Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi delivered these remarks in Islamabad, Pakistan

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Thank you for coming to this press stakeout. I have had the pleasure of welcoming Secretary Clinton to Pakistan once again, and I wanted to share with you a very productive meeting that we've had this morning on reviewing the upgraded Strategic Dialogue that was initiated on the 24^th of March in Washington. We had set for ourselves a huge agenda because we had expanded the dialogue to 13 sectors—unprecedented. And the level of engagement that we had foreseen was very detailed. But as the Secretary has learned, that we were successful in engaging in Islamabad in the month of May and June, and all the sectors had detailed discussions here in Islamabad—the U.S. side, the Pakistan side—at the expert technical level.

From the discussions that they had, the Government of Pakistan has prepared a complete document that we're calling the basic document of this Strategic Dialogue. Now, this document lays down a vision for every sector, a strategy that we have for that sector, what we have achieved so far, what contribution the U.S. can make to that sector through the Kerry-Lugar-Berman, what resources Pakistan is contributing in the promotion of that sector, and what needs to be done, what more needs to be done beyond Kerry-Lugar-Berman. It's a document, a vision for a long-term engagement. And the beauty of this upgraded Strategic Dialogue is that it talks of health and education, water. It talks about increasing Pakistan's productivity. It talks about creating jobs. It talks about the people of Pakistan and the people of United States, how they can develop a partnership amongst themselves. It has a long-term vision and this engagement has brought about or sort of given the right place to the bilateral relationship, which is an old one, because we felt that because of the situation in Afghanistan, there was too much focus on the trilateral engagements we were having, and the bilateral side of our relationship was being subsumed. But I think with this upgraded dialogue that has been addressed very successfully.

And the message is that United States and Pakistan are friends and partners regardless of other interests that we have. We have an independent bilateral relationship. And through this dialogue, we are going to promote and strengthen that relationship.

We've also agreed today—and the Secretary will give you details of what she proposes to do. But it's no longer talk. It is implementation phase. It is action oriented. And these maps that are in front of you are some reflection of what we intend to do in different areas, how we have shifted the focus from terrorism, security-related issues, to the productive sectors of Pakistan—energy, water, agriculture. So we have agreed to the next round of our dialogue. That will take place in Washington in October and give everybody an opportunity to give an overview of their sector. And I think it was a very, very useful engagement.

And thank you for your time for that, Madam Secretary.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Minister Qureshi, for your leadership of this important partnership and especially of the Strategic Dialogue. I'm delighted to be back in Pakistan. Last night, I had the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Gillani and President Zardari. We discussed a number of the challenges and opportunities facing our two nations and the steps that we are taking together to address them.

This morning, I joined Foreign Minister Qureshi for the second meeting of the elevated and expanded U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. And I want to thank the foreign minister and his colleagues in the Government of Pakistan not only for hosting today's session, but all of the hard work that has been done between our first meeting in March in Washington and this session and the results that we are reaching together.

Since we convened in Washington in March, our countries have made excellent progress. Every one of our 13 working groups have held high-level meetings here in Islamabad in the past three months. This morning, we heard detailed updates of the progress that these groups are making across a range of the critical issues that we have identified after extensive consultations.

As Foreign Minister Qureshi and I expressed to our colleagues, it is critical that we maintain this momentum. We must continue to engage in our substantive discussions and then we have to move beyond those discussions to make concrete, measurable progress toward our mutual goals of improving the lives of the people of Pakistan. To that end, I was pleased to announce a series of significant programs that the United States will be undertaking in several key areas, including water, energy, health, agriculture, and economic growth and employment.

All of these programs were made possible by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act, which tripled our non-military aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over five years. These projects are evidence of our commitment to broadening and deepening our strategic engagement with Pakistan, not only with the government but most particularly with the people. Our final measure of success will not be in how often we convene our high-level meetings like this one we held today, but how much we contribute to real and lasting progress.

These charts demonstrate the next phase of our work together. The first one talks about the signature energy programs here in Pakistan. I announced this initiative when I was here in October. Since then, we have been working with our Pakistani colleagues to identify the specific areas. Here in the middle are the water programs. I have to confess to you, water was not originally on our list. But after meeting with so many Pakistanis in October, not only government officials but so many others in the different settings I was privileged to be part of, water moved to the top of the list. Water and electricity, over and over again, were mentioned as the needs that the Pakistani people wished to see addressed.

So this last chart here, it lists—and I hope that members of the press will come up and take a look at it—it lists not only our water projects and our electricity projects, but also health projects and education and information. And right there in the middle is the new agreement for the export of mangos. And I have personally vouched for Pakistan mangos which are delicious, and I'm looking forward to seeing Americans be able to enjoy those in the coming months.

So the United States will continue to stand with the government and people of Pakistan. We will stand with you in the fight against the violent extremists and terrorists who target innocent people and some of Pakistan's most treasured cultural and religious sites. And we shared the anguish and the terrible despair that struck so many Pakistanis in the aftermath of the attack on the Data Darbar shrine. We extend our condolences to the families of all those who have been lost in these attacks that are so vile and so dismissive of the rights of the people of Pakistan to lead their lives and to see their future and the future of their children take shape.

We're committed to building a partnership with Pakistan that, of course, strengthens security and protects the people of Pakistan, but goes far beyond security. We want to help you drive economic growth and prosperity, strengthen your democratic government institutions, expand access to the tools of opportunity. And we're very grateful to our colleagues led by Foreign Minister Qureshi under the leadership of both President Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani to really get in depth with the kind of candid, open conversations that should take place among and between friends and partners.

I look forward to the next meeting of the Strategic Dialogue in Washington in October, and I thank everyone who has contributed to the progress that is visually displayed here today. Thank you.

Q. Thank you. This question is for both of you. Secretary Clinton, today, you outlined the push to help Pakistan meet its energy needs, but at the same time, I know the State Department is concerned about an impending sale of nuclear reactors from China to Pakistan. What message are you telling the Pakistanis about the U.S. position on this sale? And how are you sort of marrying the desire to help Pakistan's energy needs, but these concerns about proliferation and the nuclear question?

And for you, Minister, as well, what is Pakistan telling the U.S. as far as its plans of going ahead with this purchase of nuclear reactors from China? And what does Pakistan need to do to get greater support internationally for its use of nuclear technologies? Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. Well, Jay, we are constantly talking with Pakistan about its energy needs, including the role for nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. We believe that the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which has recently met to examine the sale that you're referring to, has posed a series of questions that should be answered, because as part of any kind of transaction involving nuclear power, there are concerns by the international community. Pakistan knows that. We've conveyed them. Other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group has conveyed them. And we look forward to the answers to those questions that were posed at the meeting just recently held in New Zealand.

Foreign Minister Qureshi The energy needs of Pakistan are obvious. The people of Pakistan are facing outages, six to eight hours in the urban areas and 10 to 12 hours in the rural areas. Our economic growth has been impacted. Our agriculture production has suffered on account of that. So this government, under the leadership of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani, have set forth a very clear target on bridging the energy deficit.

Now, how do we propose doing that? We are doing it through an energy mix. We are tapping on the indigenous sources that we have—that's coal. We are trying to undertake new hydro projects because there's a huge capacity for hydro generation. We are looking at other sort of renewables like solar and wind energy. And we are sort of making advances there.

We are trying to make our existing system more responsive and more efficient, and of course, in this mix, there is a component of nuclear energy. Pakistan has 35 years experience of generating nuclear energy. And fortunately, and because of the precautions that we have taken and the systems in place, there has been no untoward incident.

Now, this is part of our bag, but our policy on nonproliferation is very clear. And in the nuclear summit that we had, which was led by President Obama in Washington, Pakistan's position was very obvious and very clear and endorsed by the international community that how Pakistan's program is not only safe; it is responsible. So I see there is—there should be no fear on that account. And these projects that we intend to undertake will be open to IAEA inspection. So we will satisfy the international community and their concerns and we will address them to their satisfaction.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi delivered these remarks in Islamabad, Pakistan

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Secretary Clinton, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. It is a pleasure to welcome Secretary Clinton to Pakistan once again. We are delighted to have you back in our midst to carry forward the wide-ranging agenda that we have been pursuing together in recent months. I also extend a warm welcome to other distinguished members of the U.S. delegation.

Those of us who traveled to Washington last March for the first round of this upgraded Strategic Dialogue remain overwhelmed by the exceptional warmth and the gracious hospitality accorded to us. We hope we can reciprocate in some small measure while you are in Pakistan. We are joined here by many distinguished colleagues from various ministries and institutions in Pakistan. I thank them for their presence and for their vital contributions to this process.

Madam Secretary, today is an important day in the history of Pakistan-U.S. relations, which entered a new phase with the commencement of the Strategic Dialogue at the level of the Secretary of State and foreign minister. With this enterprise, we committed to work together for building a stable, broad-based, and enduring partnership between Pakistan and the United States on the basis of shared democratic values, mutual trust, and mutual respect.

We concurred that such a partnership is in the best interest of the peoples of Pakistan and the United States. And it's critical for peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and beyond. We identified a whole range of areas for intensified collaboration with the express intent of further deepening and broadening the multifaceted ties between our two countries. I have no hesitation in stating that this would not have been possible without your strong, personal belief, Madam Secretary, in the importance and vast potential of the Pakistan-U.S. partnership.

The time and energy that you have invested in it has made this day possible. The consistent progress that we have been able to make thus far owes largely to your qualitative engagement with this process. On behalf of the government and people of Pakistan and on my own behalf, I take this opportunity to sincerely commend your vision, your commitment, and your leadership. And I assure you that we, on our part, remain equally committed to making this enterprise a resounding success.

Madam Secretary, we agreed at Washington that our sectoral dialogue process would encompass economy and trade, energy, defense, security, strategic stability and nonproliferation, law enforcement and counterterrorism, science and technology, education, agriculture, water, health and communications, and public diplomacy. It is gratifying that the first of these sectoral track meetings have since taken place.

