Washington, DC–On January 8, 2010, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, addressed WFPG members and guests on the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and current US policies and strategies in the region at a Beyond the Headlines Luncheon. The talk was moderated by Helene Cooper, White House Correspondent of The New York Times.

Ambassador Holbrooke spoke about President Obama's decision to substantially increase US forces in Afghanistan explaining that the President would not have done this if he did not believe that it was directly linked to vital US national security interests and a threat to the American homeland, emphasizing that this situation is drastically different than the US' experiences in Vietnam and Iraq. He also discussed what he called a misunderstanding of the American deadline of the 2001 troop withdrawal and that rather than setting a specific timetable, that the US "will start a responsible transition of security responsibilities to the Afghan security and police by July 2011, and start withdrawing some of the troops."

According to Holbrooke, in the next 18 months, heavy emphasis will be placed on two concurrent efforts: (1) to degrade and disrupt the Taliban efforts, and with the space that this disruption creates, (2) to upgrade and help "train and equip and grow and improve the Afghan security forces and improve their civil governance." He outlined the three elements of this strategy: the military, the civilian, and training the military and police. There has been a tripling of the number of civilians involved this effort over the last year, with agriculture as the number one non-security priority. Holbrooke said that it wouldn't be easy, but that the strategy will be reevaluated at the end of the year.

Ambassador Holbrooke stated that we are making progress and that the al-Qaeda leadership has been significantly weakened in the border area, but fighting in this area is complicated because it crosses into the area of another sovereign nation, Pakistan. He supports more aid to Pakistan, and appreciates the leadership of Senators Kerry and Lugar and Congressman Berman for the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation, which authorizes $7.5 billion over the next five years for economic assistance to Pakistan. In Holbrooke's opinion, relations with Pakistan have improved over the last year, and "Pakistan is rising on our radar screen and will continue to do so." The US has given them massive aid for their refugee problems, increased military aid, and is starting to focus on problems such as energy and water.

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke with New York Times White House Correspondent Helene Cooper
WFPG Board Members with Richard Holbrooke
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke	Moderator Helene Cooper
WFPG Chair Maxine Isaacs	Richard Holbrooke and Helene Cooper
WFPG President Patricia Ellis and Richard Holbrooke	Ambassador Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic of Croatia
Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba of UAE	Ambassador Gary Doer of Canada
WFPG Board Member Theresa Loar and Ambassador Houda Nonoo of Bahrain	British DCM Dominick Chilcott
Helene Cooper and Patricia Ellis	WFPG Board members Diana Villiers Negroponte, Patricia Ellis, and Maxine Isaacs
WFPG Board Member Mary Catherine Toker and Dutch DCM Gerard van der Wulp	Spanish DCM Jose Marco
WFPG Board Member Theresa Loar and Anita Botti, State Department	WFPG Vice Chair Gail Leftwich Kitch and WFPG Board Secretary Donna Constantinople
Ambassador Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic of Croatia	Host Steering Committee Member Lisa Barry, Chevron

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