Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has no shortage of problems domestically. He’s giving up a lot of power to stave off being prosecuted. But Gen. David Petraeus, who deals with his Pakistani military counterparts, testified that a military coup isn’t one.
“I don’t think that the current challenges imperil More…
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), asks: How large should the Afghan security services be?
“We have established goals by year right now for the Afghan national army and the Afghan national police,” Gen. David Petraeus replied. The army should get to 134,000 soldiers and the police to 109,000 cops by October More…
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) asked Gen. David Petraeus what it will take to get the Pakistani military to go after the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network and the al-Qaeda strongholds: “How can we convince them we have a long-term commitment to the region?”
Petraeus replied that it takes time to More…
During his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, Jack Lew, the deputy secretary of state, praised Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Eikenberry for “their commitment for truly joined civilian-military efforts are absolute” in Afghanistan. Accordingly, he said, the U.S. troop increase has to be matched by “fully More…
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan — in which Deputy Secretary Jack Lew, who has the portfolio for managing the State Department, is joining Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry — by emphasizing two themes: “How Afghan governance will improve, More…
President Obama convenes the national security team for another debate on Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, and I notice an addition to the guest list is Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew. Lew is the deputy in charge of management and personnel for Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, so perhaps part of today’s More…
Yes, I’m embarrassed by my headline, too, but what would you really do if you had to report this item? The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition is hosting the first public event next week in which the architects of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s massive structural assessment of State More…
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) asks how the department will have “the culture, the morale” and the resources necessary to succeed. Back to Adm. Mullen’s point.
Clinton picks up on it. “In consultation with the president-elect, the vice president-elect and the members of this committee” she decided to fill a long-vacant More…
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