CHAIRMAN NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE SAYS NATO IN TRANSFORMATION

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

NATO Changes to Meet New Threats, Challenges

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2014 – Throughout its history, many people have forecast the death of the NATO alliance, but it has remained relevant and is set for another transformation, Danish Army Gen. Knud Bartels, the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, said today.

The chairman of the Military Committee directs the day-to-day business of the committee, NATO's highest military authority, and acts on its behalf, according to the NATO website.

NATO’s transformation will be an inherently different one than in the past, Bartels said at a Defense Writers’ Group breakfast.

Over its history, the alliance has transformed any number of times, Bartels said. The alliance went from a strategy of massive retaliation to one of flexible response. It went from a small Western alliance aimed at a single enemy to a large alliance of like-minded nations sharing and defending shared values. It went from a North Atlantic/European alliance to fighting a war in Central Asia. It has incorporated new capabilities like missile defense and focused on new defenses like operations in the cyber realm.

Transformation underway

Bartels sees a new transformation underway, but one that is fundamentally different than in the past.

“We are living in a world where everything takes place with emails, Twitter, Facebook, et cetera, et cetera,” he said. “This means that the long adaptation we have seen with our previous transformations will be an accelerated process, both at the military and political level.”

Threats will continue for the alliance, he said, and while it needs to look forward, it also needs to look to the past.

The challenge that Russia presents with its occupation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and threats to eastern Ukraine is one example, Bartels said. Russia launched what is now being called a hybrid campaign against Ukraine.
The hybrid campaign, he said, is characterized by a mixture of conventional forces, unconventional forces, and information warfare.

Hybrid warfare not new

Bartels said hybrid warfare is not new. “You see the way the Soviet Union dealt with Finland during the first Soviet-Finnish War in 1939-1940,” he said. “If you see later on how the Soviet Union implemented its power in what became the Warsaw Pact. Maybe we have not been paying sufficient attention to it.”

The general said NATO knows how to counter such a campaign and is putting in place counters to the various tactics inherent in hybrid warfare.

One problem, he said, is the speed of decision-making on the Russian side. “This is characteristic of the system today and is a challenge to an alliance built on consensus of 28 [members],” Bartels said. “That needs to be addressed at the political level, but the summit at Wales made it quite clear that the allies are aware of the challenge and I am quite confident that the allies are ready to act accordingly when the necessity arises.”

Bartels said he addressed the threat in Vilnius, Lithuania, the site of the most recent meeting of the alliance’s Military Committee. Lithuania is one of the Baltic Republics once a part of the Soviet Union and a possible target of a Russian hybrid campaign.

“I expressed that should a nation or number of nations chose to challenge the integrity of the allies, they will be facing the full might of the most powerful military alliance in the world,” Bartels said. “I said it on purpose -- very clearly and very confident in Vilnius -- one of the Baltic States.”

General Petr Pavel, Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, was elected to succeed Bartels as the next chairman of the NATO Military Committee when Bartels is expected to step down in June 2015, according to the NATO website.

THE ISTANBUL PROCESS FACT SHEET

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

U.S. Support for the Istanbul Process
Fact Sheet
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
April 29, 2013

The "Heart of Asia" foreign ministerial in Almaty, Kazakhstan April 26, 2013 continues a high-level dialogue focused on encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors. This region-led dialogue was launched in November 2011 to expand practical coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners in facing common threats, including counterterrorism, counternarcotics, poverty, and extremism. The United States and over 20 other nations and organizations serve as "supporting nations" to the process.

As a supporting nation, the United States has taken steps to support the six confidence building measures (CBM) endorsed by the "Heart of Asia" group at the Kabul ministerial in June 2012. Some illustrative examples of U.S. government assistance are listed below:

1. COUNTERTERRORISM CBM

• Through its assistance programs, the United States seeks to enhance the capability of the Central Asian States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to address transnational terrorism through inclusive technical assistance, training and mentoring, and equipment.

• The United States also funds many initiatives that aim to counter violent extremism and support moderate voices through programs in schools, sports organizations, and the media.

2. TRADE, COMMERCE, AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES CBM

• The United States is working with partners in the region to develop a better environment for trade and investment, through various programs that support and facilitate regional and international trade agreements, accession to the World Trade Organization, as well as the reform actions needed to enable private sector investment.

