And its the only appropriate mark of respect that i have gotten from my colleagues and i think the general, thank you for your outstanding service. We have had the opportunity over the past 12 and 13, 14 years, and i appreciate your service elmont. I am really reluctant to get back into this. But people keep trying to say that 2008 we said that wed have everyone out, that we really wanted this day in iraq and the fact is that the president of the United States, there was never any Public Statement that said he would want to use day in iraq. The fact is that the senator and i were there and we know full well that if we really wanted to we could have kept the residual force to build her we were on the ground there in these places and we agreed. So in the word of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, we have cascaded down to 3500 troops, which was absolutely ridiculous. So we will be fighting this for years to come. But facts are stubborn things and we couldve left a residual force if we had wanted to do so. And in fact today your predecessor said that i have a hard time believing what had we done to and work with the government i dont think wed be in the same shape that we are today. So those are just facts. But the general, did you or any other senior military winner personally recommend the policy of everybody by 2017, no matter what we matter. No, senator. No military, no ranking military officer recommended a hard date for anyone out of afghanistan remount. Not that i know a. And i think that we still plan to have, as you know, some presence after 2017, but no one recommended zero. Did anyone recommend that we have a conditionsbased decision about what kind of residual force we should leave behind . I think that you appreciate that every military leader wants to have the conditions on the ground and the assumptions be revalidated as it takes place. Isnt it true that right now the way the counterterrorism capability of the afghans are today, that we cannot abandon that and if you had to make the decision today with the lack of counterterrorism capabilities, we would have to leave that kind of force behind the lease for the Counterterrorism Mission . Senator, there is no doubt that the Afghan Forces today would not be capable of conducting the operations that we are putting their. Nor do you envision them having that capability. Not if you project the threat including recent rocket attacks on the airport that showed it televangelists still pretty resilient. And isnt it a fact that as long as the taliban and has basically a sanctuary in pakistan that this situation will remain extremely complex and dangerous. Senator, absolutely. The resiliency of the movement is driven by the sanctuary impact. Izzard any doubt in your mind that the announcement of a complete withdrawal by 2017 has had an effect on the morale of the afghan army . Senator, i think all of us would have for food they said that you are abandoning us, that is what they told me and senator graham and i dont think that they would have any reason to tell us otherwise. So very quickly, the fact is that we need a can Mission Space decisions because of right now we are not confident that the afghans can take up the complete burden of their own security. And so very quickly, sequestration, right now, as i understand that, the marine captains, the Army Captains who are in the field fighting as we speak, they are receiving notices that they are going to be involuntarily separated from the United States army and marine corps. Is that true . My understanding is that is what they have been forced to do in the army as a result of the drawdown. Obviously that has to have an effect on morale of our officer corps. It does, senator. A serious blow, i would think. Absolutely, probably more importantly than just the officer corps is the message it sends to those whose commander is forced redeploy as a result of the reduction of force. Isnt it true from your time in the military and remembering wars times it takes a long time to resort the morale of the military when you take out involuntarily some of the best and the brightest that we have had. Havent we seen that before in her early the early part of your cruise. Yes, i have. In the late 1970s, it took us some years, probably 1983, 1984 from the effects of the postvietnam drawdown. Would you agree that perhaps one of the greatest responsibility is that congress had in the military has today is to review this sequestration and its effects that it is having longterm on our ability to it defend this nation . Yes, i would agree with that, senator. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of this podium to make that one of our highest priorities and otherwise i think i it is the unanimous opinion of every military leader that i have ever met that continued sequestration on the path that we are on could have devastating effects on our ability to defend this nation. I would agree with that, senator. Senator king . Thank you, mr. Chair. The general chairman covered the issue, but i just think its really important to have your unequivocal view that this would be catastrophic if we cut off spare parts that would in effect around the afghan air force. Is that true . Yes, in reason i use this word, which i dont think its hyperbole, because we inability of the afghans to have the situation represented, it will seriously deteriorate the ability with the enemy. But the more important reason is that their inability to take this will actually put Young Americans in harms way and 2015 and beyond your thank you, general. You have discussed this and looking now at the lessons of iraq, what did we learn from that that can avoid that future in afghanistan . As you know, there are those who are not as optimistic as the military about afghanistans future after our withdrawal. So how do we learn from iraq to avoid that fate . I think the key thing that we have in afghanistan, that we are in the process of his an effective political transition and the