Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered this Joint Statement with High Representative Lady Catherine Ashton in Brussels, Belgium

High Representative Ashton. Hi, everyone. May I first of all welcome Secretary of State Clinton, Hillary, to Brussels. As some of you will know, we've met pretty regularly in the last few weeks between the UN and my visit to Washington, but it's a great pleasure to have you here. And another opportunity really to bring ourselves up to date with all of the issues which we share and which we've worked on together, and where actually the collaboration between the European Union and the United States is critical, essential to our shared objectives, values, and goals, but also to our commitment to tackling some of the bigger issues that we face.

And one of those key areas in which we're working together is Pakistan. First of all providing the immediate post-flood relief following what were unprecedented floods devastating large parts of the country, and then developing a longer-term strategy to help Pakistan's reconstruction and, of course, its economic development, and bolstering the political support to improve the institutions and the capacity building in Pakistan, and to help those institutions to combat extremism.

I am pleased that we were able to announce at the last European Council agreed an ambitious package of support, including important trade measures, and we're working hard now to implement this comprehensive agenda. A safe, secure, stable Pakistan is manifestly in the interests of the European Union, the United States, and the international community as a whole. And that will be my key message when I host the Friends of Democratic Pakistan conference tomorrow here in Brussels, an important meeting where the main international actors come together to discuss Pakistan's short and its long-term needs, to set out what we can all do to support this important country, and to agree on what the democratic Government of Pakistan, for its part, can do in terms of the necessary political and economic reforms.

And I know in that meeting and beyond, I can count on the support and the collaboration of Secretary of State Clinton and, of course, the U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke in this regard. Secretary Clinton.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you so much, Cathy. I am delighted to join High Representative Ashton here today. As she said, we have been consulting closely and regularly on a full range of issues that are of concern to both the European Union and the United States, and I am very pleased that tomorrow she and Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi will host a meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan. It's a group of 26 nations and institutions united behind Pakistan's progress, and they will assess the results of the work that this group has accomplished since last year's summit that was co-chaired by President Obama in New York.

And they will also help the international community prepare for the Pakistan Development Forum which will take place next month in Islamabad and provide a roadmap for long-term reconstruction. I regret I will not be at the meeting tomorrow; I have to return to Washington, but Ambassador Holbrooke is here to lead our delegation.

This will reinforce the importance of a global response to the crisis in Pakistan. Since the floods began, many countries have come forward with significant financial and in-kind support for the relief effort. Now, as Pakistan shifts from relief to recovery and reconstruction, more help will be needed. And it is a great pleasure to be working with Cathy and the European Union. I want to acknowledge the great effort that the European Commission and its member states have made in responding to this global crisis. I think all told, they have contributed nearly $450 million toward relief and recovery efforts. And furthermore, last month they announced the decision to extend enhanced market access to Pakistan to give Pakistani businesses a much-needed boost at this critical time.

The United States has similarly been very engaged. To date, we have provided $388 million in financial support and an additional 75 million in logistical and in-kind support. Up to 30 U.S. helicopters evacuated nearly 23,000 people and delivered more than 16 million pounds of relief supplies.

We did this first and foremost because responding to humanitarian disasters is a core value of my country, and we believe strongly that in partnership with our European friends we can contribute greatly to not just the immediate relief but the reconstruction, as we did with the earthquake in 2005 in Pakistan, with the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and as we are working together in Haiti.

We are also helping because Pakistan is our partner. We are deeply involved in an ongoing Strategic Dialogue, and next week I will host the third high-level meeting of the Strategic Dialogue in Washington and review the work that 13 working groups of the United States and Pakistani governments are engaged in.

We also believe that stability in Pakistan is essential to our shared fight against terrorism and to protect the security of the people of our country and friends and allies like those in Europe. Now, of course, the international community can only do so much. Pakistan itself must take immediate and substantial action to mobilize its own resources, and in particular to reform its economy.

The most important step that Pakistan can take is to pass meaningful reforms that will expand its tax base. The government must require that the economically affluent and elite in Pakistan support the government and people of Pakistan. We have been very clear on that, and I am pleased that the government is responding. I know how difficult this is, but it is absolutely unacceptable for those with means in Pakistan not to be doing their fair share to help their own people while the taxpayers of Europe, the United States, and other contributing countries are all chipping in to do our part. The government must also take steps to alleviate the crippling power shortages that stifle economic growth while making life difficult for the Pakistani people.

Now, the work ahead is significant. Later today, Pakistan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank will provide their assessment for reconstruction. It will be a daunting request. They will need to rebuild and build thousands of schools and health clinics, restore thousands of kilometers of roads, erect dozens of bridges, restore the irrigation system. And as they do so, they can count on our support. They must take the lead and we will be there by their side.

So I look forward to hearing about the results of tomorrow's meeting and to working with the European Union, its member states, and other nations worldwide to support the future of a democratic, stable Pakistan. And again, I thank Cathy for her leadership. Thank you.

High Representative Ashton. Thank you, everyone.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you, all.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks in an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts in Brussels, Belgium

Q. There are reports that Taliban leaders will be allowed for peace talks into Afghanistan, which will be a hot topic, of course, in the meetings here. How can the American Government allow that to happen, the Taliban to be possibly a part of the Afghan Government again?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Robin, for more than a year, we've had a very clear position that we were willing to support what's called reintegration—namely, people on the battlefield coming off and going back into their society—and reconciliation, which is a much more political process to work out terms of peace with people who had led the Taliban, but only on very clear conditions. They had to renounce violence and lay down their arms, they had to renounce al-Qaida, and they had to be willing to abide by the laws and constitution of the nation of Afghanistan.

So we've been consistent. I first laid out those principles more than a year ago. I'm not sure exactly how that will be implemented, because I'm not sure how many of the leaders will agree to those conditions. I am increasingly convinced that many of the lower-level Taliban, young men who frankly went to fight for the Taliban because they got paid more than they could make anywhere else, I believe that they are, in increasing numbers, laying down their arms and coming back into society.

But in a complex conflict situation like the one we see in Afghanistan, you look for openings to see whether the enemy is willing to lay down arms, rejoin society. In every conflict I've ever known of or worked in, that has to be the case. It's very early in the process. And our military troops, the NATO-ISAF troops, our many allied nations, every single day are going out, hunting down and killing Taliban who are killing Afghans and killing our soldiers. So this is at the real beginning of what process might unfold.

Q. Yeah, because I sense that you're very cautious about this—

Secretary Clinton. Mm-hmm.

Q.—that you're going to reserve judgment, but you can understand where the American people, knowing what they do know about the Taliban, and to allow them to again be part of that government, is something that some people find highly objectionable.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I'm also very cautious about it, as you could tell when I was answering your question. But if you look at conflicts around the world, you don't make peace with your friends. There has to be either a total defeat and surrender on the battlefield, which is increasingly less common—it's not World War II where there can be a surrender on a battleship—because of the kinds of enemies and the way they wage war today. It's what's called asymmetrical. It's terrorism, it's blowing up cars, it's ideological.

And so what we are seeing is a move by the lower-level fighters, many of them, to leave the battlefield, which is all to the good because they are being convinced that this fight is no longer one they want to be part of. Now, I think it's highly unlikely that the leadership of the Taliban that refused to turn over bin Ladin in 2001 will ever reconcile. But stranger things have happened in the history of war, but it can only happen if they willing to abide by the red lines that we and the Afghan Government have established.

Q. These meetings are—will set up the NATO meetings that will take place next month, which President Obama will attend.

Secretary Clinton. Right.

Q. Is it realistic to think that we're approaching that point where some districts will be handed back to the Afghan people, that we have reached that point where they can handle that?

Secretary Clinton. Well, that's what we're going to be talking about at the meeting here in Brussels. Both Secretary Gates and I will be attending this meeting. It's a joint meeting of defense and foreign ministers to review the plans that have been put forth to determine exactly if and how such a transition can occur.

In my conversations with General Petraeus and others of our military leaders, they do believe that there will be places in Afghanistan that can be transitioned over to Afghan control. The Afghan security forces have made really significant progress. They're not where they need to be yet, and they know that. But in certain areas like Kabul, where they are taking a much greater role in defending the capital city, and some of the other provinces where they have good relations with the local leaders, I think that there can be transitions that do start to occur.

But I think our military and our civilian leadership are very cautious about that. They want to make sure that it's done right. But we do want to put the responsibility on the Afghans themselves to begin showing that they will stand and fight and defend their country against the threat of the Taliban.

Q. Let's talk about the Middle East. Of course, your husband's administration spent a lot of time and a lot of work with that. We have the so-called one-year plan. But Madam Secretary, we're virtually at a standstill just weeks into that. I mean, how—what is it going to take?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Robin, there's a lot of activity going on. I guess you stay behind the scenes where there is a lot of discussion and contact that is trying to put together a way forward. If this were easy, it would have been solved a long time ago. It's an incredibly complex and emotionally charged situation. And I recognize that, because obviously, for Israel, security is paramount, they have the experience of having left Lebanon and now having Hezbollah and rockets on their border, having left Gaza and now having Hamas and rockets on their border.

So first and foremost, Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu have to believe that any peace deal will lead to greater, not lesser security. The Palestinians, who have long sought the right to have their own state, deserve to have those aspirations satisfied. And they have a lot of concerns about how it will be done and whether it will be viable.

So we start from a very clear commitment that President Obama and I and the United States have made to work with the parties. But I go into this with a lot of prior experience in how difficult this entire situation is. And we're going to just keep working at it every day. It's not something that will have press conferences and headlines. We were pleased to see the parties go into direct talks. They each have certain requirements to continue those direct talks. But I think both of them see an eventual agreement that guarantees security and a statehood for each respectively as very much in their interests.

Q. But it continues to seem so fragile.

Secretary Clinton. It is fragile.

Q. It seems—

Secretary Clinton. Well, it is fragile. You're right. And it's fragile because this is a very complicated situation. And I'm convinced that both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu want to be the leaders that resolve this conflict. But they each have internal and external pressures that are bearing down on them that make it an extremely difficult and sensitive negotiation. But I can assure you and your many millions of viewers that the United States continues to work literally every day to help the parties create the space that they need to have this very serious negotiation.