• The United States is committed to expanding economic opportunities and supporting entrepreneurs in the "Heart of Asia" region. Assistance programs provide technical training, credit facilitation, and platforms for networking that build the capacity of local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and expand regional commercial linkages. U.S. commitment to local procurement and use of the Northern Distribution Network to supply troops in Afghanistan is creating economic opportunity in Central Asia.

3. EDUCATION CBM

• In Afghanistan, the United States teaches English to over 3,200 youth each year. To advance regional collaboration, the United States will convene 225 teachers of English from Central Asia, Afghanistan, and South Asia for the Central Asia Teachers of English Conference.

• The United States assists with quality assurance and accreditation systems to strengthen Afghan higher education and supports eight university partnerships. The United States funds 120 full scholarships for Afghan women to attend the American University of Afghanistan and the American University of Central Asia, and 68 Fulbright Fellowships for aspiring scholars and junior faculty to study at U.S. universities each year.

4. COUNTERNARCOTICS CBM

• U.S. assistance builds the capacity and provides the equipment necessary for "Heart of Asia" countries to effectively fight narcotics trafficking on their borders. The United States also provides mentoring and training to border professionals across the region, as well as equipment such as training facilities, re-locatable border shelters, scanners, and communication equipment.

• The United States also provides counternarcotics assistance through international organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). U.S. funding supports such programs as the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe and OSCE customs and border guard training. UNODC’s support to the drug control agencies of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and its Container Control Program in Central Asia help with the development of sustainable enforcement structures at select ports of entry to minimize the risk that shipping containers are used for illicit activities.

5. DISASTER MANAGEMENT CBM

• The United States supports several initiatives that provide platforms for actors across Central Asia to work together to anticipate, monitor and respond to natural disasters. U.S. funded programs promote regional collaboration on seismology, seismic hazard assessment, earthquake engineering, and glacier mass balance monitoring. The United States also contributes annually to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance and supports multiple humanitarian NGOs for drought, flood, earthquake, winter response, and disaster risk reduction programs.

6. REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE CBM

• The United States is supporting projects across the "Heart of Asia" region that improve the capacity to produce and transport energy. Projects include the construction of transmission lines; expansion and improvement of the electric grid; facilitation of cross-border regional energy connections; and development of the nascent gas sector in Afghanistan.

• The United States supports many different transportation infrastructure projects across the region. Projects include the rehabilitation of the main transit routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan; the construction and rehabilitation of 650 km of roads in Pakistan’s border regions; supporting the establishment of an Afghan Rail Authority; and funding a feasibility study on the Salang Tunnel.

DIALOGUE ON THE INDIA-U.S. STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Varanasi, located on the west bank of the River Ganges in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and is often referred to as the religious capital of India. Pilgrims journey to Varanasi to cleanse their spirits in the river. Photo Credit: U.S. CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Remarks at the Brookings-FICCI Dialogue on the India-U.S. Strategic Partnership

Remarks
Geoffrey Pyatt
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

New Delhi, India
October 10, 2012
I’d like to say first of all, what an enormous pleasure and honor it is for me to be here speaking, and especially before such a distinguished audience of very senior Indian retired and current officials.

I want to offer two particular acknowledgements. First of all, to our host R. V. Kanoria, and to note in particular the indispensable role that he has played over the past decade in building the architecture for the new U.S.-India relationship. Initiatives like the Indo-U.S. Parliamentary Forum which began here in this building and played an absolutely critical role in establishing the channels of communication that are so important to the strategic partnership that we’re seeking to build.

The second acknowledgement is to someone who’s not here but whose passing I wanted to note and that’s Brajesh Mishra, somebody to whom I think all of us who have worked on the U.S.-India relationship over the past decade have to look and in many ways everything that we’re doing today together stands on his shoulders and the strategic vision that he first enunciated.

The one big idea I’d like to highlight for everybody this morning is simply to underline the degree to which for the United States our engagement with India, going back to the period that Strobe Talbott documents in his "Engaging India" manuscript, is the result of a deliberate, considerate strategy founded on the judgment that the rise of India, the emergence of India as a more consequential and powerful actor in the international system is good for U.S. interests and good for the international system, good for the global economy. That’s a line of approach which began in President Clinton’s administration, was sustained by President Bush, and very much informs the approach that President Obama has brought to the task before us.

In the Obama administration there has been a considered presidential review of our approach to India policy and it is a review that has reaffirmed the conclusion that this is a strategic relationship of abiding importance to the United States in which our governments have prepared to make a broad and enduring investment.

