Seen and much of what ambassador samad has shared with us as far. A great enthusiasm leading up to the vote and on election day despite significant threats, personal threats and amidst great personal risk that so many afghans came out and voted in those elections on saturday is really inspiring and we certainly observed that enthusiasm into places that our observers were able to get out and observed on election day. The turnout that is being reported at this point is somewhere around 7 million votes cast. I think we will see that number be refined a little bit as the results sheets come, and actually from the polling stations and into kabul to the National Tallying Center and it was just a few weeks ago where we were sitting around talking about her hats we distributed to many ballots around the country and the fact that one of the issues that we are now talking about is that there were shortages of ballots in places because of enthusiasm and because of voters coming out is exactly the opposite of the discussion we thought we would be having after election day so again a very positive, positive sign. As you mentioned the incidence of violence in the past in the leadup to the 2009 president ial elections in the leadup to the 2010 parliamentary elections were much higher and on election day specifically violence were much more widespread. That was not the case on saturday. The Afghan NationalSecurity Forces performed their jobs admirably on election day and Going Forward there are really two tracks now ,com,com ma two things that i want to talk about in the process. As you mentioned election day is just one part of the process. There was no lead up to election day where we saw a very robust campaign. This was an election, the first president ial election in the country where we didnt have an incumbent and where a number of candidates were contesting it so there was great enthusiasm. And election day we saw that and Public Opinion polls leading up to election day there were a number of polls done where somewhere around 70 was a pretty consistent number said they were going to participate and they intended to participate in the election. We expected that there would be a higher turnout. I dont think we expected that it would necessarily be around 7 million so the fact that if that indeed turns out to be the case as to how many people went out to vote that is a real statement in that statement to the taliban and to obviously try to disrupt the process that democracy is the path of power in afghanistan and its a really important message. So what happens over the next couple of weeks is critically important to weeks and potentially months, important to the process. Now that people have gone out to vote on election day the hard task now is determining who won the election and who won the elections in terms of the provincial Council Races but also to place. So that process has two primary tracks. One is that the result, account has been completed throughout the country. The results forums should now be coming into kabul to a National Tally center there where the independent Election Commission will oversee the tallying of the votes that were cast on saturday through a double standard, double bind process and then at some point here in the next few days we will actually start to see preliminary results being released from the commission. The results process in the past has been one of the most contentious parts of the process so while we can all agree that on election day what we saw was generally very positive there is a lot more work to do and its very very important that the commission conduct its work diligently, transparently communicate not just with the International Community and the local media but with the campaigns. Its going to be critical that the campaigns exercise some patience and respect the commissions process that they have in place to determine who won that election and to make sure that the votes that were cast on saturday, that the result reflects exactly the votes that were cast on saturday. In addition to the results in the tabulation process and i should say it included in the results tabulation processes the court deemed process. The independent election system has defined some number of triggers by which a polling station is suspicious and whether or not that polling station should be further investigated. So there will be some number of polling stations that will meet that criteria and they commission will be responsible for going back and looking at those polling stations to determine what exactly happened if there was any malfeasance or not. That will be you know a very critical process. It will be important for the commission to be transparent and to share information and to tell the candidate campaigns cant do the local and International Community exactly what they are doing and what the implications of that could be. So in addition to the results tabulation process, the independent Commission Complaints will tabulate. The complaints are still coming in and i believe that process will continue until april 27. The number of complaints is still i think somewhat unknown although the estimate of the number of complaints that have been submitted thus far is around 20003 the commission will be responsible for categorizing those complaints into three categories. Category 8 complaints been the complaint that could affect the outcome of the race. Those will be the priority complaints that the commission will look into. Those will be the most important complaints that are lodged in those will be the complaint that will be most important for the independent Complaints Commission to communicate exactly what is the complaint, for what is being done and what the decisions are when they do come to the decisions. So those two processes are extremely critical to the election