If we don't want that and we want to succeed in the mission... well, then how do we do that?

Nobody on this committee, nobody in this country wants a permanent presence in Afghanistan.

We want our troops home. We want the Afghan people back in charge of their own security, back in charge of their own government.

I think this hearing today is extremely timely, with the American people needing to hear from you on what is really going on over there on the ground.

I have total confidence in you and your command. The challenge in Afghanistan continues to be great.

These decisions by the President have made it increasingly difficult to build up trust and confidence with the Afghan institutions.

I remain very concerned about the President's decision last summer to speed up withdrawal of the surge troops from Afghanistan.

We have made significant progress in achieving our goal in Afghanistan to 'disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat Al Qaeda and to prevent its return to either Afghanistan or Pakistan.'

It is critical, therefore, that our special operations forces are fully resourced.

We cannot simply walk away from Pakistan. We need to find a way to make that relationship work.

I look forward to hearing from General Mattis how his command is postured to respond to those challenges.