One of the advantages of the U.S.-India relationship in the transformative phase that Ambassador Mishra was involved with was the fact that it focused on a single big issue -- the U.S.-India nuclear deal -- which captured everybody’s attention and made clear that we were changing the rules of engagement. I think one of the tasks which those of us who are now engaged in the relationship have to work on is the fact that rather than one big thing, we have a multiplicity of activities in which we are working together, trying to forge an international partnership.

I would just highlight six specific areas that reflect the strategic bet that the United States has made on the future of our partnership with India [in the expectation my co-panelists will cover those I’ve overlooked].

1) ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP: First and foremost, I would highlight the economic relationship which will be of enduring importance. And it’s worth remembering that about a decade after Ambassador Blackwell’s famous "flat as a Chapati" speech, we have managed to grow the U.S.-India trade account by a factor of four. Investment has grown by a factor of ten. Government can take relatively little credit for that accomplishment. Most of the growth has resulted from decisions made by investors and business people here in India and in the United States. But certainly it has been our task to remove the obstacles. We have been engaged on the task of dealing with high technology trade, working through the High Technology Group and other mechanisms to remove regulatory and other barriers to the high end partnership that characterizes and distinguishes this economic relationship.

The U.S.-India economic relationship is really set apart from others that we enjoy by the fact that this is an engagement that takes place at the high end of both of our economies in areas like services, advanced technologies, bio technology. These are the technologies and the knowledge-based industries of the future.

Yes, there are issues that remain to be resolved across this economic spectrum, but I would argue that in the context of the expanded volume of trade, and expanded volume of interaction, it is quite natural that there are issues that have to be addressed as we grow this bilateral economic engagement. But I think what stands apart for me is the level of comfort certainly on the Washington side, with India as an economic partner. This is not a relationship revival; this is a relationship of complementary and comparative advantage.

2) STRATEGIC DIALOGUE: The second major basket I would flag is the spectrum of strategic consultation that has emerged between our two governments on a broad array of diplomatic tasks that confront us. The vehicle for this in the Obama administration has been the Strategic Dialogue, which Secretary Clinton has chaired, but it really has become part of the day-to-day practice of American diplomacy in particular in the region that I’m responsible for: South and Central Asia. It reflects the convergence of our interests. It also reflects the commitment to candor and engagement on both sides of the discussion.

The foremost example I would cite is Afghanistan. I would simply highlight the trilateral meeting in New York about ten days ago as the encapsulation of the commitment on the part of the United States to working intensively with India as we manage the transitions that are underway in Afghanistan, and also as we look to our enduring engagement there, an engagement in which we expect India to be a foremost partner of the United States.

But I would go further than that. First of all, in Afghanistan, I would note the appreciation both in Washington and elsewhere for the role that India has played. It was quite striking to me in July at the Tokyo Conference to look around the room at all the foreign ministers assembled there and to realize that the largest delegation in the room after the United States was India. I think it’s a reflection of the commitment that this government has made to the success of the democratic transition in Afghanistan and the fact that the Indian presence there was not just the foreign minister, not just your distinguished Ambassador in Kabul, Gautam Mukhopadhyay, but was also representative of the Indian private sector which is going to be so important to Afghanistan’s long term future and prosperity.

I would flag another few examples, particularly in this region where Indian advice and Indian approaches have significantly informed American policy and have helped to shape our approach. For instance, to the transition in the Maldives, to the crisis that occurred there in February and the question of how to preserve Maldivian democracy; to the political transitions in Nepal, in Sri Lanka. Looking further abroad to Central Asia where India has been an enthusiastic supporter of the New Silk Road Vision for regional integration that Secretary Clinton has enunciated. But India is also, and I say this from my own consultations with Central Asian governments, India is a preferred partner for the Central Asians as they look at how to manage their uniquely complicated geopolitical situation and look at how to access international markets for the Central Asians and through projects like the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI), India is a highly attractive marketplace, but it’s also a model of what can be achieved in terms of engagement with the global economy and development thereunder.

Multilaterally, as I learned through three years of working very closely with my Indian counterparts in Vienna, in the IAEA, in the other UN institutions, we’ve developed a habit of routine consultation and collaboration. It’s been very visible, again, in Vienna on the Iran File where India’s voice has been absolutely critical to maintaining pressure on Iran to come into compliance with its Security Council and IAEA obligations. But critically, India, because it’s part of groups with which the United States is not a part, for instance the non-aligned movement, India has an ability to shape the larger narrative in a way that helps to drive towards the multilateral goals that we both hold.

