and afghanistan. but the security of both pipelines we have to compare one tribal area that is a relatively unsafe area on the peace pipeline that goes through the relatively safe area in pakistan and iran. asked to baluchistan by the way, sharif was also involved in the peace pipeline. it's nothing that he's forced to take but baluchistan as you know the insurgency historically you don't have rules in that area and the most surprised area and also the report shows the pakistan government that broke down on the insurgency and it's very similar. but most control of and of course iran over the region so so they are not doing enough to secure the border. it's going on for quite some time but in the media you would see that they are kind of blaming the pakistan government for being upset with the borders and not anything in pakistan of course they believed that sharif is close but there is a difference when one of the officials put it out the other day that it's close to saudi arabia but is not the agent

what does this mean for afghanistan? >> well, amanda i think it means that we have to do all we can to make the case and support the efforts of those with whom we are working to ensure that women's voices are heard in the areas that you mentioned. that we have to stand firmly for women's rights to participate fully in afghan society. that we have to continue to find ways to support the education of women, the entrepreneurship of women, the political careers of women so that there can be these role models we saw in the video and we saw on stage that can encourage women and men to see a vision of afghanistan that truly can move it to a new stage of its great and storied history. in doing the national action plan, and i'll give a plug to the national defense university which will be publishing essays by experts, military experts, intelligence talking about the difference involving women makes. it's not something laura and milan and i are saying it would be really nice if you did this. we know it works. we know in the absenc

no stranger to afghanistan. last month went back to kabul, negotiating with president karzai over the bilateral security agreement that is absolutely core to protecting the security of afghan women and girls. john kerry's enduring commitment to afghanistan is america's enduring commitment. he understands we cannot walk away from this country or this region when our troops come home. that we cannot turn our backs on the people of afghanistan, especially the women. if their rights and opportunities are undermined, the entire country's stability and prosperity will be undermined as well. so it is my great delight to introduce someone who sp known as "s," standing for secretary of state. and someone who i know sends a strong message just by being here but beyond the words that you will hear of his understanding and commitment, there's a real passion. we have an advocate for the women and girls in afghanistan in secretary john kerry. [ applause ] i think everybody knows that nobody has done more for the cause of wome

it's very important to the economy of afghanistan. afghanistan also stands in the point. if they can stay stable and secure to be able to develop e tth the -- a lot of the resources they have. i want to encourage you, this is something i like to do in the bush institute. that is to be a convener with the people of afghanistan, and corporations, united states corporations to help develop what you all have in afghanistan. but not develop it for export. develop it so that you and the people of afghanistan can learn the skills to build whatever it is you have at home. so that both people are employed at home and you can make not just what you would make by selling your resources, but you would make what you made by selling your resources turned into the products that you build yourself. and you can build your economy in a great way. and i think once men are employed also, and young men are employed across afghanistan, then there's going to be a lot less, a lot fewer young men who will want to join the taliban. but instead, will want to work to build safe lives for themselves,

and afghanistan. but the security of both pipelines we have to compare one tribal area that is a relatively unsafe area on the peace pipeline that goes through the relatively safe area in pakistan and iran. asked to baluchistan, by the way, sharif was also involved in the peace pipeline. it's nothing that he's forced to take but baluchistan as you know the insurgency historically you don't have rules in that area and the most surprised area and also the report shows the pakistan government that broke down on the insurgency and it's very similar. but most control of and of course iran over the region so so they are not doing enough to secure the border. it's going on for quite some time but in the media you would see that they are kind of blaming the pakistan government for being upset with the borders and not anything in pakistan of course they believed that sharif is close but there is a difference when one of the officials put it out the other day that it's close to saudi arabia but is not the agent