City officials and experts on both sides have had preliminary discussions on areas of mutual collaboration and ways and means of achieving agreed outcomes. They have worked hard and done a fine job. I'm encouraged by the positive interaction in this sectoral dialogue and a clear sense of direction discernable in each of the identified areas. In our work during the day, we will have the opportunity to review in more detail the ground covered so far and to exchange views on the next steps.

I just wish to emphasize at this point that all these sectors are of fundamental importance to the day-to-day lives of the people of Pakistan. And they are, therefore, watching this dialogue with great expectations. You had rightly underlined in Washington last March that we cannot be satisfied with talking alone. As you stress the importance of translating our partnership into a lasting progress for the millions who live in cities and villages far from the halls of power and whose lives will be shaped by our actions, I could not agree more.

Indeed, the betterment of the lives of the people has been and must remain the primary motivation for all our efforts. Building a people-centered relationship must remain our foremost priority. It is in this spirit that we have been engaging in the sectoral discussion. We hope that Pakistan Government's endeavors in these crucial sectors will be meaningfully reinforced through this process. We hope that substantive progress will be made on critical matters such as providing enhanced market access, strengthening Pakistan's counterterrorism capacity, and allowing nondiscriminatory access to energy resources and advanced technology. We hope we will be able to achieve overall results that help expand economic opportunities in Pakistan and show real benefits of this relationship to our people. Nothing is more important than such vindication in the eyes of the people.

Madam Secretary, this is a transformational phase in our bilateral relations. Together, Pakistan and the United States are working to transform this longstanding cooperative relationship into a strong, comprehensive, and sustainable partnership of mutual benefit. The vision of this partnership is shaped by the mutual desire of our leaders, President Zardari and President Obama, for a richer relationship at the government-to-government, business-to-business, and people-to-people levels. This vision is rooted in the shared history of friendship and alliance between Pakistan and the United States over the past 60 years, which has withstood the test of times and has remarkably endured.

This vision is driven by our convergent interests in the present day, including fighting between menace of extremism and terrorism, stabilizing and reconstructing Afghanistan, sustaining dialogue with India, and finding a just solution of the Kashmir dispute linking the economic potential of South and Central Asia, curbing nuclear proliferation, and advancing progress and prosperity in the region and beyond. Essentially, in today's globalized environment, an interconnectedness building such a partnership between our two nations is essential to building of a safer world and carving a common future of hope and optimism.

Madam Secretary, this is a period of profound transformation in Pakistan as well. We have political transformation underway with deepening democracy, increasingly empowered parliament, an active opposition, an independent judiciary, a free media, and a vibrant civil society. We have economic transformation underway with notable growth rate despite continuing global recession, growing inflow of remittances, tighter fiscal discipline, and expanding agricultural, commercial, and industrial base.

We have societal transformation underway with a rising demographic profile, rapid urbanization, increasing women empowerment, and a growing culture of human rights. We have ideological transformation underway with the emergence of a strong, national consensus against the dark forces propagating falsehoods in the name of our noble faith and perpetrating senseless crimes against our innocent citizens and the security personnel. Obviously, such far-reaching transformation brings in its wakes multiple challenges. But we are determined to deal with these challenges effectively and make sure that this transformation continues to forge ahead and concludes successfully.

We must do so because this transformation is consistent with Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's vision of Pakistan as a democratic, modern, progressive, and Islamic state. Because it is in line with our leader Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's conception of Pakistani society, because it helps us fortify our efforts in pursuit of our two core national priorities—peace and development. And finally, because it makes Pakistan a natural partner, indeed an indispensible ally of the international community. I cannot stress enough that the world has a vital stake in the success of our efforts.

Madam Secretary, in Washington, while launching this elevated Strategic Dialogue on March the 24^th, you had heralded the dawn of a new day in our old and tested relationship. I'm happy to affirm that we are steadily moving forward in this new phase. As we go further, it will be crucial for us to remain sensitive and responsive to each other's concerns and interests, make sure that our dialogue process is result-oriented, ensure that it makes a tangible contribution to peace and prosperity in the region, and continue to elicit stronger public support in both countries for the expanded partnership. It will be equally essential to build a robust architecture of strategic dialogue that helps advance our mutually shared goals at every level and at every juncture.

We must also develop and follow a roadmap for future with specific goals and agreed timelines. We must be able to showcase the progress made in building a truly strategic partnership which President Obama—when President Obama visits the region later this year. It is with these opening points that we will go into deeper deliberations and work for productive results.

Before I conclude, allow me to once again express how pleased we are to have you, Secretary Clinton, visiting Pakistan and for chairing this session. It is now my great privilege to invite Secretary Clinton to make her opening remarks. Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Minister Qureshi, for that warm welcome and your strong words of support for the partnership between Pakistan and the United States, and it is a partnership that you have done so much to forge. I am delighted to be here and to be part of this continuing Strategic Dialogue.

I want to begin my congratulating the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan for successfully concluding negotiations last night on the Afghanistan-Pakistan transit trade agreement. This is the most significant, concrete achievement between these two neighbors in nearly 50 years. I believe it will go a long way towards strengthening regional economic ties, creating jobs in both countries, and promoting sustainable economic development. And I applaud the Government of Pakistan for demonstrating your commitment to bilateral cooperation and building trust and closer ties between your country and your neighbor, Afghanistan.

My colleagues and I are delighted to join Minister Qureshi, other ministers, officials of the foreign ministry and other agencies of the Pakistan Government for this second meeting of the elevated and expanded U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. We bring with us the best wishes of President Obama and other members of the Administration, members of Congress, and the American people who recognize the importance of this relationship in building a secure, prosperous, and peaceful future for both our nations.

On a personal note, let me say to you and to all the Pakistani people how good it is to be back in Pakistan. This is my sixth visit and I always look forward to coming here not just because of the work that our governments are able to do together, but because of the relationships and friendships I've made and the conversations I've been privileged to have with so many Pakistani citizens.

I know that the past few weeks have been trying times for the people of Pakistan. The attack on the shrine of Data Darbar, a place that is sacred to many Pakistanis, as well as Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide, and so many attacks that continue to target the innocent—men, women and children—who are praying, who are shopping, who are working, who are living their lives, I convey our deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and all those who are impacted by violence. Acts like these are meant to sow divisions between people. But I have seen how they have brought us together in affirmation of our shared values, our common humanity, and our mutual aspirations.

Of course, there are differences between our countries and our peoples, and we need to address them candidly. But every time I visit Pakistan, I become more convinced that our differences, although important, are small compared with all that connects us and there is so much we can accomplish together as partners joined in common cause. That is the promise and the reality represented by the Strategic Dialogue. This dialogue, as the minister has said, is an achievement in and of itself. Not long ago, meetings like this, at this level with this breadth of participation, were rare. Now, I'm happy to say they are becoming routine.

Since my visit here last October, when Foreign Minister Qureshi and I agreed to restart this dialogue and we both agreed to serve as its chairs, officials from our governments have come together multiple times. We convened in Washington in March to create 13 working groups each focused on a critical issue—promoting trade and economic growth, strengthening energy supplies for the Pakistani people, improving access to healthcare and education and so much else.

In recent months, every working group has met here in Pakistan to engage in high-level, substantive discussions about how to move forward. Together, we have identified roadblocks, devised strategies, and begun to put ideas into action. And the work has gone so well that we moved up the date of this review by several months.

I want to echo my friend, Foreign Minister Qureshi, in praising the efforts of both of our teams. This kind of results-oriented engagement is exactly what he and I hoped this dialogue would produce. But while we can be pleased, we cannot be satisfied. There is still so much work to be done as we unlock the full potential of the dialogue and translate our combined expertise and resources into lasting progress for the betterment of the people of Pakistan.

Let me briefly describe some of the highlights of our work so far and some plans for what comes next. One of our objectives when we launched this dialogue was to deepen our existing partnerships in key areas like security, while starting new partnerships on urgent issues like water. We know that there is a perception held by too many Pakistanis that America's commitment to them begins and ends with security. But in fact, our partnership with Pakistan goes far beyond security. It is economic, political, educational, cultural, historical, rooted in family ties. That this misperception has persisted for so long tells us we have not done a good enough job of connecting our partnership with concrete improvements in the lives of Pakistanis. And with this dialogue, we are working very hard to change that perception and to deliver results that truly have the concrete effects we are seeking.

Now, of course, security is a critical element of our partnership. Pakistan plays a central role in promoting security throughout the region. The Pakistani people stand on the front lines of a battle with violent extremists who target shrines, mosques, markets, government buildings, killing and injuring hundreds and hundreds of innocent people. The United States condemns this brutality and we stand in strong support of the democratic Government of Pakistan as it works to stop these groups once and for all.

But security is just one piece of this vital partnership. We share with Pakistan a vision of a future in which all people can live safe, healthy, and productive lives; contribute to their communities; and make the most of their own God-given potential. This future demands a comprehensive human security, a security based on the day-to-day essentials like jobs, schools, clinics, food, water, fuel, equal access to justice; strong, accountable public institutions. These are the building blocks of a durable, thriving society, and they are the aspirations not only of the Strategic Dialogue but of the people of Pakistan.

So the United States does not want only a dialogue between the governments, we want a dialogue between peoples. During my visit here last October, I had conversations with students, women, business leaders, tribal elders, and so many others, to learn more about their concerns and their priorities. And I heard over and over again about several pressing needs—jobs, clean water, healthcare, electricity. I also heard the concerns that these conversations would not have an impact on the work we were doing. But in fact, both of our governments, as the minister has said, are committed to following the lead of the people.

I returned to our Pakistani partners and my colleagues in Washington and said this is what the Pakistani people want us to work on, and we built this Strategic Dialogue with these needs in mind.

Today, I am pleased to announce several new programs the United States will undertake as a direct result of this dialogue in partnership with the government and people of Pakistan. Last October, I described the first phase of a signature energy program to help increase energy production and reduce the blackouts that have plagued Pakistani cities and communities for months.