Q. And compounding that right now, the Iranian President Ahmadinejad—

Secretary Clinton. Right.

Q.—is there in Lebanon for the first time—

Secretary Clinton. Right.

Q.—receiving a hero's welcome, and again, very harsh comments about the U.S. and Western allies.

Secretary Clinton. Well, not only that; about the Palestinians and a lot of the Arab leaders who are united against the kind of rhetoric and actions that Iran is taking, and the threat that Iran poses with its pursuit of nuclear weapons and with its support of terrorism. So when the Iranian president goes to Lebanon, and we know that they are supporting financially and in every other way Hezbollah, which is on the border of Israel and the border of the Palestinian areas, then that is a volatile situation.

And Lebanon itself has constructed this very delicate balance over the years where the Sunni and Shiite Muslim populations and the Christian populations try to accommodate each other so that each can live in peace in this really beautiful, historic land of Lebanon. So this man coming and being so volatile and using language that is inflammatory is just true to form. We saw him do it in New York, we see him do it around the world, and it reflects an attitude in the Iranian Government that unfortunately has caused many in the region to be quite concerned about their intentions and their actions. That's why we worked so hard for the last year to get those sanctions in place. And we have lots of evidence that those sanctions against Iran are working.

Obviously, Iran, on the one hand, says publicly, “Well, we want to return to negotiations with the European leaders and the United States.” And then the other hand, they are defiant and they are incredibly difficult to deal with. It's what we have to cope with every single day as we try to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon, which, in the hands of leadership like we've seen, would be incredibly destabilizing.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Mahmood Qureshi delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. Good morning. Once again, let me welcome our friends from Pakistan and representatives from the United States Government to the Ben Franklin Room here on the 8^th floor of the State Department in Washington, D.C. It is an honor for me to open our third cabinet-level meeting this year of the Strategic Dialogue between the United States and Pakistan.

In March, we came together in this Strategic Dialogue to discuss how to help the Pakistani people in the areas that Pakistani people themselves had identified as their most important concerns. We actually thought we would try something different in the history of our relationship, and that is listening to each other and learning from each other. And In July, we announced a series of signature projects in water and electricity. This week, we are going even further with new agreements to cooperate on projects ranging from building dams and water storage systems to expanding national radio coverage.

In the time since we last met, one event, however, has dominated all of our work together—the horrible floods of this summer, which covered more than one-fifth of the entire country and affected more than 20 million people. The American people were deeply saddened by the loss of life; the destruction of so many homes, farms, and businesses; and the long-term damage to Pakistan's infrastructure and economy.

When I visited Pakistan the first time last year, I met people whose lives had been shattered by the violence in South Waziristan and the Swat Valley. Now many of those same areas have been flooded, and my heart goes out especially to those who have endured such terrible calamities.

I know that there are so many stories of individual challenges, but also so many of resilience. One woman that I had met lives in a village where all the roads and bridges have now been washed away. The people have moved into temporary housing, but the winter is coming. They need concrete homes. And after the snow falls, and the temporary roads are blocked, the village will be cut off and the cement trucks won't be able to get in. Communities throughout Pakistan are having similar problems. So we are accelerating our efforts to help provide cash to people whose houses have been destroyed, so that they can quickly rebuild.

And this morning, I want to send a special message to the people of Pakistan: We have stood with you, and we will keep standing with you to help you not just cope with the aftermath of the floods, but to get back on the path to prosperity.

The United States was very proud working with the Pakistani Government and military to help with the rescue operations and to help pick up thousands and thousands of stranded Pakistanis and to deliver millions of pounds of refugee supplies, as well as $390 million in relief and recovery aid. But we know there is so much more work to be done. And we know that in some places, aid has yet to arrive and millions of people are still homeless. But we are working closely with the Government of Pakistan and our international partners, and we will continue to do all we can to help you.

And I believe that the need to look beyond the immediate to the future is a very important part of this help, because we have to begin to figure out how to help you rebuild the infrastructure and, once again, get commerce going, get the agricultural community replanted and building toward a better harvest.

Since our last Strategic Dialogue meeting in July in Islamabad, each of the 13 working groups has now finalized an action plan, a blueprint for cooperation between our two countries. We now have a plan to immunize against disease 90 percent of Pakistani children. We have a plan to improve the reliability of electricity supply to the Pakistani people. And yesterday, we began distributing wheat and vegetable seed as part of a broader plan to help half a million farming families get back on their feet.

These plans are already being put into action. For example, the working group on energy devised a plan to shore up the country's existing energy infrastructure and develop new sources of power. Since we last met, we have ordered the equipment for four power plants. And we will soon complete a public-private partnership that will build a 150-megawatt wind farm in Sindh Province to tap the enormous potential of the winds that blow down the Pakistani coast. And as these projects come on line, we will look to the Pakistani Government to implement systematic reform of their energy sector.

Working groups have also been involved in collaborating on new scientific projects, in fact, 27 new projects, including research on deadly diseases like hepatitis and tuberculosis with joint funding from both governments. And tomorrow, six water experts from Pakistani provinces will visit New Orleans to study the flood relief and reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina. We hope that Pakistan can benefit from the painful lessons that we have learned, and the efforts we have made to rebuild a great city.

Finally, we are also cooperating on military matters. And I want to say publicly what many of us have said privately: The United States has no stronger partner when it comes to counterterrorism efforts against the extremists who threaten us both than Pakistan. We recognize and appreciate the sacrifice and service that the men and women, particularly the soldiers of the military in Pakistan, have made in order to restore order and go after those who threaten the very institutions of the state of Pakistan.

The military working group has had productive discussions this week about our work together to combat terrorism and eliminate violent extremism and the organizations that promote it that are operating in Pakistan. These groups threaten the security, first and foremost, of the people of Pakistan, of neighbors of the United States and indeed of the world.

In keeping with our enduring commitment to help Pakistan plan for its defense needs, I am pleased to announce our Multi-Year Security Assistance Commitment to Pakistan. We will request $2 billion in foreign military assistance from Congress for 2012 through 2016. This will complement the $7.5 billion in civilian projects that has already been approved in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation. Later this morning, Secretary Gates will update you on other aspects of our bilateral military discussions.

So, this is a full and comprehensive agenda. And in this dialogue, we are very proud to be your partner. And we will continue to support you as you take the tough decisions necessary to create progress and prosperity for the people of Pakistan. Now, reforming Pakistan's tax system is one area in which tough decisions will have to be made, because it will serve a broad, double purpose. A broader tax base will mean more funding for roads, bridges, power plants, and airports, all essential elements of a growing economy. And it will demonstrate to the international community that all segments of Pakistani society are willing to do their own part to rebuild their own country. So we are tackling some of the toughest problems. Nothing is being swept under the rug. And I have to say I am so impressed by the quality of our engagement from both the government and the people of Pakistan.

As we move ahead, let us be inspired by the people whose lives we have a chance to touch. The little boy we recently heard about who goes back every day to play in the pile of bricks that used to be his home—his parents will soon be able to rebuild. The farmer whose fields were flooded will soon have the seed and fertilizer to start again, the babies who will grow up healthy, the girls who will go on to get an education, and all of the people who will see that they can be part of a new future for Pakistan.

So I want now to invite my colleague and friend, Minister Qureshi, who has co-chaired this dialogue with me, to begin by making his own comments. Minister Qureshi.

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Secretary Clinton, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Madam Secretary, for your gracious remarks. I'm delighted to be in Washington again. We're grateful for the warm welcome and the gracious hospitality accorded to us since our arrival here. My delegation includes several colleagues from the civil and military institutions in Pakistan who are making an enormous contribution to this process, and I thank them for their efforts. I also express our appreciation for the rich contributions of so many senior members of the U.S. delegation who have been associated with this process from the outset.

Madam Secretary, it is the third time that we are meeting for the Strategic Dialogue within a year. This in itself is a significant achievement. But essentially, it is a reflection of the importance that both our nations attach to this vital relationship, so critical for peace and stability in the region and beyond. It is also a reflection of the broad range of areas in which we want and need to work together to broaden and deepen our multifaceted cooperation and to advance our shared goal of building a strategic partnership.

I must acknowledge, Madam Secretary, with appreciation and gratitude your personal support for this shared endeavor. Your personal reach-out to the people of Pakistan has left a deep imprint on the hearts and minds of our people. Abiding goodwill and friendship among our people is indeed a critical constant of the success of our common efforts.

Madam Secretary, we are meeting today in the backdrop of the devastating floods in Pakistan. This has been a natural calamity of unprecedented proportions. Few weeks and months, ravaging flood-waters ravaged our land and displaced tens of millions of our people. The floods did not just claim precious lives and cause damage to homes, livelihoods, and infrastructure. The floods stole the dreams of millions of Pakistanis and shattered their hopes for a better future. The floods also decelerated the growth of our national economy and set back our poverty alleviation efforts and reversed years of development gains.

Madam Secretary, the flood disaster tested the mettle of Pakistani nation once again, and our people have proved their resilience yet again. The whole Pakistani nation was mobilized with the government, the armed forces, civil society, media, and private citizens actively participating in the country-wide national effort for rescue and relief. But we could not have done what we have been able to do without the support and solidarity of our friends abroad.

Madam Secretary, we truly appreciate the international community's helpful efforts which were spearheaded by the United States. I would remiss, Madam Secretary, if I did not acknowledge, on behalf of the people and Government of Pakistan your personal leadership and contribution to the efforts to keep a global spotlight on this disaster and to mobilize international support and assistance. I take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude for your role.

I also express our sincere thanks to the American people whose compassion in Pakistan's time of need has been deeply touching. We vividly remember the 2005 earthquake when American Chinooks were called the angels of mercy as they helped save thousands of lives. Such angels of mercy reappeared on the horizons to evacuate tens of thousands of people to safe locations and to deliver relief supplies to many more. This is a testament to the innate goodness of the American people and their commitment to humanitarian values.