interests in afghanistan. the professor talked about the importance of a continued relationship with the united states and the afghan people are tilted in that direction. not just one or two of us talking about it. i think now the problem is having sat down the red lines, to see whether, in fact, there is any potential here for whatever kind of give is necessary for moving ahead before the afghan elections and the delay that would seriously, i think, disrupt our possibility, in a planning sense, to be able to stay on. and i think that is that conversation susan put forward. >> david, i don't often channel donald rumsfeld but as i was listening to him answer this question, i was thinking, sometimes you just have to deal with the afghan president you have rather than the one you wish you had. and i wonder if the united states is already looking past karzai, that this is a bump in the road, a last-minute complication, but since he is going to leave in the spring, in theory, sur worried about who is taking over. >

afghanistan had history. when there was a rapprochement with the president with the shock, then there was another coup, which raises the point that bonnie was saying, that it is crucial for 2014 for afghanistan to have a sensible government. i know of at least one or two candidates that have a plan, as you have described so , sotfully, for the future it is there. it is not that it does not exist. it just needs international backing. >> our former intern, who also wrote a paper that we cite in our new report. >> i actually have two questions. if the iranians get a presence on the table, how do you think the pakistanis make out? my question to you, what about international organizations? talking about iran at the downstream level, no one wants to talk to america. you have any organizations doing .ny work on the ground >> last, the gentleman in the green very quickly. >> i'm a student at johns hopkins university. i had a question about what role do you think -- do you think afghanistan will have a good role in s

hasn't really stayed in afghanistan. there has been very little accountability. it's really difficult to say what we have invested that is going to be durable. i object strenuously to the idea that we have to keep troops in place, and keep paying to somehow invest -- or to somehow investments. >> and pj what are the troops going to say? our troops have been so overextended for so long, i can't imagine this is going to be well received. >> i vehemently oppose it. unless there is a systemic plan with the afghans are going to get their about together, it is also a fact after 2014 karzai isn't going to be there anymore. so we're entering into uncharted water of what afghanistan is going to look like post karzai. troops? >> sure. it's in our national interest to make sure that afghanistan doesn't become a safe haven for extremists as it was in 2001. and -- and the united states thinks it accomplished that with a much lower level of troops there. so we're there to back up the afghanistans, make sure whether it's al-qaeda, the

afghanistan? >> our number 1 bottom line after 2014 and in 2001 when we went in was terrorism. l-qaeda still exists. the threat of a resurgent al-qaeda is something we can't accept. so we need to make sure that afghanistan is never again a haven for terrorism. >> ambassador pickering, how would you answer that question? >> i would agree with david that terrorism is an issue. i think that we have a difficult problem because over the years, we have created several impressions or misimpressions about why we are in afghanistan. one of those is the swiss democracy misimpression. another of those -- is. >> i thought that shorthand would work. that misimpression, i think, is that we are somehow there to assure that afghanistan becomes a modern, functioning democratic state as opposed to finding ways, i think, to work within the construct of afghanistan, to try to help put the situation as we leave it on a more stable footing than when we found it. and i think that great nations who intervene are always,

afghanistan is not. one of the benefits for afghanistan of having troops remain is the prospect of continuing to have u.s. assistance, which they will need for a long time. obviously the united states and nato have built a very substantial afghan security force, but not yet one they -- >> the big question now, all eyes on the loya jirga, the elders and how they may respond to this. >> this is where you have to rely on the political skills of hamid karzai. it is his initiative, and one to support anhese outcome he wants. we will see. -- do youctured is think the relationship between the u.s. and afghanistan will be? will this clear the way for better relations? >> hamid karzai and his relationship with united dates has been a roller coaster, particularly the last few years. he will leave office in 2014. 2014 is setting up to be a remarkable, transformative year for afghanistan, not only ending the war, afghanistan takes the lead of its own security, but also to have a new president. a lot they will have t

afghanistan hasn't had an internal problem primarily because afghanistan has supported the rebels in both iran and pakistan. pakistan is now going through it as the insurgency in baluchistan which is a second nationalist insurgency which is in conflict with the taliban both ethnic and ideological lines. the intensification of the ideological part of the regime under a minute led to more discontent among the populations of iran including. the united states may be supporting the pakistan, the baluchistan insurgency from afghanistan iran has charged that pakistan and perhaps the united states and saudi arabia may be supporting the iranian baluchistan inside iran. the truth of these very charges is rather murky. however as a part of our policy in this administration, one of the measures that we tried to take early on in order to send a message to iran that the us presence in afghanistan was directed at the stabilization of afghanistan and not iran was to make it clear that the united states did not support, and though it took quite a long time to get the interagency process he was declar

