WEBVTT 00:04.840 --> 00:06.951 Thank you general . I have a question 00:06.951 --> 00:08.840 getting back to the agreement and 00:08.840 --> 00:11.062 sending district and I just want to see 00:11.062 --> 00:13.229 why is it that everything to take hold 00:13.229 --> 00:15.340 so fast ? What are some elements that 00:15.340 --> 00:17.673 help and what are some of the weak part ? 00:17.673 --> 00:21.200 Yeah , are still sure . I think why it 00:21.200 --> 00:24.000 took over so fast is what I kind of 00:24.000 --> 00:26.180 what I said earlier . I think that the 00:26.190 --> 00:28.301 elders up there can now look down the 00:28.301 --> 00:31.960 river and sea specific uh 00:32.540 --> 00:34.429 specific towns , if you will were 00:34.429 --> 00:37.360 progresses , it's tangible . It's real . 00:37.360 --> 00:39.600 They can see it . During one of the 00:39.600 --> 00:41.767 early negotiations , we had the elders 00:41.767 --> 00:43.711 down in Lashkar Gar , which is the 00:43.711 --> 00:45.711 district is the , is the provincial 00:45.711 --> 00:47.711 capital and it's our biggest city . 00:47.711 --> 00:49.878 It's not much of a city , but it's our 00:49.878 --> 00:52.100 biggest city . Uh and at the end of the 00:52.100 --> 00:54.156 negotiations , we , we put them on a 00:54.156 --> 00:56.211 bus and we drove them around town so 00:56.211 --> 00:58.378 they can see the schools , the bizarre 00:58.378 --> 01:00.489 is the roads , the shops , the people 01:00.489 --> 01:02.489 moving around , you don't see , you 01:02.489 --> 01:04.600 don't see coalition uniforms and last 01:04.600 --> 01:06.822 regard . There's very few of them , the 01:06.822 --> 01:09.156 local police run run the security there . 01:09.156 --> 01:11.211 Um they can see the street lights up 01:11.211 --> 01:13.211 all those kinds of things . The new 01:13.211 --> 01:15.489 buildings are that's going up . Uh huh . 01:15.489 --> 01:17.544 I'm not gonna say that changed their 01:17.544 --> 01:19.600 minds , but they look down the river 01:19.600 --> 01:21.489 now from the north , they can see 01:21.489 --> 01:23.544 garage ask very , very , very , very 01:23.544 --> 01:25.544 good situation there . They can see 01:25.544 --> 01:27.656 marjorie , they can see Lashkar Gar , 01:27.656 --> 01:29.600 they can see now , uh they can see 01:29.600 --> 01:31.822 Garmsir , they can see all those places 01:31.822 --> 01:33.711 again , where these , where these 01:33.711 --> 01:35.711 improvements have been made , where 01:35.711 --> 01:35.340 there are , there are buildings in 01:35.340 --> 01:37.396 place and work projects going on and 01:37.396 --> 01:39.970 roads being paved and schools that are 01:39.970 --> 01:42.970 open and flourishing , all those things 01:42.980 --> 01:45.490 are happening . And so it's like I say , 01:45.490 --> 01:47.601 it's no longer trust this life , life 01:47.601 --> 01:49.657 is going to get better . It's look , 01:49.840 --> 01:51.920 life is better , but you have to be 01:51.920 --> 01:54.142 under the umbrella of the government of 01:54.142 --> 01:56.198 Afghanistan for life to get better . 01:56.198 --> 01:58.253 And those are places where there was 01:58.253 --> 02:00.364 heavy fighting , you know , there was 02:00.364 --> 02:02.587 heavy fighting in March . Obviously now 02:02.587 --> 02:04.753 there's not and you can look at Sangin 02:04.753 --> 02:06.920 and you can tell the elders up there , 02:06.920 --> 02:09.031 look , you want the fighting to end . 