WEBVTT 00:00.340 --> 00:04.060 Oh it's Debra lutter , Beckwith Reuters 00:04.070 --> 00:06.292 television in Washington . I'm checking 00:06.292 --> 00:09.990 as you can hear me . Hi Deborah , I can 00:09.990 --> 00:12.950 hear you okay , are you ready to start ? 00:15.340 --> 00:17.507 I'm ready to start when you're ready . 00:17.507 --> 00:19.562 Alright , perfect . Let's just begin 00:19.562 --> 00:21.062 with your name and title . 00:23.640 --> 00:25.730 Brigadier General Carsten Jacobsen , 00:25.730 --> 00:28.008 german army . I am the chief spokesman . 00:28.540 --> 00:32.010 Um Let's just start off . What happened 00:32.020 --> 00:33.940 this week in Kabul . How did that 00:33.950 --> 00:35.160 attack unfold ? 00:38.640 --> 00:42.380 The attack started at about 1:00 00:42.390 --> 00:45.990 on Tuesday afternoon . It was an attack 00:45.990 --> 00:49.740 at multiple locations pretty close 00:49.740 --> 00:52.340 to the green zone but outside the green 00:52.340 --> 00:56.200 zone of Kabul insurgents managed 00:56.200 --> 00:59.330 to get hold of a firm building that was 00:59.330 --> 01:01.650 under construction in reach of the U . 01:01.650 --> 01:05.640 S . Embassy and the headquarters . And 01:05.640 --> 01:08.110 from that building they fired at the 01:08.110 --> 01:10.290 installation . They were very quickly 01:10.290 --> 01:13.110 sealed off in that building and the 01:13.110 --> 01:15.221 building then had to be cleared Which 01:15.221 --> 01:18.370 took about 20 hours altogether until 01:18.370 --> 01:22.360 Wednesday at about 9:30 . Um 01:22.840 --> 01:25.490 When did you first become aware ? Were 01:25.490 --> 01:28.790 you in the building at the time ? And 01:28.790 --> 01:30.734 when did people and how did people 01:30.734 --> 01:33.190 become aware that an attack had been 01:33.190 --> 01:33.850 launched 01:37.540 --> 01:39.890 To look at the attack ? You have to 01:39.890 --> 01:42.310 split it into faces first is the 01:42.310 --> 01:45.280 security side of the basis that came 01:45.280 --> 01:47.810 under attack . And here we were very 01:47.810 --> 01:50.010 quickly aware because rocket prepared 01:50.010 --> 01:52.560 grenades were fired at the compounds . 01:52.940 --> 01:55.520 The alarm systems worked very well . 01:55.520 --> 01:58.170 The system and the sirens went on . 01:58.320 --> 02:01.260 People that were not involved in the 02:01.260 --> 02:04.740 defending of the basis went to their 02:04.750 --> 02:07.080 sheltered accommodation and continued 02:07.080 --> 02:10.150 work was the security forces both in 02:10.150 --> 02:12.650 headquarters and in the U . S . Embassy 02:12.840 --> 02:14.729 took control of the situation and 02:14.729 --> 02:17.710 defended the compounds . So that side 02:17.710 --> 02:20.710 went extremely well and quick as far as 02:20.710 --> 02:23.160 the security of the buildings in the 02:23.160 --> 02:26.280 green zone is concerned . On the other 02:26.280 --> 02:28.760 side , Afghan National Security forces 02:28.760 --> 02:31.040 very quickly reacted to the attack 02:31.040 --> 02:34.220 itself , sealed off the insurgents in 02:34.220 --> 02:36.440 the building in which they have taken 02:36.440 --> 02:39.230 refuge so that no further harm could be 02:39.230 --> 02:42.100 caused to civilians outside what then 02:42.100 --> 02:45.260 began was quite long lasting process of 02:45.260 --> 02:49.120 clearing a building Of 15 platforms 02:49.130 --> 02:52.990 bottom to top which obviously uh 02:53.000 --> 02:54.778 in a building of that type well 02:54.778 --> 02:57.040 prepared by the insurgents took quite a 02:57.040 --> 02:58.707 considerable amount of time . 03:00.440 --> 03:03.570 How how were the insurgents able to get 03:03.570 --> 03:04.760 into that building ? 