it's 40 minutes.on the kerry on the future of women in afghanistan. it's 40 minutes. >>> i want to once again thank the university for your active leadership not only on behalf of the intellectual study of and analysis of issues of importance to our world, but your leadership in the civic life, not only of washington, but of our country and indeed across the globe. this is yet another goexample o that and i welcome the members of the diplomatic corps and in particular all of the women of and from afghanistan who have joined us today. i'm monitored to be the honorary co-chair along with laura bush. mrs. bush has been the real inspiration and driving force behind the council from the very beginning. and the council represents a commitment, a public-private partnership to try to support the women of afghanistan in the transition that they are undergoing. we can point to a lot of progress. some of it mentioned in the sle excellent video that was just shown. but we're well aware this is a serious turning point for all the people of afghanistan, but in part

and afghanistan. but the security of both pipelines we have to compare one tribal area that is a relatively unsafe area on the peace pipeline that goes through the relatively safe area in pakistan and iran. asked to baluchistan, by the way, sharif was also involved in the peace pipeline. it's nothing that he's forced to take but baluchistan as you know the insurgency historically you don't have rules in that area and the most surprised area and also the report shows the pakistan government that broke down on the insurgency and it's very similar. but most control of and of course iran over the region so so they are not doing enough to secure the border. it's going on for quite some time but in the media you would see that they are kind of blaming the pakistan government for being upset with the borders and not anything in pakistan of course they believed that sharif is close but there is a difference when one of the officials put it out the other day that it's close to saudi arabia but is not the agent

if they commit a crime in afghanistan, then afghanistan should try them. no one can see what happens in their courts. there should be open trials in afghanistan. >> it's a point of contention that could cripple afghanistan financially. that's because until now, the u.s. government has been paying the salaries of the afghan security forces. if the agreement is not signed the flow of money could stop. it's an annual bill of more than $3.5 billion. >> where do we get the money. a national revenue of afghanistan, the most hopeful, optimistic figures is around $3 billion in 2015. that couldn't take care of our ordinary budget, let alone a development budget and the security budget. so this is not a matter of choice, it's a matter of afghanistan economy. >> hamid karzai pushed for guarantees that the u.s. would push to fight against foreign aggression. specifically that's a demand for the u.s. to confront pakistani support for armed groups operating in afghanistan. >> afghanistan in the past few decades experiences proxy wars. we have been talking to the u.s., h

so i say to you today, as afghanistan sees women standing up in afghanistan to take control of their country's future, not only for themselves, but for all afghans, we have to be determined that they will not stand alone. america will stand up with them as they shape a strong and united afghanistan that secures the rightful place in the community of nations. and that is why president obama and president karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement last year that lays out our mutual commitments. and that's why america's relationship with afghans is changing. it's not ending. there's a lot to do, so much to do, and obviously the road ahead is not easy. the violence that has plagued afghanistan for decades has left very deep wounds, and it is going to take time to heal. we also know that security is going to be a real challenge. we know that afghans have to strengthen the rule of law. they have to improve access to justice. we also know that discrimination and violence against women continue to be major problems. but i know every one of these women and the women in afghanistan today

aljazeera, afghanistan. >> meanwhile, the war in afghanistan has claimed thousands of american lives. the number of forces killed at 2,290. of that number, 1,797 u.s. troops were killed in action, 493 were killed in non-hostile incidents, and 19,494 are listed as wounded in action. >>> the son of a korean war vet said that his father is being held against his will in north korea. his son said that the authorities took his 85-year-old father off of a plane last month. newman was about top leave after being a tourist. he talked to the korean officials will his military service. >>> the negotiations in iran and six world powers are back at the bargaining table in geneva, trying to end the long standoff over iran's nuclear program. phillip joins you us live from geneva, and where are we today? >> reporter: well, del, we're well into the second day, the first full day of negotiations. they're behind closed doors, and folks are keeping their cards very close it their chests. we know there's apparently a draft resolution that's being passed around and the language of it is being discussed, a