02:09.031 --> 02:11.087 This is the way it has , this is the 02:11.087 --> 02:13.309 way it has to end . And so those were , 02:13.309 --> 02:15.531 I think that's really kind of what sped 02:15.531 --> 02:17.698 up the process . Um , and I think that 02:17.698 --> 02:19.976 they , again , as I say , they want to , 02:19.976 --> 02:21.976 they want to cut of the development 02:21.976 --> 02:24.142 bonus , They want to be able to have a 02:24.142 --> 02:26.309 road that we're building up there . We 02:26.309 --> 02:28.531 have not had a shot fired on us on that 02:28.531 --> 02:30.700 road . That's an extraordinarily was 02:30.700 --> 02:32.867 extraordinarily dangerous part of this 02:32.867 --> 02:35.033 country . But the atmosphere is on the 02:35.033 --> 02:37.144 road are excellent in the people that 02:37.144 --> 02:39.311 we have not had a shot fired and we've 02:39.311 --> 02:41.533 had people come out and point out to us 02:41.533 --> 02:43.589 where their IEDs are buried . So our 02:43.589 --> 02:45.811 combat engineers who are actually doing 02:45.811 --> 02:44.940 the work , and I was concerned about 02:44.940 --> 02:46.820 their safety have not suffered a 02:46.820 --> 02:49.160 casualty and I've not had not have not 02:49.160 --> 02:53.150 had a shot fired out . Uh so I think 02:53.150 --> 02:56.540 that indicates the the the they they 02:56.540 --> 02:58.596 see what they see the handwriting on 02:58.596 --> 03:00.818 the wall . You know , these people have 03:00.818 --> 03:02.984 survived an awful lot of fighting over 03:02.984 --> 03:05.207 an awful lot of years . I think if they 03:05.207 --> 03:07.318 have certainly have a lot of talent , 03:07.318 --> 03:06.980 but one of their talents , I think has 03:06.980 --> 03:09.850 been able to uh to read the tea leaves 03:10.150 --> 03:12.261 and they can they can make a choice , 03:12.261 --> 03:14.317 they make a choice , they understand 03:14.317 --> 03:16.261 who's gonna win this thing . And I 03:16.261 --> 03:18.428 think that's what we're seeing . Um So 03:18.428 --> 03:20.483 yeah , that's kind of what I think , 03:20.483 --> 03:23.600 you know , the the weak the weak part 03:23.600 --> 03:25.822 of the Agreement , the weak part of the 03:25.822 --> 03:28.044 agreement exists . They can they can do 03:28.044 --> 03:30.100 a good job of having their own young 03:30.100 --> 03:32.267 men lay down their guns and dan . That 03:32.267 --> 03:34.156 area was heavily flawed over this 03:34.156 --> 03:37.260 summer . And we estimate around 300 03:37.270 --> 03:39.550 insurgents were killed up in that area . 03:40.540 --> 03:42.707 So it was , there was this isn't , you 03:42.707 --> 03:45.590 know , don't kid yourself there . You 03:45.590 --> 03:47.590 know , there's there's a reason for 03:47.590 --> 03:49.812 what they're , what they're thinking as 03:49.812 --> 03:49.800 well , as well as uh , you know , 03:49.810 --> 03:51.980 getting the benefits of the there's 03:51.980 --> 03:54.147 there's a reason for them wanting to , 03:54.147 --> 03:57.260 the fighting has stopped . Um So 03:57.940 --> 04:00.107 the weak part of the agreement is they 04:00.107 --> 04:02.329 can get their local fellows to lay down 04:02.329 --> 04:04.680 their guns . For the most part , you 04:04.680 --> 04:06.513 can understand how the , you can 04:06.513 --> 04:08.550 understand how the , the leadership 04:08.550 --> 04:10.550 down in Quetta has taken to this 04:10.560 --> 04:13.930 agreement . They understand the 04:13.930 --> 04:16.060 seriousness of the , if the tribes 04:16.060 --> 04:18.350 start coming over , they want their 04:18.350 --> 04:21.840 desperate , desperate to stop it . They 04:21.840 --> 04:23.896 are desperate to break the agreement 04:23.940 --> 04:26.162 and they're sending up some of the best 04:26.162 --> 04:28.540 guys to try to break this thing up . Uh , 04:28.550 --> 04:30.883 so far , they've been unable to do that . 