WEBVTT

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Thank you . How are you ? Very well ,

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sir . Thanks for taking the time . And

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this is um guessing likely the last

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time we'll be able to speak in 2011 .

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So I guess we'll do a little bit of a

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year in review here . But if we can

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begin first with uh with the airstrike

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report , we got the blow by blow at the

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pentagon yesterday from general clark

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uh complete with stories about these

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mistakes and misunderstandings with

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maps and computers and things . But he

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pinpointed that lack of trust between

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the U . S . And Pakistan , perhaps

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between Sf in general and Pakistan . As

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we look at this overall , how vital is

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it to to regain that trust and have

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that kind of good working relationship

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along the border area where this

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incident happened . Mhm . Well , as it

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comes to the reports uh that were

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published and discussed yesterday , uh

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we have to wait for these reports being

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forwarded to us at the moment . It is

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still to be commented by Osd and by

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Sakura . But obviously relations with

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Pakistan and the situation on the

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Pakistani border is of good interest to

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it as it affects us in our daily

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Operations , I know you can't speak

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about the report itself , sir . But if

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you might be able to comment on the

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Pakistani reaction to it , the first

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thing we heard of Islamabad was was

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early today and essentially

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categorically rejecting the report

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again from an overall standpoint ,

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obviously the biggest material issue

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has been the closure of the supply

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routes . How vital is it going to be to

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to get those open . We've heard from a

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lot of people in the pentagon about how

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it's not affecting the war effort

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itself right now , but eventually it

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will . Can you , can you address that

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at all in any kind of types of talks

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with the pakistanis ? To try to to try

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to get that back on track . And we

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have to await the reaction of the

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pakistanis to the report as it was

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given yesterday . We are affected on a

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daily basis , but the situation on the

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border and we have now seen a month

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that the ground lines of communication

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have been clipped . This is a

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logistical challenge , but it is

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obviously a challenge in relation to

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Pakistan and we have a great interest

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that between the government of Pakistan ,

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the Government of Afghanistan and the

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international coalition forces with as

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much correction system . So the sooner

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that we return to normality after this

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publishing of the reports after the

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Pakistan relations reactions to it ,

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the better it is for the overall

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situation . Can you talk about this

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border areas right now ? We've talked

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about this before , but just in light

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of some of the issues that we heard

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about yesterday , How easy is it for

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there to be confusion in an area like

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that where posts may not be marked well ,

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where they may be so new that they

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don't show up on maps and and things of

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that nature . Yeah . Right . Well , the

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border in its entire length is in very

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rugged terrain . It starts in the

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deserts in the south and in the in the

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southwest and it goes in the northern

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area of North , WAziristan Fatah on the

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Pakistan border uh and the areas east

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of Kabul on after gun sight into very

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mountainous area That goes easily up to

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above 10,000 ft . But rugged terrain ,

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very deserted terrain in which the

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borderline is not always 100% clear and

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here in this area , as we've spoken

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about it in the past , close

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coordination of any operations that go

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on this part of the country , obviously

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of great importance . 2011 wrapping up

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now sir , you talk so often this year

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about about what a vital year it was

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going to be . Uh as we look back , what

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are some of the high points , what are

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some of the things that stick out to

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you uh that took place in Afghanistan ?

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Over the course of 2011

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2011 started as the year of the

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highest international troop

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contribution to Afghanistan in the

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Yeah , We had the highest

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number of forces way north of 100,000

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soldiers operating in Afghanistan . The

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concept of the search right from the

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beginning was to defeat the insurgency

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and restrict their ability to maneuver

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and to operate was parallel building up

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Afghan national security forces and

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increasing pace to then , once this

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was succeeding and completed hand over

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parts of the country bit by bit To the

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Afghan National Security Forces . So

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this year has seen the highest number

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of troops . It has seen the

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announcement of how these troops will

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be rebuilt over the coming months and

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it has also seen the announcement of

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the first two tranches of transition

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and with that taking place , 50% of the

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Afghan population Coming under the

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control and under strict regulations of

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the Afghan government troops have

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started moving back in the United

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States , has completed the move of the

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1st 10,000 soldiers home . Uh we have

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seen a year of decreasing enemy

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activity . We have seen great losses of

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the insurgency and their loss of the

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ability to operate freely . We have

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also seen an increased use of IEDs and

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we have seen a number of innocent lives

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lost on the civilian side due to

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improvised explosive devices and a very

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reckless way to fight this campaign on

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the insurgents site . So we have seen a

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year full of activity , full of

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military activity escorted by

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increasing movements on the side of

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governance and development . So 2011 ,

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in comparison to a number of years

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before , has been a year of great

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movement . As we look ahead Then Sir ,

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2 to 2012 , as you said , we would just

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got that word about the , the US

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finishing that , that pulled out of

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10,000 like it had promised to give us

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a little bit of a preview if you can on

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2012 fractious the , the early few

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months on on on what you folks expect

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to see and and some of the overall

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goals . Yeah . Well , the aim for

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2012 to complete in numbers the build

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up of Afghan national security forces

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up to the through 352,000 soldiers and

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policemen uh that we are envisaging and

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we are well on track on this and Afghan

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National Security Forces will reach the

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same Training then , has to be

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completed in 2013 . So that we're

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staying in time schedule and can hand

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over The full responsibility over all

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of Afghanistan , over the security in

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Afghanistan , to Afghan National

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Security Forces to the government .