The nomenclature on the Middle East or West Asia illustrates that there are still differences that need to be bridged, but certainly my experience has been that by and large, more often than not, American and Indian perspectives will converge, and we’ve developed the habit of working with each other in order to achieve common objectives.

Four other quick areas that I would highlight:

3) PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TIES: An absolutely critical one from the American perspective is our people-to-people ties. Don Lu, our Charge, is here and I know how hard the embassy is working to manage the expansion of our people-to-people relations both in terms of educational partnerships in terms of visa services, in terms of travel back and forth. But I would also flag from the U.S. side the critical role that the Indian Diaspora is playing in shaping the narrative around India in the United States. That’s a story that’s just begun, but it’s worth paying attention to as you see more and more Indian Americans succeeding in our political system, the rise of governors like Nikki Hailey, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana. We have multiple Indian-Americans running for our Congress this year. These are part of the sinews of people-to-people ties that really distinguish the bilateral relationship and will certainly provide stability and ballast over the long term.

4) DEFENSE: Defense has been referred to previously. I would just highlight that the critical importance of our defense partnership looking forward, not just in terms of the sort of strategic consultation that I described earlier, but also in terms of defense sales, interoperability. I would highlight the initiative that Deputy Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, launched during the course of his visit to India earlier this year. It’s the only place in the world where the United States is undertaking the kind of initiative that Dr. Carter is leading in our system to identify the avenues of expanding our defense cooperative relationship, our defense sales relationship, looking at issues like co-production, co-development, placing India on par with our closest allies and partners in terms of the technologies and the systems which we share with India. And then looking at how to leverage the commercial relationships, the business relationships that are emerging as India’s own private sector moves into areas like aerospace and defense technology, offering an attractive partnership to the top U.S. companies that are already deeply committed here. I think as a defense partner one of the things that sets the United States apart is the presence in India that companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin and Honeywell and Raytheon have all established. They’re all in Hyderabad and Bangalore and across the country, and they’ve put down roots here. They see India as a long-term place to do business, not just as a partner, but as a source of technology, a source of expertise, and as part of their global supply chains.

The last two issues:

5) ENERGY: First of all energy. I was deeply, deeply impressed by the energy dialogue that took place in Washington last week, the role that Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu has played in mobilizing our laboratories, our experts to work with Indian counterparts to develop the emerging technologies will be critical in areas as diverse as solar, gas, clean coal, also the strategic energy dialogue that bleeds into the issues that we discussed earlier.

6) COUNTER-TERRORISM: Finally, counter-terrorism cooperation. The Obama administration of course took office just a few weeks after the tragedy in Mumbai and the administration has made a strong commitment to an intensive, largely unspoken dialogue aimed at both ensuring that justice for those who were involved in the Mumbai attacks, but also working as hard as we possibly can almost every single day to prevent a recurrence of that kind of catastrophic terrorist attack.

CONCLUSION
I would conclude with two thoughts. One, I think from where I sit the greatest risk to the U.S.-India strategic relationship looking forward is complacency. I think on both sides we have complicated democratic systems and certainly those of us who have been in the trenches of building this bilateral relationship have relied on the vision and political commitment of our leaderships on both sides. I think that’s something which will continue to be necessary.

Then I would flag, the importance of India’s continued process of economic reform and economic modernization. We understand that the issues that are now in play in the Delhi papers-- the questions of retail market opening and the other reforms --these are issues that have to be worked through India’s own democratic process. We are no more than interested observers, but we have an enormous interest in the success of this experiment. And as we look to the future, an India, which, by 2025, will be the third largest economy in the world, we expect to be a preferred partner. We expect that our companies and our economic fates will continue to become deeply intertwined with each other. So from that perspective it’s entirely appropriate that we’re having this broad strategic conversation here at FICCI House with business people on both sides that I think are going to play an important role in shaping the kind of relationship that we have looking to the future.

Thank you.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PANETTA THANKS DISTRIBUTION HELP FROM CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICES
Panetta Thanks Central Asian Nations for Distribution Network
By Nick Simeone
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta expressed his appreciation today to several Central Asian nations for allowing the transit of troops and goods through their territory to supply the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Panetta met with senior ministers from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and "expressed his deep appreciation for their support of the Northern Distribution Network, which is key to supplying ISAF forces in Afghanistan."