04:30.883 --> 04:33.050 We have had some intimidation . One of 04:33.050 --> 04:34.828 the , one of the elders that we 04:34.828 --> 04:36.939 negotiated with was shot in the leg , 04:36.939 --> 04:38.994 but the elders so far stood firm and 04:38.994 --> 04:41.217 have continued to honor the agreement . 04:41.217 --> 04:43.106 That's a good sign . Um , but the 04:43.106 --> 04:45.272 weaknesses that uh , we're still gonna 04:45.272 --> 04:47.439 have , we were the coalition are still 04:47.439 --> 04:49.661 going to have to deal with those out of 04:49.661 --> 04:51.661 area fighters who the elders really 04:51.661 --> 04:53.828 can't control to any great extent . So 04:53.828 --> 04:55.939 that's there . So I say there's still 04:55.939 --> 04:57.828 fighting going on . There will be 04:57.828 --> 05:01.130 fighting for a while up there . General 05:01.130 --> 05:05.110 has Okay , general , I know the two 05:05.110 --> 05:07.880 areas are vastly different . But the 05:07.880 --> 05:10.420 marines have been in both areas . Are 05:10.420 --> 05:12.364 you beginning to feel that Helmand 05:12.364 --> 05:14.790 province is feeling like Anbar when it 05:14.800 --> 05:18.700 turned when the , when victory , 05:18.700 --> 05:20.922 if you will was just a matter of time . 05:21.940 --> 05:23.829 I think there's , I think there's 05:23.829 --> 05:25.718 definitely some , I think there's 05:25.718 --> 05:27.884 definitely some uh correlation between 05:27.884 --> 05:30.600 the two . I think that again , uh 05:30.610 --> 05:32.610 they're organized a bit differently 05:32.610 --> 05:34.721 here . But I think again your we have 05:34.721 --> 05:37.210 more uh there's not one particularly 05:37.210 --> 05:39.321 tribe you have to deal with that deal 05:39.321 --> 05:41.488 with a number of them . But I I do see 05:41.488 --> 05:43.599 some I do see some similarities and I 05:43.599 --> 05:45.766 think the similarities are simply that 05:45.766 --> 05:47.766 the people are getting tired of the 05:47.766 --> 05:49.877 fighting . Uh I think that people are 05:49.877 --> 05:52.099 seeing the hopelessness of one side and 05:52.099 --> 05:54.154 they are realizing that the one side 05:54.154 --> 05:56.321 can't win . And I think that there's a 05:56.321 --> 05:58.377 there's a real reaction , a real gut 05:58.377 --> 06:00.630 reaction to the uh what the insurgents 06:00.630 --> 06:03.280 doing . And much like in Anbar province . 06:03.280 --> 06:06.590 He has turned to uh brutality and he 06:06.590 --> 06:09.830 has turned to cruelty and he is uh he 06:09.830 --> 06:12.140 doesn't care who he hurts . And I think 06:12.140 --> 06:14.920 that the reaction of the people is uh 06:14.930 --> 06:16.874 is exactly the opposite of what he 06:16.874 --> 06:19.400 expects . Uh when he plants his I . D . 06:19.400 --> 06:21.511 S out here and I was just over at the 06:21.511 --> 06:23.678 over at the infirmary tonight , at the 06:23.678 --> 06:25.900 hospital tonight . We have a one of the 06:25.900 --> 06:25.600 british battalion commanders who was 06:25.600 --> 06:27.822 slightly wounded in engagement Visiting 06:27.822 --> 06:29.933 there . And there's there's four or 5 06:29.933 --> 06:32.560 Children on the war tonight . A young 06:32.560 --> 06:34.970 girl who's uh probably about 13 months 06:34.970 --> 06:37.081 old who was burned significantly by a 06:37.081 --> 06:39.960 by and I ate a and you know the Afghan 06:39.960 --> 06:42.071 people loved it loved Children . They 06:42.071 --> 06:44.238 are very warm and loving parents . And 06:44.238 --> 06:46.516 when the Zaidi strike these young kids . 