The United States wants to support that progress with the second phase of our signature energy program. We have maps up here which show what we are doing. I'll mention a few of the projects. We will complete two hydroelectric dam projects, the Satpara dam in Skardu which will supply electricity to more than 280,000 people, and the Gomal Zam dam in South Waziristan which will provide electricity to 25,000 homes. We have seven projects. You can see on the map where they're located in terms of the energy. We're also helping Pakistan develop alternative energy sources like wind and solar power, as well as its natural gas reserves.

We are creating a signature water program in Pakistan. First, we will be building or rebuilding the municipal water systems for Peshawar and Jacobabad, everything from water distribution to storage to treatment. Second, in 139 municipalities in Southern Punjab with a combined population of more than 50 million people, we will be working with local governments to ensure that people have safe drinking water and improved sanitation. Third, we will build water storage systems for the Satpara dam to supply 3 million gallons of clean drinking water per day and for the Gomal Zam dam which will irrigate 190,000 acres, reaching 30,000 farming families. And fourth, in each of Pakistan's four provinces, we will provide the drip irrigation technology and training that we've heard over and over again farmers are asking for.

Another critical need is healthcare, and I'm pleased to announce we will either renovate or build three medical facilities. In Lahore we will triple the size of Pakistan's largest maternity hospital. In Karachi we will build a surgical ward for mothers injured in childbirth. And in Jacobabad, we will renovate the hospital that serves 1 million people in Northern Sindh and Balochistan.

We want to work with Pakistan to promote economic growth and the creation of jobs. Pakistan, as the minister has said, has made progress and we really salute the country and particularly the tough decisions made by this government to move out of economic crisis and into economic stability. You've enacted some important reforms to attract foreign investment and encourage new businesses. Now you face some hard choices, such as meaningful tax reforms that are needed to put Pakistan on the path to long-term economic prosperity. The United States will offer support while you make these tough reforms.

And we want to help improve economic opportunities especially for the large numbers of young people who are coming of age now and are looking for their chance to make their own mark on the world. To that end, we will invest $100 million to expand access to credit for small and medium size enterprises so more good ideas have the chance to become successful businesses. And through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, we will provide $50 million to support private equity investments in innovation and technology projects in Pakistan.

One sector primed to grow is farming, and so to support agricultural productivity in Pakistan, we will help develop a rural dairy program and the infrastructure to export Pakistan's mangos, which I can say from personal experience are going to be very welcome on the shelves of American stores.

These are just a few of the programs the United States is committed to undertake on behalf of the people of Pakistan. As you can see from the maps behind me, we have programs across the country and across sectors. All of these programs were made possible by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act, which tripled our non-military aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over five years. We hope that projects like these will translate into real-life improvements for families and communities. These are not one-time expenditures. They are long-term investments in Pakistan's future. We are committed to continuing our work with the Government of Pakistan to find ways to deliver services and opportunities that the people need to have.

When this dialogue convened in Washington in March, I said that it represented a new day in relations between our countries. But of course, this is not the work of any one day, but of every day. And so we must continue to hold these discussions and to move beyond them. We have to approach our work with patience and persistence to solve problems, meet challenges, and fulfill the promises made to our people.

In 1948, on the one-year anniversary of Pakistan's creation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the man who worked so hard to make Pakistan a reality, spoke to your new nation. It was just a month before his death. Here's what he said: “Nature has given you everything. You have got unlimited resources. The foundations of your state have been laid and it is now for you to build and build quickly and as well as you can.”

Today, this collaboration between Pakistan and the United States is blessed with resources, most particularly the talent and ingenuity of our people. And together, we are laying the foundation for an enduring partnership. It is now for us to follow the Quaid e Azam's urgent advice and build as quickly and as well as we can a future of security, prosperity, and peace for both of our countries.

Thank you, Minister Qureshi.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks en route to Kabul, Afghanistan

Secretary Clinton. (Inaudible) appreciably better in tone and substance. I was really pleased by the progress that I see we're making on not only the Strategic Dialogue but on the building of relationships. So I was very encouraged by the day, and coming on the heels of finally getting the transit trade agreement done, which is a huge breakthrough and speaks volumes about the willingness of both countries to work together. It was, all in all, a very good visit.

Q. What are you hoping to (inaudible) President Karzai in terms of (inaudible)? What is your goal going into Kabul?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think we have to put this conference into context. This is probably the first time in more than maybe 40 years where there's been any kind of international gathering in Kabul, and it's part of a sequence of actions that include our policy, the inauguration, the London conference, President Karzai's visit. And an enormous amount of work has been done by the Afghans in preparation for this conference. At last count, there were going to be 60 countries represented, plus the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. And we've really worked hard with the Afghans and they've worked really hard themselves to present their proposals, their plans, at the conference on everything from improving governance to transition to reconciliation and so much else.

So it's been very well-prepared. They've had a good team working on it. And I'm looking forward to meeting with Ambassador Eikenberry, General Petraeus, and Staffan di Mistura tonight and then having dinner with President Karzai and having a one-on-one with him. And then tomorrow I'll start my day with a meeting with Afghan women because I am absolutely determined that they're going to be part of this future in Afghanistan. And so we'll be meeting with people—with women along with the Danish foreign minister and the high representative from EU, Cathy Ashton, and Mrs. Espersen. And I wanted to start my day that way deliberately so that I can reference back to this during the conference.

And we'll then go to the conference and I'll participate in the conference but also have a number of bilateral meetings on a range of matters.

But all in all, it's been well-prepared and I think it's going to be very substantive and it's going to demonstrate more Afghan ownership and leadership, which is something we've been pushing for.

I've had a number of very long, substantive meetings with General Kayani and today was the latest. We have very frank and open exchanges. I understand the challenges that they are facing and have a lot of appreciation for how they're addressing them. We have said repeatedly that we want to work with them to do even more together, and we went into some detail about that today. We discussed the Strategic Dialogue because it obviously has a significant security component. And the work that the Pakistanis returned to us today was very substantial and we kind of—we reviewed that.

So we had a very broad discussion about Afghanistan, what the best way—ways to secure peace and stability in Afghanistan. We talked about the recent dialogue between India and Pakistan and got their views on that. It was a really broad, comprehensive discussion.

Q. You said you had talked about what more we could do to assist them, presumably on a military basis because that's what he does. What kinds of things (inaudible) talk about? I mean, I think we all have a list of things that they would like to have and there's some additional things that we would like to be able to do, so can you give us some sense of where there was a meeting of the minds (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Karen, we talked about the status of American aid going forward. We've been working on a multi-year package with the Pakistanis. We talked about their request for excess defense assets, something that we think makes a lot of sense and that we'll be pursuing. We talked about the challenges that they confront militarily in the areas where they're fighting and how we can better exchange intelligence, support the nonmilitary aspect of this. When I was here in October, General Kayani asked if I could expedite assistance that would go into South Waziristan so that people could see very tangible results of the clearing and holding part of the action and try to demonstrate building and then eventually transition. He thanked me for the expedited work that we're doing.

So it was a very good exchange of what's working, what we can do better, and I have a list of things that I'm working on (inaudible).

Q. (Inaudible) frank and open (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Those are diplomatic terms, Karen. (Laughter.)

Secretary Clinton. You can imagine. We covered the waterfront.

Q. At tomorrow's conference, are you expecting that the result will be something that can begin to address the concerns that have been expressed by Representative Lowey and Senator Kerry and others on the Hill? (Inaudible) the direction and the (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. I hope so. I mean, that certainly is one of my goals, because we've been working with the Afghan Government and we have a process of certifying ministries so that we can increase the amount of the direct aid that's going to the government. And we've asked for certain steps to be taken and representations made. We'll see more about that tonight and tomorrow. And we also have to take a hard look at ourselves, because it's very clear that our presence, all of our contracting, has fed this problem. This is not just an Afghan problem. It's an international issue.

And we have to do a better job of trying to more carefully channel and monitor our own aid. If you remember the article that got Congresswoman Lowey so agitated with good reason, it wasn't on the civilian side, it was on our military side, because the military was looking for ways to give safe passage for convoys, and obviously, they want to get things done, they want to move goods and people. So the article basically detailed what the consequences of doing that in a way that basically buys protection. Yet at the same time, look, this is a very challenging environment and I can understand why people make some of the decisions. But that's no excuse. We have to do better

And so while we're pressing the Afghan Government at all levels to be more accountable, to go after corruption, we also have to do an equal job of managing our own presence there.

Q. On that—

Q. I'm sorry, just to follow up on that same thing. The military has got a number of task forces that they've launched in order to examine on their side these kinds of contracts. What is the State Department doing?

Secretary Clinton. Same thing. I mean, we have an ongoing scrubbing of issues. I mean, as many of you know, Jack Lew has been heading up our internal efforts to really ask all the hard questions, to force decisions to be made, to implement measures of accountability. And we will continue that as Jack moves on to OMB. But between State and AID we have a—we don't have a task force. We have a directive in the Department and the Agency about what's expected and then we have oversight of that.

Q. Madam Secretary, did you detect in the town hall and the interviews you did with Pakistani journalists any sign that you were beginning to move the needle on attitudes of Pakistanis towards (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, that was my impression. It was the impression of people who were with me in October, people from our Embassy, people who follow this very closely.

Q. Vis-à-vis October?

Secretary Clinton. Yeah, vis-à-vis October. Yes, I do. And I mean, in fact, one of the journalists after the roundtable said, well, that wasn't so bad, that was really substantive, don't you think? The temperature was much lower. And I (inaudible). Yeah, I thought that it was. I thought that there—there was a seriousness about it. There's going to be the hotbutton issues. That's just what you guys do. I understand that. But in addition to those, there were a lot of substantive concerns. And similarly at the town hall, the range of questions was much broader than I answered last October.

And the government officials also believe that we are moving the needle. Now, I don't want to overstate this, but (inaudible) President Zardari or Prime Minister Gillani or Foreign Minister Qureshi or General Kiyani, they all said we really believe that the people are understanding that the United States wants to be a real partner to us, that it's not just about killing terrorists. And I happen to think one of the best ways to kill terrorists is by being a good partner and by creating an atmosphere in which people have trust and confidence that what you are doing is in their interest as well and therefore they are prepared to support their own government in those efforts.

