its own forces. that means u.s. forces and the other international coalition forces here will be able to step into the background, into a more training role. it is a very optimistic goal. the police here remain a very corrupt force and seen as such by the afghan people. and the army here remains too small and too weak to really take over security. nonetheless, u.s. is hoping that this will turn into a date that everybody is looking forward to and everybody works towards so that u.s. troops can slowly begin to move out of the country beginning next summer. now, just one more note about this conference, the security for kabul is absolutely unprecedented. all of the streets are closed down. there is not a soul on the street. a clear recognition that the only way for kabul police and soldiers to secure the city is basically to shut it down. they've stopped at least three attempts at attacks on this conference, including a big one that involved about 18 mortars last night. there are still a lot of fears about security in this city. nonetheless, this conference is going smoothly so far.