continuing sustainability of the Afghan Security forces. Im very confident about their ability to provide security on a daytoday basis. Im not confident that if we leave at the end of 2014 that those forces would be sustainable. There are some significant gaps there in order for them to be able to do things that we have been doing for them. There is a degree of capability substitution and many of those areas, things that we take for granted, delivery of a fuel systems, pay systems that the army would need, the key lesson is that after all of the sacrifice and accomplishments over the past 13 years, what we need to do is ensure that the transition results in the Afghan Forces being sustainable without our presence at some point in the future. What is the ethnic makeup of the afghan army . One of the problems appears to be the unequal distribution ethnically or sectarian way, if that is the word, in iraq, the ethnic tribal makeup of iraq and Afghanistan Security forces, representative of the country so that Security Forces will have a broad support. That is an important question and i thank you for it. In the afghan army, its about 40 . The core is about the same, the forces are about the same and that the slight overrepresentation in the sense that the population represents more than this and carrying out those statistics, telling you that there hasnt been a consensus that are in a the wild. But in general terms we have the foundation of a National Army in afghanistan that has represented not only the various ethnic groups, but geographically as well. Is this representation integrated throughout the force . That is, our individual battalions or units, are they balanced ethnically . Yes, they are balanced, there is a slight overrepresentation of forces from the northern west part of the country, but the demographics and each unit represents the nation as a whole as opposed to specific units so on and so forth. So the assignment of people is not based on geographics and most all serve away from home. We tend to focus around your arm here on problems, well talk about that not our job. But my sense is that secretary john kerry, what happened last weekend, it was a big deal and the avoidance of what couldve been a disaster situation. Could you share some thoughts about the importance of the uniform recount and also the power i understand order the kind of powersharing Coalition Government agreement of whatever the outcome . Because this couldve been a disaster for us if it had gone the wrong way this past week. Yes, last week there was a lot of discussion in afghanistan about one of the candidates establishing the government with the potential for civil war. And i would assess that risk as having been significant. I dont think either one of the candidates wanted to do that, but there was a strong sentiment by large numbers of people that were so outraged at the father took place they were willing to take extreme measures. So i think what happened this weekend was very encouraging in that both candidates have agreed to a framework process that will deliver the queen is still possible. And the candidates also agreed on a political track as well as a technical track and that will be powersharing arrangement so that there is an inclusive government and they believe that that is most suitable for afghanistan at this particular time. So while the devil is in the details and work remains to be done particularly in the political framework, the discussion is not about civil war in security, but a political deal in order to govern effectively in the future and i think that that is surely significant. I have always felt that god is in the details, but thats a different topic. Okay, pakistan. He mentioned them, you had to deal with them. Whose side are they on, and are they are they trying to express these terrorist organizations, or are they working with them . I find pakistan ever so puzzling. And i dont know how to characterize it. Senator, in my time in afghanistan, i have met individuals and also ive had the opportunity to see him travel to meet with both men and our type of situation and the numbers of hours, the discussions, im convinced of a couple of things in intelligence and in the engagements. First and foremost i believe that the Pakistani Army recognizes the extremism is an existential threat to the state of pakistan. And i think they are determined to do something about that threat. Unless confident that today they have the capability to do all that needs to be done to deal with that inside of afghanistan, which is why i think the sedum focus on the most pressing threat reflecting in inability to deal more broadly with extremism. But this is a reason that its important that we develop this effective relationship and i think the United States can play a unique role in facilitating that relationship because the way that we will get after this problem is by having a common definition of extremism and then also having agreed upon framework within afghanistan and pakistan can deal with this threat of extremism as well as a real political channel but its between the two states. As we draw down, its more important than ever to establish this with pakistan. And effective relationship between afghanistan and pakistan is critical to our longterm success. Thank you, senator and thank you, generals for your extraordinary service. No matter where you been coming out of afghanistan, near the next in line of a number of Great Service leader commandants. As we look forward to your continued service there. And there is no longterm solution in afghanistan without some sort of cooperation. Is that a fair statement . That is absolutely fair statement. We are beginning this with the military relationships and i couldnt agree more. I wanted to ask you about the detainees and many of them are released and 10 of them were pakistanis and they all returned to their home country. Im concerned because i know that the serious nature of the alleged incidents that these prisoners were accused