So I thought—I could—I can feel a change and I think our guys who were with me in October remarked on it as well.

Q. Madam Secretary, (inaudible) what struck me was that a lot of questions were more about asking the U.S. for help—how can you help us solve this problem, how can you help us solve that problem . I wonder whether you ever get tired of being asked for help.

Secretary Clinton. Well—

Q. (Inaudible.)

Secretary Clinton. But I often try to turn it around, Kim, because I understand the impetus behind that. In our Strategic Dialogue today—the finance minister is very impressive—Minister Shaikh gave a kind of 30-second rundown of American-Pakistani modern history. He said you've been with us whenever there's been a war—1960s the Cold War, 1980s the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, post 9/11. He said we want to know that you actually care about us beyond times when there is conflict.

That's a general attitude on the part of Pakistanis. They really are not prepared to believe that we want to make a long-term commitment and work together. So when they say, well, what about this and what about that, I will come back and say, look, you have to have tax reform, you've got to tax yourselves, people have to get to be entrepreneurs, you've got to do more for women. So I kind of push back and I think it's a good, honest dialogue between us.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks in Kabul, Afghanistan

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Minister Rassoul. And I am honored to join representatives from more than 70 countries and organizations to stand in strong support of a peaceful, prosperous, and stable Afghanistan. I want to thank President Karzai and the Afghan Government for hosting us today and for the months of preparation that were needed to make this conference a reality. And before I begin, I want to join the secretary general in congratulating the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan for the successful negotiation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement earlier this week. This is the most significant achievement between these neighbors in nearly 50 years and it will go a long way towards strengthening regional economic ties, creating jobs, and promoting sustainable economic development—all of which are critical to the people of both countries.

Today's conference represents a milestone in a long and difficult journey. Here in Kabul, we are following Afghanistan's lead. The Afghan people and government have charted a comprehensive strategy for their future. Their plans are detailed, practical, and reflect a great deal of work and consultation. And we are here as representatives of individual nations and as members of the global community to offer our support and align our resources behind Afghan goals and Afghan policies.

Now, we know the road ahead will not be easy. Citizens of many nations represented here, including my own, wonder whether success is even possible, and if so, whether we all have the commitment to achieve it. Well, we will answer these questions with our actions. Today, we join in launching what the Afghan Government has termed “the Kabul process.” It is a process that reflects a commitment to accountability, including clear benchmarks and milestones. And indeed, this conference is about accountability—accountability for the United States, for the United Nations, for members of the international community, and for the Afghan Government. We are called not only to voice support for the people of Afghanistan, but to honestly assess the progress we've made, identify the gaps between our expectations and our performance, and resolve to close those gaps together through patient, persistent efforts.

But it is important to note that we are making progress. Resources and personnel are flowing into the country, including almost 10,000 new international troops for ISAF. We are working around the clock to strengthen Afghanistan's security forces. With our Afghan partners, we are on the offensive in parts of the country where the insurgents have gone unchallenged for too long. And we are matching our military efforts with an unprecedented civilian surge to help create stronger institutions and economic development.

President Obama has said that we will begin a responsible, conditions-based transition to Afghan security leadership in July 2011. Toward this end, the Afghan Government, working with NATO, has developed a broad framework for the process that will help create conditions for transition, province by province, district by district, so the Afghan security forces can assume full responsibility for security in the transitioned areas.

Now, the July 2011 date captures both our sense of urgency and the strength of our resolve. The transition process is too important to push off indefinitely, but this date is the start of a new phase, not the end of our involvement. We have no intention of abandoning our long-term mission of achieving the kind of Afghanistan that President Karzai set forth in his speech.

Too many nations, especially Afghanistan, have suffered too many losses to see this country slide backward. We intend to continue our economic development assistance and our support for training, equipping, and assisting the security forces of Afghanistan for a long time to come.

But our progress in the months and years ahead will largely depend on the people and Government of Afghanistan as well as the international community. So let me address the Afghan side of the partnership first.

The Afghan Government is stepping forward to deal with a multitude of difficult challenges, and I have to say some of their challenges have been made more difficult by the international community's intervention. And I think recognizing that and accepting the analysis that was present in President Karzai's address is very important. We are encouraged by much of what we see, particularly the work to improve governance. The government has created a new task force, new offices, and new legal tools to combat corruption. And President Karzai recently issued a decree prohibiting nepotism in government.

Now, these steps are important, but we know much more work remains. There are no shortcuts to fighting corruption and improving governance. On this front, both the Afghan people and the people of the international community expect results. As the government takes the steps it must to address this challenge, it can count on the United States for support.

We are also closely following the efforts to reintegrate insurgents who are ready for peace. There have been positive steps since last month's consultative peace jirga. President Karzai's decree establishing the Afghan peace and reintegration program has created a useful framework, but progress will depend on whether insurgents wish to be reintegrated and reconciled by renouncing violence and al-Qaida and agreeing to abide by the constitution and laws of Afghanistan.

I also want to emphasize the importance of President Karzai's recent statement that the rights of women, Afghan ethnic groups, and civil society will not be sacrificed in pursuit of reintegration and reconciliation. Over many years, I have observed and participated in post-conflict reconciliation efforts—in the Balkans, Northern Ireland, Africa, Latin America—and I speak from my own experience when I say that the work of Afghan women and civil society groups will be essential to this country's success. If these groups are fully empowered to help build a just and lasting peace, they will help do so. But if they are silenced and pushed to the margins of Afghan society, the prospects for peace and justice will be subverted.

Earlier today, I met with a number of Afghan women leaders who are doing heroic work to strengthen their communities and country, and I was privileged to announce several new programs that the United States will fund to support women and families by improving maternal and child health in pursuit of Afghanistan's desire to move closer to the Millennium Development Goal. We will double our support for the Ministry of Public Health's Community Midwifery Education Program and begin a new Community Nursing Education Program. And we will increase funding to programs that support gender equality in Afghanistan and an advocacy campaign to encourage religious leaders and influential members of communities across the country to encourage women and their families to access maternal health services.

I think that it is only fair for the international community to set forth its expectations, and the more we can speak with one voice, the less the confusion on the part of the Afghans themselves. And I appreciate the recommendation that President Karzai made that we do even more to try to unify our actions so that there are not so many voices speaking at once about what should and must be done inside Afghanistan.

Because the international community bears responsibilities as well. As we look at the more than 70 nations and international organizations helping Afghanistan move forward, we have to recognize the invaluable work that the United Nations is performing in Afghanistan, NATO allies, ISAF partners—all making extraordinary sacrifices and financial contributions. There are more countries and international institutions here today than were at the Bonn conference eight years ago.

This is all cause for optimism, but we have to resolve to work more effectively together. And I think beginning to understand the importance of supporting sustainable democratic institutions inside Afghanistan is a big piece of that responsibility.

So this conference makes it clear the world is with Afghanistan and the world stands in opposition to the common threat and the common enemy that stalks us all. There will still be too many days when we wake up to news of violence, conflict, and loss of life. But we must not forget that not only are millions of Afghans working to lay the foundation for a better future, but tens of thousands of young men and women from across the world are as well. Some might carry a gun as part of the military forces, others might carry a notebook as those who are attempting to improve governance or work on education or health, but so many around the world are counting on the success of what we can achieve together here in Afghanistan.

History will hold us accountable for our efforts, and here today we must do the same for each other. President Obama and I look forward to working with the Afghan Government, the United Nations, and all of you in seeing this mission through to completion.

Thank you very much.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen delivered these remarks at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA

Secretary Gates. Good afternoon. I would first like to start with some comments about the release and subsequent publication of classified military documents earlier this week.

First, as the president stated, the problems identified and the issues raised in these documents relating to the war in Afghanistan have been well known in and out of government for some time. In fact, it was the recognition of many of these challenges that led to the president to conduct an extensive review of our Afghan strategy last year, which concluded that our mission there needed a fundamentally new approach.

These documents represent a mountain of raw data and individual impressions, most several years old, devoid of context or analysis. They do not represent official positions or policy. And they do not, in my view, fundamentally call into question the efficacy of our current strategy in Afghanistan and its prospects for success.

Having said all that, the battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world. Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures, will become known to our adversaries.

This department is conducting a thorough, aggressive investigation to determine how this leak occurred, to identify the person or persons responsible, and to assess the content of the information compromised. We have a moral responsibility to do everything possible to mitigate the consequences for our troops and our partners downrange, especially those who have worked with and put their trust in us in the past, who now may be targeted for retribution.

Yesterday, I called FBI Director Robert Mueller and asked for the FBI's assistance in our investigation as a partner. It is important that we have all the resources we need to investigate and assess this breach of national security. Furthermore, the department is taking action in theater to prevent a repeat of such a breach, to include tightening procedures for accessing and transporting classified information.

As a general proposition, we endeavor to push access to sensitive battlefield information down to where it is most useful—on the front lines—where as a practical matter there are fewer restrictions and controls than at rear headquarters. In the wake of this incident, it will be a real challenge to strike the right balance between security and providing our frontline troops the information they need.

The U.S. military's success over the years rests on the abilities and integrity of its men and women in uniform and our trust in them. This trust is represented by the fact that, relative to other countries’ armed forces, our military culture is one that on the battlefield places great responsibility on the shoulders of even junior servicemembers, to include entrusting them with sensitive information. The American way of war depends upon it.

But to earn and maintain that trust, we must all be responsible in handling, protecting and safeguarding our nation's secrets. For years there has been what I would call appropriate criticism of excessive classification and overclassification of information. However, this recent release of documents is a pointed reminder that much secret information is treated as such to protect sources of information, to protect the lives of our men and women in uniform, to deny our enemies the information about our military operations, and to preserve our relationships with friends and allies.