in afghanistan. we drove across kabul to the university in afghanistan. i wish every american could go american university in afghanistan. there, if every american could go there, or if american could see what is happening just in that one across kabul to it, i believe it would change most americans about what we have accomplished theh our allies and with afghan security forces in afghanistan. the city now is full of cars, isere is traffic jams, there shops opening all over the place. people are in markets. drive -- we couldn't across kabul, they wouldn't let across kabul years before. it just simply was too dangerous. it is still a dangerous place, by the way. i don't want to sound pollyannish here. things havent is changed for the better in afghanistan and the american people, sadly, don't know it. relative to the american by way ofy itself part of the story, of course, is the growth in the number of students. when it opened i think it with 53 students. there is now 1,000 students there. 300 of them are women. and they have a broad number of courses. i

she was in a special office in afghanistan in 2011. this is about one hour. >> ladies and gentlemen, good evening. i am the ambassador. my role tonight is just to host and nothing else. i am happy to have for another time in nine, ten months the women policy group at the croatian embassy. i'm very happy to have you here as frequently as possible, because these events are really very nice. i will say no more except we are happy also the embassies keep open in washington. [laughter] and while my pleasure and honor to have ms. linda robinson whom i met at georgetown? we shared one evening -- and i must say that probably i was the most attentive of all the listeners at your part of the presentation which has to do with what you are going to talk about tonight. so, that much for a knee. i am sorry that we have bring you from the food so quickly, but time is running. [applause] >> thank you so much, ambassador, for having us back again for opening your beautiful embassy. we had a wonderful time last year and we know that this will be another

and afghanistan. but the security of both pipelines we have to compare one tribal area that is a relatively unsafe area on the peace pipeline that goes through the relatively safe area in pakistan and iran. asked to baluchistan, by the

so i say to you today, as afghanistan sees women standing up in afghanistan to take control of their country's future, not only for themselves, but for all afghans, we have to be determined that they will not stand alone. america will stand up with them as they shape a strong and united afghanistan that secures the rightful place in the community of nations. and that is why president obama and president karzai signed a have a tee strategic partnership agreement last year that lays out our mutual commitments. that's why america's relationship with afghans is changing. it's not ending. there is stop to go. and obviously the road ahead is not easy. the violence that has plagued afghanistan for decades has left very deep wounds. and it is going to take time to heal. we himself know securialso know real challenge. afghans have to strengthen the rule of law, improve access to justice. we also know that discrimination and violence against women continue to be major problems. but i know every one of these women and women this afghanistan today will remain determined and we have an obligation

a peace process, security of afghanistan, those are issues. i am a little surprised and i think he is putting himself in a difficult situation because the poll apparently want the agreement to go forward. she could be miscalculating a do,g, no matter what they they get to go forward with a reason to say ok. americanss to stop going to afghan homes and the return of prisoners held at guantÁnamo bay back to afghanistan. it puts them in a difficult position, doesn't it? >> it does. the searching for homes, i understand. the presidents letter was read and it was satisfactory. >> what is karzai doing? what game is he playing? >> it is hard to understand. .e is about to leave office it may be a factor that he wants to stay relevant to the very last minute. the things that really give him leverage our the security agreement and the elections. >> kenny americans say, we are not prepared to wait for after the election, we are going to ?ull our troops back in >> i would advise against that. i think it would be a mistake. it is vital to afghanistan and

later in the program afghanistan's drug disaster reaches a whole new level twenty thirteen season i'm president it's opium cultivation after a decade of failed international efforts to tackle the problem. also a shadow workforce r.t. looks at why illegal migrant labor in russia is becoming such a divisive issue. sun surf and sand it's a tiny tropical paradise in the south pacific and home to just over fifty people and all the residents of the pitcairn islands pay no tax they get tens of thousands of pounds per person each year straight from the pockets of the british taxpayers so it's a city report somewhere all that money is going. have you ever heard of pic care. ok not fair. not ever heard of picked karen. to pick an island. i think in the pacific so if. you know that part of your taxes go to that island. have you ever heard of pitcairn . if you've never heard of pitcairn and you're an e.u. citizen it might be well worth knowing for that's where part of your taxes are going. to cairn is one of britain's overseas territories a small island in the south pacific with a total populatio

