Sunday
Aug092009
Video and Transcript I: National Security Advisor Jones on North Korea, Pakistan, Iran (9 August)
Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 19:59
Transcript II: National Security Advisor Jones on North Korea and Pakistan (9 August)
Transcripts III: National Security Advisor Jones on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea (9 August)
Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis
National Security Advisor James Jones is doing overtime today as the Obama Administration's foreign policy salesman. He's been interviewed on three of the top Sunday morning politics chat shows: Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday (transcript in a separate entry), and Face the Nation (transcript in a separate entry). The topics covered are the same: this week's release of two American journalists from North Korea, the possible assassination of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, and engagement with Iran.
And it's a triple dose of nothingness, with little of significance being said. To be fair to Jones, that's because of the appalling simplistic media narrative. On North Korea, it's sentimental "Yay, We Got Americans Out of an Evil Place" vs. "Oh, No, We Cut a Deal to Get Americans Out of an Evil Place". The Mehsud case becomes a Boy's Own story of daring American operations (even though no American would have been physically present, even in the air above, when the unmanned drone fired its missile), obscuring the problems in Pakistan that will last beyond --- and possibly be magnified --- by the killing. And Iran? Both the media and Obama Administration are in the side alley of the nuclear programme issue.
DAVID GREGORY: General James Jones, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.
GEN. JAMES JONES (RET.): Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
MR. GREGORY: Big news; North Korea, the two American journalists back home. This was the scene as it played out in Los Angeles on Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton accompanying the two journalists back home. He has since come back east and you have been able to fully debrief him. What can you say you have now learned about North Korea and specifically Kim Jong Il?
GEN. JONES: Well, I think that first of all I want to emphasize this was a private mission. And we can get into that if you'd like. But this was a private mission where--in, in which there were no official or unofficial messages sent by this government or by President Obama. So we celebrate the fact that we've had these--this great reunion and--but we can say that--we can also report that the president did--former president did spend time with the Korean leader, that he appeared to be in control of his government and, and his--he sounded very, very reasoned in terms of his conversation.
MR. GREGORY: His health is a big issue, right?
GEN. JONES: His health is a big issue, but obviously we didn't have any time to make an assessment there. But he seemed in control of his faculties. And the president, the former president was able to engage him on a number of subjects. As you know, he had very--relationship with his father and--when he was in the--when he was--when the president was in office, and so he was able to convey his own, his personal views with regard to the importance of the issues of the moment, which is making sure that nuclear weapons do not appear on the Korean Peninsula.
MR. GREGORY: Well, let's talk about that, the nuclear issue. It must have come up during their conversations. What was said?
GEN. JONES: Well, I think--I don't want to speak for President Clinton. We're in, in the process of getting, getting his thoughts as well, we haven't completely finished with that. But, but it's clear thus far that he did press home the fact that if North Korea really desired to rejoin the family of nations in a, in a credible way, that the, the, the way forward is not to, to build nuclear weapons and to rejoin the, the six party talks, and within the context of those talks that they could have a dialogue with the United States.
MR. GREGORY: So North Korea has said they don't want to be part of these six party talks anymore. Just a couple of weeks ago they were exchanging insults with the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
GEN. JONES: Right.
MR. GREGORY: Do--did they give an indication to the former president that that's changed, that they might be willing to come back now?
GEN. JONES: I, I think time will tell on that, David, to be honest. But I, I'm quite sure the former president was very articulate and persuasive, that the North Koreans know exactly what the world, the global community, particularly the members of the six party talks expect, and there is a path for them to, to, to move forward.
MR. GREGORY: Any positive signs, though, from the talks?
GEN. JONES: We'll have to wait and see.
MR. GREGORY: Is there a deadline, in your mind, for when they need to come back?
GEN. JONES: I, I think this is such, this is such a big issue that--and we're making such good progress with our relations with China and Russia and other countries to, to, to show them the, the, the, the wisdom of making the right decisions here. But it, it is up to them, and we--they know exactly what, what the end stage should look like.
MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you a little bit about the backstory. How did this first come up, the idea of sending President Clinton over there? You did a lot of vetting of this idea. What were your concerns and how did it come up?
GEN. JONES: Well, it, it actually came up through a private channel, through the communication from the two girls to their families. And evidently, the North Koreans implied that if former President Clinton were to take on this mission, that they would guarantee the release of, of the two girls.
