Which has been a future of its National Security policy for decades. Secretary mattis, general dunford, discovery, congress, the American People and our men and women in uniform hold you in the highest regard. We have confidence in your leadership, your integrity and your judgment but in light of the experience of the last 16 years what should give us congress the this new strategy for afghanistan will be different . To answer that central question this committee in particular deserves a lot more detailed information from the president and from you not just at todays hearing but in the days, weeks and months ahead. Thank you, mister chairman. I would like to join you in welcoming secretary mattis in general shaheen dunford. Donald trump announced the president would stay the course in afghanistan continuing missions of counterterrorism and Capacity Building to a short history mixed groups never again use afghanistan as a base to attack the United States. In february general john nicholson, commander of us forces in afghanistan testified the conflict in afghanistan and reached a stalemate and stated the need for enhanced authority from several thousand more troops to carry out the mission at lower levels within Afghan National defense and Security Forces and the ministry of defense and the ministry of interior. I support the increase in troops, some have suggested we already been down this path, that a surge in the past 100,000 troops cannot create the conditions to bring this conflict to an end, we ask you in many ways what will be different about this effort that will bring about a change that did not happen in previous efforts with greater troop numbers and associated authorities. To many the situation is not trending in a positive direction. Afghan Security Forces several high casualty rates in the face of intensified insurgency, the talent and and isis continue to plan and carry out highprofile attacks while maintaining the ability to regenerate their losses Record Number of civilians killed, it appears recordsetting amounts of opium will be produced in afghanistan providing a steady flow of funds to fuel the conflict. On the other hand in spite of this intensified fighting the afghan Security Forces have demonstrated the ability to withstand talent and offenses and recapture lost ground. They seek to grow their most effective units the Afghan Special study forces and increase offensive capabilities. The growth of the Afghan Air Force has been a force multiplier for Security Forces enabling greater offensive actions. In the past year they supported Ground Forces with limited coalition systems, conducted surveillance and selection and after action Battle Damage assessments. Im interested in your views whether these developments with additional us support will tip the balance on the ground. Ultimately this conflict will not be won from the battlefield. According to the present app speech military effort if any and afghanistan will set conditions for the ultimate goals of the settlement between the government of afghanistan and the taliban and protect us interests. The president stated the strategy will integrate american power, diplomatic, economic and military. We have heard little about diplomatic and economic aspects of the plan. The disintegration of the nation is essential and you will give the committee a sense of how continuing military involvement in afghanistan will help translate battlefield progress into political outcomes. The mission in afghanistan is to be successful it is imperative to disrupt the external sanctuaries in pakistan which continue to provide the taliban and other associated groups the ability to train, recruit, and stage attacks without significant fear of interference. We heard the administration plans to change the relationship with pakistan, i agree that change is needed and look forward to hearing what is available to prospectus tend to make more progress on these issues. In addition to pakistan there are a number of regional actors playing a role in the future of afghanistan. It is important to understand the strategy with regard to countries like russia, china, miller and and india, each of whom seeks to ensure their National Interests are preserved in afghanistan many of which are divergent from us interests. General mattis, general dunford, the committee is eager to hear about military aspects of south asia strategy as well as the manner these efforts support the achievement of the political end state. Thank you, look forward to your testimony. Welcome, secretary mattis, ray members of the committee, i appear before you following the tragic event in las vegas, but the defense staying closely linked with the Intelligence Community and we remain alert to law enforcements assessment of events, this committee is keenly aware of the complex and volatile security environment our country faces today, russia continues to invest in a range of capabilities designed to limit our ability to project power, he wrote us influence and undermine natos transatlantic alliance, china is focused on limiting our ability to project power as well and weakening our position in the Indo Pacific Region even as we work to find Common Ground in confronting north koreas provocative actions. The International Community as reflected by the latest Unanimous Security Council sanctions resolutions is focused on the destabilizing posed by north korea and the relentless pursuit of nuclear and Ballistic Missile capabilities. The Defense Department supports fully secretary to listens efforts to find a diplomatic solution but remains focused on defense of the United States and our allies. In the middle east, iran continues to project malign influence across the region while we continue to make gains against the terrorist enemy in syria, iraq and elsewhere. In afghanistan we have faced a difficult 16 years. General Nicholson Kluwer nato and us field commander from 39 nations has blunted the terrorist offenses moves in afghanistan. Nato strikes in support of improving afghan Security Forces in disarray among various enemy groups in afghanistan have caused the taliban and to constrain movements and limit the talibans ability to conduct major offensives. Beginning last month for the first time in this long fight all six Afghan Military courts are engaged in offensive operations. During these recent months there have been fewer civilian casualties as a result of Coalition Operations although regrettably taliban and highprofile attacks on civilians continue to murder the innocent. The taliban and still attempts to seize district or provincial centers before the end of this fighting season, they have generally been forced into decentralized smallscale ambushes and use of improvised explosive devices. Importantly the rate of afghan National Security force casualties has reduced from last year. I just returned last week from a trip to india and afghanistan and i can report general nicholson and the nato team are holding the line, forecasts of a significant talent and offensive remain unfulfilled. Violence and progress in afghanistan continue to coexist but the uncertainty in the region about the nato campaign has been replaced by certainty due to the implementation of Donald Trumps new south asia strategy. This has been uniformly embraced by leaders in the south asia region as well as 39 countries contributing troops to the natoled campaign. We must always remember we are in afghanistan to make america safer and inshore