand kilometer border with pakistan. what percentage of drugs does russia get from europe. over eighty percent of all synthetic substances that are illegally traded in russia originate in europe mostly the netherlands where most fishermen based drugs are manufactured with poland the baltic states germany bulgaria and many other countries with underground drug labs labs and cells are small but there are many of them and the substances they produce find their way to rush of through various channels speaking of the amounts that we intercept and confiscate it's nearly half a ton of synthetic substances every year mostly these are methamphetamine. l.s.d. ecstasy and other similar drug

policy in afghanistan. but for good that, we want and let you know that yesterday president obama presented the medal of honor -- honor to sgt petry. he presented it to him tuesday for seizing all live grenade in attempting to hurl it away from his men during a firefight in afghanistan. an act that the military says save the lives of two other army rangers. in the ceremony, the president speaks to the very essence of america, and no matter how hard the journey, no matter hard to climb, we do not quit, we do not give up. this is more from the sergeant talking about his particular efforts in afghanistan, in pakistan rather. >> today we honor a singular act of gallantry. as we near the 10th anniversary of the attacks thrust our nation into war, it is the occasion to pay tribute to a soldier and a generation that has borne the burden of our security during a hard decade of sacrifice. i want to take you back to the circumstances that led to this day. it is may 26, 2008. in the remote eastern afghanistan, near th

army in afghanistan. it is his fourth visit to the country. he spent time with the 4th airbourne, patrolling in remote areas and engaging the security situation. obama announced a plan to bring 10,000 troops home from afghanistan by the end of the year. >> it depends on where you are. my experience is in the east. i have a little experience in the south. in the south, there is a lot of open combat. this is the headquarters of the taliban. >> in the east the violence depends on where you are. these to have strong relationships with kabul, with a lot of traffic. today, these are what i call, bombing galleries, where the coalition troops and a large coalition presence is trying very hard to like this town in order to protect this. but every step that they take, they are threatened. thousands every year, that are killing hundreds of native troops, and many times the number of afghans. as we move closer to the border, and you had se, the threat will change. this is not so much ied's because there is less vehicle traffic. the coalition soldiers and