03:08.040 --> 03:09.762 It is a building that is under 03:09.762 --> 03:12.560 construction . Looking at Kabul , it is 03:12.560 --> 03:14.990 a city in which a lot of building takes 03:14.990 --> 03:17.320 place , a sign of progress and in 03:17.320 --> 03:19.640 particular high elevated buildings , 03:19.640 --> 03:22.290 future hotels under construction in 03:22.290 --> 03:25.800 various parts of the city . This one is 03:25.810 --> 03:28.032 the one that we are talking about . The 03:28.032 --> 03:31.530 future Hilton hotel is located . Sorry 03:31.540 --> 03:34.120 the future Marriott Hotel is located 03:34.120 --> 03:37.870 about 500 to 600 m east 03:37.880 --> 03:40.650 of the both locations that the 03:40.650 --> 03:42.950 insurgents were firing upon the U . S . 03:42.950 --> 03:45.800 Embassy and the NATO headquarters of 03:46.740 --> 03:49.280 Now these buildings are in different 03:49.280 --> 03:52.510 stages , metal skeletons and concrete . 03:52.550 --> 03:54.920 The building that they selected already 03:54.920 --> 03:57.050 had the concrete brought up and 03:57.050 --> 03:59.170 therefore provided them with shelter 03:59.180 --> 04:01.560 and firing positions from the upper 04:01.560 --> 04:04.260 platforms . It is highly likely that 04:04.260 --> 04:07.010 they stored ammunition and weapons 04:07.010 --> 04:10.430 beforehand . I wanted to ask you about 04:10.440 --> 04:12.330 that . It seemed like they had a 04:12.330 --> 04:14.810 tremendous amount of firepower , 04:14.810 --> 04:17.230 especially given what what at least I 04:17.230 --> 04:19.220 understand about the number of 04:19.220 --> 04:21.710 insurgent forces . Can you talk a 04:21.710 --> 04:23.790 little bit more about what type of 04:23.800 --> 04:26.260 weapons they were using and how they 04:26.260 --> 04:28.371 might have been able to get a hold of 04:28.371 --> 04:32.270 them ? Well , the arsenal that 04:32.270 --> 04:35.020 was found after the clearing of the 04:35.020 --> 04:38.270 building was completed consisted of 04:38.280 --> 04:40.540 general small arms like we find them in 04:40.540 --> 04:42.596 use by the insurgents throughout the 04:42.596 --> 04:45.070 country . These are rocket propelled 04:45.080 --> 04:47.850 grenades which have a range of 04:47.960 --> 04:51.250 effective range of about 400 to 500 m 04:51.260 --> 04:55.240 and a real range of up to 2000 m 04:55.250 --> 04:59.010 the way they fly . They had sniper 04:59.010 --> 05:01.720 rifles there , Dragon off rifles which 05:01.720 --> 05:03.800 carry a long distance and they had 05:03.800 --> 05:06.020 their normal automatic weapons . So 05:06.020 --> 05:08.290 there is no unusual weaponry in the 05:08.290 --> 05:10.930 building , but they were well prepared 05:10.930 --> 05:14.660 for targeting the buildings inside the 05:14.660 --> 05:17.600 green zone to do long range shooting 05:17.610 --> 05:19.740 and they had sufficient ammunition to 05:19.740 --> 05:22.570 hold out for a considerable time on top 05:22.570 --> 05:24.626 of that ? We are aware that at least 05:24.626 --> 05:26.570 four of them were carrying suicide 05:26.570 --> 05:29.090 vests . So as they entered the fight , 05:29.090 --> 05:31.368 they were prepared to fight to the end . 05:32.240 --> 05:33.950 Were you taken by surprise ? 05:38.130 --> 05:41.150 It was well aware over the last weeks 05:41.160 --> 05:44.710 that there was an insurgent attack at 05:44.710 --> 05:48.540 least highly likely We've seen the 05:48.540 --> 05:51.760 weeks of Ramadan gone past with the 05:51.760 --> 05:54.920 attack on the british council which was 05:54.930 --> 05:56.874 further to the west of the city of 05:56.874 --> 05:59.260 Kabul . But no other attack during the 05:59.260 --> 06:02.580 period of Ramadan in the city they eat 06:02.580 --> 06:04.802 festivities towards the end of it where 06:04.802 --> 06:07.590 we also expected an attack was going 06:07.590 --> 