06:46.740 --> 06:50.440 Ah it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't it 06:50.440 --> 06:52.496 doesn't breed fear and those parents 06:52.496 --> 06:54.551 would've breeds is hatred . And so I 06:54.551 --> 06:56.662 think that his again once again to to 06:56.662 --> 06:58.773 relate back to uh to Anbar province . 06:58.773 --> 07:00.940 Uh I think he's misjudged the people . 07:00.940 --> 07:03.107 I think he's misjudged their bravery . 07:03.107 --> 07:05.218 I think he's misjudged their reaction 07:05.218 --> 07:07.520 to what we're absolutely cruel and 07:07.530 --> 07:11.370 barbarous tactics . And I 07:11.370 --> 07:13.481 think lastly I just I just had this I 07:13.481 --> 07:15.426 just I would just add this and the 07:15.426 --> 07:17.426 result is they want to stand up for 07:17.426 --> 07:19.370 their own security . Much like the 07:19.370 --> 07:21.426 people of Myanmar province did we're 07:21.426 --> 07:23.648 seeing that in the A . L . P . Which is 07:23.648 --> 07:23.590 which has some some resemblance to the 07:23.590 --> 07:25.646 sons of Iraq some not all . And it's 07:25.646 --> 07:27.479 not a perfect correlation by any 07:27.479 --> 07:29.534 stretch of the imagination . But you 07:29.534 --> 07:31.646 know people are people the world over 07:34.440 --> 07:37.930 a major major general ali sardine , NBC 07:37.930 --> 07:40.720 san Diego . Um I want to follow up with 07:40.720 --> 07:42.998 you on the point that you made earlier , 07:42.998 --> 07:45.880 you mentioned that you don't see the 07:45.890 --> 07:48.220 resources available for any kind of 07:48.230 --> 07:50.320 significant or conventional 07:50.330 --> 07:52.780 counterattack come springtime . So my 07:52.780 --> 07:54.960 question is you know , what kind of 07:54.970 --> 07:57.192 contingencies are you planning for ? If 07:57.192 --> 07:59.303 you know something that's whatever is 07:59.303 --> 08:00.914 coming at you is going to be 08:00.914 --> 08:04.050 unconventional . Ah That's a great 08:04.050 --> 08:07.070 question . Um What were again what we 08:07.070 --> 08:10.210 are trying to do is improve uh more and 08:10.210 --> 08:12.432 more in our ability to defend ourselves 08:12.432 --> 08:14.321 against the I . E . D . And to uh 08:14.540 --> 08:17.340 interdict his ability to resupply those 08:17.350 --> 08:19.460 uh those I . E . D . S . Uh you know 08:19.460 --> 08:21.627 you have to have explosives , you have 08:21.627 --> 08:24.190 to have det cord , you have to have uh 08:24.200 --> 08:26.089 fuse devices , all those kinds of 08:26.089 --> 08:28.311 things . We're working very hard to cut 08:28.311 --> 08:30.450 his ability to get at that stuff . We 08:30.450 --> 08:32.506 are also raising are trying to raise 08:32.506 --> 08:35.100 our capability uh both through training 08:35.100 --> 08:37.267 and through some technological systems 08:37.267 --> 08:41.190 to give our marines more uh protection 08:41.200 --> 08:44.860 against the against those devices . Uh 08:46.840 --> 08:50.290 We are working closely with the afghans 08:50.290 --> 08:52.234 who seem to have a good talent for 08:52.234 --> 08:54.512 picking out where this stuff is buried . 08:54.512 --> 08:56.623 That's working out well our tip lines 08:56.623 --> 08:58.623 are getting red hot . We're getting 08:58.623 --> 09:00.734 more and more tips in from locals are 09:00.734 --> 09:02.679 tanks and I'm sure some of you are 09:02.679 --> 09:02.450 probably interested in the use of tanks . 