Sexual assault, murder, other Violent Crimes within the military to those in the comparable civilian population rates of other crimes in the military are much lower. Just a very small fraction. The rate of sexual assaults is sustained, it still says the something is wrong, something is not working at the rate of that particular has not been driven down. If i knew how to do that dress mayor would. I would hope that in the long run opening closed comment on jobs and jens would drive down rates of sexualharassment and assault. Women will no longer be lesser. When theyre able to do all forms of military service nobody will be able to up say some of the things that i heard. Why would you report sexualharassment. What do you expect when you run join a mans army. Huffily when troops are equal that will improve. Research from other womens equality increases there can be a temporary shortterm by then sexual assault. Something that we need to be aware of. Just kind of be forewarned about if we start to see that we should not say oh, god, pull the plug. I am confident that the military, the army in particular is working very hard to set the stage for a smooth and successful integration of women to close jobs in units. Theyre working very hard to drive down the rates of sexualharassment and assault. Hopefully the military and universities can learn from each other is a problem that we see much more widely than just the military. Thank you. [applause] and thank you all once again for coming. I hope you will of course by the book. Remember, when you get to some of the worst parts this is a story of hope, healing, recovery command love. On that note happy almost valentines day. [applause] please help us sell to cover staff. [inaudible conversations] tomorrow i government surveillance overseas conducted by the privacy of celebrities oversight board, a panel approved by the president is recommended by the 9 11 commission. Live coverage of the hearing beginning at 9 00 a. M. Eastern here on cspan2. Shortly after world war to fight in that a story of international tensions, the department became convinced that the military guard forces needed to guarantee the security they learn to of the pitfalls and problems which are hazards security. Particularly the adverse effect on security of incidents some. These areas there the black market, illegal money stains, reckless driving drinking. This weekend on American History to the real america a 1964 training film from marines working state department security. Sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern. The marine veteran. The strategy for ending u. S. Military involvement in afghanistan. Talked about his book. Them that the next 20 minutes, give you an overview of two things relative to afghanistan and the first is what is the nature of the war. The second is what is the strategy. The nature of the war i base on i have about ten years now on battlefields and my iraq in afghanistan. As barbara said generals are cayenne secretaries of defense and president s may have rolls, but they better keep their egos and the control. Tolstoy and is but war and peace really had it right. What actually happens as much more to do with the tenacity of those the fighting and it does with the pronouncements from on high. Ill try to show you why. I would like to just bring you through very quickly of, how the strategy is imbedded in it. Old pro. And just about to go back to my tent trip, ten trips of the last four years the army platoons, the marine platoon the special forces and associated afghan units if iraq at the top of afghanistan do. Unfortunate we have been pushed out of there. This is your afghanistan. The other half of my time i spent down in the south. This is where the talent and began there attack. This is entirely different. This is a little view that is extraordinarily similar, the trend of vietnam. Now 90 of the fighting takes place between those two axes along the pakistan border. The rest is not as well involved this issue is an issue of the costumes. The tribe which is along the border and also on the pakistan site accounts for about 90 percent of the taliban and 90 percent of the insurgency. This is the famous valley, the movie. I certainly hope its going to win the oscar. I was teasing him. Theyre on their way out. It would not take you too long if i said to you why dont we just take a drive down that road all the tribes are on friendly in there up on the hillsides. You would all immediately say to me, thats not your smartest idea. For four years we attempted to get the valley under control. We couldnt because we cannot close with the enemy in the mountains. All of our troops are wearing 80 pounds of armor. The enemy is not wearing in the armor. And so there is no way you can never catch a lot of those mountains. When you think of the war in the north and so Long Distance war, for instance there were being shot at what took this picture from where the smokers and the other side. Looks like thats only 600 meters away. If you really were in good shape you can get there in about seven hours its a lot of longdistance shooting the kindle on forever. This is the famous i took this picture. You notice that there is this particular four right here. That was the tell a man for it. There were moving in every night to the border. There were coming over and taking meals and burning ammunition down and shooting. He said to me, we will go up along the border. But they like one of those on some of a bitch is will shoot at us. He does than i can shoot back. We stood there and looked at them. All they did was way back to los this is of vast sanctuary called pakistan