06:10.010 passed without any major incidents . We 06:10.010 --> 06:12.480 have then seen the 10 years 06:12.480 --> 06:14.830 anniversaries , both of the death of 06:14.830 --> 06:16.890 Sharma Zoot , which is of great 06:16.890 --> 06:20.260 importance for the afghans . And we 06:20.260 --> 06:23.070 have seen the 10 year anniversary of 06:23.070 --> 06:26.090 september the 11th which was centrally 06:26.090 --> 06:28.560 celebrated in Kabul on the compound of 06:28.570 --> 06:30.790 the U . S . Embassy . So we were 06:30.790 --> 06:33.320 unreasonably high alert for sometimes 06:33.330 --> 06:35.990 we had clear indications that an attack 06:35.990 --> 06:39.300 might come . We had no clear picture of 06:39.300 --> 06:41.830 what shape or form it might be , but we 06:41.830 --> 06:45.560 were a very well alert to the fact that 06:45.560 --> 06:48.270 it might come and be very clearly 06:48.270 --> 06:51.010 prepared . And a number of attempts had 06:51.020 --> 06:54.470 been stopped in the build up to what 06:54.470 --> 06:56.581 has happened at the beginning of this 06:56.581 --> 06:58.510 week . It certainly looks like a 06:58.520 --> 07:01.090 tremendous show of force on behalf of 07:01.100 --> 07:03.190 the insurgents . What what are your 07:03.190 --> 07:05.900 concerns about the ability of of 07:05.900 --> 07:07.789 insurgents to launch that kind of 07:07.789 --> 07:08.789 attack ? 07:12.440 --> 07:14.890 Well , the attack of the insurgents 07:14.900 --> 07:18.270 came as a terrorist attack will always 07:18.270 --> 07:20.690 come a little bit like a bank robbery . 07:20.700 --> 07:22.860 It starts as a total surprise because 07:22.860 --> 07:25.850 they control the time and they control 07:25.850 --> 07:28.183 the means with which they do the attack . 07:28.440 --> 07:30.620 The importance is not that seven 07:30.620 --> 07:33.000 insurgents made it into the building 07:33.000 --> 07:36.010 and started firing from there . This is 07:36.020 --> 07:38.110 of security concern and intelligence 07:38.110 --> 07:40.710 concern . We have to look into these 07:40.710 --> 07:43.110 buildings into these high elevated 07:43.110 --> 07:45.610 buildings in Kabul and make sure that 07:45.610 --> 07:47.777 we are better prepared in the future . 07:47.777 --> 07:49.750 What is important is that the 07:49.750 --> 07:52.310 insurgents were very rapidly very 07:52.310 --> 07:55.290 clearly sealed off by Afghan National 07:55.290 --> 07:57.640 Security forces in particular , the 07:57.640 --> 07:59.660 Afghan police because the most 07:59.660 --> 08:02.250 important thing was that any further 08:02.250 --> 08:04.640 civilian casualties and any collateral 08:04.640 --> 08:06.970 damage was stopped as quickly as 08:06.970 --> 08:10.250 possible . That was done the moment 08:10.260 --> 08:12.093 that they were sealed inside the 08:12.093 --> 08:14.260 building complex and then became a 08:14.260 --> 08:17.230 matter of time . It took a lot of time 08:17.230 --> 08:19.530 to clear the buildings deck by deck 08:19.540 --> 08:21.990 against very well prepared insurgents 08:21.990 --> 08:24.101 that were ready to give their life to 08:24.101 --> 08:26.157 the course . Um but it was done in a 08:26.157 --> 08:28.212 very professional manner , mainly by 08:28.212 --> 08:30.590 Afghan National Security forces and ice 08:30.590 --> 08:33.320 off of course and support . Can you 08:33.320 --> 08:36.590 talk a little bit about when , when 08:36.590 --> 08:38.479 that building was being cleared ? 08:38.479 --> 08:41.000 What's the process ? What happens when 08:41.000 --> 08:43.222 you're clearing a building and why does 08:43.222 --> 08:45.333 it take the amount of time ? The time 08:45.333 --> 08:46.333 that it does ? 