Political Quotes

“I rise to speak about a trip Senator Jack Reed and I recently took to Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Pakistan, we met with the Prime Minister, the Governor of the critical northern province that includes the Swat Valley, the Pakistani general who is commander of their Army's 11th Corps. In Afghanistan, we met in Kabul with General Petraeus, with Ambassador Eikenberry, with President Karzai, with many of his ministers. Then, in Afghanistan, we traveled to Kandahar Province, where we met with General Carter, who is the commander of the ISAF forces, the Kandahar Governor and the city mayor of Kandahar. Then we met with the commander of the Afghan Army's 205th Corps, Major General Zazai. One of the key things we saw, and something which is critically important to the success of this mission in Afghanistan, is that the Afghan Army be strengthened, take responsibility, primarily, for the security of the country, and lead operations which are joint operations between the Afghan Army and the coalition forces, including American forces. That will be dramatized, that movement towards the shift of responsibility to the Afghans, where it belongs.”