hasn't really stayed in afghanistan. there has been very little accountability. it's really difficult to say what we have invested that is going to be durable. i object strenuously to the idea that we have to keep troops in place, and keep paying to somehow invest -- or to somehow protect really spirous investments. >> and pj what are the troops going to say? our troops have been so overextended for so long, i can't imagine this is going to be well received. >> i vehemently oppose it. unless there is a systemic plan with the afghans are going to get their about together, it is also a fact after 2014 karzai isn't going to be there anymore. so we're entering into uncharted water of what afghanistan is going to look like post karzai. >> pj a quick final word on the troops? >> sure. it's in our national interest to make sure that afghanistan doesn't become a safe haven for extremists as it was in 2001. and -- and the united states thinks it accomplished that with a much lower level of troops there. so we're there to back up

and afghanistan have finally come to terms for a tentative bilateral security agreement that will stop the role of troops in the country until two thousand and twenty four secretary of state john kerry and afghan president hamid karzai reached the accord on the heels of the loya jirga or afghanistan's grand assembly however just today cars i said that he would delay signing the agreement until after the presidential elections in april twenty fourth team and with these negotiations one point of contention has been the number of criminal incidents which afghan civilians have been executed via night raids or drone strikes that kerry said an apology on behalf of the us for these instances is off the table if the security agreement is approved it will cement the notion that the war in afghanistan is far from over and it will extend well beyond the twenty fourteen deadline or bridgeman set by obama of course the u.s. has also promised to continue funding afghan security forces so if bin ladin dead for years and no clear goal of why the u.s. is so keen on staying in afghanistan i'll break it

soldiers to remain in afghanistan are wrangled zero but it's a key gathering of tribal elders meanwhile the united states government subsidizing . the taliban and al qaeda network those groups that are trying to shoot and kill our soldiers and internal inquiry reveals millions of dollars from american taxpayer as the war pandered to companies financing are going to terror groups. also the e.u.'s plans to launch its own drone program to trigger a major concerns with activists warning they'll be no guarantee the unmanned aircraft will be used for peaceful purposes. and ukraine scraps preparations for a trade agreement with the e.u. off today's column and rejects a bill which would allow the expert on minister yulia tymoshenko to have magical treatment abroad. international news live from moscow this is us he was me. hello and welcome to the program. u.s. troops may remain immune to our laws and still be carrying out military operations after the end of their combat mission in twenty fourteen that's what a draft security deals address and they are going president is urging an assembly of t

leave with the afghanistan taliban. what possible motive could we have to be in league with the taliban for one minute when they are killing our men and women and your men and women? what could possibly be our motive? he said he's been trying to figure that out himself. [laughter] then i said it hurts. it hurts. the american people hear you and he's almost alone in terms of the leadership of the country and act as though it does not make much difference in whether we come or stay. the educators there want us to stay. we can have a residual force, but we cannot stay. finally, he says, there has been a western history of divided rule, divide and conquer, that's the best he can do. what happened? when the brits, the russians, whoever -- alexander. you go back further than i do. that's it. i just told him, you know, you are undermining a goal which you obviously want which is for there to be some kind of a residual presence in your clearly -- your people clearly want by any polling or conversation. we had a good, healthy co

and afghanistan set -- afghanistan can succeed. if we build our own security in the way and our own rule of law in a way that people respect and pay attention to. >> secretary clinton, a question from a georgetown graduate student, amanda. she has a question about the u.s. national action plan on women, peace and security which you launched at georgetown. she asks the plan calls for incorporating women's efforts into the range of u.s. work and development, diplomacy and defense. what does this mean for afghanistan? >> well, amanda, i think it means we have to do all we can to make the case and support the efforts of those with whom we are working to ensure that women's voices are heard in the areas that you mentioned. that we have to stand firmly for women's rights to participate fully in afghan society. we have to continue to find ways to support the education of women, the entrepreneurship of women, the political careers of women so that there can be feasible models that we saw in the video and we saw on stage that can encourage