Madam Secretary, the waters are now receding and we have initiated the early recovery phase, but the long and hard road to rehabilitation and reconstruction lies ahead. The challenges are immense. We must help the millions of affected people to rebuild their homes, businesses, and communities. Above all, we must help them renew their hopes and restart their lives. It will be tough, we know, but we also know that we will not be alone in this undertaking.

Madam Secretary, Pakistan and the United States have been allies and friends before. We have a history of cooperation in meeting some of the great challenges of the post Second World War period. However, the kind of engagement we have had for the last few years has never been witnessed before. This is the first time that the relationship is founded on shared ideals of democracy, mutual respect, and trust.

This is also the first time that on the Pakistani side the relationship is driven by a democratically elected government, and this is the first time that the two sides are making a deliberate effort to place the citizens of Pakistan as the main beneficiaries of this relationship.

I know that a relationship built on such foundations is bound to endure. Madam Secretary, just look at the range of issues on which we are working in the Strategic Dialogue: 13 areas in all, each is a world in itself. We have working groups on each of these areas. They have had at least two extensive sessions on identifying priorities and areas of cooperation. Working documents have been exchanged. I believe that this session of the Strategic Dialogue marks the consolidation of our partnership. This is an earnest exercise to create a better understanding of each other's perspectives.

This is necessary to bring about the policy alignments and take pragmatic steps for a quiet cooperation and coordination at the operational level. We have to move toward timeliness and benchmarks to measure progress and lend a result-oriented approach to the entire process. Ten of the 13 working groups met in the last two days. The reports I have received of their deliberations are encouraging. Tangibles should be coming out of these deliberations soon.

There is much to celebrate in the Pakistan-U.S. friendship. It bodes well for both countries. But let us not forget that we are once again engaged as partners in a momentous challenge, a momentous struggle. I would call it the defining struggle of our times. I am, of course, referring to our joint fight against terrorism. We are fighting an enemy that offers no quarter, obeys no law, and holds nothing sacred. We have both lost valuable lives. In case of Pakistan, nearly 30,000 civilians have lost their lives, and the ordinary Pakistani citizens brave a daily fare of suicide bombings as they go about their lives. Nearly 7,000 of our valiant law enforcement officials have perished in this fight, more than the combined loss of lives of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Nonetheless, it unfortunately seems easy to dismiss Pakistan's contributions and sacrifices. There are still tongue-in-cheek comments even in this capital about Pakistan's heart not really being in this fight. We do not know what greater evidence to offer than the blood of our people. Madam Secretary, we are determined to win this fight.

The Pakistan our adversary wants will not be a Pakistan that the vast majority of citizens want to live in. We have no doubts about who are enemy is and what we must do to defeat it. I wish to show you that Pakistan will not allow any space to terrorists on its territory. Violence against innocent people is unacceptable. It cannot be justified on any ground. As such, there can be no distinction between good and bad terrorists. Pakistan and the United States share the goal of defeating terrorism. This requires close contacts and constant coordination at the policy and at the operational levels. Policy alignment and better communication and coordination are key to our mutual success in the fight against terror.

Pakistan and the U.S. need to cooperate more closely in bringing stability and peace in Afghanistan. We also hope that our consultation and cooperation on issues of regional peace, security, and stability will continue to make a salutary impact on the overall environment.

Madam Secretary, might I also avail myself of this opportunity to underscore the importance that we attach to your support for Pakistan economic recovery and sustained development. The elected government continues to pursue a macroeconomic stabilization program that has been chalked out in consultation with international financial institutions. We are in the process of reordering our economic priorities to meet the flood contingency. National resources are being mobilized for the massive reconstruction effort. We are also mindful of the need for a cost-effective program delivery. Accountability, transparency, and efficient utilization of resources are very much an important part of our government's agenda, and we have developed effective mechanisms for these goals.

When we launched our dialogue earlier this year, we were cognizant of the challenges and the opportunities that lay before us. Among other things, we recognized that there would be skepticism, smear and even setbacks. We knew that as friends and allies, we would have, at times, differences of opinion, indeed honest disagreements, but we also knew that we have the requisite political will and robust engagement to help us resolve such momentary challenges. Today, more then ever before, we remain convinced that a comprehensive, long-term, and enduring partnership is in the strategic interest of both our countries. We remain clear that such a partnership rests on the principles of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual benefit. We have stated it before and I reiterated again Pakistan's sovereignty is and will remain non-negotiable. I have no doubt, Madam Secretary, that we can surmount any momentary challenge with clarity and sensitivity about our respective commitments, concerns and core interests.

Some recent developments have prompted certain quarters to speculate on the strength and resilience of our tested relationship. Prophets of doom are back in business painting doomsday scenarios about our alliance. They are dead wrong. I also have no doubt that we will yet again prove the naysayers are wrong with the strength of our resolve, the depth of our engagement, and the endurance of our alliance.

Madam Secretary, Pakistan and the United States have a shared interest in a peaceful and stable South Asia. Unfortunately, the prospect is threatened again by the recent events in Kashmir. People of conscience have protested the use of force against the defenseless people of Kashmir, in particular targeting of the Kashmiri youth, which has claimed over hundred lives in the past three months. But the Kashmiri mothers are baffled at the deafening silence of the world leadership.

History has proved that the force of arms cannot suppress the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people. It is in the U.S. strategic interest to work for peace, stability, and resolution of the disputes in South Asia. The starting point in this quest is justice for the Kashmiri people. President Obama has always understood the importance of a Kashmir solution. His coming visit to the region is the time to begin to redeem the pledge that he made earlier.

Madam Secretary, I wish to underline that this dialogue and the Pakistan-U.S. partnership have profound consequences for our two nations and for international peace and security. A heavy responsibility therefore devolves on us to nurture it carefully. I reaffirm our determination that Pakistan will do its upmost to contribute to this worthy cause and to make our partnership a critical factor of peace, stability, and prosperity at the regional and international level.

Madam Secretary, as I conclude, I want to express our appreciation and gratitude to your team for their painstaking efforts to make this round of meetings a success. They've drawn up a most impressive program designed to extract the most benefit out of the process.

I look forward to welcoming you in Islamabad for the next round and hope we will show the same professionalism that your side put on display here.

I thank you, Madam.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Mahmood Qureshi delivered these remarks after their meeting in Washington, DC

Foreign Minister Qureshi. It's all for you.

Secretary Clinton. No, I do this all the time and there's rarely as many people. I was telling the foreign minister he draws a big crowd here.

Well, good afternoon. It has been a great pleasure to be with Minister Qureshi once again. I am happy to extend the hospitality that he and his government so graciously extended to me during my last trip to Pakistan in the summer.

We have just wrapped up three days of intensive discussions in our third U.S.- Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. Each of these sessions has been more productive than the last as we deepen our understanding of each other's needs and discover new opportunities for cooperation. This time, we have final blueprints from each of our 13 working groups. They lay out specific agreements, actions and benchmarks for making tangible improvements in the lives of the Pakistani people. These include projects in water, electricity, women's empowerment, health, agriculture, and most urgently, jumpstarting Pakistan's recovery from the catastrophic floods.

I also wanted to express on a personal note, my deep sorrow and my outrage at the killing of Dr. Mohammad Farooq Khan by Taliban assassins on October 2nd. Dr. Farooq was the Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University in Swat; he was a medical doctor and humanitarian; and a religious leader who spoke out against the evils of suicide bombing. I had the pleasure of his company and the benefits of his insights during my visit to Pakistan a year ago. I would like to extend my profound sympathies to Dr. Farooq's family, his students, and his patients.

Our governments stand together in denouncing this murder, which, unfortunately and tragically, is part of a Taliban campaign of attacks against educators, against doctors, against people who are not on the front lines of any war, but indeed are on the front lines of mercy and compassion and education. And it strikes me as not just an assault on someone like him, but on the future of the youth of Pakistan.

To build the kind of bright future that young Pakistanis deserve, people of courage must stand against these extremists. And our two governments are working closely together with governments around the world, and millions and millions of people who understand the threat that is posed, to eliminate terrorism.

As we conclude this third Strategic Dialogue session in seven months, we can see that our intensive consultations, our frank discussions, our focus on cooperation have already yielded an improvement in our bilateral relationship. Thanks to the hard work of Minister Qureshi and his team of ministers, paired with their U.S. counterparts, we have made strides on a number of projects that Pakistanis have identified as priorities, such as increasing the vaccination rate for children and saving their lives, researching solutions to the arsenic contamination of drinking water, improving the productivity of wheat and cotton farms. We are also ensuring that the advancements of women is an integral part of all the projects that we pursue together, because we know that when we elevate the role of women, it benefits their families and particularly their children, and those benefits expand to communities as well.

I'm also pleased that we've continued our emphasis on helping to improve the business climate. And I'm excited today to announce today a new business development and mentorship program. The 10,000 Women Initiative, run by Goldman Sachs, will partner with the State Department to bring Pakistani women entrepreneurs for intensive training at the Thunderbird School for Global Management in Arizona, where the women will learn business and leadership skills, financial management, strategic planning and operations.

The first group of businesswomen will arrive next spring. And we hope to give them, as well as many other Pakistanis, the support needed to grow their businesses, create more jobs, and invest in their communities.

We continue to work on the high priorities of energy and water. We had excellent presentations and reports today from our working groups on energy and water. We're focused on improving the electricity service, creating more opportunities for water storage, the kind of initiatives that were important before the floods but now are absolutely essential.

So I'm looking forward to working with my counterpart and friend, Minister Qureshi, and with these very dedicated teams of Pakistani and American officials to continue to develop more ways to enhance our cooperation and produce results for the people of Pakistan.

Now, let me turn to the minister.

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Thank you, Madam Secretary. Thank you for the leadership you have provided. Thank you for the understanding and thank you for the friendship that you have extended. Working with you has been indeed a wonderful experience. And I think, ladies and gentlemen, I would not be exaggerating if I said that collectively, we have broken the mold. We have set the ball rolling and it will only gain momentum with the passage of time.

