Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - U.S. Foreign Policy in Pakistan: Implications for Regional Security, Stability and Development

Interview

Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - U.S. Foreign Policy in Pakistan: Implications for Regional Security, Stability and Development

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REP. JIM COSTA (D-CA): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for that kindness.

Gentlemen, I've been to Afghanistan twice in the last three years, was there most recently at the end of March, and saw some improvement in three years and saw some other areas that frankly were lacking and, I think, measure with the testimony that you've provided here.

In your testimony, Ambassador Holbrooke -- and I think Ambassador Pickering --referenced the political changes in Pakistan. But I was -- in leaving Afghanistan in -- the end of March, I was -- questioned, with the change in the politics, are the politics evolving in Afghanistan?

Karzai told us he's seeking reelection. We talked about the issues we've discussed this morning in terms of dealing with Helmand province and the narco-trade and the governors and who's involved.

But it just seems to me that there's an awful weak bench there in terms of -- and I don't know what we can influence. We can help build up the army; we can try to professionalize the police, that was spoken of. Certainly, General McNeill and all of those folks, I think, are doing a good job.

But Mr. Ambassador, I mean, we just can't remove the current leadership in Afghanistan. How do we address that issue? I mean, you can have a plan, but if you don't have good people implementing the plan, it's not going to be very effective.

MR. PICKERING: I understand very clearly the point you're making. The only thing I can say is that they do have elections in Afghanistan. And in the end, it will be up to Afghans to decide who it is that they want to see running their country.

We know and understand President Karzai would like to run again and we certainly all wish him well. I understand there are others who may seek that office, too, and who may one way or another, in the eyes of Afghans, be better equipped to deal with it. We will have to just wait and see how that particular part of the process goes.

Having been involved with the United States government for a long period of time, one of the things we do least well is to pick other people's leaders for them.

REP. COSTA: Obviously.

MR. PICKERING: (Chuckles.)

REP. COSTA: We don't have a good track record there.

General Jones, I was struck, when we were there in March, the balance of soft power versus our hard power. In going up to Kunar province, watching a platoon fighting the Taliban and at the same time building a road and building bridges is truly inspiring. But the primary mission of our troops is not to build roads and bridges.

How do we strike a balance that allows us to build the schools and the water systems without putting that burden on our military?

MR. JONES: Well, I think, just to piggyback a little bit on Ambassador Pickering's point, is that there are a lot of contradictions in that country. We have the PRT system and every country has its own PRT and different standards.

REP. COSTA: Right.

MR. JONES: We have to understand that there isn't a one-size- fits-all category here. Somebody has to do it. The ultimate solution is, in fact, in my view, civil reform. The disappointment that the electorate might feel in Afghanistan after these really fantastic stories of the vote in 2004, meant that the Afghan people got it. They really understood what the promise was. And they'll now express their opinions at the poll as to whether those expectations were realized. And I suspect in many parts of the country they'll say they weren't.

But clearly wherever the -- whatever part of Afghanistan one finds a problem, you have to apply the solution that is most available to you. And sometimes, unfortunately --

REP. COSTA: It's our troops.

MR. JONES: It is our troops.

REP. COSTA: Yeah. Final question, General. We were talking about the areas in the Waziristan area, and having been up to the Khyber Pass and looking at that, clearly Pakistan's focus has been with India and a traditional armed forces.

We've been trying to help them, I know, with their counterinsurgency efforts with a new general in command. I think Mr. Vickers has been there. What progress are we making there? Are we giving them the tools to deal with that?

MR. JONES: Well, it's been a while since I've been up there, but in my recent conversations with people who know about these thing say that we have in the eastern part of the country been quite successful in our counterintelligence -- I mean counterinsurgency operations.

We need to transfer some of that expertise into the south, and I think that between those two areas, you really have the vulnerabilities from a military standpoint of the country because of the proximity to the border regions.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source