special representative for afghanistan. peter gall breadth of the center for arms control and nonproliferation welcome back to the shows. i'm just back from kumble conflict management consultants and scholar funny needs of young and tea and scones and gets very on the left jacinto husband gets in a region join the conversation on facebook and twitter are packed and two for two dates. for good or panel let's go to that story one year after the french co op in afghanistan returned to the piece the province it said four reports the calls and gets investigated news magazine. it's a story read by the crumb sing. i'm like come on it fly. this is the day begins. this movie any area of strategic importance of the outskirts of kabul. the artillery is pummeling time and post it discovered the night before more than were gone so long to hear that they typically the soldiers of god that this demonstration of force. it's not easy for them tonight the targets are two of our songs to listen. the busiest week of trust. mexico at the moment

intervention in afghanistan coming up. going nuclear suddenly democrats are changing the protocol to approve presidential nominees so does that mean a clear path for janet yellin an update from capitol hill on the push for the next fed chair and food lovers the way or in an attempt to tip the scale in favor of clear arteries the f.d.a. is about to take your trans fats away we'll get saturated in the details later in the show. it's thursday november twenty first four pm in washington d.c. meghan lopez and you are watching r t well political leaders and tribal elders are convening on kabul afghanistan this week to discuss the future of u.s. troops in the country the meeting is known as lawyer progress more than two thousand tribal elders will vote on whether or not to give u.s. troops immunity in afghanistan beyond two thousand and fourteen without such an agreement the u.s. has threatened to pull all troops out of the country and let afghan troops take on the taliban on their own president hamid karzai and the u.s. secretar

war games in crisis hit europe keeping troops busy after they pull out of afghanistan. i don't see how japan's math is reportedly making money from the cleanup of the fukushima nuclear station by providing an exploited workers to do the do it. from moscow with headlines from the news team here welcome to the program today israel's prime minister is heading to moscow on a mission to prevent any progress during iran's nuclear negotiations with world powers a new round of three day talks with tehran begins in geneva today and many obstacles remain before hopes of a breakthrough become reality let's get more on this now from. joining us live here on the program good to see you who's got a busy day today. did netanyahu will arrive here in moscow to meet up with russia's president putin and of course the his arrival happens just whether those geneva talks on iran's nuclear program open up he is said to will have. talks on his agenda here in moscow to try to convince for the last time the russians to go with what he believes is an exceedingly bad decision in terms of the runs

indian it sit for a local ngo as the controversial did not ask for guests or just to remain in afghanistan and trundled out of a sticky gathering of tribal elders. meanwhile the united states government subsidizing. the taliban al qaeda. the comedy network of those groups are trying to shaving kill our soldiers the internal inquiry reveals millions of dollars for american taxpayers were hunted to companies financing of its parent group. on the bbc's plans to launch his arm and drug problem trick in teenage sons with us to this morning helping that guarantees that ma and pa for the peaceful use of it ukraine's parliament describ a bill allowing child takes one to seek the attention paid to be treated as though fetching trade talks with the heat which has been inherited by the country's shattered the player. he's like a moth that this is on skype with me here next. the tree. us troops may remain in me down in the woods and still they carrying out miniature operations after the end of a combat mission in twenty fourteen spots and raw security deal suggests on down the president is touching th