We are determined to transform this relationship and we have collectively put together a unique format of engagement. What you saw today, what happened last night, the day before—visible, invisible—interaction, honest interaction, recognizing the fact that we could have differences—friends do have differences—but knowing the fact that we have to move ahead in our mutual interest. This relationship suits the United States as much as it suits Pakistan. We are both beneficiaries of that. The people of United States have to understand, by investing in Pakistan, United States is a beneficiary. And people of Pakistan have to understand to have United States as an enduring partner, Pakistan gains internationally and regionally.

We have discussed lots of things, lot of things which are part of the dialogue and even beyond the 13 sectors that were discussed. The fact that we've agreed to invite 200 journalists for a training program in the United States because we realized that public diplomacy is so important in democracies, and at times the message doesn't get communicated. Now, who will communicate the message? You have to communicate the message. First of all, we have to understand what message we are giving, but we are giving the right message.

The message is that we are going to transform this relationship into a people-centric relationship. We are making an investment. We are making not a five-year investment; we are making an investment which is a generational investment, and that is what we are talking about. That is why when we are talking about water, we are talking about the improvement of productivity in Pakistan. When we talk about social sectors, we are talking about improvement in the quality of life of Pakistan. When we are talking about women empowerment, we are talking about giving 50 percent of the population of Pakistan a voice which they lacked in the past. That is a difference that this relationship is taking a new turn.

I also have shared with the Secretary of State when I was here in New York for the UNGA, I met Pakistanis, and they had meetings with attorneys, with lawyers, and they shared with me that if there is a natural disaster, there is a provision within the U.S. law of TPS. I had a word with the ambassador; the ambassadors had a word with the attorney. And this could be an opportunity to give many Pakistanis who are contributing to American society, to American economy, a legal status.

She's been kind enough, she's agreed to examine it. I think that will also improve our relations. And we've talked about a number of regional initiatives that we feel, if put into place, can be a game changer.

So thank you. Thank you for being so supportive and understanding.

Q. Every time I meet, you always ask that.

These talks indeed were very successful, but there are two issues that do not seem to have gotten enough attention. One is Pakistan's quest for a civil nuclear deal, the same that you have with India, and the other is this roadmap for Afghanistan, particularly the talks between the Taliban and the Afghan (inaudible) representative. Is there a place for Pakistan on this roadmap? And were these two issues also discussed during these talks?

Secretary Clinton. I can assure you that all issues have been discussed. And it's not just what we talk about here in Washington for two days, but it's what we continue to talk about between meetings, between our experts and our officials. And yes, there was a very long discussion about Afghanistan. Both the United States and Pakistan have very important national security interests with respect to Afghanistan. We are working together and we are consulting very closely on any roadmap forward.

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Can I just add, ma'am? See, what we need to understand is that this is a process and we have begun a process. You cannot expect results in two sittings or three sittings. But the interesting thing is I've often read that the U.S. has been planting seeds in Pakistani minds—I am trying to plant a few seeds in the U.S. mind—for them to look at things in a more innovative way, to try things in a different way. Things we've tried in the past, it hasn't worked. That doesn't mean we give up. We are persistent. And as they say, perseverance commands success, so I am not giving up.

Q. Hi, a question for both first. I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about this security assistance package that Madam Secretary announced today. The United States already gives Pakistan a lot of military aid. How is this package going to make a difference? What sort of concrete actions do you think it will result in on the ground?

And Madam Secretary, can you confirm that the United States is planning to withhold military aid from Pakistani military units that are engaged in human rights abuses?

Secretary Clinton. Well, let me take both of those, Kim. This morning, I announced the Administration's multiyear security assistance commitment to Pakistan. That does include a commitment to request $2 billion in foreign military assistance from our Congress for the years 2012 through 2016. That money for military assistance complements the $7.5 billion commitment in civilian projects that has already been approved by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation. Now, specifically this commitment includes 2 billion in foreign military financing and 29 million in international military education and training.

We also have made a strong commitment to continue the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund Assistance based upon the ground requirements and the year-to-year needs with FY 2012 funding of no less than in recent years. And this commitment underscores our long-term relationship. We know that Pakistan has suffered a lot because of its courageous battle against extremists. I think I heard the figure that in recent times, 30,000 Pakistanis have been killed by the Taliban extremists. Some of those are, of course, military, some of those are police, and many of those are just innocent civilians going about their daily lives.

Pakistan is such a close partner with us in the fight against terrorism and in the counterinsurgency efforts that we know are necessary, and we want to support Pakistan in its fight. And to do that, we want to provide the training and equipment that they have asked for.

Now, all U.S. security assistance must be provided in accordance with U.S. laws and regulations, including what are the called the Leahy vetting requirements. And we will continue to ensure that all assistance provided through the multiyear security assistance commitment that I'm announcing today will also comply with U.S. laws and regulations. We take all allegations of human rights abuses seriously and we discuss them with the Government of Pakistan and we follow the law and we work with our partners in Pakistan to deal with any issues that come to our attention.

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Ma'am, when—we saw this report on human rights, we've dealt with it, and we've dealt with it effectively. Investigation has been ordered by a very senior officer of the Pakistan army. And I can assure you that there'll be zero tolerance against human rights violations. But we have to first foresee how authentic the report is. We have to verify and see what the truth is. And if there is action required, the Government of Pakistan will take action; that's one. And we are aware of the Leahy amendment.

Two, the Secretary has just said that Pakistan today is the most important partner the United States has in counterterrorism. Now that partner has lost 7,000 lives in counterterrorism, and that partner has been saying that we have capacity needs. We have defense needs. And I'm so happy that this Administration has recognized the legitimate defense needs of Pakistan, discussed—and we've had six rounds of talks through the defense working groups and we've reached an understanding that equipment, training, is required. And I'm sure with this equipment and this training and this multiyear program, Pakistan will be able to deliver in a more effective manner. You have seen our delivery in Swat, in Malakand, in many agencies of the tribal belt. And we intend to do our job seriously.

Q. (Inaudible), Madam Secretary (inaudible) television with—

Secretary Clinton. Yes, we've met before.

Q. Good to see you, right. Secretary, a specific question to Strategic Dialogue. The predominant view of the Pakistani delegation has been that the projects being identified, the projects being discussed in the Strategic Dialogue, will have additional funding. But it looks like the view of the American side is that the funding will essentially be diverted from—not only for these projects, but also for the flood disaster, flood destruction—reconstruction. The funding will be directed from the Kerry-Lugar legislation. If that is true, the actual vision and the spirit of the Kerry-Lugar legislation will actually be totally changed. I wonder what is the view of your Administration on that, Madam.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I'm not sure that I agree with the question. Because of course, the projects that we had already announced from Kerry-Lugar-Berman were projects for the entire country. They were projects on electricity and water, agriculture, and the big projects. And many of those projects have been severely affected by the floods. So although the United States gave over $380 million dollars in direct flood assistance in order to assist the people of Pakistan to do what we said we would do, it's both flood relief and it's projects. But at the same time, it may be that something we prioritized last summer is no longer a priority because there's a higher priority because of the needs of the people.

So we are in close consultation with the Government of Pakistan and this money is meant to help the people of Pakistan to really create a positive impact through civilian projects, and the list is going to be, I'm sure, affected by the floods. But the money is going for the same purposes.

Q. Thank you.

Foreign Minister Qureshi. Mr. (inaudible), you see a friend of Pakistan here. But I can assure you there are many friends of Pakistan in the U.S. Congress, and let me name one—a senator called John Kerry. And I had a meeting with him when I was here earlier on in September and we discussed the flood situation impact it had Pakistan's economy. And I think they're cognizant of the fact that the 7.5 package was for a need and now there are compounded problems and we need to have a new look. We understand the difficulties. We understand, but this is a process. This is an ongoing process. It doesn't begin with Kerry-Lugar-Berman. It will not end with Kerry-Lugar-Berman. Kerry-Lugar-Berman says five years, but it also says there could be another five years. And I say, it goes beyond another five years. I'm talking about a generational investment.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you all.

Secretary Robert Gates and Minister Ahmad Zahid delivered these remarks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Secretary Gates. Thank you.

Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be here on my first visit to Malaysia, and certainly my first visit as Secretary of Defense.

I'd like to start by wishing Prime Minister Najib a quick recovery from his illness. I'm sorry that it kept us from meeting in person. We spoke on the phone earlier this afternoon. And Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin and Minister Zahid hosted two very productive sessions today.

As you know, my visit follows closely a trip to Kuala Lumpur by Secretary of State Clinton. Between the two of us and our motorcades, I'm sure we managed to make your traffic even worse. So I apologize for the disruption.

But in all seriousness, our two side-by-side visits send a clear message about the strong state of our bilateral ties and our mutual desire to deepen them further. In the area of defense, the U.S. and Malaysia have a multifaceted relationship that has spanned over 25 years, with many opportunities to enhance it still. To that end, we discussed building on our cooperation on counterterrorism and counter proliferation, and on maritime security.

I also expressed my support for Malaysia's contributions in Afghanistan, where we share a desire to combat extremism, strengthen the rule of law, and promote economic development. Malaysia has a strong record as a leader in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance efforts, and we discussed ways to work together to bolster that capability further.

I also stressed the importance of building stronger mechanisms for military-to-military cooperation, such as increasing the number of combined exercises and enhancing our ability to operate together.

The growth of our defense ties has gone hand-in-hand with the close working relationship I have developed with Minister Zahid. Earlier this year, I welcomed him to the Pentagon for a bilateral meeting, and we both participated last month in the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Hanoi.

Malaysia's important role in that new forum is a testament to its commitment to the principles that I have said before are key to this region's prosperity, including free and open commerce; adherence to the rule of law and international norms; open access by all to the global commons of sea, air, space and now cyberspace; and the principle of resolving conflict without the use of force. It is our shared belief in these principles that have led the U.S. and Malaysia to the strong defense relationship that we have today, and these are the principles that will continue to guide us as we take on new security challenges together with other nations in the region in the years to come.

