Is it fair to say that if you are confirmed as Secretary of Defense, that the goal that you see is to turn responsibility for security of Afghanistan over to the Afghans at the end...
I think the Asia-Pacific remains the strategic center of gravity for the 21st century.
I, too, have felt that the no-fly zone ought to be under active consideration, premised on a request from the opposition.
I thought the President made not only a correct, but a courageous decision in 2009 in deciding to raise the number of our forces in Afghanis...
All of us are haunted by the phrase 'hollow Army'. We don't want to go through that again.
The President was presented recommendations by the Commander of ISAF, forwarded by the CENTCOM Commander.
Another alternative, obviously, is to try to help the opposition and stop Gaddafi.
I have the greatest confidence in your ability and your principles.
I hope they do, because I think it's necessary to protect all that we've given there to achieve what has been achieved.
I will constantly monitor and assess the situation on the ground, and should I determine the situation has changed, I will so advise my chai...
As long as we have those soldiers there, we're going to do whatever we have to do to protect them.