coming up on r t in afghanistan tribal leaders gather for on a momentous vote an issue should u.s. troops be granted immunity in the country beyond twenty four teams the future of u.s. intervention in afghanistan coming up going nuclear senate democrats are changing the protocol to approve presidential nominees those that mean a clearer path for janet yellen an update from capitol hill on the push for the next fed chair and food lovers be wary of an attempt to tip the scale in favor of clear arteries the f.d.a. is about to take away your trans fats will get saturated in the details of it later in the show. here thursday november twenty first five pm in washington d.c. meghan lopez if you were watching r t well political and tribal elder results are convening in kabul afghanistan this week to discuss the future of u.s. troops in the country the meeting is known as loya jirgah more than two hundred thousand tribal elders will vote on whether or not to give us troops immunity in afghanistan beyond two thousand and fourteen without such an agreement the u.s. has threatened to pull all

the rt and afghanistan tribal leaders gather for my mom hey if you shun u s troops be granted immunity in the country neon twenty fourteen the future of us intervention in afghanistan coming on and on the mainland and attentive to the scale in favor of your arteries the fda is about to take away your regions of the facts will get saturated in the details of the rendition of a. yet the stain on the twenty first find him in washington d c and m lopez and you were watching rte one political and tribal elders are meeting in kabul afghanistan this week to discuss the future of us troops in the country. he is known as lay eggs are about one inch to one thousand tribal elders will vote on whether or not to get the u s troops in unity in afghanistan beyond twenty fourteen. such an agreement the us has threatened to pull all troops out of country and led afghan troops take on the taliban on their own dhoni karzai and us secretary of state john kerry have already reached a draft agreement to buy immunity for us troops were at least another decade. our travel elders have a dab hand at modifying t

finally, last night i saw a play afghanistan."n i think it's one of the most powerful plays of ever seen and i'm a performing arts junkie. i recommend everyone to go see it. it was fabulous. it addresses the things were talking about. it's a really important point. some youngought over afghan music students about six months ago. it was terrific. we brought them to the capital so that some of my colleagues could see. i think there were like eight students on afghan instruments at a music school which could have never existed and they are there preserving their heritage. it has an impact when people can see a play or whatever, of course it does. telling stories are important. the problem on the other side is , i'm not a good storyteller, by the way. i admire those of my colleagues who are. it's the most powerful way to get a message across. my wife reminds me of this all the time. instead of statistics, you just said, how many teachers? they will not remember. there are 10 times as many teachers now, 40% are women, 30% are women. th

maintaining a social forces presence in afghanistan where we can look for al-qaeda in afghanistan and not incidentally fly drones into pakistan, that's what we want out of the deal. when he comes back and says, "you can stay, but you can't search afghan houses at night, that's the reason we are doing the deal, to search afghan houses. he's pushing on red lines, things we can't do, whether it's immunity for troops tore searching houses. >> meanwhile iraq is suffering its worst wave of violence in five years. 4,000 people have been killed since april 1st, including a car bomb on thursday. the president of iraq has started making noises about how he wants the u.s. to come back in. well, i don't think he wants the u.s. to come in, he wants the u.s. to sell him the technology. >> yes, to support his forces. >> it is a horse of a different colour. we have to be careful in merging the problems. the first thing that we know is iraq is not afghanistan. there are not a lot of commonalties between the two countries. they have internal problems. the bulk of the problem in iraq really is externala

protect its own folks in afghanistan? >> i don't think so. not with that few individuals, we have an advantage. we are dispirit. there's small ir bases. it's hard for the taliban to decide whether to mask forces and attack. with the draw down we'll go down to 10 large bases. if you are an insurgency like the taliban, you win because you put a force on the battlefield. how you win further is getting international press attention for attacks. if you attack small outposts. it may not make the new, but if you go down to 10 base, if you overrun a marine base, you make the new, that will be the relatedy. >> can you talk about moral. what the moral of the troops in afghanistan. >> a lot of my friends got home from deployment, and they are saying we are basically shutting down bases and consolidating. the moral is low because a lot of gains made during the surge is lost to the taliban. we pull out force, the afghan troops are making deals, saying we will not leave the base, if you leave us alone we'll take obvious. >> is it a bad deal for the united