outcome and as has been the case in the past, they take some time. It will require patience particularly among the candidates as to respect the process, to respect the role, the independence of the Election Commission, the independence of the Complaints Commission. There are two scenarios where those processes could the even more important. One of those scenarios is that one candidate could potentially be close to 50 and if that were the case, and the actions throughout the results tabulation process and the decisions throughout the complaints adjudication process that could affect whether or not one candidate gets over the threshold to avoid a second runoff which is 50 . The other scenario is that the second and third candidates could be very close and under that scenario again you no, the quarantine polling stations or specific complaints that have been lodged could affect whether or not one candidate or the other is participating in a Runoff Election should no candidate reach 50 plus one. So in those two scenarios the results tabulation process is critically important in the complaints adjudication process is critically him for it regardless in those two scenarios they will be absolutely critical to determine who if anyone will be participating in a Runoff Election and who will be the eventually, who will eventually be the next president of afghanistan. Thanks jeb. Lisa can we pull it back little bit and talk about the implications to the us and also the region if you could get a little bit into pakistan. I know you dont have much time but we would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thank you and then well open it up for questions. Thanks caroline and thanks to psa the partnership for a secure america and scott mackey and asap for hosting this event. Im happy this event is taking place today. Originally when scott was discussing it we were thinking about holding it last week but i think today its much more timely. We have good news basically to report. You know the taliban to try its best to disrupt this process. You had the major attacks on the hotel in kabul which looked like they were directly targeted at the International Observation mission that was staying there cant cut the attack on the independent Election Commission. There were attacks on election day, smaller level attacks but clearly they tried to disrupt the electoral process and they fail. We saw this in the high voter turnout. Most reports are saying possibly around 60 which is twice as much as the turnout was in 2009 so what does this say . This says that the afghans want democracy. They dont want what the taliban has to offer. I think in this way, this is a blow to the taliban and as ambassador samad said it puts a dent in their narrative. I am not saying that the taliban is going to disappear and peace will break out in afghanistan tomorrow but this will put pressure on the taliban and it has been a blow to them. So these elections should also restore a sense of optimism among americans and it should remind us why the u. S. Went to war in afghanistan in the first place and what is at stake for u. S. National security interests and what could happen if we withdraw troops too quickly. Unfortunately american Popular Support for the war has dipped considerably. Some of the latest polling says its below 20 and they think this is due in large part because of the western media biased toward reporting on violence and the bad news coming out of the country but i think its also a result of president karzai and his continuous criticism of american policies there despite the massive amounts of assistance in blood and treasure that the u. S. Has spent there. But its also i think the white house has been reluctant to talk about the war and really spell out for the American People whats at stake. So i think all of these things combined have led to this dismal view in the u. S. About afghanistan. But the point is with these elections we have an opportunity to reframe the debate and we can focus on what is right about the u. S. Mission in afghanistan and what has been accomplished. And i think this is a good time for the white house to be clear that it is willing to lead at least 10,000 forces after 2014 in the country, assuming that the new president or perhaps even a minister in the Karzai Administration as ambassador samad says signs the psa. Our u. S. Commander has said at least 10,000 forces are necessary to backstop, train and advise the Afghan Forces and i think the white house has favored a smaller u. S. Footprint which may appeal to american domestic but it really carries the risk of failing to meet the minimal requirements of the afghan courses. So its vital that the u. S. Partner with the afghans to prevent taliban resurgence were many reasons. First, this election and continued u. S. Engagement with the country is particularly important for women and ethnic minorities unlike when the taliban ruled the country and prevented women going to school alone participating in the economic and political life of the country. One of the election candidates had a woman on his ticket as the Vice President ial candidate and early results are showing that 30 of voters were women so this is a remarkable accomplishment for women. Second, preventing taliban resurgence is fundamental to combating the global terrorist threat. We have seen the impact of the u. S. Completely withdrawing forces from iraq where al qaeda has made a comeback over the last year and i think this should serve as a warning to the u. S. On the risk of leaving afghanistan too soon. I would simply say if we can afford to have 30,000 u. S. Troops stationed in korea 60 years after the war ended their, surely we can afford to keep 10,000 troops in the country from which the 9 11 attacks originated. Third, we must consider the blowback effects of the taliban