This recent massive breach should be a reminder to all entrusted with our secrets that there are potentially dramatic and grievously harmful consequences of violations of trust and responsibility. We will aggressively investigate and, wherever possible, prosecute such violations.

Chairman.

Admiral Mullen. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I certainly share your concerns about the recklessness with which classified documents were both leaked and then posted online.

As I said earlier this week, I am appalled by this behavior, and, frankly, outraged that anyone in their right mind would think it valuable to make public even one sensitive report, let alone tens of thousands of them, about a war that is being waged.

Yes, the documents are old and essentially raw inputs to our intelligence and operations apparatus. And yes, much of what has been revealed has already been commonly understood by the public or otherwise covered in the media. I can assure you, having just come from visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan, that none of what I've seen posted online or reported in the press affects our overarching strategy.

But, frankly, that's not why this is so destructive. The sheer size and scope of the collection now demands a careful review to determine the degree to which future tactical operations may be impacted, and the degree to which the lives of our troops and Afghan partners may be at risk. And I think we always need to be mindful of the unknown potential for damage in any particular document that we handle.

Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family. Disagree with the war all you want, take issue with the policy, challenge me or our ground commanders on the decisions we make to accomplish the mission we've been given, but don't put those who willingly go into harm's way even further in harm's way just to satisfy your need to make a point.

And while I'm at it, let me make one: A big part of my trip—indeed, a big part of my time as chairman—has revolved around building and sustaining relationships. Everywhere I went over the last 10 days, those relationships were front and center—not just for me, but for our commanders and for our diplomats.

I saw it in Kabul, where Ambassador Eikenberry and General Petraeus have forged a strong team and an even stronger dialogue with the Karzai administration.

I saw it in Kandahar city, where I met with a company of U.S. MPs living and working side by side with Afghan police at a security station near the outskirts of town.

I saw it in Islamabad in yet another of my engagements with General Kayani. He spent an entire afternoon flying me to northern Pakistan so I could see for myself some of the rugged terrain he and his troops have to patrol.

If we've learned nothing else in fighting these wars, it's that relationships matter. They are vital. We are not going to kill our way to success, and we sure aren't going to achieve success alone.

So in addition to making sure we understand the tactical risks from these leaks, I think it's incumbent upon us not to let the good relations—relationships we've established and the trust we've worked so hard to build throughout the region also become a casualty.

Thank you.

Q. You said you were taking steps to mitigate the damage. What, specifically? Are you taking Afghans who are named in those documents out of the country? Or are you doing other things that would specifically reduce the danger of—

Secretary Gates. Without compounding the problem by revealing what we're doing—I would just say that I—as I said in my statement, I think we have a moral obligation, not only to our troops but to those who have worked with us. And as we go through these documents and identify people who have helped us, it seems to me we have an obligation to take some responsibility for their security.

Q. Sir—actually, for both of you—do you believe there's going to be a chilling effect—I guess on the commanders, too, in Afghanistan—believe there's going to be a chilling effect on future contacts with Afghans who may come forward because of the spillage of names out there? And if you do, is there something you all are planning on doing or doing to mitigate that future concern?

Secretary Gates. One of my—I spent most of my life in the intelligence business, where the sacrosanct principle is protecting your sources, and that involves your sources trusting you to protect them and to protect their identities. That is one of the worst aspects of this, as far as I'm concerned: Will people trust us? Will people whose lives are on the line trust us to keep their identities secret? Will other governments trust us to keep their documents and their intelligence secret?

You know, it's a funny thing, and especially for a so-called realist, but it's amazing how much trust matters in relationships, whether it's with governments or with individuals around the world. And it seems to me that, as a result of this massive breach of security, we have considerable repair work to do in terms of reassuring people and rebuilding trust because they—clearly, people are going to feel at risk. And so I think this is one of the—this is one of the consequences of this kind of a breach, both for those who leak the information and those who post it online, that they don't perhaps think about. But it is—it is front and center for me.

Q. British Prime Minister David Cameron said today that he can't tolerate the idea that Pakistan is allowed to look both ways and is able to promote the export of terrorism, is what he said. Does the U.S. think that the Pakistani government is looking the other way in—from the allegations made in the WikiLeaks documents?

Secretary Gates. Well, what I—what I will tell you—and the chairman's just returned from there, and I certainly want him to address this issue—what I have seen over the past 18 months to two years is a Pakistani government that has become increasingly aggressive in taking on terrorists in the western part of their—in the northwestern part of their country. They have 140,000 troops in that area. If you had asked me would they be aggressively pursuing the Taliban in South Waziristan a year or two ago, I would have thought that impossible.

So I think what we have seen, and one of the reasons why these documents are dated, is that in the last 18 months or so there has been a dramatic change, in my view, in Pakistan's willingness to take on insurgents and terrorists, their willingness to put their own military at risk and take casualties in going after this. And our cooperation has been steadily expanding.

I've talked—over the last three-and-a-half years, I have talked about the fact that one of the challenges the U.S. has faced in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is that they vividly remember us walking out in 1989, and being left to deal with their own security situation on their own. The notion that, under those circumstances and not knowing whether they could count on us to be there—the notion that they would hedge in one way or another is not a surprise. And it is something that I have talked about ever since I—ever since I got this job.

But, again, the point that I would make is I think we are rebuilding that relationship of trust with Pakistan, and it is evident in the expansion of cooperation that we have had with them, both in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.

Admiral Mullen. I think the heart of your question goes to the ISI. And specifically—and I've said before and would repeat that it's an organization that, actually, we have, in ways, a very positive relationship, very healthy relationship between our intelligence organizations.

And there have been—that said, there have been elements of the ISI that have got relationships—a relationship with extremist organizations, and that we—you know, I, we, consider that unacceptable. In the long run, I think that the ISI has to strategically shift its—tied in great part to what the secretary's laid out—focused on its view of its own national-security interests.

These are issues that—and I have seen some of this; I was just with General Kayani again, and this is a subject we frequently discuss. And they have, as the secretary said, in that country, captured lots of terrorists, killed lots of terrorists, focused on terrorism. And they are strategically shifting.

That doesn't mean that they are through that shift at all, and they do still—they are still focused on rebuilding this trust as well, and it is not yet rebuilt.

Secretary Robert Gates delivered these remarks at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia

Secretary Gates. The reporting that we're getting is that the—that the flooding in Pakistan has the potential to be significantly more disastrous for the country than the earthquake of several years ago.

The president wants to lean forward in offering help to the Pakistanis; eager to do what we can. We have the Peleliu, which is a Landing Platform, Helicopter—LPH—off of Karachi. The helicopters that we had sent over from Afghanistan will be going back to Afghanistan. We have about three times as many helicopters on the Peleliu. And all of this will be—the help we provide will clearly be at a pace and in a way determined by the Pakistanis. And we'll be working with the Pakistani military. Our embassy is very much engaged.

We also have to work this interagency. There's no point in having a lot of helicopters if we don't have the relief supplies to deliver. So we'll be working with State, USAID and all of this, in a whole-of-government effort to try and be helpful.

Again, to emphasize, this will be—this will be the Pakistanis. You know, we'll work this with them and do this at their pace, in a way they can absorb the assistance. But we want to be as helpful as we can possibly be.

We're sending another LPH, the Kearsarge, that'll—that at some point will relieve the Peleliu. And we're trying also to get additional capability in there. But we also don't want to overstretch the capacity of the Pakistanis to absorb this stuff, so we'll be taking it on at a pace that they determine.

So we will do what we can. And clearly we were able to provide a lot of help at the time of the earthquake, and we're pleased to be able to offer help again.

Q. Are you concerned that there will be security ramifications because of the flooding and that this is going to put you in a—that this is going to set back the Pakistani military's efforts in terms of going after extremists—?

Secretary Gates. Clearly they're going to have to divert some troops, and already have, to trying to deal with the flooding. But I would say that we weren't expecting them to undertake new offensives for some period of time anyway. But I think that—I think it just remains to be seen. It really depends on how many troops they have to use.

Q. Are you concerned that Islamic groups that have been providing a certain amount of aid already will use this incident to expand their influence in the country to the detriment of the U.S.—U.S. interests?

Secretary Gates. Well, I think that—I honestly, in all that I've seen, the only thing I've seen has been the clips on U.S. television and the references in the press to them providing assistance and food and so on. It does offer them an opportunity.

And so we're pleased to do what we can, to help the Pakistani government and military demonstrate their capacity and their intention to care for their own people.

Q. How are you—what are you seeing in terms of the Pakistanis’ capacity? And how are they handling the situation? Are you able to coordinate and match up.

Secretary Gates. Yeah, and the cooperation so far has been terrific. The Pakistani military has been very welcoming. They've provided quarters for our people. They've provided kitchens for our people. They've provided ramp space.

So they've been very helpful.

Q. Are you concerned about relief supplies? Because you mentioned that you don't need the helicopters.

Secretary Gates. No. I just—I just—all I was trying to do was underscore the importance of our coordinating this closely, not just with the Pakistanis but with other elements of the U.S. government.

Q. The Pakistani military now has to focus on these floods, for the next weeks anyway. On the other side of the border in Afghanistan, we're entering a somewhat decisive phase for the U.S., in terms of pressing against the militants.

How concerned are you that the humanitarian disaster will certainly impact the sort of overall campaign against militants in Afghanistan?

Secretary Gates. I was just saying it will draw off some troops for the relief effort. But I think it remains to be seen how consequential it is.

Q. But you also said that they—you—they weren't expecting any immediate offensives—

Secretary Gates. New offensives.

Q. Sir, the floodings—have they had any consequence on the supply routes going through Pakistan to Afghanistan?

Secretary Gates. Not yet.

Q.—reaction to this morning's The New York Times piece that you already—a slower drawdown in Afghanistan past July 2011?

Secretary Gates. I think—I think it—you know, we keep going around and around and around on this, and the answer is the same as it's always been. We will begin thinning our troops in July of 2011. How many and how fast is going to depend on the situation on the ground.

Q. Sir, can you—sorry.

Q. Do you have any readout at all from today's meeting about Iraq? Can you give us any sense of any concerns that are—that may have emerged in the discussions today about the drawdown?

