You have been speaking to us now for 45 minutes- Oh, uh, where's the, uh... Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
You have been speaking to us now for 45 minutes, and yet in all of that time you have only mentioned al-Qaeda once.
Your own vice president has advocated a much smaller and simpler counterterrorism approach to incapacitate what is estimated to be little more than 100 al-Qaeda fighters that still remain in Afghanistan to refocus on what it was that started this war in the first place.
- Ah.
- Your analysis of the insurgency there suggests to me there is no monolithic Taliban.
You are spread over the entire country.
You are fighting 1,000 separate battles with locals whose principal ideological position would seem to be simply that they don't want foreign soldiers in their village.
And that, General, you must know, is a war you will never win.
Ah.
Uh... with all due respect, ma'am. Uh... I must beg to differ.
I firmly believe, having traveled to all corners of the country, having spoken with many people from many walks of life... that what these people want is the very same thing that you and I want.
Hmm?
Freedom, security, stability, jobs.
Progress is being made. Real Progress.
But challenges do remain.
Yes, I understand all of that, General.
And... and, please, let me say quite sincerely that I do not question the goodness of your intent.
I have been listening to you here this morning, and, uh... I believe you are a good man.
I do.
What I question is... your belief in your power to deliver these things that you describe.
I question your belief in the power of your ideals.
Ah, well... I think what I am trying to say, and I apologize, General, if this is sounding impolite, but I question your sense of self.