Thank you.

Q. A question for the Minister and Secretary of Defense Gates. You mentioned about increasing the number of combined exercises between Malaysia and the United States. And in what fields would these be?

Secretary Gates. Well, we've had a number of exercises already. In fact, I think we had something like 15 exercises just this last year. Clearly, one area where we have exercised—and just to pick up on the minister's point, an area where we also would like to work with China—is—in terms of exercises and contact, is in the area of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Every country in the region has—as well as ourselves—has an interest in this capability. And I note the World Food Program center that's going to be built here. So I think Malaysia has a—has a big role to play in this.

So that's one area. Counterterrorism, counter proliferation, piracy, these are all areas where I think there's the opportunity for further exercises.

Minister Zahid. In terms of military training, as far as the actions and programs between the U.S. and Malaysian top military personnel—and the assistance of 1206 program—(inaudible). And we are working together and user of the 1206 program, and we would like to share our experience.

And definitely U.S. will be persevering probably to expand the program, if not to upgrade to the level of state-of-the-art equipment. And I reckon the commitment of U.S. government, especially the Defense Department of the U.S., has shown the new development between U.S. and Malaysia. And even this visit, visit by Secretary Gates, gesture of a message saying very clearly that they regard us truly as observer, participant and friend now too.

Q. Secretary Gates, recently the China is moving the navy inside South China Sea. And my question is, the Chinese people is doing our doing our military best in Hainan Island, and how the USA people—(inaudible)—from the China—from the Hainan Island?

Secretary Gates. I won't get into any specifics, but the points that I made in Hanoi and points that I have been willing to make are in—are along the lines of what I just described this morning.

Every nation has the right to have its own military forces. And what we ask is that people observe international norms of conduct, that they abide by international law, that they provide for the freedom of navigation and maritime security. And within that framework, that's our approach in a variety of places around the world, and that continues to be our approach here as well.

Thank you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Zalmay Rassoul delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. I'm very delighted to welcome Minister Rassoul here to the State Department. I have known and worked with him now for a number of years, and I very much appreciate the constructive and useful relationship that we have developed personally, and more importantly, the strong partnership between our two countries. We're going to talk about many issues and finish preparations for the Lisbon summit, which we will both attend at the end of this week.

Minister.

Foreign Minister Rassoul. Thank you very much. It's a great pleasure to be here and I thank you very much, Madam Secretary, to receive me in a very busy time. Indeed, it's important for our relation to have a discussion before the Lisbon conference, but also other issues. So thank you very much, and I am delighted to be, again, (inaudible) to Washington.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you all very much.

President Barack Obama delivered these remarks in Lisbon, Portugal

President Obama. Good afternoon, everyone. We have just concluded an extremely productive NATO summit, and I want to thank our hosts, the government and the people of Portugal, for their hospitality in this beautiful city of Lisbon. And I thank my fellow leaders for the sense of common purpose that they brought to our work here.

For more than 60 years, NATO has proven itself as the most successful alliance in history. It's defended the independence and freedom of its members. It has nurtured young democracies and welcomed them into Europe that is whole and free. It has acted to end ethnic cleansing beyond our borders. And today we stand united in Afghanistan, so that terrorists who threaten us all have no safe haven and so that the Afghan people can forge a more hopeful future.

At no time during these past six decades was our success guaranteed. Indeed, there have been many times when skeptics have predicted the end of this alliance. But each time NATO has risen to the occasion and adapted to meet the challenges of that time. And now, as we face a new century with very different challenges from the last, we have come together here in Lisbon to take action in four areas that are critical to the future of the alliance.

First, we aligned our approach on the way forward in Afghanistan, particularly on a transition to full Afghan lead that will begin in early 2011 and will conclude in 2014.

It is important for the American people to remember that Afghanistan is not just an American battle. We are joined by a NATO-led coalition made up of 48 nations with over 40,000 troops from allied and partner countries. And we honor the service and sacrifice of every single one.

With the additional resources that we've put in place we're now achieving our objective of breaking the Taliban's momentum and doing the hard work of training Afghan security forces and assisting the Afghan people. And I want to thank our allies who committed additional trainers and mentors to support the vital mission of training Afghan forces. With these commitments I am confident that we can meet our objective.

Here in Lisbon we agreed that early 2011 will mark the beginning of a transition to Afghan responsibility, and we adopted the goal of Afghan forces taking the lead for security across the country by the end of 2014. This is a goal that President Karzai has put forward.

I've made it clear that even as Americans transition and troop reductions will begin in July, we will also forge a long-term partnership with the Afghan people. And today, NATO has done the same. So this leaves no doubt that as Afghans stand up and take the lead they will not be standing alone.

As we look ahead to a new phase in Afghanistan, we also reached agreement in a second area—a new strategic concept for NATO that recognizes the capabilities and partners that the alliance needs to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I want to give special thanks to Secretary General Rasmussen for his outstanding leadership in forging a vision that preserves the enduring strengths of the alliance while adapting it to meet the missions of the future.

As I said yesterday, we have reaffirmed the central premise of NATO—our Article V commitment that an attack on one is an attack on all. And to ensure this commitment has meaning, we agreed to take action in a third area: to modernize our conventional forces and develop the full range of military capabilities that we need to defend our nations.

We'll invest in technologies so that allied forces can deploy and operate together more effectively. We'll deploy new defenses against threats such as cyber attacks. And we will reform alliance command structures to make them more flexible and more efficient. Most important, we agreed to develop a missile defense capability for NATO territory, which is necessary to defend against the growing threat from ballistic missiles.

The new approach to European missile defense that I announced last year—the phased adaptive approach—will be the United States contribution to this effort and a foundation for greater collaboration. After years of talk about how to meet this objective, we now have a clear plan to protect all of our allies in Europe as well as the United States.

When it comes to nuclear weapons, our strategic concept reflects both today's realities as well as our future aspirations. The alliance will work to create the conditions so that we can reduce nuclear weapons and pursue the vision of a world without them. At the same time, we've made it very clear that so long as these weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance, and the United States will maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal to defer—deter adversaries and guarantee the defense of all our allies.

Finally, we agreed to keep forging the partnership beyond NATO that helped make our alliance a pillar of global security. We'll continue to enhance NATO's cooperation with the EU—which I will talk about in my summit later this afternoon with EU leaders. After a two-year break, we are also resuming cooperation between NATO and Russia.

I was very pleased that my friend and partner, President Dmitri Medvedev, joined us today at the NATO-Russia Council Summit. Together we've worked hard to reset the relations between the United States and Russia, which has led to concrete benefits for both our nations. Now we're also resetting the NATO-Russia relationship. We see Russia as a partner, not an adversary. And we agreed to deepen our cooperation in several critical areas: on Afghanistan, counter-narcotics, and a range of 21st-century security challenges. And perhaps most significantly, we agreed to cooperate on missile defense, which turns a source of past tension into a source of potential cooperation against a shared threat.

So overall, this has been an extremely productive two days. We came to Lisbon with a clear task, and that was to revitalize our alliance to meet the challenges of our time. That's what we've done here.

Of course, it's work that cannot end here. And so I'm pleased to announce that the United States will host the next NATO summit in 2012—a summit that will allow us to build on the commitments that we've made here today as we transition to full Afghan lead, build new capabilities, expand our partnerships, and ensure that the most successful alliance in history will continue to advance our security and our prosperity well into the future.

And I said to Prime Minister Socrates that considering he has thrown such a successful summit here in Lisbon, I've been taking notes. You set a very high bar of outstanding hospitality, and so I appreciate everything that the people of Portugal have done, and we will try to reciprocate that hospitality when we host in 2012.

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. I wonder if you could talk to us a bit about your conversation with President Karzai. He has made some complaints recently, part of a long line of complaints. Did he raise those with you and did you address them correctly—directly? Has he stepped back from his call to reduce the military footprint there? Thank you.

President Obama. Well, Karen, I want to put your question in the context of what's taken place this weekend here in Lisbon. President Karzai is the head of a government of a sovereign nation that has gone through 30 years of war, and, understandably, he is eager to reassert full sovereignty, including control of security operations within his country. At the same time, the United States and all of our ISAF allies have every interest in wanting to turn over responsibility—security responsibility—to Afghan forces as soon as is practicable.

So in that sense, our interests align. And the 2014 date that was stated in the document coming out of this summit and was widely agreed to didn't simply come from us; it wasn't an arbitrary date. This is a date that President Karzai identified as a appropriate target for when Afghans could take over full responsibility.

Now, between now and 2014, our constant effort is going to be to train up Afghan security forces so that they can take more and more responsibility. That's what transition is all about. And during that time, President Karzai, in his eagerness to accelerate that transition, is going to be interested in reducing our footprint, finding ways that Afghans can take more responsibility. And those are things that we welcome. We want him to be assertive as possible in moving towards Afghan responsibility. But in that transition there are also going to be a whole series of judgment calls and adjustments that are necessary to make that effective.

So, for example, President Karzai raised concerns about private security contractors and what he perceived as heavy-handedness on the part of these contractors in Afghanistan. I think that concern is perfectly appropriate. On the other hand, what I've told him in the past and I repeated in our meeting today is I can't send U.S. aid workers or civilians into areas where I can't guarantee their safety. So, theoretically, it would be nice if I could just send them in and they could help build a road or construct a school or engage in an irrigation project without a full battalion around them, but I have to think practically. And so we're going to have to balance the issues of being sensitive to our footprint with the need to get certain objectives done.

Now, I've instituted ongoing conversations with President Karzai. I talk to him by videoconference at least once every six weeks or so. Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates are in constant communications with him. General Petraeus, Karl Eikenberry are in constant communications with him.

And what I've communicated to President Karzai is two things: Number one, we have to make sure that we understand our objectives are aligned, the endpoint that we want to reach is the same. And number two, we have to be in good enough communications with each other that when issues come up that raise sensitivities about Afghan sovereignty, that may alienate Afghan populations, that we should be sensitive to them and we will be listening to him.