of, we have 391 afghans. Can we address why these other 12 were released and what the deal is . Yes, in regard to what was sent to pakistan, we didnt release those individuals but turn them over at the u. S. State department to get assurances that they would be properly handled in accordance with what the nature of the crimes they committed. We have 38 in a similar state department from which these individuals come, and the deputy secretary of defense will find in opposition for them to be released after notifying congress. The challenges that our authority hold these individuals and that hold will expire in december 2014. Sawyer working hard to ensure that we transition these individuals who place where they can be held accountable for the acts they have committed. You have confidence that the afghans will treat them in a way that they should be treated because of the acts they have committed . Senator, we are not planning at this time to turn them over draft in. Plan to turn them over to the countries in which they originated. If we were to turn them over to afghanistan today, i can guarantee you that they would be properly handled. Again i want to talk about something that the general asked her. We talked about continuing operations in afghanistan and with the drawdown to the 9800 this year, going down again next year, please give me your view as to the longterm situation as you understand it right now as we head into the end of 2014 through 2015 and 2016. So what is your understanding of how this will work reign. With regard to sustainable afghans Security Forces, it could result in Afghan Forces being sustainable. Uncomfortable that a regional approach in 2015, where we helped to mature the institutions and systems that allow these organizations to support this, the work that needs to be done can be done in 2015 and am also confident that theres some work that well hire a longer. Lack of time, but much of the work can be done inside the ministry. The issue that i really cant talk to you about with the degree of confidence is what the threat to the homeland might be after 2000 didnt read its an area in the assumptions that informed her criticism, it would have to be evaluated over time. In that respect if you had to rate the possibility of either al qaeda or Al Qaeda Affiliated operators inside of afghanistan are migrating to afghanistan as we drawdown, and resuming Training Operations much like we saw before 9 11, what degree would you rate the possibility of that taking place . I can assure you that what we see on a daytoday basis for those who are determined to replicate this like 9 11 and the pressure that we have placed as a we havent been able to execute this. So i would say that the risks without continued pressure has been regenerating this and it would be significant. Is the how connie networks still enemy number one . Well, senator, i would view them as enemy number one, but they are certainly the most great risk him the other and the other thing that is significant is that they actually provide the network that allows al qaeda in the region to have sanctuary to continue to resource itself and they certainly, if not the most Important Group in the sustainability, they have one of the most significant groups that allows them to sustain them out with the region. Talk about the morale and what is your call. Senator, and i mean this sincerely, i am extraordinarily honored to have the opportunity to lead these men and women in a letter sent today and after 13 teams we have never exceeded anyones expectations over time and they are focused on what they are doing and they believe in what they are doing in a custom elves and they know that they are welltrained and well at web than they trust their leadership. And its something we can all be proud of. We are talking about a sickly be a part of this. And i trust that they are doing well. Senator, they are, the job we gave them to do is one of the more difficult jobs that needs to be done over this next year and its a piece of infrastructure that we want to close and it is a challenging task and they have taken that on with enthusiasm and they are doing a superb job. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership. Thank you, senator. Senator hagan . Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you, general. Welcome. I also know that your wife has played a very big role in your success, and so we welcome alan and your needs. Just know that so many people hold the marine corps in the highest regard and so he thank you for doing that and you have some issues to fill, what has led the marine corps in a very good leadership position. I did want to talk about the Afghan National security worse you have seen the withdrawing of 20,000 troops in an unsigned bilateral Security Agreement by fraud and so can you tell me how prepared how it is to take over especially in light of what we have seen with the incapability of what is taking place in iraq . Thank you for the question, senator. Rather than giving you my personal assessment, we will talk about with the Afghan Forces have done and we had over 300 Campaign Event involving thousands of people, some as large as 20,000, they secured all of those Campaign Events. There was a new year festival back in march and 100,000 people came and they secured that event. There was another event that involved people from all over the region to attend a number of significant threats and those were disrupted and the Afghan Forces were able to provide security. Probably most definitely what took place on the fifth of april in the 14th of june is indicative of the capabilities of the Afghan Security forces and on both of those occasions millions of people have the courage to go out and vote and that courage was drawn in my assessment from the confidence of the Afghan People have. So while i am very aware of the challenges with the capability gaps that continue to remain, i am equally confident that the Afghan Forces today are capable of providing securit