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From the end of 2013 through

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2014 before the troops

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in Afghanistan , the ones that remain

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in whatever number and strength Will

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change into a more training of advisory

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role . 2012 will still see combat

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operations . It will still see large

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scale combat operations . We will not

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release the pressure on the insurgency

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in 2012 also The next year . We'll see

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the reduction of a further 23,000 U . S .

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Soldiers and a number of forces from

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the coalition . We will see most troop

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contributing nations reducing their

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contingents over the next year . And

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when we stand at this point a year from

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now , it will be six

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john response .

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I think we lost you there for a second

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sir , but I see you again if you're

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still there . Okay , Good , I'm still

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there and I'm staying here until we say

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goodbye . Excellent . Just a couple of

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follow ups to that sir . You talked

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about not releasing the pressure on the

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insurgency . Give us a state of the

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insurgency as you can if you can

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heading into 2012

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In 2011 . The preparations that

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started last winter about this time and

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continued all over the year have

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restricted insurgent capabilities and

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uh their capability to conduct

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operations and maneuver in particular

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in the south and in the southwest . To

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a very high degree . You can today

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enter areas of Afghanistan than a year

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ago . We're more or less untouchable

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for international forces down in

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Kandahar , down in Helmand and Nimruz .

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We've made huge progress . We've made

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big progress in other parts of the

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country and we've seriously

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denied the insurgency freedom of

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operation . That has been the success

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of 2011 and we will continue that in

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those parts of the country where the

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insurgency is still operating strongly ,

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that is mainly in the eastern part of

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the country . It is also the border

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area because a lot of their rest areas

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in hiding areas do lie on the other

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side of the border in Pakistan . So

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2012 will see continuous military

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operation against the parts of the

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country where the insurgency is still

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operating at strength and we will

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continue with rapid pace to train

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Afghan national security forces to the

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level that is required for them to take

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control over more and more of their

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country . We're doing well in the

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transition process . It is well

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underway and we haven't had any major

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setbacks in the transition process so

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far . We will have to take risk in 2012 ,

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but we are very optimistic that we will

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succeed in that parallel to that . We

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are seeing a considerable move on .

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Reintegration of Taliban fighters again

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and only in the last week We have seen

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another 350 joining the process . This

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is a positive sign as this is really

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the way to end the insurgency . It will

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not happen in a decisive battle . It

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will happen by fading out general . You

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folks have control over the operations

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you conduct , you have control over

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over the type of numbers the NSF can

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can bring in and train up . You may not

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necessarily have control over over

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what's in the minds of of insurgents

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who may or may not want to reintegrate .

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How big a variable is that in all your

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planning as you move forward ,

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It is an old military saying that the

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enemy always has a uh and it's he's got

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his free mind uh and he's got his

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capability to operate insurgents

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strongly rely on areas where they can

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hide where they can rest , where they

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can store their weapons . They depend

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on the capability to influence the

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population in their favor . Be by

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action , be it by information . All

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this has been reduced over the year

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2011 . You're going to continue to do

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so still it is incredible

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five relentlessly . We will deny them

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the information space and we will do

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what we can to protect the population

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in particular against improvised

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explosive devices . As this is the main

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killer number one and caused a higher

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number of civilian casualties this year .

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Which gives a sense of in cure . There

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are good indicators that the civilian

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Population is getting tired of all this .

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The civilian population after 30 years

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of war in Afghanistan ,

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they are tired of insurgents who are

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basically making their life insecure

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denying them the freedoms that they are

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now tasting and more and more parts of

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the country . Uh and we're taking more

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and more help in this respect against

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insurgency . This will be the reason

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why we've got very clear signals over

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the last weeks that these surgeons also

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now have a look towards . Is there the

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possibility to talk or not ? Well

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general that seems like a good place to

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leave it before I push my luck with the

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satellite dropping out entirely . Uh

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merry christmas to you sir . And I will

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talk to you again in the new year . Say

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again , merry christmas to you all the

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very best and I hope you enjoy it with

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your family and the people in your

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studio . Thank you very much . Thank

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you sir , we'll talk to you soon .