At the same time, he's got to be sensitive to our concerns about the security of our personnel; about making sure that taxpayer dollars from the United States or other ISAF countries or other partners aren't being wasted as a consequence of corruption; that sacrifices that are being made by our military to clear out areas are reinforced by good governance practices on the part of the Afghans so that we're not just clearing an area but unable to hold it because people have no confidence in, for example, the administration of justice in that area through Afghan government structures.

So that's going to be a constant conversation. I don't think it's going to go away immediately, but what we're trying to do is make sure that our goals are aligned, and then work through these problems in a systematic way.

I will say that for all the noise that has existed in the press, the fact of the matter is over the last year we've made progress. And I expect that we're going to make more progress next year and it will not be without occasional controversies and occasional differences.

Adam Entous, Wall Street Journal. Adam is back there.

Q. To follow up on the last question, Mr. Karzai is the President of the country. If he makes a request, why isn't that good enough and why wouldn't there be a change of course? And on—just to—on—we're getting close to December, excuse me. Do you think the strategy, the search strategy, is working? And do you think, at this point, that you'll be able to make a substantial troop reduction in July?

President Obama. Let me take the second question first. When I went through a rigorous and sometimes painful review process, as you remember, last December, our goal was to make sure that we had blunted the Taliban—the whole point of ramping up our troop presence was not because we wanted to maintain a long-term, large presence in Afghanistan, but it was to immediately blunt the momentum that we were seeing from the Taliban—and to create the space for the training of effective Afghan security forces.

And on both those fronts I think the objective assessment is, is that we have made progress. You have fewer areas of Afghanistan under Taliban control. You have the Taliban on the defensive in a number of areas that were their strongholds. We have met or exceeded our targets in terms of recruitment of Afghan security forces. And our assessments are that the performance of Afghan security forces has improved significantly.

So, thanks to the hard work of people like Dave Petraeus and Mark Sidwell and others, and obviously the incredible sacrifices of the troops on the ground from the ISAF forces, we are in a better place now than we were a year ago.

As a consequence, I'm confident that we are going to be able to execute our transition starting in July of next year. And General Petraeus is, in fact, in the process now of planning and mapping out where are those areas where we feel there's enough security that we can begin thinning out our troops in those areas, where are areas that need further reinforcements as certain areas get thinned out—so that we can continually consolidate the security gains and then backfill it with the effective civilians improvements that are going to be needed.

So we have made progress. The key is to make sure that we don't stand still but we keep accelerating that progress, that we build on it. And the contributions of our coalition forces around trainers is particularly important. And I've already said this, but when countries like Canada—which had originally said they were going to pull out at the end of next year—say, we are willing to supplement the training forces, a very difficult political decision; when countries like Italy are willing to come in and step up on the trainers—that's a testament to the confidence they have in General Petraeus's plans, and the fact that we are much more unified and clear about how we're going to achieve our ultimate end state in Afghanistan.

Now, to go to the point about President Karzai, we are there are their invitation. You are absolutely correct. Afghanistan is a sovereign nation. President Karzai believes that it is very important for us to help him with security and development issues over not just the next couple of years but over the long term. That partnership is obviously a two-way street. So my message to President Karzai is: We have to be sensitive to his concerns and the concerns of the Afghan people. We can't simply tell them what's good for them. We have to listen and learn and be mindful of the fact that Afghans ultimately make decisions about how they want to structure their governance, how they want to structure their justice system, how they want to approach economic development.

On the other hand, if we're putting in big resources, if we're ponying up billions of dollars, if the expectation is that our troops are going to be there to help secure the countryside and ensure that President Karzai can continue to build and develop his country, then he's got to also pay attention to our concerns as well.

And I don't think that's unreasonable, and I don't think he thinks that's unreasonable. But there is going to have to be a constant conversation to make sure that we're moving in the right direction.

And sometimes that conversation is very blunt. There are going to be some strong disagreements. And sometimes there are real tensions—for example, the issue of civilian casualties. That's an entirely legitimate issue on the part of President Karzai. He's the President of a country and you've got foreign forces who, in the heat of battle, despite everything we do to avoid it, may occasionally cause civilian casualties, and that is understandably upsetting. I don't fault President Karzai for raising those issues.

On the other hand, he's got to understand that I've got a bunch of young men and women from small towns and big cities all across America who are in a foreign country being shot at and having to traverse terrain filled with IEDs, and they need to protect themselves. And so if we're setting things up where they're just sitting ducks for the Taliban, that's not an acceptable answer either.

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. NATO's commitment to Afghanistan extends through 2014. What about the U.S.? It's possible, given the circumstances, that there may be a need for troops and combat action after 2014. Is the U.S. committed? If it's your decision, will you keep U.S. troops committed in a combat role if necessary?

President Obama. Well, your last point was “if necessary,” and so let me start there. My first and most important job as President of the United States is to keep the American people safe. So I'll always do what's necessary to keep the American people safe. That's true today; that will be true for as long as I'm President of the United States. And maybe that will be the case in 2014.

What NATO has committed to is that we are going to undergo a transition between 2011 and 2014, and the United States is part of NATO, so we are completely aligned in what we're going to be doing. Our goal is that the Afghans have taken the lead in 2014, and in the same way that we have transitioned in Iraq, we will have successfully transitioned so that we are still providing a training and support function.

There may still be extensive cooperation with the Afghan armed services to consolidate the security environment in that area. But our every intention is that Afghans are in the lead and we're partnering with them the way we partner with countries all around the world to make sure that both our country and their country is safe.

The other thing that I'm pretty confident we will still be doing after 2014 is maintaining a counterterrorism capability until we have confidence that al Qaeda is no longer operative and is no longer a threat to the American homeland and to American allies and personnel around the world. And so it's going to be important for us to continue to have platforms to be able to execute those counterterrorism operations.

That's true in Iraq, as well. And obviously that's even more true when it comes to core al Qaeda. We don't want—after having made these extraordinary efforts by so many countries, we don't have to—we don't want to have to suddenly find ourselves in a situation where they waited us out and they reconsolidated there.

But my goal is to make sure that by 2014 we have transitioned, Afghans are in the lead, and it is a goal to make sure that we are not still engaged in combat operations of the sort that we're involved with now. Certainly our footprint will have been significantly reduced. But beyond that, it's hard to anticipate exactly what is going to be necessary to keep the American people safe as of 2014. I'll make that determination when I get there.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks in an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday in Lisbon, Portugal

Q. Secretary Clinton, welcome back to Fox News Sunday.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you so much, Chris. Good to talk to you.

Q. NATO has now agreed to a goal of 2014 for turning over security responsibility to the Afghans. Does that mean that the U.S. will have combat troops there for the next four years and possibly beyond?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Chris, I think what happened today was a real vote of confidence in the strategy that is being pursued by the NATO ISAF coalition. We are following the lead of President Karzai and the Afghans, who have set 2014 as the year during which security will be transitioned to the Afghans. There was discussion today and an agreement by the NATO and ISAF partners that there will be a continuing effort to train and equip and support the Afghans. But the point of the declaration by the NATO ISAF partners is that the transition to lead Afghan security will occur during 2014.

Q. But that means U.S. combat troops will be there for four more years and, as I understand it, possibly beyond.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I don't know quite what you mean by that because, for example, if you are going to continue in a supportive role, whether it's American troops or one of our other contributing nations, you're not there for the primary duty of security or combat, you're there to support the Afghans. But does that mean you're going to defend yourself? Does that mean you'll come to the aid of one of your Afghan colleagues in trouble? Of course. But that is not the primary goal. The goal is to transition the security to an Afghan lead.

And what we heard at the ISAF meeting was the contributions from contributing nations to increase the number of trainers and mentors so that we could accelerate the training of the Afghan security forces. So all around, this was a great vote of confidence in President Obama's strategy for Afghanistan.

Q. You met with Afghan President Karzai the other day. Last week, he said that the U.S. must reduce its military operations, especially its night raids, which are the very tactics that seem to be working. I know you met with him, as I say, a couple of days ago. Did you get him onboard the new aggressive U.S. battle plan?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Chris, I think I just want to somewhat take issue with your characterization—a new aggressive American battle plan. I think what you will hear from General Petraeus, President Obama, President Karzai, and all of us is that we now have all of the components of the strategy that President Obama directed a year ago. And we believe it's working, and not only do we in the American Government believe it's working; what was particularly reassuring is that the expressions of support that came from the NATO ISAF partner countries also recognized that we are making progress on the ground.

Now, when you are engaged in both trying to kill and capture the enemy and get support from the local population, you have to be always asking yourself, “Is what I'm doing keeping that balance?” General Petraeus understands that probably better than anyone. In my conversation with President Karzai, in the meeting that I just came from that President Obama had with President Karzai, we were very clear in saying we have to continue to do what is working, but we cannot do it to the extent that it turns people against the very strategy that's working.

Q. And did President—

Secretary Clinton. This is a constant evaluation, and I think it shows the level of real dialogue that's going on between us.

Q. And did President Karzai agree to that?

Secretary Clinton. Absolutely. He is expressing legitimate concerns that come to him from the Afghan people. I mean, if you have a night raid and you take out a Taliban leader, he's all for that. If you have a night raid and four or five other people who have nothing to do with the Taliban are collateral damage, that's a problem. Everybody understands that. So what we're trying to do, and I think we are succeeding through a lot of hard work by our military and civilian leadership on the ground, is to constantly try to get that balance right.

Q. We got a verdict this week in the big—let me start again. We got a verdict this week in the first big civilian file of a terror detainee who had been held in a CIA secret prison and then transferred to Guantanamo, Ahmed Ghailani, who was convicted on one count but acquitted on 284 other counts, all the other counts. This was supposed to be the easiest trial to conduct.

So I guess the question is, do you have any choice now expect to hold all of these terror detainees at Gitmo and either give them military trials or just hold them indefinitely?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Chris, I think that the verdict needs to be put into a larger context. The sentence for what he was convicted of is 20 years to life. Now, that is a significant sentence.