08:49.440 --> 08:51.830 Well , first of all , the building 08:51.830 --> 08:54.700 stands right in one of the most built 08:54.700 --> 08:57.930 up and one of the most populated parts 08:57.930 --> 09:00.660 of the city of Kabul . So every step 09:00.660 --> 09:02.716 had to be taken with great caution . 09:02.716 --> 09:05.290 You could not use heavy weapons , you 09:05.290 --> 09:09.120 could not use airpower freely . You had 09:09.120 --> 09:11.090 to take great precautions that no 09:11.090 --> 09:13.260 innocent life was harmed . In the 09:13.260 --> 09:15.330 course of the clearing process , the 09:15.330 --> 09:17.386 insurgents were on the upper decks , 09:17.386 --> 09:19.580 they moved up deck by deck . It is a 09:19.580 --> 09:22.170 difficult process on close quarters to 09:22.170 --> 09:24.337 fight through a building in particular 09:24.337 --> 09:26.281 when you have your fight , have to 09:26.281 --> 09:28.310 fight your way up . This is old 09:28.310 --> 09:30.421 military knowledge from medieval days 09:30.421 --> 09:32.477 when castles were built just in that 09:32.477 --> 09:34.310 way . And if you look at a high 09:34.310 --> 09:36.760 building hotel with small chambers , 09:36.770 --> 09:39.810 concrete walls between them staircases 09:39.820 --> 09:41.650 that are easy to be controlled 09:41.660 --> 09:43.940 explosives that you can pre position . 09:43.990 --> 09:46.450 This takes time if you do not want to 09:46.450 --> 09:48.910 risk life unnecessary . So therefore 09:48.910 --> 09:51.077 the forces that went into the building 09:51.077 --> 09:53.310 took careful steps step after step , 09:53.320 --> 09:56.140 fought their way up and finally ended 09:56.380 --> 09:59.570 the whole the whole operation with 09:59.570 --> 10:01.681 killing the last of the insurgents on 10:01.681 --> 10:04.830 the upper roof . There have also been 10:04.830 --> 10:07.110 reports indicating that the insurgent 10:07.110 --> 10:10.170 forces were using cell phones . Uh and 10:10.170 --> 10:12.350 we're in contact with people in 10:12.350 --> 10:15.070 Pakistan . Um can you talk a little bit 10:15.070 --> 10:17.490 about that if in fact that that is the 10:17.490 --> 10:19.980 case in terms of what you found and and 10:19.990 --> 10:22.046 if so , what are the implications of 10:22.046 --> 10:25.960 that ? Well , there is a 10:25.960 --> 10:28.040 high likeliness that this was the 10:28.040 --> 10:30.940 Haqqani network and they actually 10:30.940 --> 10:33.520 received information from outside the 10:33.520 --> 10:36.160 country on telephone and where directed 10:36.540 --> 10:39.710 um this would not be untypical . This 10:39.710 --> 10:41.932 is something that we have seen before . 10:41.940 --> 10:45.310 We are aware that the majority of the 10:45.310 --> 10:48.160 leaders of the insurgency are hiding 10:48.160 --> 10:50.104 outside the country and sent their 10:50.104 --> 10:52.327 fighters forward to die for them in the 10:52.327 --> 10:54.438 country and direct them from abroad . 10:54.438 --> 10:56.740 This should be actually a lesson for 10:56.740 --> 10:58.796 the insurgents because those who are 10:58.796 --> 11:01.530 sending them out are hiding insecure 11:01.540 --> 11:04.140 insecure places outside the country , 11:04.140 --> 11:06.240 but it is highly likely that that is 11:06.250 --> 11:08.630 what also happened in this case . We 11:08.630 --> 11:10.720 have seen activities of Haqqani in 11:10.730 --> 11:14.600 Kabul before . What does this 11:14.610 --> 11:17.270 mean in terms of the idea of 11:17.270 --> 11:20.660 reconciliation business ? Uh 11:21.340 --> 11:23.760 does this change that in any sense ? 