resurgence on pakistan a nucleararmed state. And i think ambassador samad is correct when he says that this election also puts pressure on pakistan to reconsider some of its policies and i think certainly there are people in pakistan who realize the increasing threat from the Pakistani Taliban which of course coordinates with the Afghan Taliban, and more and more people in pakistan are realizing that the blowback impact of supporting the Afghan Taliban for so many years is certainly hurting pakistan now. And so hopefully this election will help push the needle in pakistan more toward a policy of cracking down on the taliban on its side of the border in helping with the reconciliation process in afghanistan. Fourth, if the taliban reestablishes its influence in afghanistan not only does it offer the opportunity to provide al qaeda safe haven but also the many other terrorist groups that operate from the region and share the same kind of ideology and here im talking about the Islamic Movement of uzbekistan which poses a threat to the Central Asian nations groups like last car you type a and mujahideen that focus on attacking india and even china is growing increasingly concerned that afghanistan could become a safe haven for uyghur separatists and in early march terrorist attacked civilians at a Railway Station in the city of in china leading 29 dead and 140 injured trying to blame the attack on the uyghur extremists and quickly followed up saying that beijing will work with the International Community to fight terrorism in afghanistan. So clearly what happens with the taliban in afghanistan has farreaching consequences not only for the u. S. But for all the regional countries. So there are several factors that will determine whether afghanistan will indeed become a stable democracy in the coming years. The credibility of these elections was critical and here i think we have some good news but also the issue of how soon the u. S. Withdraws its forces from the country also plays a role in whether or not afghanistan will be successful. I would simply say the afghans have risked their lives to show they are committed to democracy in their country and we should fully back them by leaving a substantial residual force present in continuing to fund and train the afghan Security Forces. Now is not the time for the u. S. To give up on the afghan mission. Instead we should use this opportunity to reintegrate our commitment to the country. Thank you. Thanks lisa. I do want to open it up for questions from the audience. I think that you have cards and they somehow need to be delivered to me. Maybe i will ask the first question while those are being collected. Does that make sense . And then we will open it up for your questions. Thank you so much for your comments and im just going to throw a question out for just a Quick Response and then i do want to open it up. So what happens if this is becomes a long process and we have a second round and things are not decided for many months . What would be your advice to the white house, members of congress , about how they should be talking about it, that how they should be approaching it. What is the role . What is the message of the u. S. During a sensitive time in afghanistan . Ambassador samad can i start with you for your quick thoughts on advice for u. S. Policymakers on this . Thank you. I think it would e. In case there is a prolonged process, and no definitive result, it is incumbent i think on the International Community as a whole and on the u. S. In particular to the patient. I do not foresee a very prolonged and arduous process but it possibly exists and i would say that for all the reasons that the two other panelists gave, whether electoral or strategic or policy driven, there is no need to rush. There is no need to make decisions just purely because of domestic issues and pressures. Afghanistan as history has shown , especially the history of you know the postsoviet period has shown when the soviets left afghanistan that the country was sort of left to its own devices and ended up becoming a failed state and ended up becoming a hotbed for terrorism and so on and so forth and we all know the story. Definitely given the conditions that existed in the region as a whole what is happening in the east and what is happening with other nonstate actors we definitely cannot afford to rest your judgment and make a decision that is in haste. Jeb or lisa do you have anything you want to add to that . Jeb do you want to start . Sure. It wasnt that long ago where we dealt with that exact scenario in 2009 and in 2010. In 2000 in the parliament was eventually ceded almost a year after election day. I think we all hope that wont be the case again but the message i think needs to be very clear that you know ultimately its for the Afghan People to decide whether or not the electoral process meets their standards and whether or not they can respect the outcome of that process. It is really important that space be provided to the independent Election Commission and the independent election Complaints Commission to conduct their work independently and impartially, which as you probably know in the past has been the question. There was great focus on the behalf of the Karzai Administration in 2009 on alleged foreign interference of the process of the worst thing we could do is fall into that trap again whether that is a reality or send the perception certainly we want to avoid that. I just want to quickly add that yes, the u. S. Should be patient. Theres a lot at stake here but the reality is there are some constraints when it comes to the bilateral Security Agreement and whether or not the u. S. Leaves any troops post 2014. I think the u. S. Has shown about as much flexibility as a can on this issue and the real question is whether the nato countries can show