Secretary Gates. No, I think—you know, I don't want to get into what was discussed at an NSC [National Security Council] meeting with the President. But I would say that overall there was a sense of—that things were going pretty well.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates delivered these remarks in San Francisco, California

Secretary Robert Gates delivered these remarks in San Diego, California

Q. Mr. Secretary, can you—can you reflect on the increasing casualties—in Camp Pendleton serving in Afghanistan right now. What is it going to take to achieve our military objectives, and do we need to build?

Secretary Gates. Well, we're very close to having the maximum number of troops in Afghanistan that we will have. We will have about 98 percent of the 30,000 surge in Afghanistan by the end of this month. The only remaining piece is a—is a headquarters that will go in, probably in October—couple of thousand people. So we're pretty close to having the surge end.

But, you know, as people look at how things are going in Afghanistan, it's worth remembering that the surge—the full surge only now is getting under way, because only now are all the troops getting in there. We have a—we'll have close to 100,000 troops there. Our allies and partners have about 50,000 troops. And I will say they are very much in the fight. Most of the national caveats have gone away. And so they are full partners with us in this. And I'm cautiously optimistic that this is going to work.

Q. Secretary, can you comment on the increasing casualties in Afghanistan and what the capacity is to absorb that and to deal with it and—

Secretary Gates. Well, we—you know, this is not a surprise for us, unfortunately. I mean, from the very beginning, when the president made his decision to send 30,000 additional troops, and with the decision even before that, last year, to send the Marines into Helmand, we knew that as we became more aggressive and went into places that the Taliban—where the Taliban had been undisturbed, sometimes for several years, we knew that the casualties would be higher.

And we warned everybody last January and in testimony all through the spring that it was just inevitable that the casualties will be higher. My hope is we will see what happened in Afghanistan what we saw in Iraq, and that is that early in the surge the casualties rose as we were in the thick of the fight, and then as we began demonstrating success, the casualties began to decline significantly. That's my hope.

But it's why these kids are so brave, in my view, and why their commitment is so significant, because they know that they're going into battle.

Secretary Hillary Clinton gave this interview in Washington, DC

Q. Pakistan has been hit by the worst ever floods in its history. As a result, thousands have been killed and countless numbers have been affected. Today we are joined by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss how the international community should help Pakistan.

Secretary Clinton, thank you very much for joining us today. Let me start by asking this question: What your people are telling from Pakistan—how much is the damage that the floods have caused in Pakistan?

Secretary Clinton. Well first let me express my deepest concern and sympathy for all of the people who have been directly affected, who have lost loved ones, who have been injured, who have lost homes, property, cattle, whose towns and villages have been devastated over the course of this terrible flooding. And let me express my concern as well to all of Pakistan, because of course this covers such a broad area that it will impact the entire country.

I think that it's difficult yet to determine the exact amount of damage and the need for relief and reconstruction. We know as you just said that this is one of the greatest natural disasters in Pakistan's history and in the history of recorded time that goes back a very long time, because of the many millions of people who are affected. 17 to 20 million are the estimates we've heard, 8 million who have been directly displaced.

So the response that we are working to provide along with the government and the people of Pakistan is aimed at the emergency, and we will continue to do as much as we can. But we also have to look at what will be needed to reconstruct lives and property. The United States is very proud to be Pakistan's partner in standing up against this humanitarian disaster. We are rushing food and other aid. We have probably spent around $90 to $100 million so far.

Later at the United Nations today I will join Foreign Minister Qureshi, Secretary General Ban, and other world leaders to call for much, much more and announce that the United States's commitment will increase.

Q. You talk about a response to this crisis. What we have seen this time, the response of the international community was very slow towards this crisis in Pakistan. What do you think, what was the reason? Is there any crisis of confidence, or people don't have idea what devastation has been caused by this flood?

Secretary Clinton. I think it's more the second point. I believe that first of all much of the destruction has happened in very inaccessible places, in the mountains and nearby. I think that the flooding has continued, so there hasn't been a point at which people can stop and take stock. I believe that the enormity of the natural disaster and the fact that the monsoons haven't yet ceased and that there may be more to come has put everyone a little on edge trying to figure out what to do and when to do it. I mean if you rush aid into one place and start rebuilding and then it's washed out next week, you will have wasted money and unfortunately not fulfilled your purpose.

I can only speak for the United States. I mean we wanted to do as much as we could early in the emergency, but we're going to have to wait to assess what do we do now once the waters have receded and we can take stock of the damage. I mean I've been following this very closely and looking at photographs as they have come in. People have rushed to try to repair bridges, only to see a few hours later the bridge wiped away.

So I think that the enormity of this is such that everyone from the Pakistani people to the Pakistani Government to the international community is trying to rush in emergency help and then we will, with the process starting in the United Nations today, begin to evaluate how much more Pakistan is going to need.

I've ordered a complete review of all of the aid that we've provided. I was just in Pakistan as you know last month announcing some very important projects to bring water and electricity to people throughout the country. I announced we could perhaps repair and modernize power plants. The power plants may be gone. So I think all of us are struck by the scale of this destruction and we're really working hard to help people now but also prepare for the future.

Q. You talk about this relief and rescue. Are you satisfied with the way relief and rescue is being done in Pakistan at this moment?

Secretary Clinton. I'm never satisfied with relief and rescue. I saw what happens in my own country. We will never forget Katrina and we have far more resources than Pakistan has and yet it took a long time to figure out what the extent of it was and to mobilize the resources and to put them in the right place.

In Haiti, we kept pushing, pushing, pushing post-earthquake, get more, get more, get more. I'm never satisfied. I think that when we're struck by these terrible natural disasters, we all want to do something, but very often it's hard to know what to do and how to do it until a little time passes and people can get better organized.

So we are doing everything we can with helicopters. I think more than 20 American helicopters, 800,000 deliveries of food and other supplies. We're doing everything we can. And increasingly, more people are getting involved and we're working closely with both the Pakistani military and the Pakistani Government.

Q. You talk about Pakistani military. There's a lot being said about that since Pakistan military is taking the lead in this rescue and relief operation. And there's a concern that it will divert their attention from the war on terror. So do you think because of that situation and because more and more army is involved in the relief and rescue operation, these floods can have any effect on the war against terror?

Secretary Clinton. First of all, I think the army is doing what it must, which is to try to protect the lives and the property of Pakistani people. And they are working very hard to mobilize resources to do that. But isn't it a tragic commentary that while this terrible natural disaster is happening, there are still terrorist attacks going on? I mean, have they no shame? Have they no human caring or sympathy for their fellow Pakistanis that they would continue to assassinate people and blow up targets while millions are fleeing for their lives with their children on their backs? I don't even know how to respond to that.

So I think that the Pakistani military is doing what it must do. It is doing everything in its power to help the people of Pakistan.

And it's just tragic that this threat of terrorism which now the Pakistani intelligence and military services say is the number one threat to Pakistan continue. I applaud what the military is doing, but it's very unfortunate that there can't be a cessation of these terrible terrorist attacks and an end to this assault on the people and Government of Pakistan.

Q. Since this crisis seems to be beyond the capacity of Pakistani Government, and there are reports that all these banned organizations, they are there to provide relief to the people, is there any concern that these banned organizations, they will gain the force in that region?

Secretary Clinton. I don't think so. I mean, very often, these reports are overstated and when time passes, you look back and find out that it was not as reported. But in this case, I think that there is a great urgency that the government is trying to bring to bear in confronting this natural disaster, which is truly unprecedented.

And it's sort of the right of anyone in a democracy, which thank goodness Pakistan is—especially with a free press—to criticize one's government. I know that. I have been in government and I have received a lot of incoming criticism. And government can always do better. Government must do better.

But at this point in time, the people and institutions of Pakistan must pull together. There's a time to be critical and pointing fingers and trying to score political points, and then there's a time to put that to one side and save lives and rebuild Pakistan. And that's what I hope is happening.

Q. Any dates, any plans of President Obama and you going together to Pakistan in the near future?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we don't usually travel together because we have a lot of world to cover, but I think you know how committed we both are to Pakistan, both on a personal level and of course through our governmental responsibilities. And I am sure I will be back in Pakistan and I'm sure at some point the President will also find time.

Q. During this crisis, Indian foreign minister also called Pakistani foreign minister and they offered some symbolic help. And yesterday, Foreign Minister Qureshi was telling that he conveyed that to the authorities in Pakistan. How would you say to—what would be your comment on that?

Secretary Clinton. My comment is I think it's a very good sign. I think that India's offer, and I hope Pakistan's acceptance, demonstrates that despite years of misunderstanding and conflicts and threats and difficulties, in the face of a natural disaster of this significance, the people of India and Pakistan can come together.

We saw that, for example, in a very serious earthquake in Turkey some years ago, about 10 years ago. Greece, which has had longstanding problems with Turkey and vice versa, came to the aid of Turkey.

I am an optimist. I believe that there isn't any problem between two peoples that cannot be overcome by good faith and by effort. And of course, I would love to see the problems between Pakistan and India attacked in a peaceful way by the governments and institutions of both countries and that they would be resolved, because I think it is in the interests of both, particularly the interest of Pakistan.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered this statement in New York City, New York

Secretary Clinton. Good afternoon, Secretary General Ban, President Treki. I listened with great interest and concern as Foreign Minister Qureshi detailed with somber eloquence and painful specificity what the people and Government of Pakistan are facing today.

We are here at the request of the Government of Pakistan to help them respond to the worst natural disaster in their history. As Foreign Minister Qureshi pointed out, the flooding which has affected more than 20 million Pakistanis, more than the population of New York State is so enormous that it is almost hard to fathom and the rain continues to fall. So the extent of the devastation is difficult to gauge. This flooding has already affected more people than the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Haiti earthquake, and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake combined. And as we meet, we fear that a new wave of water may be about to sweep through areas that have already been devastated and reach to those yet untouched.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones, who have been displaced from their homes, left without food and water. The United States has and continues to take swift action to help. And on behalf of President Obama and the American people, I want to state our resolve to help Pakistan meet the immediacy of this crisis and then to recover from it. I want the people of Pakistan to know that the United States will stand with you during this crisis. We will be with you as rivers rise and fall. We will be with you as you replant your fields and repair your roads. We will be with you as you meet the long-term challenges to build a stronger nation and a better future.