MR. GREGORY: But it had to be Bill Clinton; couldn't be Al Gore, couldn't be somebody else?
GEN. JONES: They specified Bill Clinton. And, and so the president said, well, let's see if former President Clinton'd be willing to do this thing.
MR. GREGORY: So there were no reservations in your mind or the president's mind?
GEN. JONES: I, I think the, the president, from day one, gave us the task of trying to get those girls back. And, and that was, that really was job number one. And we thought that--and, and, and President Clinton, former President Clinton said he would be, he would take this on in a private way, and that's exactly what happened.
MR. GREGORY: But, but you're experienced with this. I mean, the North Koreans say things all the time and they don't live up to their agreements. How did you test that in fact he wouldn't come back empty, empty-handed?
GEN. JONES: Well, you know, ultimately, regardless of all of the, the, the, the backwards and forwards on this--and we did, we did have, we do have channels to talk to the North Koreans. We, we received a personal assurance of the leader that they would grant, in their terms, special amnesty, and that if former President Clinton came to North Korea that he would leave with those two girls. And ultimately, you say OK.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
GEN. JONES: Let's see, let's see which--let's see if they'll live up to their word. And they did.
MR. GREGORY: There's been some criticism of this mission, and it centers around this photograph. This was the picture that experts say Kim Jong Il wanted, and he got it. There is the former president sitting right next to him. Henry Kissinger writes this this morning in op-ed piece in The Washington Post: "A visit by a former president, who is married to the secretary of state, will enable Kim Jong Il to convey to North Koreans, and perhaps to other countries, that his country is being accepted into the international community--precisely the opposite of what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has defined as the goal of U.S. policy until Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons program." Did this president just hand Kim Jong Il a propaganda victory?
GEN. JONES: I, I don't think so. I mean, maybe in Kim Jong Il's mind, and he'll play it out inside of North Korea anyway he wants. But we vetted this, this mission with the South Koreans, with the Japanese, the Chinese, with the Russians, and we have 100 percent support by all these countries. We--the president also--the former president also asked for the release of a South Korean detainee and the, the, the Japanese abductees, which we think would be also a great picture to see the reunification of those families, which we're very concerned about. So no, I don't--I, I, I just think that, you know, we wanted to get those girls out. The North Koreans gave us a, a path to that and the president of the United States said, "Look, we want these families reunified. They shouldn't be held in captivity." And, and by the way, if we hadn't done that, we'd be having a different conversation tonight because--today, because they would have--they would have said, "Well, you had an opportunity just, just to send the, the former president."
MR. GREGORY: All right. Well, to that point, former President Clinton, he goes to Pyongyang, he goes to North Korea, gets this result. If you want a breakthrough with North Korea, a breakthrough that's been so elusive to previous administrations, should President Obama go to North Korea and talk to the North Koreans now?
GEN. JONES: That's a--that, that is the--the future relationship of our two countries wholly dependent upon the ability of the North Koreans to understand where they are in terms of not only just the United States, but, but this big issue of nuclear weapons and...
MR. GREGORY: All right, but would you, would you rule that out as a potential for breakthrough?
GEN. JONES: I, I wouldn't speculate on, on hypotheticals. I--we are doing, we're doing the right thing with a whole family of nations. Proliferation is a big issue. It's a big issue in North Korea, it's a huge issue in Iran, and we are at the, at the center point of this, this, this debate. And it's a global debate, it is not just about bilateral relations. This is a very serious problem.
MR. GREGORY: Let, let me go through a few other hot-button issues in our remaining moments. In Pakistan an important al-Qaeda figure, a Mehsud, who was the head of Pakistan's al-Qaeda leadership, reportedly killed. Are you able to confirm that today?
GEN. JONES: I wish I could, to be honest with you totally. We think so. We, we put it in the 90 percent category, if you want. But Pakistan has confirmed it. We know there are some reports now from the Mehsud tribe that, that he wasn't. But the evidence is pretty conclusive.
MR. GREGORY: What, what does it mean to the United States' security?