The meeting occurred at the NATO summit in Chicago.
The Northern Distribution Network took on added importance in supplying ISAF troops in Afghanistan after Pakistan closed cross-border supply routes into the country in November. The closure followed the accidental deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers killed in a NATO airstrike along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

In a written statement provided to reporters, Little added that Panetta "also provided assurances that the United States is committed to an enduring security relationship, including after 2014, with Afghanistan and the region to ensure Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.

In addition, the Pentagon spokesman said Panetta and his NATO counterparts emphasized the need to step up cooperation on economic development in Afghanistan and the Central Asian region.

TRAVELS WITH LEON: SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PANETTA OUTLINES CENTRAL ASIAN TRIP

The photo and following excerpt are from a U.S. Department of Defense American Forces Press Service e-mail:

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after talks in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 15, 2012.  DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2012 - As has been his custom for all of his foreign travels, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today provided a personal account of his trip last week to Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Here is the secretary's report:
I've recently returned from my seventh international trip, and my third trip to Afghanistan as Secretary of Defense. As I always do upon returning from international travel, I wanted to share some observations and reflections on the trip directly with you, the men and women of the Department of Defense.

My first stop was Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, which is also host to the International Transit Center at Manas. The visit to Bishkek gave me the chance to meet with Kyrgyz leaders for the first time, and my goal was to affirm our relationship and thank them for their support of the Manas Transit Center. That transit center is critical to sustaining our efforts in Afghanistan, and provides us with the ability to move personnel in and out of the war zone, to execute aerial refueling sorties, and to transport air cargo in and out of theater.

Kyrgyzstan and its Central Asian neighbors serve as key links in the logistical supply lines into Afghanistan known as the Northern Distribution Network, which has proven extremely important in recent months. For me the visit underscored that the United States shares a number of important interests with our Central Asian partners, chief among them a secure and stable Afghanistan so that the broader region can be peaceful and benefit from expanded trade and development.

We had dinner at a local restaurant and stayed at a hotel in downtown Bishkek. The next morning, I was able to greet American troops at the Transit Center who were waiting for flights home or into Afghanistan. As I met with each of them individually, I was on the lookout for anyone bound for California and managed to greet a few from my home state. I was energized to meet doctors and nurses who had volunteered for service at the war front. I thanked all of the men and women I met for their dedication and sacrifice to their missions. Each received Secretary of Defense coins in recognition of their excellence while serving our nation in uniform.

I departed Kyrgyzstan from Manas in a C-17, traveling onward to Southwest Afghanistan, where I landed at Camp Bastion Airfield in Helmand Province. My trip to Afghanistan took place against the backdrop of a series of challenges that have tested our relationship with our Afghan partners as well as our resolve to focus on achieving the mission there. An unfortunate incident at the airfield as I landed only served to heighten tensions but as I told the press, this is a war zone and it is important to keep our eye on the mission.
We are making strong progress in our military campaign by reducing violence and continuing a process of transitioning security responsibility to Afghan lead. Enemy-initiated attacks in Afghanistan in early 2012 are down about 24 percent compared to last year, and half of the Afghan population now lives in areas that are transitioning to Afghan-led security control.

My basic message to U.S. and coalition troops and to our Afghan partners was that we all needed to stay focused on our fundamental mission to ensure not only that we defeat al-Qaida and their militant allies, but that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists to conduct attacks on the United States or our allies. To do that we must support efforts that will enable Afghanistan to secure and govern itself.
After a short ride over to adjoining Camp Leatherneck, I was honored to meet with several Afghan provincial government leaders, including the Governor of Helmand, as well as commanders from the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. I told Governor Mangal that on my way from the United States to Afghanistan I had been reading more about the rich history of Afghanistan. I said that I appreciated how in many ways the history of Afghanistan is the story of leaders seeking peace and stability in the face of conflict.

At the same meeting I also heard from Major General Malouk who commands the Afghan National Army 215th Corps in Helmand province. He told me his men know how to fight and are willing to take risks against the enemy, but that they also continue to need help from the international community as they mature into a professional force. I assured him that the U.S. is committed to assisting him and his units as we work together toward transitioning security responsibility to them. I came away from this discussion encouraged that Afghan forces are truly taking charge of operations and leading them in this part of the country, and that Afghanistan has brave leaders who are determined to build a better future for their country.