11:27.540 --> 11:29.420 Well , there is two steps , 11:29.430 --> 11:32.450 reconciliation is a national process 11:32.450 --> 11:35.830 for uh the Afghans where in the long 11:35.830 --> 11:38.660 run the government of Afghanistan and 11:38.660 --> 11:41.270 the people of Afghanistan have to come 11:41.270 --> 11:44.040 to terms with those who were elements 11:44.040 --> 11:46.630 of the insurgency and there has to be a 11:46.630 --> 11:49.150 process that leads to long lasting 11:49.150 --> 11:51.990 peace . What we are interested as I 11:51.990 --> 11:54.230 said at the moment , is the process of 11:54.230 --> 11:57.090 reintegration and that means that 11:57.090 --> 12:00.370 fighters who see what I just said that 12:00.380 --> 12:02.491 their leaders are outside the country 12:02.491 --> 12:04.658 and send them into battle , that there 12:04.658 --> 12:07.170 is no real course for another type of 12:07.170 --> 12:09.960 country . But this turns more and more 12:09.960 --> 12:12.170 into terrorist activities as we have 12:12.170 --> 12:15.020 seen them over the two days here in 12:15.020 --> 12:18.820 Kabul that these fighters leave 12:18.830 --> 12:21.400 basically their formations leave their 12:21.400 --> 12:24.440 leaders and turn in to the peace 12:24.440 --> 12:27.250 process , go to their villages register 12:27.260 --> 12:29.800 and we have we have got a fair number 12:29.800 --> 12:33.200 of those . We've got about 20,400 re 12:33.200 --> 12:36.890 Integrys and high number About 1700 12:36.890 --> 12:39.223 candidates who want to join the process . 12:39.223 --> 12:41.390 This is not a breakthrough , but it is 12:41.390 --> 12:43.740 an indicator that actually more and 12:43.740 --> 12:45.920 more fighters see the senselessness of 12:45.920 --> 12:49.840 what is going on in the moment . What 12:49.840 --> 12:53.570 about going forward over over the next 12:53.580 --> 12:55.524 couple of days and weeks , you had 12:55.524 --> 12:57.636 mentioned earlier , there was several 12:57.636 --> 12:59.691 uh anniversaries that were marked in 12:59.691 --> 13:02.250 addition to the religious uh 13:02.740 --> 13:05.460 Holidays . We're also approaching the 13:05.460 --> 13:08.980 launch of the war in Afghanistan about 13:08.980 --> 13:11.720 10 years ago . Ah what are you 13:11.720 --> 13:14.240 expecting ? Uh in terms of of that 13:14.240 --> 13:16.540 anniversary and and just in a very 13:16.540 --> 13:19.280 general sense , uh what is your read on 13:19.280 --> 13:22.460 the security situation going forward in 13:22.460 --> 13:23.660 the very near term 13:27.040 --> 13:29.590 for the people of Afghanistan . The 13:29.600 --> 13:32.400 death of Shah Massoud , the leader of 13:32.400 --> 13:34.622 the Northern Alliance and the leader of 13:34.622 --> 13:36.567 the resistance against the Taliban 13:36.567 --> 13:38.650 government in Kabul and Kandahar was 13:38.650 --> 13:41.130 probably the most important of these 13:41.130 --> 13:43.710 anniversaries for the international 13:43.710 --> 13:46.350 community for us . Of course , it was 13:46.350 --> 13:48.630 september 11 and the people of 13:48.630 --> 13:51.560 Afghanistan understand the significance 13:51.570 --> 13:54.890 of september the 11th , uh and 13:54.900 --> 13:58.550 actually , that this is what led to the 13:58.550 --> 14:00.740 international forces arriving in 14:00.740 --> 14:02.740 Afghanistan to fight a common enemy 14:02.740 --> 14:06.220 because the Taliban regime in the 14:06.220 --> 14:08.790 country , their support for Al Qaeda 14:08.800 --> 14:11.340 makes us natural allies . They wanted 14:11.360 --> 14:14.940 no longer to be ruled by taliban by 14:14.940 --> 14:17.820 taliban rule by terrorists and we 14:17.820 --> 14:19.960 wanted and we do want to get 14:19.970 --> 14:22.670 international terrorism out of this 14:22.670 --> 14:25.600 country and never again it to become a 14:25.600 --> 14:27.560 training ground for these type of 14:27.560 --> 14:31.130 terrorist groups . 10 years ago , the 14:31.140 --> 14:34.780 first forces in Afghanistan will be not 14:34.780 --> 14:36.910 so important for the people of 14:36.910 --> 14:39.400 Afghanistan . It is part of the process . 