and extends for 1500 miles. They drove every night up that road and then unloaded their ammo. So the other side the other is, pakistan. Now the essence of what were doing, we went in in 2001. The taliban have supported al qaeda to it killed 3,000 americans of the World Trade Center in my judgment several things happened. Had this religious beliefs and liberty for people. At think he cant use that. He took that and extracted it and said we should give liberty also to the iraqis and the afghans which is a noble idea. Put an idea into action. We were not able quite to do it. When they looked around and say is going to do this idea they said well, the United States military. What happened was that the subject and about. We perverted and we turned it into nationbuilding. That social contract was that the United States of america would give to the people money and as much security as we could money we give about 14 billion a year. In return we expected them to turn against the taliban. All we want to do was tell us to among them was the taliban. Since everyone is wearing civilian clothes and we dont speak postern we have no idea who among you is about to shoot me. If you help me in point out the mafia is among you all take care of them for you. He had something called tribal loyalty. Look at this picture. This is a place called gods ago that was 500 meters outside of the United States battalion base. For four years the italians rotated through the basin tried to say what do you want . We will help you. Occasionally sniper shots. There were never able to persuade the people. So about a yearandahalf ago the american Battalion Commander who was really kind spirited set out common and help the. As we were driving in hear the kids. Theyre about 12, 13 years of age coming out on the road as fast as we were going in like the size of those rocks. The low. And it ended up in a big ambush that the tribe said. And during the ambush aid Afghan Soldiers were killed. I hope this in man. As representative to see looks corporal dakota meyer i hope, pushing very hard that he should get the medal of honor. When everybody fell apart it was Corporal Meyer it came to the floor. When his commander choked and did not know what to do because yet to fire from every place, he took over the entire battle. Extricated the other americans will really gets me more than anything else was the treasury that was unexplainable. Just unexplainable, came out of nowhere what we know . For four years weve been here trying to be nice. We went into town. Wont give the name of the town. Notice the person with the blue arrow. For reasons i wont give in to combine just a journalist. Sometimes i here out there with them you cant help but to know the sources. The Company Commander knew that that was the man and the one that of this group. What he did was he just randomly put people as though was a random search. He had killed some of the people in the town who had driven over the. The killed a couple of americans certainly blown up a few of the american vehicles. So we add the night there he reached in this pocket and took goddess cellphone. Slipped to the guy next to him was lifted to the next guy. None of them knew that of course he was watching this whole thing. What got to me was that man didnt know those others. I mean, the odds of him knowing when you just the people of random we were very low. Theyll cooperate with them right away. And that of william bennett, that gadgets killed some of you. This is a picture of the left. Theyre very polite enemies. There would smile you. Ben never smile at you. They try to avoid talking you except when they need medical supplies. You can stand among them. They just look at you except when it won a medical supplies. There would come up once a week to get their medical supplies. You know the rule, 15 minutes. Then we start shooting again. I thought, this is bizarre. Heres the same man shot for next week attacking before in another village. He had on the bandanna with all the markings. We want to be politically correct answer religion has nothing to do with anything in were all circular. Thats just exactly wrong the islamic religion has a chance that very quickly becomes islamist. Before they attack you theyre all saying a lot bar. They do have leaders who sincerely believe in being as honest. Some of the really hard court. They make terrific fliers. Can you tell when you talk to somebody. No way. So what you have is a situation in my judgment where the people are watching. We have confused to things. In america i see the people as the price but not the means of winning the war. And our doctrine is to say if we protect the people it will come over to our side and reject the taliban and therefore be the means of winning the war. You believe one of the other. I am gradually come to this conclusion, thats wrong. You have to win first in income over. This is one of my favorite stories a wonderful man he went to this one village in the middle of nowhere. You couldnt try this to find this village of the try. We sat down and began i conversations. At the Boston Red Sox had on. Thats the world series champion must be pretty good. Does your play for them . At that i can get away with this whos gonna know. Eight to six, 75. Then the talk to the others. Were you giggling and . And he said because theyre used to a cricket. Now he knows why year sold. Do such a terrible player and a good sense of humor. He gave a list that was going to cost about 25,000. Every single as cant afghan as a list. Heres my list. Wheres my money. Mortgages tough. We just had a fire fight and issue one guy. You as a favor and tell the taliban