Secondly, some of the challenges in the courtroom would be the very same challenges before a military commission about whether or not certain evidence could be used.

Thirdly, we do believe that what are called Article III trials, in other words, in our civilian courts, are appropriate for the vast majority of detainees. There are some for whom it is not appropriate. You will get no argument from this Administration on that point.

But when you look at the success record in civilian courts of convicting, sentencing, detaining in maximum security prisons by the civilian courts, it surpasses what yet has been accomplished in the military commissions. So I'm well aware, as a former senator from New York on 9/11, how important it is to get this right. I want to see these guys behind prison or executed, whatever is appropriate in the individual cases.

Now, we are moving to try to do that in the way that maximizes the outcome that is in the best interest of the security of the American people. So I don't think you can, as a rule, say oh, no more civilian trials or no more military commissions.

President Obama's theory of this is that most should be in Article III courts, some should be confined to military commissions. But as things stand right now, we have actually gotten more convictions, and more people, more terrorists, are serving time in prison right now, because of Article III courts than military commissions.

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

President Karzai. Ladies and gentlemen, varied media members, especially our visiting American friends, I thank you very much for your attendance. And we are honored to have today with us a friend of Afghanistan, and who is here to help us in going towards a better Afghanistan. And we are honored to welcome his excellency Secretary Gates to Kabul.

I don't know if it is his 10th or 11th or 12th visit to Afghanistan. He's been here for the past two nights, and he's been making an assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. And we had constructive discussion on the situation in Afghanistan, and with particular focus on the transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces, on the reconstruction and the rebuilding of Afghanistan. And we believe our discussions have been very successful.

And I once again welcome him to Afghanistan, and we hope for continued cooperation.

Secretary Gates. Thank you, Mr. President, for those kind words. I also would like to thank you for once again hosting me at the palace tonight. President Obama was deeply disappointed that the weather kept him from coming to Kabul and meeting personally with you last week.

Tonight, President Karzai and I had good discussions about progress that Afghan and coalition forces are making, and bringing security to the Afghan people, a discussion that I look forward to continuing this evening over dinner.

A year ago this week, I flew to Kabul to meet with President Karzai and to begin working together to implement a new strategy. We said then that this effort would be challenging, and it has been.

But thanks to 65,000 newly trained Afghan security forces, 30,000 additional U.S. troops and 10,000 more coalition forces, our joint efforts are paying off. The bottom line is that in the last 12 months, we've come a long way. Frankly, progress—the—even just in the last few months has exceeded my expectations. The Taliban control far less territory than they did when I spoke here one year ago, and as a result, more and more Afghan people are able to live without being terrorized and are instead focusing on achieving a better life for themselves and their families.

As you know, I spent yesterday and today getting a ground-level view of our shared efforts across the country. Our troops are cooperating together at an extraordinary pace in areas where we did not operate a year ago, and with Afghan forces increasingly in the lead. In fact, where I visited today in the south, Afghan soldiers make up 60 percent of the fighting forces and are performing admirably.

As we expected and warned, the coalition and Afghan forces are suffering more casualties, but there is no denying that the security climate is improving and that the sacrifices of Afghan and coalition troops are achieving greater safety and security for both our nations.

As the Taliban are weakened, so too are the chances diminished that al-Qaeda could return to Afghanistan and again plan attacks against the United States and others. Still, there is clearly more work to be done. There is much more to do in promoting stronger governance and economic development.

President Karzai and I talked tonight about how we can partner more closely on the ground on the development side, ensuring that international efforts more consistently reflect the needs, desires and priorities of Afghans, and with Afghan involvement in development decisions, decisions that must always take into account and recognize Afghan sovereignty. This would replicate our approach to achieving security gains by increasingly having Afghans in the lead. Ultimately, I am confident we can achieve more gains as we work closely together with President Karzai and his government and our international partners.

As I return to Washington, the United States government will be finishing work on an evaluation of the situation here. I will go back convinced that our strategy is working and that we will be able to achieve the key goals laid out by President Obama last year, further embraced by other NATO heads of state in Lisbon—that is, for Afghan forces to begin taking the security lead, as they have in Kabul and more and more areas in the coming year, and for the Afghan government to take the lead for security responsibility for all of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, a goal first set out by President Karzai.

I want to emphasize that, as President Obama has stated, the commitment of the United States to the people of Afghanistan is resolute and enduring. We are working together to—on a joint vision 2015 that will set the framework for this long-term partnership. We share our partner President Karzai's vision for a strong and secure Afghanistan and believe our joint 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.

Q. Thank you. Yes, President Karzai has been described in a trove of secret diplomatic American cables as erratic, problematic; and by—and described by the American ambassador as not a reliable ally. Are those assessments incorrect? And how embarrassing is this for the United States?

Secretary Gates. Well, I would say that the WikiLeaks and—leak—revelation of all of these documents is extraordinarily embarrassing for the United States. But at the end of the day, nations make—and leaders make decisions based on their interests. And I would say that America's best partners and friends—and I include among them President Karzai—have responded to this, in my view, in an extraordinarily statesmanlike way. And I'm deeply grateful. And frankly, I think the American government will not forget this kind of statesmanlike response.

I think I also could say, with great confidence, President Karzai and I have been meeting together privately now for four years, and I don't think either of us would be embarrassed to have a single thing we have said to each other made public.

So this relationship will go on, because it's in our interests, and we have a shared vision for this country.

Q. Thank you. From Wakh Agency. My question is to Secretary Gates. Now that the U.S. and the international community has recognized that security in Afghanistan means eliminating terrorist hideouts in Pakistan, why have they not been serious enough in eliminating and wiping out those hideouts? And how will that affect your strategy in the region?

And my question to President Karzai is, despite controversy between the attorney general office and the elections—Independent Elections Commission, how will you go ahead with your—with inaugurating the new parliament?

Secretary Gates. Well, first of all, I think it's important to recognize that in the last 18 months or so, there have been nearly 140,000 Pakistani troops operating in the northwestern part of Pakistan to try and deal with the insurgent and terrorists out there. And we are increasingly cooperating, and one of the more positive developments, in my view, in recent times has been the growing contact and dialogue, first of all between the government of Afghanistan and the government of Pakistan but also that dialogue including us. And I would say that's taking place not only on the political level, including the recent visit of the Pakistani prime minister here to see the president, but also in the increasingly frequent tripartite meetings among our military leaders—Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States and the international coalition.

So I think there's a common understanding that the safe havens are a threat, and they're a threat to both governments, the government of Pakistan as well as the government of Afghanistan. And so I think the growing partnering and coordination of military operations on both sides of the border between forces, between Afghan forces, Pakistani forces and ISAF, is a very important and positive development.

President Karzai. On the next parliament, the inauguration of the next lower house, Afghanistan's president is bound by the constitutional provisions and will stick to it and will remain bound by those provisions.

And the attorney general will continue to hear complaints that are very relevant, but my duty as the president of the country is to act based on the constitution, whatever serves the interests of Afghanistan and what I'm legally allowed to do. This is the response.

Q. As Secretary Gates indicated, U.S. and Afghan officials have both said that the training of Afghan security forces over the past year has gone better than projected. Does this mean that the government of Afghanistan could possibly take primary responsibility for its security before the end of 2014?

And President Karzai, could you explain further why you chose 2014 as a transition date? To what degree did this have any—was this done to de-emphasize President Obama's promise to begin withdrawing U.S. forces this July?

Secretary Gates. Well, first of all, I would say—I think there's a certain misimpression that the transition to Afghan lead across the country will only take place at the end of 2014. First of all, this is a process that has already begun. The Afghan government and security forces already have the primary responsibility for security here in the Kabul area. And we expect to begin that transition, as NATO said, early next spring in other areas.

So this will be a process that spreads nationwide over time and will lead to a drawdown over that period of foreign forces in Afghanistan as the Afghans are able to take increasing lead. It will be gradual and it will be—it will depend on the conditions on the ground.

But this is a process that will go on throughout this period, that's already begun, and that will conclude at the end of 2014. It isn't something that happens just at the end of 2014.

President Karzai. With regard to the abilities of the Afghan army and police, with regard to the training of the Afghan army, the number of soldiers that we have, the number of young officers under training and the older generation of officers, the country's doing very, very well.

Having said doing very, very well, we should not be misled by the facts today. Afghanistan would continue to require much more training, especially where we absolutely need to turn our army into an institution that can stay beyond the direct engagement of the international community, that can sustain itself as an institution, that has an officers cadre that is intellectually well equipped, that is—that has settled down as an institution, like you have in the United States or Britain or India or, for that matter, Pakistan, as well.

Now, adding to this, of equal importance, I believe, is the equipping of the army. Right now we are equipped with vital weapons and the other day General Petraeus showed me in our regular weekly security meetings. I don't know, is that a secret, or is that supposed to be—okay—showed me—

Secretary Gates. Not anymore.

President Karzai. Not anymore. Not anymore. Well, they shouldn't share things like that with presidents, you know. We are WikiLeaks—we—. That the Afghan army will be given thousands of armored vehicles and personnel-carrier vehicles.

Of course, for us to be a fundamentally strong country with an army that can defend itself and that can be an ally with you in the United States, we would require much more: a proper air power, proper mobility of our forces and an equipment that will be good enough to sustain our country as far as security is concerned.

On the 2014 date, this wasn't designed to preempt any other date. This was talked of as being the proper date by which we would have trained ourselves and equipped ourselves; proper enough so to take on the responsibility for securing our country.

Q. From Bakhtar TV, my question is to Mr. Secretary.

You have—you said the fight will be tough ahead and the next years you'll be fighting a tough war. But you said—you've made progress, but you said difficult days are lying ahead, and after 2014, when the war would be tough, while Afghans wouldn't be ready by then completely, it's believed. Do you think that the Afghan forces would be able to reach that level of providing for its own capacity to stop any of those threats that could turn out to be a threat against the U.S.?

And Mr. President, in the WikiLeaks it's been said that as your chief of staff has admitted and has acknowledged receiving bags of cash from Iran, and they might have influenced even the parliament to change their subject of discussions as well.

