WEBVTT

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that important point . And it

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is , and it is therefore such a source

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of great concern . The last time I was

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here , I made a statement to the afghan

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press and television about our

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concern about civilian casualties . And

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that our rules of engagement were being

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changed and being tough enough to make

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it less likely that there will be

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civilian casualties . I think there is

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importance in partnering with the

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afghan security forces so that they are

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with us uh when there are operations .

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So I I think that this it is a concern

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and and it has been a concern for for

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quite some time , frankly , and it

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doesn't matter that it's part of the

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Taliban strategy . It's what matters in

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the eyes of the Afghan people . And so

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it's so important for us two

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be seen as their partner and their

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allies and not as somebody who has come

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to do that part . We are here to help

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the afghan that partnership , that

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friendship is absolutely critical to

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the success of the afghans

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and our own success here . And so I

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think we have to continue to um work at

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this problem . And even if the Taliban

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create these casualties or exploit them ,

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um we need to figure out a way to

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minimize the and hopefully make them go

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away in terms of the election security

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and there will be a number of election

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monitors from around the world , a

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number of the coalition partners will

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be sending additional troops here to

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try and provide security for the

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election . One of the reasons that we

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are bringing forces into the country as

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quickly as possible from the United

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States , which is part of the

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logistical issues is to provide

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security before the elections take

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place in the period before and during

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the elections . So I think that as best

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I can tell the circumstances right now

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seem quite favorable for

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okay , a reasonably safe and

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secure election process here in

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Afghanistan . And we look forward to

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statement go forward . Chris Lawrence ,

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CNN Secretary Gates , chris Lawrence of

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CNN Jizz . You had a chance to see . So

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you had a chance to speak with a lot of

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your counter narcotics experts here in

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Afghanistan after speaking within the

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day and seeing some of the work that

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they're doing . Do you feel that the U .

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S . Mission now is to stamp out the

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narcotics trade in Afghanistan quickly

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or to allow some drug trafficking to

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continue while the afghans wean

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themselves off of that ? Well , we have

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we have no desire to see the drug

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traffic continue . And frankly neither

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do most afghans . Yeah , right .

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Our primary purpose here is not to

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stamp out the drug trade . Our primary

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purpose here is to make sure that

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Afghanistan does never again become a

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haven , a safe haven and for

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violent extremists who would attack the

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United States or anybody else . That's

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our that's our fundamental mission .

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We're also here to help the afghan

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people afghan Afghanistan

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until 20 or 30 years ago , 30 years ago

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or so uh was was a breadbasket .

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It not only grew enough food to feed

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itself , but to export food . We would

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like to see that kind of agricultural

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success return to Afghanistan . Uh huh .

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The farmers of Afghanistan will not

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find that kind of prosperity and that

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kind of diverse economic success

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through growing poppies . You can't

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feed poppies to your family , you can't

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feed poppies two . You heard when you

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grow poppies , you have only one

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customer and he does not negotiate .

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And so it's actually in the best

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interests of of the Afghan people

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to stamp out this trade . The reality

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is , and many of the provinces of

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Afghanistan , good governors And the

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Afghan people have stamped out the

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narcotics trade in those provinces and

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most in fact , perhaps 95% of all

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of the poppy growing in Afghanistan now

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is in something like seven provinces ,

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most of them in the south where the

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taliban are most prevalent of the most

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powerful . So , I think that the key to

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stamping out the narcotics trade in

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Afghanistan to begin with is to defeat

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the taliban . Let's take one last

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question . Yeah .

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Come on , everyone should have a I'm

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sorry , it's Al Jazeera , we have a lot .

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Everybody can better . Yeah . Someone

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uh this must have been like , you know ,

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the hunger for one of

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these immigrants

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from africa

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Yeah , that's I'm

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sorry , there was interference and I

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didn't what is closing in a week for

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question . The question was mr all in

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Afghanistan issue a degree , wondering

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if that pro Russian forces in

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Afghanistan to legalize their

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activities , Otherwise in one cross

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parliament myself . What is

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what is your assessment reaction to

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this based on ?

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Let me say this ? Yes , sir . That's

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unfortunate . This is the first I've

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heard of it , and I would prefer they

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answered without without knowing the

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background and having some

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understanding .

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Yeah .