and a stay at ethier so well have to do that anymore. Elected a man said, well, how can we do that . And i thought down south you get into an entirely different situation. You have the right of your round the media of these rivers a cut right your afghanistan. As a result you have these planes that are terrific for growing anything on either side. The score of engineers built thousands of canals down and. And as a result it is highly for tile. Looks just like vietnam as the same kind of bush that you can hide in. Its called the green zone. In also is where 90 percent of the aryan heroin and opium in the world come from. Down there the fighting is inverse. Not trusting his neighbor, over centuries also about this thick. A tank cannot go rosewalls issued a you and not going to do that much damage, and thats the nature of the fighting. That was just down there the last two weeks ago this is one of the flights. There were flags everywhere. As the marines move forward they brought there flags with them. I thought, well, im back in the 15th century. A turnaround. The marines a carrying there flanks. It gradually pushing against them, pushing against the. And then i thought, why am i surprised by this it be that i realize why. The british and spent four years, four years. They have believed in this when the hot seat hearts and minds the marines came in. By the way you cant go any more than 200 yards outside the district the marine said what . So even after four years its been 60 million change nothing. Now good news before bad news. Good news. No way terror skin when afghanistan. Just cant happen. I never thought i would see the day that i was praising the air force up that there really helped, but all that is gone now. We live in a world that never see is an instrument so far from of the United States and its one of the reasons i dont think we need as many troops. Heres an adviser is a great young man. And matt is looking through a tiny low scope it will be looking at this. This is what hes seeing. That is a white shroud. One of these cyber suggested that tell a man about a kilometer away. An aircraft is up to 29,000 feet in taking a picture of the whole thing. Sending it down his looking at the picture. Wherever we go, when i was on these other patrols on we were out there, the first in the sergeant said was wheres my air and every Single Company now, most of them have bumps. There are blends tethered to the Company Positions by about 5,000 feet. But they have a camera is just like youre watching the super bowl pictures and youre watching the football move. We could see a person, they could see a person they also have f18 it, every f18 as that kind of a camera. Every and an aerial vehicle. This means tactically that when youre on the ground as fast as we get into a fight or able to call up. Theyre over 2 00. This voice comes back and says yes, i have a guy and a rift with the long rifle. A couple of other guys with a case. That was in f18 pilot who is so far as we could even seem. This was a notion. Have the taliban take power in the 1990s . Well, first pakistan gave them all the equipment. You get out of the co. Diesel pickup trucks, motorcycles. Most of the tell ben today are equivalent to the 1860s apaches. It all right in back and had very well. They all run on motorcycles. Thats their wars. Well, there is no such thing as writing anywhere anymore afghanistan. It for not watching we can select who is struck. Therefore im not i am not that concerned about the taliban and massing because i know see how they do it. So what i see is the end point here is were not going to win over the population to try to go against the tell a ban. Karzai is what where do i use . All the synapses do not close and president karzai said. Its difficult to run the country when you are mercurial beyond understanding. But he may be there for another four years. The issue in afghanistan for us to withdraw is very simple. Leave something behind. That happens to be the Afghan Soldiers. All they need more than anything else of this particular point is an infusion and a belief that they can win. Thus the most important thing to give them more than anything else. These of the guys to do it. They spent a lot of time with the special forces units over there. Special forces units are terrific guys. They give us the leverage of if you put them together like this unit was with the marines gave them of rifle platoon to work with. You have to in senior sergeants from the army ball over 30 and then you have 40 young gunslingers from the marine corps improbably in that young twenties. City and 50 americans and 500 afghans. City of a ratio of about one american for every ten Afghan Soldiers. They held their own territory the same as any american battalion. So when i look at nsa that afghanistan is the wrong war for our current strategy of nation building. Demille you can say how levees of the problem of karzai and the government and basically speaking of money. Egypt. What to theyll have in common. They have in common an army was so close to the people that they kept our rain on the governments having gradually got on the people side and became a civilizing force, not a force of repression. And what im saying is that the afghan army can be with the afghans take care of their own politics. If that happens to be of them begins to control karzai to a certain extent so be it. I dont think we should continue for another decade with the strategy of nationbuilding. Think we should reduce our forces because we can at advisers and change the ratio. Right now the ratio is one american to one afghan. At like to see that ratio be ten afghans, one