Secretary Gates. Well, first of all, I think that we have to understand that the future here is not just about military operations. It's about economic development, and it's about political reconciliation, at the end of the day.

We think, based on the progress that's been made over the past year, that the Afghan security forces are making extraordinary strides. And it's not just in the added numbers, but it's in the increased quality of our partners that we gain increased confidence.

As President Karzai said, over the next several years we need to work together in terms of properly equipping the Afghan forces so they will be able to sustain themselves. But I think—I think the important thing—first of all, I think we're—we believe that the security situation will be improved to the extent that in 2014 the Afghan security forces will be able to have the lead, as they do here in Kabul, across the entire country.

I made reference in my prepared remarks to the “vision 2015” agreement that we're working on. The United States intends to continue to be a partner and ally of Afghanistan beyond 2014. We expect the same kind of normal security relationship that we have with many countries in terms of providing training and in terms of equipping and so on. So the United States is—while we will draw down our security forces over the years to come, we intend to be here and be a long-term friend and ally to this country.

President Karzai. I didn't understand your question very well on—(inaudible)— contributions or cash. After Mr. Daudzai I admitted there were other reports that—without the cash that your office admitted. There were other also cash assistance from Iran trying to influence the agenda—the overall agenda in Afghanistan, including that in the parliament to raise subjects of and to—(inaudible)—subjects.

So it is—is that—are you talking about the other money that we said we had received? Okay. I don't think Mr. Daudzai, my chief of staff, has said anything like that. This is not true. There's no truth in this. Because Iran, as we said, once a year and recently twice a year, made some cash assistance. And no extra cash was made. If there was made any, we would certainly let you know. But no, it was just that.

And on the reports or your question about their assistance to the Afghan parliament, we have no official confirmation of such reports, I believe. And we treat them as rumors, and there is nothing—no truth about whatever they have done to the president's office.

Q. Thank you Mr. President. My question is to Mr. Secretary. The president of Afghanistan has repeatedly said that the coalition forces and the NATO forces are pursuing terrorists in the Afghan villages while the original hideouts or safe havens are across the border in Pakistan. After you hand over the responsibility by 2014, how will be the question of safe havens, their logistics, supports of the forces? How will you operate? Will you also target those safe havens across the border inside Pakistan?

Afghan forces do not enjoy good equipments. They don't have air power and all those equipments. What commitment can you make to the Ministry of Defense so you could—they could build their capacity to the level required?

And Mr. President, you are soon going to Turkmenistan. How would you brief us on that?

Secretary Gates. I think that the whole idea behind turning over the lead across the country to the Afghan security forces is premised on their capabilities and having not only proper training by the proper equipment to be able to do the job inside Afghanistan.

I think it's important to observe sovereignty. And the Pakistanis clearly feel that they have a security threat in the northwestern part of their country to their own government. And so I think that as we look to the future, what's really important is developing the kind of relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan where each on its side of the border takes responsibility for security. And we will enable that to the extent that we possibly can.

President Karzai. My trip to Turkmenistan in just a couple of days will be signing an agreement on a historical gas cooperation agreement, a number of countries, which is of great importance to Afghanistan, where Turkmenistan will benefit from its purchase of gas that will travel through Afghanistan to Pakistan and beyond. And I hope we will be able to sign an agreement between four countries. And once we do that, we will let you know the good news.

President Barack Obama delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

President Obama. Good morning, everybody. When I announced our new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan last December, I directed my national security team to regularly assess our efforts and to review our progress after one year. That's what we've done consistently over the course of the past 12 months—in weekly updates from the field, in monthly meetings with my national security team, and in my frequent consultations with our Afghan, Pakistani and coalition partners. And that's what we've done as part of our annual review, which is now complete.

I want to thank Secretary Clinton and Secretary Gates for their leadership. Since Joint Chief of Staff Chairman, Admiral Mullen, is in Afghanistan, I'm pleased that we're joined by Vice Chairman, General Cartwright.

Our efforts also reflect the dedication of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose memory we honor and whose work we'll continue. Indeed, the tributes to Richard that have poured in from around the globe speak to both the enormous impact of his life and to the broad international commitment to our shared efforts in this critical region.

I have spoken with President Karzai of Afghanistan as well as President Zardari of Pakistan and discussed our findings and the way forward together. Today, I want to update the American people on our review—our assessment of where we stand and areas where we need to do better. I want to be clear. This continues to be a very difficult endeavor. But I can report that thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals.

It's important to remember why we remain in Afghanistan. It was Afghanistan where al Qaeda plotted the 9/11 attacks that murdered 3,000 innocent people. It is the tribal regions along the Afghan-Pakistan border from which terrorists have launched more attacks against our homeland and our allies. And if an even wider insurgency were to engulf Afghanistan, that would give al Qaeda even more space to plan these attacks.

And that's why, from the start, I've been very clear about our core goal. It's not to defeat every last threat to the security of Afghanistan, because, ultimately, it is Afghans who must secure their country. And it's not nation-building, because it is Afghans who must build their nation. Rather, we are focused on disrupting, dismantling and defeating al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and preventing its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future.

In pursuit of our core goal we are seeing significant progress. Today, al Qaeda's senior leadership in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan is under more pressure than at any point since they fled Afghanistan nine years ago. Senior leaders have been killed. It's harder for them to recruit; it's harder for them to travel; it's harder for them to train; it's harder for them to plot and launch attacks. In short, al Qaeda is hunkered down. It will take time to ultimately defeat al Qaeda, and it remains a ruthless and resilient enemy bent on attacking our country. But make no mistake—we are going to remain relentless in disrupting and dismantling that terrorist organization.

In Afghanistan, we remain focused on the three areas of our strategy: our military effort to break the Taliban's momentum and train Afghan forces so they can take the lead; our civilian effort to promote effective governance and development; and regional cooperation, especially with Pakistan, because our strategy has to succeed on both sides of the border.

Indeed, for the first time in years, we've put in place the strategy and the resources that our efforts in Afghanistan demand. And because we've ended our combat mission in Iraq, and brought home nearly 100,000 of our troops from Iraq, we're in a better position to give our forces in Afghanistan the support and equipment they need to achieve their missions. And our drawdown in Iraq also means that today there are tens of thousands fewer Americans deployed in harm's way than when I took office.

With those additional forces in Afghanistan, we are making considerable gains toward our military objectives. The additional military and civilian personnel that I ordered in Afghanistan are now in place, along with additional forces from our coalition, which has grown to 49 nations. Along with our Afghan partners, we've gone on the offensive, targeting the Taliban and its leaders and pushing them out of their strongholds.

As I said when I visited our troops in Afghanistan earlier this month, progress comes slowly and at a very high price in the lives of our men and women in uniform. In many places, the gains we've made are still fragile and reversible. But there is no question we are clearing more areas from Taliban control and more Afghans are reclaiming their communities.

To ensure Afghans can take responsibility, we continue to focus on training. Targets for the growth of Afghan security forces are being met. And because of the contributions of additional trainers from our coalition partners, I'm confident we will continue to meet our goals.

I would add that much of this progress—the speed with which our troops deployed this year, the increase in recruits—in recruiting and training of Afghan forces, and the additional troops and trainers from other nations—much of this is the result of us having sent a clear signal that we will begin the transition of responsibility to Afghans and start reducing American forces next July.

This sense of urgency also helped galvanize the coalition around the goals that we agreed to at the recent NATO summit in Lisbon—that we are moving toward a new phase in Afghanistan, a transition to full Afghan lead for security that will begin early next year and will conclude in 2014, even as NATO maintains a long-term commitment to training and advising Afghan forces. Now, our review confirms, however, that for these security gains to be sustained over time, there is an urgent need for political and economic progress in Afghanistan.

Over the past year, we've dramatically increased our civilian presence, with more diplomats and development experts working alongside our troops, risking their lives and partnering with Afghans. Going forward, there must be a continued focus on the delivery of basic services, as well as transparency and accountability. We will also fully support an Afghan political process that includes reconciliation with those Taliban who break ties with al Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the Afghan constitution. And we will forge a new strategic partnership with Afghanistan next year, so that we make it clear that the United States is committed to the long-term security and development of the Afghan people.

Finally, we will continue to focus on our relationship with Pakistan. Increasingly, the Pakistani government recognizes that terrorist networks in its border regions are a threat to all our countries, especially Pakistan. We've welcomed major Pakistani offensives in the tribal regions. We will continue to help strengthen Pakistanis’ capacity to root out terrorists. Nevertheless, progress has not come fast enough. So we will continue to insist to Pakistani leaders that terrorist safe havens within their borders must be dealt with.

At the same time, we need to support the economic and political development that is critical to Pakistan's future. As part of our strategic dialogue with Pakistan, we will work to deepen trust and cooperation. We'll speed up our investment in civilian institutions and projects that improve the lives of Pakistanis. We'll intensify our efforts to encourage closer cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

And, next year, I look forward to an exchange of visits, including my visit to Pakistan, because the United States is committed to an enduring partnership that helps deliver improved security, development, and justice for the Pakistani people.

Again, none of these challenges that I've outlined will be easy. There are more difficult days ahead. But as a nation, we can draw strength from the service of our fellow Americans.

On my recent visit to Afghanistan, I visited a medical unit and pinned Purple Hearts on some of our wounded warriors. I met with a platoon that had just lost six of their teammates. Despite the tough fight, despite all their sacrifice, they continue to stand up for our security and for our values that we hold so dear.

We're going to have to continue to stand up. We'll continue to give our brave troops and civilians the strategy and resources they need to succeed. We will never waver from our goal of disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately defeating al Qaeda. We will forge enduring partnerships with people who are committed to progress and to peace. And we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure the security and the safety of the American people.

So, with that, Vice President Biden and myself will depart, and I'm going to turn it over to Secretaries Clinton, Gates, as well as Vice Chairman Cartwright, and they will be able to answer your questions and give you a more detailed briefing.

Thank you very much.