GEN. JONES: Well, I think it's a--this is a big deal. And, and it's not only--by the way, it's not only happening in this part of the world, it's happening in other parts of the world as well with some--with a gradual coming together by the family of nations to reject terrorism as something that's acceptable. In terms of the region, it means that the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani government are doing quite well in terms of their fight against extremism. This was--Baitullah Mehsud was the public enemy number one in, in, in Pakistan, so it's their, their biggest target. And we've already seen evidence of dissension in the ranks about who's, who's going to follow him. This is--if this is--if this happened, and we think it did, this was a good thing.
MR. GREGORY: Is it still your belief that Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan?
GEN. JONES: That one's a little bit more elusive. We are still very much on the hunt. We think that he's still in that general region. But that's a, that's a tougher nut to crack.
MR. GREGORY: Let me...
GEN. JONES: But this, this was a big deal.
MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about Afghanistan. General McChrystal, commander on the ground, is doing an assessment of the mission and what he needs to achieve that mission successfully. The question about the endgame, The Washington Post reports today about the long-term cost to America. "As the Obama administration expands U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, military experts are warning that the U.S. is taking on security and political commitments that will last at least a decade and a cost that will probably eclipse that of the Iraq war." What is the endgame in Afghanistan? What kind of time frame should Americans expect?
GEN. JONES: The endgame in Afghanistan is obviously to turn the responsibility for their security and economic prosperity and the governance over to Afghans as quickly as possible. We're doing that three ways. One is in March we announced a comprehensive strategy that wasn't only focused on troop strength and security, although there's a certain minimum there that's required, but also the, the cohesion of security, economic development and good governance and rule of law from local mayors all the way up to Kabul. We've generally done pretty well over time on the security pillar. NATO, the United States and 47 sovereign countries, are on the ground in Afghanistan. The U.N., NATO, the European Union, the World Bank, all, all sorts of nongovernmental organizations, all the instruments are there to turn this thing in the right direction. The question is, how do you work--get them to work more cohesively?
MR. GREGORY: Right.
GEN. JONES: And that's the new strategy. And, and, and if we can get that done--and we will know that fairly quickly. We're--we've published a new set of metrics--or not published, but they're being developed in, in concert with the congressional guidance. We have a, an envoy in--hard at work to frame this whole thing, new commanders, new ambassadors. And we think that it's going to change--it's going move in the right direction. I don't--I, I can't tell you...
MR. GREGORY: At least a decade, though? I mean...
GEN. JONES: No, no, no. No.
MR. GREGORY: ...should Americans really settle--it's less than a decade, you think, in terms of...
GEN. JONES: Yeah, I think, I think, I...
MR. GREGORY: ...our commitment.
GEN. JONES: You can't predict here where the tipping point is, just like we couldn't really predict it in Iraq. But it will--if it's done right and if it's done cohesively, the tipping point will be much, much quicker, much sooner than that. We will know whether this strategy is working in--within, within the--by the, by the end of the next year, and we'll be able to make some prediction--maybe some predictions at that time. But not before.
MR. GREGORY: General McChrystal wants more troops for Afghanistan. Will he get a skeptical response from President Obama?
GEN. JONES: General McChrystal is doing what all good commanders do when you take over a big job, you do an assessment. You--General McChrystal has the overall strategy that's been agreed to and he is making his commander's estimate on how to function within that strategy. And we'll just have to wait and see what he, what he has to say. But it, but it has to be--whatever, whatever we do is with the context of a new--a, a strategy that was agreed upon in March, and very--a very comprehensive one.
MR. GREGORY: Before you go, on Iran, are there new developments this morning about those three American hikers who strayed into Iran?
GEN. JONES: Yes, there are in the sense that the government has officially acknowledged that they have them in their custody.
MR. GREGORY: And that's news. That had not been disclosed before.
GEN. JONES: That, that, that is as of this morning, we do have that, we do have that confirmation.
MR. GREGORY: How does this administration deal with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Is he in a position, you think, with the political fighting, to engage with the West?
GEN. JONES: We certainly hope so. It--he is the figure of authority that we have to deal with. But it's clear that there's major, major problems going on--I won't say major problems, but major events going on inside of Iran that have to do with the election. But we have to deal with the figures of authority that are in position. We have sent strong messages that we would like these three young people released as soon as possible, and also others that they have in, in their custody as well. This is--these, these are innocent people. We want their families reunited, and we want it--we would like to have it done as quickly as possible.
MR. GREGORY: We'll leave it there. General Jones, thank you very much for being here.