14:39.410 --> 14:42.200 Uh we have been here for 10 years . 14:42.200 --> 14:44.630 Great work has been achieved . We are 14:44.630 --> 14:47.770 on a great process . We are standing on 14:47.770 --> 14:50.400 the edge of the announcement of the 2nd 14:50.400 --> 14:52.890 tranche of transition towards the end 14:52.890 --> 14:54.834 of this month . More likely at the 14:54.834 --> 14:56.946 beginning of the next month , we will 14:56.946 --> 14:59.200 hear new regions and areas that will be 14:59.200 --> 15:01.950 announced to be transferred insecurity 15:01.950 --> 15:04.840 responsibility from is from the 15:04.840 --> 15:06.860 international community to the 15:06.860 --> 15:09.560 government of Afghanistan and to the f 15:09.740 --> 15:11.740 this is an important step . This is 15:11.740 --> 15:13.962 what the Afghans are waiting for . This 15:13.962 --> 15:16.040 is important for us because it is a 15:16.040 --> 15:18.590 vital step on the path towards handing 15:18.590 --> 15:20.368 over responsibility over all of 15:20.368 --> 15:23.960 Afghanistan Until the end of 2014 . 15:24.540 --> 15:26.707 All right . Just as a final question , 15:26.707 --> 15:28.818 just if you can help me with a little 15:28.818 --> 15:30.873 clarification in terms of transition 15:30.873 --> 15:34.100 was seven provinces that have already 15:34.100 --> 15:36.580 been handed over . I just want to get a 15:36.580 --> 15:38.650 sense of the context of of what has 15:38.650 --> 15:40.890 already gone through the transition 15:40.890 --> 15:43.440 process and and what would be the 15:43.440 --> 15:45.850 expected size in terms of what would 15:45.860 --> 15:48.820 would be subject to transition . Uh at 15:48.820 --> 15:50.764 the end of this month , early next 15:50.764 --> 15:50.650 month , 15:54.540 --> 15:57.920 transition is a , is a process . It is 15:57.920 --> 16:01.820 a bit like a road . Uh we are handing 16:01.820 --> 16:04.042 over responsibility and there is then a 16:04.042 --> 16:06.760 period where the Afghan national 16:06.760 --> 16:08.630 Security forces take over and we 16:08.630 --> 16:11.270 support them . In the first step that 16:11.270 --> 16:14.230 has been accomplished in july , there 16:14.230 --> 16:17.440 were provinces and municipalities that 16:17.440 --> 16:19.329 we're reaching the stage of being 16:19.329 --> 16:22.290 transferred . Three provinces , Bamiyan , 16:22.290 --> 16:26.060 Panja and Kabul were handed over and 16:26.060 --> 16:29.120 four municipalities going around 16:29.120 --> 16:32.370 clockwise . I start in Lashkar Gar , 16:32.470 --> 16:34.960 then to Herat in the west than to Mazar 16:34.960 --> 16:37.400 E Sharif in the north and then to meet 16:37.400 --> 16:40.370 alum in the east of Kabul . These were 16:40.370 --> 16:42.550 the four municipalities . So seven 16:42.550 --> 16:45.290 regions , three provinces , four months 16:45.290 --> 16:47.346 ability municipalities have done the 16:47.346 --> 16:50.460 step of transition in july . These are 16:50.460 --> 16:52.840 all areas that were of course carefully 16:52.840 --> 16:56.000 observing , There is no indication that 16:56.010 --> 16:59.020 anything is particularly done by the 16:59.020 --> 17:02.210 Taliban to endanger or slow the process 17:02.210 --> 17:04.550 in these areas . We haven't seen no 17:04.550 --> 17:07.000 spike in violence . An Afghan national 17:07.000 --> 17:09.210 Security Forces have been very well 17:09.210 --> 17:11.440 capable to deal with everything that 17:11.440 --> 17:14.670 occurred in these areas . Now , part of 17:14.670 --> 17:16.781 the transition processes that we very 17:16.781 --> 17:19.059 carefully look at the security process . 