, we will not leave the afghanistan women and girls behind, and we will ensure that afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists again. so i thank you, senator casey, and i want to thank you, mr. president, for allowing me to speak on this very important issue. and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: mr. president, i'd like to ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with senator wyden of oregon for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, to start, i just want to pay tribute to my two colleagues, senator casey and senator ayotte for their focus on human rights and particularly the rights of women wherever those women may live. i rise tonight to talk about the rights that are enshrined in our bill of rights. to that particular key concern of americans, i want to talk about the importance of reforming our domestic surveillance laws. and we, senator wyden and i, as we both enter this discussion, we have one general goal in mind and that is to find the proper bal

troops in afghanistan for several more years? up to ten more years. >> well, we continue to want to deny afghanistan as a launch point for international terrorism. the taliban continue to be linked with al qaeda. if the taliban were able to come back, seize control with some or most or even all of the country, you would again have a regime linked to al qaeda and prepared to facilitate those kinds of attacks. and we now believe that we can do it with much smaller commitment because we have raised and trained and helped support an afghan army and police force of about 350,000. but we don't believe that we can afford to abandon afghanistan all together. >> woodruff: the agreement also has language in it, though, that puts limits on what u.s. troops can do in terms of not going, for example, into private homes unless there's an urgent reason to do so. how much of a disadvantage is that? >> the agreement actually pretty much describes what we're already doing. afghan troops are in the lead. we don't go into afghan homes. we sometimes

opium production has increased forty times in afghanistan since nato started its war on terror in two thousand and one and now the drug money goes to fund terror and god knows what else not to mention of course thousands of lives taken by heroin consumption every year what expect more drugs coming out of afghanistan because the value of opium is so much higher than any other crop available to afghan farmers that afghans are not planning on giving up on poppies anytime soon even though the tribal leaders in the afghan government publicly denounce opium production according to afghan farmers they still managed to tax them for that and this is what one farmer said government officials grow opium themselves and if they don't grow it themselves they rent out their land to farmers to grow it if the officials don't care about the law there is no reason for us to respect it that's according to this farmer for more than a decade nato and the us of course of the government that it had put in place in kabul every fuse to impose a clear ban on poppy growing possibly thinking such a ban would turn

has millions of dollars to companies linked to terrorism in afghanistan. the e.u. joins the race to dominate the skies with drones of its own sparking fears of fresh unaccountable attacks from. british government warns christians are a threat of extinction in some middle eastern countries to syria to investigate the impact of sectarian violence. world wide use twenty four seven this is the line from moscow with me rule received from all of us here thanks for joining us today the u.s. has allegedly given a it was more than one hundred fifty million dollars to companies in afghanistan that are suspected of links with terrorist organizations and the claims come from the special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction who was appointed by congress to investigate. the story. the u.s. special inspector general for ganesan reconstruction found out that the pentagon has hired forty three companies with suspected ties to terrorist networks the data comes from the pentagon's own classified investigative reports and commerce department list of terror connected compan

clearly afghanistan is not a nirvana. there are huge problems remaining, the third poorest country on earth. the people and livelihood of the people are better off and more secure that they would have been otherwise. libya was the sixth operation and new challenge, in many ways a real test for the nato 3.0, for the new strategic concept that started out saying that nato is a source of stability in an unpredictable world. when the leaders in lisbon in november 2010 signed off on that statement, not a single one of them realized three months later they would, in fact, be engaged in the military operation over libya. it took three years for nato to decide to get involved in bosnia. it took one year for nato to get involved in kosovo. it took one week for nato to decide to get involved in libya. this was a unique mission. it was a mission that involved for the first time real and fundamental burden sharing, something that americans have been calling for from europeans for the last 50-some years, in fact, probably 65 years. th

troops immunity in afghanistan beyond two thousand and fourteen without such an agreement the u.s. has threatened to pull all troops out of the country and let afghan troops take on the taliban on their own president hamid karzai and the u.s. secretary of state john kerry have a ready a reached an agreement that would provide immunity for u.s. troops for another decade now the tribal elders are have their turn to modify the deal after their vote will go on to afghanistan's parliament then back to karzai for his finals. sure but in a surprising turn cause i announce today that he plans to defer the signing to his successor after the elections in april for more on this meeting i'm joined now by