GEN. JONES: Thank you very much.
MR. GREGORY: Thanks for being here.
GEN. JONES: My pleasure.
Transcripts III: National Security Advisor Jones on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea (9 August)
Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis
National Security Advisor James Jones is doing overtime today as the Obama Administration's foreign policy salesman. He's been interviewed on three of the top Sunday morning politics chat shows: Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday (transcript in a separate entry), and Face the Nation (transcript in a separate entry). The topics covered are the same: this week's release of two American journalists from North Korea, the possible assassination of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, and engagement with Iran.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
And it's a triple dose of nothingness, with little of significance being said. To be fair to Jones, that's because of the appalling simplistic media narrative. On North Korea, it's sentimental "Yay, We Got Americans Out of an Evil Place" vs. "Oh, No, We Cut a Deal to Get Americans Out of an Evil Place". The Mehsud case becomes a Boy's Own story of daring American operations (even though no American would have been physically present, even in the air above, when the unmanned drone fired its missile), obscuring the problems in Pakistan that will last beyond --- and possibly be magnified --- by the killing. And Iran? Both the media and Obama Administration are in the side alley of the nuclear programme issue.
DAVID GREGORY: General James Jones, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.
GEN. JAMES JONES (RET.): Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
MR. GREGORY: Big news; North Korea, the two American journalists back home. This was the scene as it played out in Los Angeles on Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton accompanying the two journalists back home. He has since come back east and you have been able to fully debrief him. What can you say you have now learned about North Korea and specifically Kim Jong Il?
GEN. JONES: Well, I think that first of all I want to emphasize this was a private mission. And we can get into that if you'd like. But this was a private mission where--in, in which there were no official or unofficial messages sent by this government or by President Obama. So we celebrate the fact that we've had these--this great reunion and--but we can say that--we can also report that the president did--former president did spend time with the Korean leader, that he appeared to be in control of his government and, and his--he sounded very, very reasoned in terms of his conversation.
MR. GREGORY: His health is a big issue, right?
GEN. JONES: His health is a big issue, but obviously we didn't have any time to make an assessment there. But he seemed in control of his faculties. And the president, the former president was able to engage him on a number of subjects. As you know, he had very--relationship with his father and--when he was in the--when he was--when the president was in office, and so he was able to convey his own, his personal views with regard to the importance of the issues of the moment, which is making sure that nuclear weapons do not appear on the Korean Peninsula.
MR. GREGORY: Well, let's talk about that, the nuclear issue. It must have come up during their conversations. What was said?
GEN. JONES: Well, I think--I don't want to speak for President Clinton. We're in, in the process of getting, getting his thoughts as well, we haven't completely finished with that. But, but it's clear thus far that he did press home the fact that if North Korea really desired to rejoin the family of nations in a, in a credible way, that the, the, the way forward is not to, to build nuclear weapons and to rejoin the, the six party talks, and within the context of those talks that they could have a dialogue with the United States.
MR. GREGORY: So North Korea has said they don't want to be part of these six party talks anymore. Just a couple of weeks ago they were exchanging insults with the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
GEN. JONES: Right.
MR. GREGORY: Do--did they give an indication to the former president that that's changed, that they might be willing to come back now?
GEN. JONES: I, I think time will tell on that, David, to be honest. But I, I'm quite sure the former president was very articulate and persuasive, that the North Koreans know exactly what the world, the global community, particularly the members of the six party talks expect, and there is a path for them to, to, to move forward.
MR. GREGORY: Any positive signs, though, from the talks?
GEN. JONES: We'll have to wait and see.
MR. GREGORY: Is there a deadline, in your mind, for when they need to come back?
GEN. JONES: I, I think this is such, this is such a big issue that--and we're making such good progress with our relations with China and Russia and other countries to, to, to show them the, the, the, the wisdom of making the right decisions here. But it, it is up to them, and we--they know exactly what, what the end stage should look like.
MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you a little bit about the backstory. How did this first come up, the idea of sending President Clinton over there? You did a lot of vetting of this idea. What were your concerns and how did it come up?
GEN. JONES: Well, it, it actually came up through a private channel, through the communication from the two girls to their families. And evidently, the North Koreans implied that if former President Clinton were to take on this mission, that they would guarantee the release of, of the two girls.
MR. GREGORY: But it had to be Bill Clinton; couldn't be Al Gore, couldn't be somebody else?