17:19.059 --> 17:21.610 Uh and how the security situation is , 17:21.610 --> 17:23.832 how is governance , How is the governor 17:23.832 --> 17:25.943 performing , how is this police chief 17:25.943 --> 17:28.740 performing and so on ? And we then come 17:28.740 --> 17:31.930 to a joint decision in a board that is 17:31.930 --> 17:35.300 called joint integrated afghan 17:35.310 --> 17:38.730 NATO integral board Jan iPB which will 17:38.730 --> 17:41.060 sit towards the end of the month that 17:41.060 --> 17:43.130 will decide what are going to be the 17:43.130 --> 17:45.960 next areas , how many provinces , how 17:45.960 --> 17:49.390 many districts , how many cities , once 17:49.400 --> 17:52.950 this board will come out with a 17:52.950 --> 17:55.090 suggestion of what should be 17:55.090 --> 17:57.640 transferred ? It is then the Afghan 17:57.640 --> 17:59.751 government that decides and President 17:59.751 --> 18:03.130 Karzai or his representative will 18:03.130 --> 18:05.440 announce probably at the beginning of 18:05.440 --> 18:08.050 october what these next areas will be . 18:09.240 --> 18:11.351 All right , terrific . Um , thanks so 18:11.351 --> 18:13.629 much for taking the time to talk to us . 18:13.629 --> 18:15.790 Very much appreciate it . And um , I 18:15.790 --> 18:17.901 just wanted to let you know that uh , 18:17.901 --> 18:20.250 probably the next time we talk , I I'm 18:20.250 --> 18:22.472 going to be doing several pieces out of 18:22.472 --> 18:25.480 Washington marking the 10th anniversary 18:25.480 --> 18:28.320 of the launch of the war . So , I'll 18:28.320 --> 18:30.980 probably have some questions for you 18:30.990 --> 18:33.070 concerning that . So just to kind of 18:33.070 --> 18:35.237 let you know that would be coming up . 18:36.340 --> 18:40.050 Okay , Okay . Debra I was actually with 18:40.050 --> 18:42.328 you in Washington , D . C . On the day . 18:43.340 --> 18:46.280 So I can talk to you as the military 18:46.280 --> 18:48.558 attache as the german military attache . 18:48.558 --> 18:50.580 So we can talk about it from that 18:50.580 --> 18:52.580 perspective because I was very much 18:52.580 --> 18:54.636 involved with the early reaction and 18:54.636 --> 18:56.691 the support that Germany gave to the 18:56.691 --> 18:58.969 United States at that time . All right . 18:58.969 --> 19:01.460 Terrific . And just one other thing , 19:01.740 --> 19:04.700 the NATO television footage that was 19:04.710 --> 19:07.120 sent out was , I mean , it was widely 19:07.120 --> 19:09.176 widely used and I'm not just talking 19:09.176 --> 19:12.380 about Reuters and it is so helpful to 19:12.380 --> 19:15.310 us when we get that type of of footage . 19:15.320 --> 19:17.170 So many thanks for that . 19:20.140 --> 19:22.280 Yes , of course it is . It is in our 19:22.280 --> 19:24.530 interest that the story comes out fast 19:24.540 --> 19:27.410 as you might have seen obviously in the 19:27.410 --> 19:29.800 hours of the attack . We were working 19:29.800 --> 19:32.560 with Skype conditions in in my office 19:32.570 --> 19:34.737 because we were still in the middle of 19:34.737 --> 19:37.590 it . But NATO tv is a great help . It's 19:37.590 --> 19:40.960 a great acid . Um , and if it helps you , 19:41.140 --> 19:43.251 that is very good news for us . Thank 19:43.251 --> 19:45.473 you . Oh , yeah . No , it's and I'm not 19:45.473 --> 19:47.362 just speaking of the Reuters news 19:47.362 --> 19:49.307 organization because it was widely 19:49.307 --> 19:51.362 widely used elsewhere and it just is 19:51.740 --> 19:54.000 anyway , it's extremely helpful and 19:54.000 --> 19:57.060 illustrating what is going on so many . 19:57.060 --> 20:00.880 Thanks for that . Okay . Thank you . 20:00.970 --> 20:03.081 Thanks for being with us during those 20:03.081 --> 20:05.414 difficult hours . All right . Thank you . 20:05.414 --> 20:07.660 Okay , bye bye bye .