american. With that new air power that have shown you on not leaving somebody out there as a sitting duck. And giving the people the power to control the battlefield. Second reduce the dollars. A okay. Hundred billion dollars is a rounding error. We have to start somewhere if you give something to somebody for nothing what you get a return . Nothing. Lyndon johnson tried to have a Great Society and it ended up with the culture of entitlement. We now have a culture of entitlement in afghanistan for the same reason. We give something and expect nothing in return. We cant continue do that. Of think its good for a country to do it. Let the forces get back to doing what they do very well. So thats why i call it the wrong war. Thats all i have to say. [applause] hello. On an open Source Intelligence worker. My question for you is what will need to happen for the Afghan Government is able to say to the americans we can take it from here. We have to tell them because if we let leave it up to them theyre never going to tell you go home. What he wanted to somebody whos the golden goose to stop laying the eggs . So if its us to have to say to the afghans you have to start stepping forward. I believe we are getting to the point where we will do that. The troops did it. The troops did it. The troops Like Fighting. Their enlistment rates are high. The morale is high. But this notion of just going around building stuff all the time, they dont really believe that is the solution. So i think we have to push them. We cant wait for them the telos i came a little late. Thats what i heard. One of our problems in vietnam was we were fighting what they call a century. We had a conventional army and were fighting in insurgency. And the government we were fighting with to and have the support of the people. It meant that we lost. Even though we had advisers. With an asymmetrical war of rounded to nothing. By analogy and always becomes difficult for one were to another. What happened of course in vietnam there were some 18 divisions of artillery and tanks. They seized saigon with artillery and tanks. I believe that in afghanistan the taliban and cannot mass. They have to be able to mass to go against the city youre in a large target. I dont believe they can do that number one because of the air that we now have the number two also because pakistan i dont believe is going to do again what they did in the 1990s. Pakistan had not been behind the taliban and in the 1990s the tell a ban would not have seized control. You need in order to have an army somebody who is supplying you. And that pakistan is now are giving it to them with them will. The doing just enough to keep things stirred up. But i dont believe they want to suffer americas raff by really saying here you can have all this equipment. Fighting the last four, two big given the go . I think i dont like to get into personalities. Thinking of a strategy. I think our strategy is evolving even as we speak. You notice that for the last six months general patraeus has begun to emphasize much more what are special Operations Forces of been doing in order to take up midlevel can draw on the taliban side. I would hope that gradually everyone kind of shifts a little bit. Again i get back to my philosophy of history. My philosophy of history is and that the generals to as much as the generals think theyre doing has to do an awful lot more with what the young manager in on the ground. And once we send the signal in you no longer have to do nationbuilding. Theyre going to get back to the basic tasks. They are military, not in nation building force. Nothing does the we were going to go. At be very surprised if beginning this summer you did not c. S. Really withdrawing its troops. We may declare victory. Be very surprised if you did not serious biogen beginning to say, hey, were starting to representative the sub. I am struck by the similarity the chair what youre saying with a strategy recommending now and both the line that was taken by the u. S. Military in the early years and rock and for that matter of a strategy that was pursued in afghanistan between 2002 and 2006 when there were 30 to 45,000 special forces are special Operations Forces troops based tobacco and and a grand total of 5,000 International Troops in kabul. And using low will allies tried to track down and destroy the taliban with heavy reliance on technology. Did not work. A profoundly did not work. Most analysts point to insufficient population security as one of the reasons it did not work in the reliance on locals the local warlords, local intermediaries who use dust to settle scores. So how exactly is the strategy you are recommending different from what put us here in the first place . Well, i think three things. First is only bell last year to that i have actually seen the maturation of the linkage between our air and the ground that had never seen in 40 years of combat. That is really to try we have walked a step forward for made in an ever seen before. Second, we are not using local warlords. We now have an entire afghan army. What im saying is but an army out front the way that it should be. And third, i dont believe that the population protection kits the senate or. Gradually you can have the afghans to it for themselves, but think were just spinning our wheels doing population protection. I think we should get back to our Number One Mission as we began to pull out. I think were going to of put maximum pressure on the talent and a way that only americans can and build up the afghan Army Everything is a risk. It could be in the and it does not work. The only alternative then would be that we