GEN. JONES: They specified Bill Clinton. And, and so the president said, well, let's see if former President Clinton'd be willing to do this thing.
MR. GREGORY: So there were no reservations in your mind or the president's mind?
GEN. JONES: I, I think the, the president, from day one, gave us the task of trying to get those girls back. And, and that was, that really was job number one. And we thought that--and, and, and President Clinton, former President Clinton said he would be, he would take this on in a private way, and that's exactly what happened.
MR. GREGORY: But, but you're experienced with this. I mean, the North Koreans say things all the time and they don't live up to their agreements. How did you test that in fact he wouldn't come back empty, empty-handed?
GEN. JONES: Well, you know, ultimately, regardless of all of the, the, the, the backwards and forwards on this--and we did, we did have, we do have channels to talk to the North Koreans. We, we received a personal assurance of the leader that they would grant, in their terms, special amnesty, and that if former President Clinton came to North Korea that he would leave with those two girls. And ultimately, you say OK.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
GEN. JONES: Let's see, let's see which--let's see if they'll live up to their word. And they did.
MR. GREGORY: There's been some criticism of this mission, and it centers around this photograph. This was the picture that experts say Kim Jong Il wanted, and he got it. There is the former president sitting right next to him. Henry Kissinger writes this this morning in op-ed piece in The Washington Post: "A visit by a former president, who is married to the secretary of state, will enable Kim Jong Il to convey to North Koreans, and perhaps to other countries, that his country is being accepted into the international community--precisely the opposite of what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has defined as the goal of U.S. policy until Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons program." Did this president just hand Kim Jong Il a propaganda victory?
GEN. JONES: I, I don't think so. I mean, maybe in Kim Jong Il's mind, and he'll play it out inside of North Korea anyway he wants. But we vetted this, this mission with the South Koreans, with the Japanese, the Chinese, with the Russians, and we have 100 percent support by all these countries. We--the president also--the former president also asked for the release of a South Korean detainee and the, the, the Japanese abductees, which we think would be also a great picture to see the reunification of those families, which we're very concerned about. So no, I don't--I, I, I just think that, you know, we wanted to get those girls out. The North Koreans gave us a, a path to that and the president of the United States said, "Look, we want these families reunified. They shouldn't be held in captivity." And, and by the way, if we hadn't done that, we'd be having a different conversation tonight because--today, because they would have--they would have said, "Well, you had an opportunity just, just to send the, the former president."
MR. GREGORY: All right. Well, to that point, former President Clinton, he goes to Pyongyang, he goes to North Korea, gets this result. If you want a breakthrough with North Korea, a breakthrough that's been so elusive to previous administrations, should President Obama go to North Korea and talk to the North Koreans now?
GEN. JONES: That's a--that, that is the--the future relationship of our two countries wholly dependent upon the ability of the North Koreans to understand where they are in terms of not only just the United States, but, but this big issue of nuclear weapons and...
MR. GREGORY: All right, but would you, would you rule that out as a potential for breakthrough?
GEN. JONES: I, I wouldn't speculate on, on hypotheticals. I--we are doing, we're doing the right thing with a whole family of nations. Proliferation is a big issue. It's a big issue in North Korea, it's a huge issue in Iran, and we are at the, at the center point of this, this, this debate. And it's a global debate, it is not just about bilateral relations. This is a very serious problem.
MR. GREGORY: Let, let me go through a few other hot-button issues in our remaining moments. In Pakistan an important al-Qaeda figure, a Mehsud, who was the head of Pakistan's al-Qaeda leadership, reportedly killed. Are you able to confirm that today?
GEN. JONES: I wish I could, to be honest with you totally. We think so. We, we put it in the 90 percent category, if you want. But Pakistan has confirmed it. We know there are some reports now from the Mehsud tribe that, that he wasn't. But the evidence is pretty conclusive.
MR. GREGORY: What, what does it mean to the United States' security?
GEN. JONES: Well, I think it's a--this is a big deal. And, and it's not only--by the way, it's not only happening in this part of the world, it's happening in other parts of the world as well with some--with a gradual coming together by the family of nations to reject terrorism as something that's acceptable. In terms of the region, it means that the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani government are doing quite well in terms of their fight against extremism. This was--Baitullah Mehsud was the public enemy number one in, in, in Pakistan, so it's their, their biggest target. And we've already seen evidence of dissension in the ranks about who's, who's going to follow him. This is--if this is--if this happened, and we think it did, this was a good thing.