Under the direction of the Government of Pakistan and the National Disaster Management Authority, the United States has been working since the earliest days of the flooding to provide assistance to those it can reach and who need it most. Our civilian helicopters began assisting in relief efforts almost immediately. American military helicopters were redirected to rescue Pakistanis within hours of the Pakistani Government's request for help. Less than a day later, American military aircraft began delivering 400,000 halal meals from storehouses in Dubai. These efforts continue. And to date, U.S. aircraft have carried more than 6,000 Pakistanis to safety and distributed more than a million pounds of relief supplies.

We've also provided enough heavy-duty waterproof sheeting to construct temporary shelters for more than 100,000 people. And we have supplied the Pakistani Government with rescue boats, concrete cutting saws, water filtration units, and a dozen prefabricated bridges.

The initial response by the Pakistani Government and people, the United States, and the international community has helped to alleviate suffering and save lives. But the combined efforts so far pale against the magnitude of the challenge.

It is difficult to overstate the scope of this catastrophe and unfortunately we believe it is likely to get worse before it gets better. More than 800,000 homes have already been damaged or destroyed. Two million people have been forced to flee. Hundreds of bridges have been washed away, cutting off communities from relief supplies. As the foreign minister said, so much of this year's agricultural production has been wiped out, and farmers’ submerged fields cannot be replanted this season. And many communities face shortages of clean drinking water and are vulnerable to cholera and other epidemics.

Experts predict that the flooding will not recede until mid-September. And if the monsoon rains continue, the devastation will spread to new areas, driving yet more people from their homes.

So we know we face a humanitarian disaster of monumental proportions, and it is creating economic and security problems. And here at the United Nations, we often speak of a desire to forge a more humane fellowship with humankind. And today, we must match that aspiration with action.

Now, I realize that many countries, including my own, are facing tough economic conditions and very tight budgets. And we've also endured an unrelenting stream of disasters this year—from the earthquake in Haiti to the wildfires in Russia. But we must answer the Pakistani request for help.

On August 11th, the United Nations issued a $459 million emergency flood response plan and asked for the international community to respond. At the outset of this conference today, existing pledges of assistance put us halfway toward this goal. That is a solid start, but we must close the gap.

With a new pledge that I am making today of $60 million, the United States will be contributing more than 150 million toward emergency flood relief. Approximately 92 million of that total is in direct support of the UN relief plan. These funds are being used to provide critical supplies and support operations of the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority and other organizations inside Pakistan. The United States is providing technical assistance and mobilizing military and civilian resources as well.

Today, I want to call on the American public and American corporations to support these relief efforts. Every dollar makes a difference, and Americans can send help to Pakistan by contributing to the Department of State's Pakistan Relief Fund. Please go to www.state.gov/pakistanrelief or make a $10 contribution through your mobile phone by texting the word “FLOOD” to the number 27722.

Beyond our immediate response, the United States is committed to the long-term goal of working with Pakistan to improve conditions in the country. We demonstrated that commitment with the multi-year, $7.5 billion non-military assistance package authorized by the Congress and agreed to by the President. We will now take some of those funds that were directed to initiatives that I announced just last month in Islamabad to support Pakistan in its reconstruction efforts.

In all of our work, we are seeking to strengthen Pakistan's democratic institutions. Our approach to relief and rebuilding will be based on the same foundation of partnership that we believe is important between our country and Pakistan. It will be up to Pakistan's elected leaders to head up this effort. And those elected officials, in turn, will be accountable to the citizens of Pakistan.

In my visits to Pakistan since becoming Secretary of State, I have spoken often about our desire to build an enduring partnership. And today, we are once again, reaffirming that commitment. I believe Pakistan will come through this crisis because of the strength, resilience, and courage of the people. As we meet today during the holy month of Ramadan, we must all embrace a spirit of compassion and make it our mission to provide that relief.

A few days ago, an American helicopter rescued a pregnant woman who was about to give birth. They were able to carry her to safety. Her home was under water. She was facing complications that could have claimed her life and the life of her child. Like all Pakistanis affected by the floods, this mother and baby still face many difficulties in the months and years ahead, but they will have an opportunity to rebuild their community and to contribute to a strong, secure, prosperous Pakistan. I believe in that baby's future.

Civilization has thrived on the banks of the Indus River for more than 5,000 years. It will continue. And if we come together now, we can meet this challenge and ensure that future generations in Pakistan will have the opportunity to realize their own God-given potential.

Thank you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered this statement in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. The United States strongly condemns the recent killing of a fourth candidate for parliament in Afghanistan and of five men working on the electoral campaign of a female candidate, all in Herat province. Though it is not yet clear who is responsible for these killings, our thoughts and deep sympathies are with the families affected by these horrible attacks.

Violent intimidation of electoral candidates and their supporters undermines the right of all Afghans to a peaceful and democratic future for their country, and those responsible for the killings must be brought to justice. Afghanistan's upcoming parliamentary elections are an important milestone on the road to becoming a full and rightful member of the community of democratic nations. We encourage the Government of Afghanistan to provide adequate security measures that allow candidates and voters, particularly women, to fully participate and ensuring the election process reflects the democratic will of the Afghan people.

The United States will continue working with our Afghan and international partners to support the people of Afghanistan as they strive to secure a future of peace, freedom, and opportunity for themselves and their children, free from fear and intimidation.

Secretary Robert Gates and President Hamid Karzai delivered these remarks in Kabul, Afghanistan

Secretary Gates. First, I would like to thank President Karzai for hosting me this evening. We discussed our shared effort to bring security to the Afghan people, an effort that now finally has the necessary resources in place to begin delivering tangible, lasting results.

As of this week, nearly all 30,000 U.S. troops ordered here by President Obama last December as part of the new strategy have arrived and are conducting operations. Over this period, our allies and partners have sent 7,000 additional forces; reaching nearly three-quarters of their total surge commitment. Our dramatic increase in military capability is amplified by a tripling of deployed civilians and a substantial influx of trainers.

Meanwhile, the size and capabilities of the Afghan national security forces continue to grow, in number and in quality—the growth by nearly 60,000 over the last nine months, reaching their annual recruitment goal three months ahead of schedule. About 85 percent of the Afghan National Army are now partnered with ISAF forces in the field—training together, planning together and fighting together—with Afghan forces increasingly taking the lead.

President Karzai and his Cabinet have developed a plan for locally recruited forces that will be accountable to the central government but will also give local communities the means to defend themselves. Further, we will continue to work with the Pakistani government to deny safe havens to those who launch attacks inside Afghanistan. All of these developments bring us closer to the goal of an Afghanistan that is able to provide for its own security.

As we expected and warned, coalition forces, as well as Afghan army and police, have taken heavier casualties as we go into areas the Taliban has dominated for years. Having said that, our enemies are paying a very steep price and feeling more pressure than ever. That will only intensify, as Afghan and coalition military operations expand, bringing security to people and communities the Taliban has terrorized. This is precisely the kind of pressure we believe will lead to reconciliation and reintegration. We are beginning to see small, isolated examples of individuals and groups laying down their arms rather than confront Afghan and coalition forces.

Even as our joint combat operations reach unprecedented size and intensity, we are seeing progress in our goal of reducing Afghan civilian casualties caused by coalition forces. We will continue to make every effort to avoid innocent victims in our operations altogether. However, at the same time, the Taliban leadership has undertaken a brutal campaign of intimidation against Afghan civilians and assassination of Afghan officials. Mindful that our joint imperative here is to bring security to the Afghan people, we recognize that it is ultimately our collective responsibility to protect Afghan civilians from all kinds of cruelty.

Still, establishing security is only one step in our broader efforts. Success will ultimately be determined by how well a sovereign Afghan government, with the support of the international community, can respond to the needs of its citizens. Much has been accomplished in this regard, and I think we agree, more remains to be done.

President Karzai and I also discussed our respective efforts against the incidence of corruption that, as he has forthrightly noted, saps the strength and resources of the Afghan people and diminishes their support for their elected government. I want to note that the U.S. must make sure that American dollars and other foreign assistance do not fuel corruption. Ambassador Eikenberry and General Petraeus are putting in place new procedures and controls to accomplish this objective. And we fully support the Afghan government in its own efforts to address corruption.

It is our attempt to begin a gradual, conditions-based transition to Afghan security control next summer. But even as the coalition's military role will change over time, the long-term commitment of the United States to the Afghan people and their security will remain strong and enduring. Indeed, President Karzai and I discussed the importance of the strengthened U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership declaration now being developed by our two governments. As President Obama has frequently noted, we are not turning off the lights next July. If the Taliban really do believe that America is headed for the exits next summer in large numbers, they will be deeply disappointed, and surprised to find us very much in the fight.

The goal of the U.S. in this region continues to be to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and wherever else they seek safe havens from which to exploit those around them and threaten all of us. Our success will be critical for the future of the Afghan people, for the stability of the region and for the long-term security interests of America and its allies.

Thank you, Mr. President.

President Karzai. Secretary Gates, would you like to have the first question?

Secretary Gates. All right. I'm happy to.

Q. Coalition forces today conducted an air strike allegedly targeting a prominent member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. But the government of Afghanistan, however, assures that the strike killed many civilians.

Secretary Gates, do you think that that strike was legitimate? And President Karzai, do you feel like NATO and the U.S. owe you an apology?

Secretary Gates. Well, I have limited knowledge of the strike at this point. I do believe I am able to confirm that a very senior official of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was the target and was killed. And this is an individual who was responsible for organizing and orchestrating a number of attacks here in Kabul and in northern Afghanistan.