After meeting with these local Afghan officials and military commanders, I had the opportunity to address U.S. Marines, and other ISAF and Afghan troops. I emphasized my message to focus on the mission even in the face of challenges. As these troops know well, we have been tested, time and time again, over a decade of war. That's the nature of war: to confront every obstacle, to face every barrier, to fight through every challenge in order to accomplish a mission. It is important that all of us -- the United States, Afghanistan, the ISAF forces -- all stick to the strategy that we've laid out.
It was an honor to meet with this motivated group of Marines, Afghan, and international troops, for it's their dedication that offers the chance at a better life for us and our children, and for the Afghan people and their children as well.
We then boarded an MV-22 Osprey and flew from Camp Leatherneck to Forward Operating Base Shukvani, the remote and dusty operating location for the Georgian 31st Battalion and their U.S. Marine Corps partners.

At FOB Shukvani, I thanked the Georgian troops for their important contributions to the campaign, and read them a letter from their former commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Alex Tugushi, who was grievously injured during operations in December 2011. In the letter Lt. Col. Tugushi called the troops "Georgian heroes" and said it was a great honor for Georgian troops to partner with American and international troops in Afghanistan. I told the Georgian troops that Lt. Col. Tugushi's letter reflected my feelings exactly: the U.S. is privileged to stand together with Georgia.

That afternoon, we flew to Kabul for meetings that night with my friends and colleagues Minister of Defense Wardak and Minister of Interior Mohammadi. The focus of our discussion was on the progress being made by the Afghan National Security Forces. Minister Wardak hosted me at the ministry for a traditional Afghan meal, and I was grateful for his hospitality. Both of my meetings with the ministers went very well, reaffirming our shared commitment to the mission, progress in achieving greater security in Afghanistan, and the continued development of Afghan security forces.

The following morning I met with President Karzai at his palace. President Karzai and I have met several times over the years, and I told him that we seem to get tested almost every other day by incidents that challenge our leadership and our commitment to our shared goals. I know that tragedies like the incident in Kandahar weigh heavily on President Karzai's heart and create problems for him as the leader and the protector of the Afghan people. They weigh heavily on all of us. That's why I told him that we are sparing no effort to hold those responsible accountable and to make sure this does not happen again.

Still, our discussion largely focused on the future as the United States and Afghanistan seek to build an enduring partnership. We have made significant progress on reaching this kind of agreement, and were recently able to sign an MOU with Afghanistan that establishes a way forward to transferring detention operations to Afghanistan. In spite of recent challenges, I am confident that we will reach an agreement with President Karzai on a strategic partnership.

After finishing this meeting and heading to the Kabul Airport, I reflected on the fact that in past trips to Afghanistan, whether as CIA Director or Secretary of Defense, I was invariably concerned about the differences with regards to the strategy ahead and how to try to get better agreement on how we would proceed in the future.

In this trip, everyone I talked to absolutely agreed with the strategy that NATO nations and the Afghan government have laid out: to support an Afghan-led transition process leading to Afghan responsibility for security across the country by the end of 2014. As the Afghans increasingly take on leadership through the transition process, we expect ISAF to shift naturally in 2013 from a primarily combat to a primarily support role, while remaining fully combat capable. At the same time, we will continue to talk about the kind of post-2014 presence we need to maintain. Everybody is absolutely committed to this strategy.
There is no doubt that the Afghan people are tired of war. They've suffered through years of conflict, and they're hoping for peace and the opportunity to raise their families so that hopefully their children will have a better life. The American people share some of that tiredness after 10 years of war as well, and all of that's understandable.

But I think the American people also understand that we came here with a mission to accomplish. The mission was to make sure that those that attacked our country on 9/11 will never be able to use Afghanistan as a base to do that again and that Afghanistan needs to be able to govern and secure itself. That's our mission, that's our goal, and we have never been closer to accomplishing that.

From Afghanistan I continued on to the United Arab Emirates, which is a very important partner in the Middle East. The U.S. continues to work closely with our Emirati partners, including the missions in Libya and working with the international community on Syria, as well. I had good discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed about regional issues and also the importance of our relationship with the UAE, particularly at this point in time.

As I headed home from this trip, I reflected on the fact that our troops are heroes and patriots, and that we can never forget your sacrifices. Those of you in uniform are doing the job of trying to protect this country, and doing it magnificently with courage and with dedication. Your skill and mission focus have always been the key to our ability to overcome any challenge -- and that enables all of us to pursue that fundamental American dream of giving our children a better life.