MR. GREGORY: Is it still your belief that Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan?
GEN. JONES: That one's a little bit more elusive. We are still very much on the hunt. We think that he's still in that general region. But that's a, that's a tougher nut to crack.
MR. GREGORY: Let me...
GEN. JONES: But this, this was a big deal.
MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about Afghanistan. General McChrystal, commander on the ground, is doing an assessment of the mission and what he needs to achieve that mission successfully. The question about the endgame, The Washington Post reports today about the long-term cost to America. "As the Obama administration expands U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, military experts are warning that the U.S. is taking on security and political commitments that will last at least a decade and a cost that will probably eclipse that of the Iraq war." What is the endgame in Afghanistan? What kind of time frame should Americans expect?
GEN. JONES: The endgame in Afghanistan is obviously to turn the responsibility for their security and economic prosperity and the governance over to Afghans as quickly as possible. We're doing that three ways. One is in March we announced a comprehensive strategy that wasn't only focused on troop strength and security, although there's a certain minimum there that's required, but also the, the cohesion of security, economic development and good governance and rule of law from local mayors all the way up to Kabul. We've generally done pretty well over time on the security pillar. NATO, the United States and 47 sovereign countries, are on the ground in Afghanistan. The U.N., NATO, the European Union, the World Bank, all, all sorts of nongovernmental organizations, all the instruments are there to turn this thing in the right direction. The question is, how do you work--get them to work more cohesively?
MR. GREGORY: Right.
GEN. JONES: And that's the new strategy. And, and, and if we can get that done--and we will know that fairly quickly. We're--we've published a new set of metrics--or not published, but they're being developed in, in concert with the congressional guidance. We have a, an envoy in--hard at work to frame this whole thing, new commanders, new ambassadors. And we think that it's going to change--it's going move in the right direction. I don't--I, I can't tell you...
MR. GREGORY: At least a decade, though? I mean...
GEN. JONES: No, no, no. No.
MR. GREGORY: ...should Americans really settle--it's less than a decade, you think, in terms of...
GEN. JONES: Yeah, I think, I think, I...
MR. GREGORY: ...our commitment.
GEN. JONES: You can't predict here where the tipping point is, just like we couldn't really predict it in Iraq. But it will--if it's done right and if it's done cohesively, the tipping point will be much, much quicker, much sooner than that. We will know whether this strategy is working in--within, within the--by the, by the end of the next year, and we'll be able to make some prediction--maybe some predictions at that time. But not before.
MR. GREGORY: General McChrystal wants more troops for Afghanistan. Will he get a skeptical response from President Obama?
GEN. JONES: General McChrystal is doing what all good commanders do when you take over a big job, you do an assessment. You--General McChrystal has the overall strategy that's been agreed to and he is making his commander's estimate on how to function within that strategy. And we'll just have to wait and see what he, what he has to say. But it, but it has to be--whatever, whatever we do is with the context of a new--a, a strategy that was agreed upon in March, and very--a very comprehensive one.
MR. GREGORY: Before you go, on Iran, are there new developments this morning about those three American hikers who strayed into Iran?
GEN. JONES: Yes, there are in the sense that the government has officially acknowledged that they have them in their custody.
MR. GREGORY: And that's news. That had not been disclosed before.
GEN. JONES: That, that, that is as of this morning, we do have that, we do have that confirmation.
MR. GREGORY: How does this administration deal with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Is he in a position, you think, with the political fighting, to engage with the West?
GEN. JONES: We certainly hope so. It--he is the figure of authority that we have to deal with. But it's clear that there's major, major problems going on--I won't say major problems, but major events going on inside of Iran that have to do with the election. But we have to deal with the figures of authority that are in position. We have sent strong messages that we would like these three young people released as soon as possible, and also others that they have in, in their custody as well. This is--these, these are innocent people. We want their families reunited, and we want it--we would like to have it done as quickly as possible.
MR. GREGORY: We'll leave it there. General Jones, thank you very much for being here.
GEN. JONES: Thank you very much.
MR. GREGORY: Thanks for being here.
GEN. JONES: My pleasure.
Reader Comments