Washington, DC—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today urged General David Petraeus to refocus efforts on Afghanistan to combat threats facing America’s national security. During a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing to consider the nominations of General David Petraeus to be Commander US Central Command and Lt. General Raymond Odierno to be Commander Multi-National Force Iraq, Senator Clinton voiced her concern that efforts in Afghanistan had gone astray and pressed General Petraeus on whether more troops are needed to achieve the mission there.

“I have been increasingly concerned that we have lost the initiative, both militarily and diplomatically,” said Senator Clinton. “We have to have as much of a focus as we can bring to Afghanistan.”

The transcript of Senator Clinton’s questions follows.

Senator Clinton: I want to thank both General Petraeus and General Odierno for their service, which has now extended in Iraq over a number of years.

When I was in Iraq in 2003, I was hosted by General Odierno. And here we are in 2008 talking about the way forward and trying to determine how best to resolve the difficulties we face.

And I congratulate both of you on the work that you've done and the incredible leadership you've provided.

I want to turn, General Petraeus, to your broader area of responsibility, should you be confirmed to head the Central Command.

And I know that you've had some questions during the course of the morning about Afghanistan, but I want to just focus on that for a minute.

I have been increasingly concerned that we have lost the initiative, both militarily and diplomatically. The recent announcement by the new Pakistani government, with respect to the agreement reached with the Taliban, is concerning to me. Obviously, we have to have as much of a focus as we can bring to Afghanistan.

And I would ask you, General Petraeus, based on your assessment at this moment in time, do we have enough troops to achieve success, however success is defined, in Afghanistan?

General Petraeus: Senator, I think that General McNeill has been on the record, and so has Admiral Fallon, about the requirement for additional forces in Afghanistan.

Some have been provided, as you know, by the United States, in the form of the Marines that have gone on the ground, and then there are also pledges from NATO nations as a result of the recent meetings for some additional forces.

I am not sure that that will be all that are required. And one of the early efforts that I have to undertake will be, in fact, a trip to the Afghan-Pakistan region to spend some time on the ground.

I've recently, actually, met our U.S. commanders who are in Afghanistan, also the ambassador and others. I think that, in the areas of the U.S. forces, that we have generally had the initiative, but it's in some of the other areas, particularly in the southern part of the country, where, in fact, we may need to regain that initiative.

And that may, indeed, take additional forces. And that's something that I've got to look very hard at.

Also, you alluded to Pakistan and the situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the northwestern frontier province.

Clearly, concerns there, as well.

That is, of course, where Al Qaeda senior leadership is resonant.

Their ability and the ability of the Taliban to send fighters from those areas into Afghanistan is very destabilizing.

And, clearly, there has to be a good deal of provision of assistance to the Pakistani government by the United States and other coalition partners from throughout the world to help this new government as it solidifies its coalition and comes to grips with how to deal with those problems in the FATA and in northwestern frontier
province.

Senator Clinton: Well, I certainly urge a much greater amount of attention, because I agree with CIA Director Hayden that, if the U.S. is going to suffer another attack on our own soil, it will most certainly originate from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

And in your advance policy question responses, you talked about Al Qaeda and associated groups being the greatest terrorist threats we face. And, clearly, that's not confined to Afghanistan or Pakistan, but also Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and other places that will now be in your area of responsibility.

If we accept that, which I do, that there is a greater threat coming from there than anywhere else, what are you going to do to help elevate the attention that is paid?

I mean, it has been the forgotten frontlines in the war against terrorism. And we have allowed what was an initial success to, if not deteriorate, certainly stagnate. And I'm, you know, concerned that we need to engage the country again in this effort against Al Qaeda.

How large a priority do you believe tracking down Osama bin Laden
should be?

General Petraeus: Well, it should be a very high priority. And having met with Director Hayden, actually, recently, about two weeks ago in Qatar, together with the U.S. ambassadors to Pakistan and Afghanistan, the JSOC commander, Special Operations force commander, and the current Central Command commander, Lieutenant General Marty Dempsey, it is very clear that there is a very considerable focus on that.

Again, having said that, I think there clearly is more that can and should be done in helping the new government in Pakistan, because this is a Pakistani problem that has both repercussions and it does create enormous violence inside Pakistan, but, as you point out, has global implications, as well.

You mentioned the other areas in the region. I am actually fairly well-acquainted, because of the location of Lieutenant General McChrystal in my AOR, current AOR, of a number of the activities that are ongoing in these other areas that you mentioned, all of which are, indeed, concerning.

I would also, though, point out that Al Qaeda has been quite open about the fact that it sees its main effort to be in Iraq and that, of course, it is appropriate, again, to do everything that we can there to pursue Al Qaeda-Iraq.

And that is, in fact, what is ongoing. There has been, as you know, substantial progress against Al Qaeda in Iraq. And that is an effort that we also do want to continue very much and, in fact, has benefited considerably from the recent offensive directed by Prime Minister Maliki in Mosul and in the greater province of Ninawa.

Senator Clinton: Well, I know that we may not agree about what the principle emphasis should be, with respect to our efforts against Al Qaeda, because certainly the ongoing threat to the United States on our soil emanates from outside of Iraq, in my opinion.

And I think that we've got to raise the visibility of our efforts with respect to Al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly along the border, its efforts to set up subsidiaries in Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere, because, from the perspective as a senator from New York, now six-and-a-half years after 9/11, it is
deeply troubling that we have not captured or killed or essentially decapitated the capacity of Al Qaeda under the leadership it had in 2001, which is still the leadership it has today.

I just wanted to ask one question, if I could, of General Odierno, because obviously the cycle of repeated and extended deployments are ones that we hear a lot about, the use of National Guard, the Reserves.

Last time I was there with Senator Bayh, we saw a lot of people who were born approximately the same time I was who had been called back up in the individual readiness reserve pool.

How many troops, General Odierno, do you plan to have in Iraq for the provincial elections in October? Will you request a temporary increase in troops?

General Odierno: Senator, I will never say never, but my assessment now is, with the progress we're making, the progress we're seeing in the Iraqi security forces, and what I'm seeing is the security environment on the ground, currently I do not believe we will need an increase.

I think we'll be able to do it with the forces that are on the ground there now or what we'll get to as of in July. I feel fairly comfortable with that.

Obviously, the environment and the enemy has a vote, but currently I believe we should not need an increase.

Senator Clinton: And, finally, General, if there were a decision by the president, in your professional estimation, how long would a responsible withdrawal from Iraq take?

General Odierno: Senator, it's a very difficult question, and the reason is, it's because there's a number of assumptions and factors that I'd have to understand first.

Based on, you know, how do we want to leave, the environmental issues within Iraq? What would be the final end state? What is the effect on the ground? What is the security mission on the ground?

So I don't think I can give you an answer now, but I certainly, at the time, if asked, we would do -- and we do plan, and we do a significant amount of planning to make sure that an appropriate answer is given and we would lay out a timeline in order to do that.

Senator Clinton: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And, again, thanks to the witnesses and their families.

 

 

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Read more statements by Senator Clinton concerning the war in Iraq.

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