commanding officer that maybe we wouldn't want to be held responsible for but that does not excuse anything. it certainly maybe makes people understand the circumstances a little better but overall you just can't do those things and we expect our officer corps to have maturity to recognize that. >> let's talk about the fight ahead and get your assessment of how the war is going. this is "economist" magazine on newsstands now. losing afghanistan it says the war after mcchrystal. "the new york times" on thursday reported the challenging environment that general petraeus will go into. at the moment every aspect of the war in afghanistan is going badly. the military's campaign and strategic city in kandahar has met with resistance from the afghan public. president karzai is unpredictable and the taliban is resisting more tenaciously than ever. how's it going? >> that's a fairly accurate description of the situation in