This is the first that I had heard that civilians may have been killed. And we will certainly look into that.

President Karzai. We received a report this morning from our governor of Takhar that an airstrike was conducted in which a candidate for parliament named Abdulawahid Khorasani and his convoy suffered casualties. The reports that we get so far are 10 are killed and three wounded in this operation.

The nature of the operation and the presence of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is—personalities or activists have to be determined. But we do know that the parliamentarian candidate is wounded and 10 are killed. We are investigating it. And as it turns out, we will then share the information with our allies, the United States and NATO.

At this point, that's the information on the ground that we have.

Q. Mr. Secretary, after Mr. Karzai's decision to release his aide from jail after corruption allegations were made, and after Mr. Karzai's criticism and scrutiny of the anti-corruption task forces, how can you be assured that the president has changed his attitude to fighting corruption?

Secretary Gates. I think that the key here is that the fight against corruption needs to be Afghan-led. This is a sovereign country, its government elected by its people. And we think that organizations such as the major crimes task force and the special investigations unit are important, but they need to be run under Afghan auspices. We are willing to provide whatever help we can, and we believe that the investigative roles of these units need to have credibility in the international community.

President Karzai and I discussed that, and I believe I can speak for him in saying that we agreed on those principles.

President Karzai. I'd like to add to Secretary Gates's remarks on the—these task force(s). When I established these task forces, some of them some years ago, the rest recently, my belief was that they were acting within Afghan laws and within the proper regulations and concerns of human rights.

On the case of Mr. Salehi, on which, by the way, the Afghan government instructed an investigation after we received news from the attorney general that the national security adviser allowed the attorney general's office to investigate the matter and to question the gentleman concerned.

So was this—this permission was given to go ahead with the investigation. The next morning, I learned from the national security adviser, and the deputy national security adviser, in the afternoon, that rather than having him investigated and questioned, a force of about 30 gunmen barged on his house at night, surrounded the locality, frightened the community living around there, the neighbors, and trying to forcefully take him out of his house in a manner exactly reminiscent of the days of the Soviet prisons in Afghanistan.

Those days, military, armed people would go to people's homes, take them away in the name of the state on charges—various charges and would take them to unknown locations and then investigate them in some form of—(inaudible)—and imprisoned them, or some of them even disappeared.

When I learned the manner of the arrest, I was extremely concerned and very angered, because the last thing I want for Afghanistan, for us, is to be an abusive state structure of the rights of our people or to look as if we are here in a bandit's manner rather than a lawful state manner.

As for his release, I intervened to have him released because the arrest was illegally done, wrongfully done, and that—and according to our laws nullifies the whole—the whole procedure of investigation.

And when we looked deeper into the case when he—when he was released and when he wrote his complaint later to the national security adviser detailing the manner of his arrest, detailing the way he was treated and detaining—detailing that the detention place and the investigative procedures were run by foreign elements and were not in accordance to the Afghan laws and that there were serious concerns of human rights abuses where people were chained, leg(s) and arms, where people were chained around their bodies, this frightened me, it being a police state of the most abusive manner.

So I ordered an investigation into the functioning of these two bodies, and found out that they were not based on Afghan laws. Now I have given another instruction that will provide a statutory basis for these bodies, that will work in accordance with Afghan laws, in respect of human rights of the Afghan people and with transparency and with Afghan sovereignty over the complete Afghan sovereignty.

This Secretary Gates and I discussed. And I was very happy to recognize that Secretary Gates fully endorsed the idea of these bodies to be seen as Afghan bodies, but of course credible and internationally accepted and recognized and independent in our joint struggle against corruption.

Secretary Robert Gates delivered these remarks in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

Secretary Gates. Now first of all, I think the most important thing is that I come away from my visits down here this morning encouraged. The partnering that is going on, the understanding of what the strategy is on the part of company-grade officers through the most senior officers, their conviction that they're making a difference, their conviction that they are, in fact, making progress, hearing their experiences and seeing more locals being willing to work with them and cooperate with them I think all points in a positive direction.

The reality is, just like the two units that I visited today, which have taken losses, there will be more. And they all acknowledge that this is a hard fight and that they face a resilient enemy. But I think you heard yourselves, in the confident terms that the captain was talking about, that they know what they're doing here, they know what they're supposed to do; they understand the importance of partnering; they understand the importance of getting the Afghans in the lead as quickly as possible and being sensitive to the local culture.

I think that in terms of our understanding of what we need to do, we're a long way ahead of where we were a year or two or three ago. Again, everybody knows this is far from a done deal. There is a lot of hard fighting to go, but the confidence of these young men and women that they can be successful in turn gives me confidence.

Q. Sir, how much will the outcome of this war in Afghanistan depend on the success you have in Kandahar? How crucial is it?

Secretary Gates. Well, I think Kandahar, as the traditional core area for the Taliban, is clearly important. I think that there is a sense that both Helmand and Kandahar are important, but then the east is important, too. RC East is important. But I think that the commanders would tell you that—that the hardest fight is likely to be here in the south. It has been in the past, and probably will continue to be. And by inference, it seems to me that that says the Taliban considers this very important; and therefore, it's important to us.

Q. How will you measure success, sort of between now and the time of that assessment? What would you like to have happen—

Secretary Gates. Well, one of the things—I mean, this is one of the things that we've been asking of—in the assignment basically given to General Petraeus and the Afghans and General Rodriguez and so on, is, okay, what are the benchmarks, what are the criteria by which we will judge we are making progress?

Some of those are fairly evident. Others they're still developing. One that obviously is important is, is the ANA meeting its goals in terms of recruitment and retention? How about the quality of the ANA as well as the quantity? The same thing with the Afghan National Police.

So those are some—two of the measures that are obviously important. But they are in the process of developing the criteria or the—the criteria by which we will be able to assess whether or not we're making progress.

Q. Can you tell us when—the foreign forces will leave Afghanistan—(off mike)—that we will not leave Afghanistan as soon or in July 2011. So what do you think?

Secretary Gates. Well, you know, as I mentioned last night, President Karzai has set the goal for the Afghan government of having the security responsibility for the entire country transferred to the Afghan government by 2014. I think that we will have some presence here for quite some period of time, but we will begin a very—we will begin drawing down in July. But as I said last night, that will be based on—the pace and the numbers that we draw down will depend on the conditions on the ground.

But it is in our interest, it is in the Afghans’ interest to be able to transition security responsibility as soon as the Afghans are able to take it on.

And there are places in the country where we probably could do that now. But we will be looking at this, and it'll be district by district. But we see a—an inexorable process over the next two or three years in which we will be able to shift our primary role in helping Afghanistan from a military one to training and assistance and development.

Q. What do your commanders tell you that dissuades you or should dissuade us of the view that in essence what's happening here is, you push the insurgents from one district to another and they just—it's sort of like Whack-A-Mole, you know. What do they tell you that convinces otherwise?

Secretary Gates. Well, that's one of the problems with a pure counterterrorism strategy, is that that really is Whack-A-Mole. And the virtue of the approach that we're taking and of the strategy that the president approved was that his approach was, we're not going to clear and attempt to hold areas that we can't—that we don't think we can transfer to the Afghans.

So the endgame here is that you reduce steadily the area in which the Taliban can operate, first because of the international and Afghan effort together and then ultimately because the Afghans themselves have the capacity, from local police to the national police to the ANCOPs and so on, the border police; that the ability of the Taliban to move around and to basically move from place to place has been severely limited.

Q. Mr. Secretary, is it still your view that the time is not right for the highest-level reconciliation because the momentum of the military struggle hasn't occurred first?

Secretary Gates. My personal opinion is that for high-level reconciliation it probably is still premature.

Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Certain Terrorist Attacks

President Obama. Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency previously declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2010. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency that was declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat. This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered this statement at the United Nations in New York City, NY

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Secretary General, and I want to thank you and Foreign Minister Qureshi for convening this meeting, and I especially want to acknowledge and thank General Nadeem, who gave us an excellent overview.

There is clearly a great deal of work still ahead of the international community. The United States has provided approximately $345 million in governmental assistance, which is about double of where we were when we gathered here one month ago. Details will be provided by USAID Administrator Shah. And this money has gone to relief and early recovery efforts, along with in-kind contributions and the very important rescue work that our American military has done in rescuing 15,000 people and providing 7 million pounds of relief supplies.

We've also been encouraged by the response from the private sector, particularly from concerned individuals who have contributed to the Pakistan Relief Fund, which I launched here a month ago. And we are taking that money, approximately $2 million that has been matched by Proctor & Gamble, to spend it on water purification kits in coordination with General Nadeem and the Disaster Management Authority.

The widespread destruction is going to require so much more from each of us, and the upcoming meetings of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan in Brussels in October and the Pakistan Development Forum in Islamabad in November will help to further refine what it is we are committing and make sure that we deliver on those commitments. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank will make a vital contribution to that effort with the Damage and Needs Assessment, which they are preparing in partnership with the Government of Pakistan.

As we take these steps, we will follow Pakistan's lead. We look to the Pakistani Government to help shape a strategy that reflects the needs of the Pakistani people. And we are encouraged by the efforts that Pakistan itself is making to institute the economic and tax reforms that will help pave the way towards self-sufficiency. The international community will support Pakistan's efforts, yet we know it has to be a partnership. And the Government of Pakistan is working to raise domestic revenues and to implement new energy policies which we strongly support, along with establishing a structure to bring transparency, oversight, and accountability to the reconstruction.

The floods that have devastated Pakistan have taken weeks and have caused so much terrible damage, but the recovery will take much longer than that. And as the waters recede, the people of Pakistan must know that they will not be alone. They can count on my country and on the international community to stand with them, but we must better coordinate our efforts, we must be very mindful of what Pakistan tells us its needs are, we must make sure we are well organized in delivering the aid that we are gathering here today and in days and weeks ahead.

But I think that the quick action that you, Mr. Secretary General, along with Pakistan and so many of us here have taken, will give us a fighting chance to give the people of Pakistan what they deserve to have. Thank you.