would persistent we are doing at the level were doing it for another decade. That me give you a statistic. We have 65 the giants. We have roughly 240 companies, and each company has three to four outposts said he go all the way down to the platoon level. There are 7,000 postion villages and up 100,000 were only taking 1 7. Even if we did everything right and looked at the arithmetic and i go while. The arithmetic would be overwhelming. The me followup. Please. Witches if were not protecting the population and you have pointed out the elusiveness of the Television Committee exactly how will you find them to kill them . That comes down to something we americans can i do. We have not been able to do it. The average soldier, the average grant sees the taliban and only three times in the year. He made it one are two shots and an entire year. They are not messing. Thats what i said, is Like Fighting the apaches. We had thousands of american soldiers in the west running around after a few apaches. Or not going to change that. We cannot. The issue becomes whether the Afghan Soldiers themselves can do it. But until we try them we wont know. We only have certain choices, and im not sure any choice is going to work. Pretty confident my choice is going to work because i dont believe they can. Until we actually see the afghans doing the job for themselves we will know. Right now the other thing that bothers me is we have not turned one district, we have not turned one district in afghanistan over to afghan control. That really concerns me. Everyone was saying we did such a terrific job of and we did. Theres always a risk. Thats why some people think we better watch out for this one. One other thing, if you ask me stand back from a particular side why see this thing in the . Its like youre trying to pick the stocks in todays market. Everyone of us knows were going to fail. No one can pick the stock market. No one. Otherwise you would be a multimillionaire. No one can pick the and in afghanistan. I given a 10 percent chance that something happens that none of us can think of today. Egypt to miami none of us anticipated to the ship, egypt, now libya. Something really wild could happen and we would all say what we miss that . Dagata 10 chance that karzai is gone. Dont know how, but hes just no longer part of this equation. Something happens. I given a 40 percent chance that we will muddle through the way am talking about, gradually pilaf forces out and it will be okay. And i give it a 40 percent chance that karzai and the people in trouble pole and henry kissinger. If you recall secretary kissinger brunt receive the Nobel Peace Prize for solving the war in vietnam. There will be some sort of messy deal between the taliban, that pakistan is, and the afghans that will cause all this to scratch our heads and say why did we lose all those troops and all that treasure for ten years for that and results . Which is another way of saying i dont know whats gonna happen. Of like to ask you a question about drawn attacks. It was in the book lessons and disasters, they talk about the bombing in North Vietnam was intended to soften until their resolve. And from what i understand postwar interviews with North Vietnamese found that it didnt do that. Steal their resolve and really i know these drone attacks are controlled by bill gates wannabes in california with their joysticks. Now if i had a Family Member killed by a drawer attack controlled by bill gates one of the 10,000 miles away i would be enormously upset. My question is what is the impact of these drawn attacks . There surgically upon successful , thats great. You read about these things were a family of six unskilled. One of those incidents set suspect so far. I just question the net effect of the drones. You know, i dont know. You can argue either side of those kinds of things. I dont know. I know what i would do if i were in charge. I would crank them up even more. That doesnt mean that youre not right and that what were not doing is just tearing up a hornets nest. You can figure a marine would give you that answer. How will the afghan army doing a better job of controlling, and i assume they are nonposture, but they dont speak the language. Right, right, yeah, but are there significant numbers of of pashtun in the Afghan Military . I dont mean to be poly anish, but this is all triball. The pashtuns are 11 million of the afghans and believe it is their birthright to be in charge of the tribes. We came along, upset that apple cart, gave them car city, in faff of him because hes one of theirs, even though he works with the americans, all that stuff, but the army is mostly coming from the northern part of the country who speak dhari, and down in the south, they dont speak pashtun, so you are right. I had friends of mine, you know, high ups say, hey, come on, bing, you know as well as we that their army is as much an Occupying Army as we are. I say, yeah, i know that, but what other options are you given other than us evading the afghan army which is not the same, and the other gentleman is right. Theres a core here of the pashtuns that we cant break so im really not sure how it plays out in the end. Youre right. I mean, its a problem. The u. S. Fore structure, a warrior culture coupled with a, as we know, an incredibly highly Sophisticated Technology culture, and youre calling on, you know, for a strategy of advising. Do you see that our, this administration and American Culture regimely will support the evolution of this very sophisticated brunt, multidimensional culture . Were going to need it elsewhere too, and were not that many of the folks to go around, an