09:03.130 --> 09:05.960 They're very active . They've already 09:05.960 --> 09:08.127 struck as a matter of fact , three I . 09:08.127 --> 09:10.770 E . Ds , those I E . Ds would have 09:10.780 --> 09:12.660 destroyed , destroyed the other 09:12.660 --> 09:14.882 vehicles are more conventional vehicles 09:14.882 --> 09:17.340 if you will . And the tankers barely 09:17.340 --> 09:19.396 knew they'd run over anything . They 09:19.396 --> 09:21.284 blew a trade off two of them . We 09:21.284 --> 09:23.284 repaired that in the field the same 09:23.284 --> 09:25.507 afternoon and the tanks were right back 09:25.507 --> 09:27.507 in the action . The tanks have also 09:27.507 --> 09:29.618 used their main gun uh more than once 09:29.640 --> 09:32.260 against enemy I . E . D . In places at 09:32.260 --> 09:35.080 long range and that has had a great 09:35.090 --> 09:37.900 impact on their willingness to expose 09:37.900 --> 09:40.650 themselves either daylight or nighttime . 09:41.040 --> 09:42.930 We have a system of observation 09:42.940 --> 09:44.950 balloons that we've we've we've 09:44.950 --> 09:47.130 improved throughout the province have 09:47.140 --> 09:49.340 great capability of observing areas 09:49.350 --> 09:51.750 where I . E . Ds . Might be laid . And 09:51.760 --> 09:53.927 uh the of course the insurgent doesn't 09:53.927 --> 09:56.093 have any any real and he can't realize 09:56.093 --> 09:58.149 he's being looked at and we can then 09:58.149 --> 10:00.260 quickly vector weapons onto him to uh 10:00.260 --> 10:02.500 to spoil his day . So those are the 10:02.500 --> 10:04.500 kinds of things that were that were 10:04.500 --> 10:06.722 certainly looking at , we're looking to 10:06.722 --> 10:09.000 force at basic force protection issues . 10:09.000 --> 10:11.222 Making sure our targets are very hard . 10:11.222 --> 10:13.278 We're looking at protecting our high 10:13.278 --> 10:15.556 value targets here within the province . 10:15.556 --> 10:17.778 People like the governor , like a chief 10:17.778 --> 10:19.667 of police , um , we're doing some 10:19.667 --> 10:21.778 things on the roads that will make it 10:21.778 --> 10:23.778 much more difficult for them to lay 10:23.778 --> 10:26.000 there . I . E . D . S on the roads . Uh 10:26.000 --> 10:25.240 there are some things you can do and I 10:25.240 --> 10:27.073 won't go into great detail , but 10:27.073 --> 10:29.018 they're kind of they're kind of uh 10:29.018 --> 10:31.129 sophisticated technology that you can 10:31.129 --> 10:33.240 place in some of your roads that will 10:33.240 --> 10:35.184 tell you when someone digs , we're 10:35.184 --> 10:37.407 denying him culvert . So you can't blow 10:37.407 --> 10:39.296 up into the infrastructure that's 10:39.296 --> 10:41.240 that's in the in the area . So all 10:41.240 --> 10:43.240 those kinds of things as we look at 10:43.240 --> 10:45.407 worry how he might strike back at us . 10:45.407 --> 10:49.210 Um , you know , his I think I think his 10:49.210 --> 10:51.400 his worst his worst choice , his worst 10:51.400 --> 10:53.511 choice would be to come up and try to 10:53.511 --> 10:55.844 fight his toe to toe . I think he means , 10:55.844 --> 10:58.067 I think , you know , he would he'd find 10:58.067 --> 11:00.760 himself in some in a serious , a pretty 11:00.760 --> 11:02.871 tight spot pretty quickly if he tried 11:02.871 --> 11:05.580 to come up here and go at uh 20,000 11:05.580 --> 11:08.340 marines and uh , almost 10,000 U . K . 11:08.340 --> 11:10.451 And other NATO soldiers that are here 11:10.451 --> 11:12.451 and ready to go . I think he'd have 11:12.451 --> 11:14.450 himself a he'd have a bad afternoon .