south asia cannot be used to plot transnational attacks against the us homeland or our partners and allies. Our goal is a stable and secure south asia. A political settlement in afghanistan is only possible if the taliban rejects support or conduct of terrorism. Based on the Intelligence Communitys analysis and my own evaluation im convinced we absent ourselves from this region to our ultimate peril. The new conditionbased approach has set the stage for regional and Afghan National chains. Our new strategy vigorously reviewed and approved by donald trump is, quote, are 4 plus s which stands for regionalized, realigned, reinforced, reconciled and sustained. The first are, regionalized, recognizes challenges exist beyond afghanistan, the strategy adopts a geographic framework with a holistic, comprehensive view. India, pakistan, iran, russia and china were considered at the outset rather than focusing only on afghanistan and then introducing external variables late in our strategic design. My visit last week to india was in part to thank for their continued generous Development Support in afghanistan and we discussed ways to expand our collaboration to include longterm regional stability and security. We will firmly address pakistans role, natos demands need to be heard and embraced in islamabad. The second part is for real line and shifting made efforts to align more advisors who can provide training and advisory support at the battalion and brigade level. Fighting will continue to be carried out by our afghan partners but our advisors will accompany Tactical Units to advise and assist and bring nato fire support to bear when needed. Make no mistake this is combat duty. Afghan forces remain in the lead to do the fighting. We have 11,000 troops in afghanistan alongside 6800 from nato and Coalition Partners, and 320,000 afghan National Security forces. From these numbers alone you can see the Afghan Forces remain the main effort and we are supporting some, not supplanting or substituting our troops for theirs. The third art is reinforced and that is seen in our addition of over 3000 us troops arriving now and in the coming months to extend natos advisory effort to afghan troops that are currently without. Nato secretarygeneral stoltenberg and i together toward afghanistan last week sending a message of unity. He is also reaching out to allies to increase their troop levels. In light of our new strategy 15 nations have signaled he will increase their support. Certainty having replaced uncertainty we are now looking to our partners to provide even more troop and financial support. The last are, reconciled is the desired outcome from our military operations. Convincing our foes coalition is committed to a conditions based outcome we intend to drive those who will see we are not quitting this way to reconcile with the Afghan National government. Our goal is a stabilized afghanistan achieved through an afghan let afghan owned Peace Process. War is principally a matter of will and the International Community is making clear that it will stand alongside the afghans committed to this fight. As we shifted to a conditions based strategy, not timebased or troop number focused ambiguity has been removed. The elements of this strategy a tangible demonstration of our resolve. Office will be carried out by, with and through our afghan partners and with the coalition framework, insuring this campaign is politically, fiscally and militarily sustainable. Our afghan partners who continue to take the lead fight most effectively where nato and partner advisers are alongside them. As president donnie said the General Assembly in new york city, afghans are determined to fight, no one should mistake or will to defend our country. I am heartened and impressed by the International Reception to our strategy. Im confident we will see a and levels of support from our allies and partners in the months ahead. As nato secretarygeneral said last week in kabul, this is about making sure afghanistan doesnt once again become a safe haven for International Terrorists and the best way of doing that is to enable the afghans to have Defense Security forces which are Strong Enough to do that. We are already starting to see the psychological impact of the new strategy both militarily in the field as well as president donnie and the Afghan Governments commitment to reform. President gone he recognizes fighting corruption and accelerating institutional reform across government are critical to success. The recently launched us afghan compact outlining more than 200 measurable benchmarks for reform demonstrates our shared emphasis on these goals. Our south asia strategy reinforces to the taliban and that the only path to peace and political legitimacy is through a negotiated settlement. It is time for the taliban to recognize they cannot way to power or provide refuge and support to transnational terrorists who intend to do us harm. I want to close by recognizing the need to maintain the closest possible dialogue with chris and specifically with this committee. I pledge to the moment of defense will be fully responsive to the requirements be kept apprised of current and planned operations. As my Senate Confirmed position, greater capacity to deal with multiple worldwide security challenges of keeping you fully informed. I trust i have your support to ensure necessary civilian oversight of our military as we address the complex and increasingly volatile National Security environment. General dunford. Dismissed members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to join secretary matus in providing an update on the cell agent strategy. General nicholson has provided the current condition as a stalemate. Secretary mattis has testified we are not winning, members of this Committee Debate samoa statements. The situation has developed since the nato Mission Transition to an advisory effort. Since january 2015 we have advised and accompanied special operations units at the tactical level but our advisory effort for conventional forces has generally been limited to the afghan institutional level. We also reduced aviation, artillery and intelligence support provided to the Afghan Forces. This construct did not provide afghan supports is they needed to succeed in combat operations. My military assessment is we drew down the advisory effort and combat support for Afghan Forces too foreign too fast. As a result the taliban and expanded territorial and population control and inflicted significant casualties on the afghan army and police as the Campaign Launched momentum. Last spring secretary mattis directed the department to conduct a failure analysis to identify the root causes for the lack of progress in afghanistan and directed we provide targeted solutions. Informed by these findings our commanders developed, secretary mattis approved a new operational approach to break the stalemate and bolster afghan capabilities. The new approach supports the broader strategy by expanding our advisory efforts to a tactical level, increasing the combat support we provide to afghan partners and enhancing authorities to our commanders. We believe these adjustments will improve the ability of the afghans to conduct offensive operations, defend critical terrain and reduce afghan casualties. The emphasis is on providing effective support for the 300,000 afghans we have trained and equipped so they can secure their own country. Going forward we will support the efforts to reorganize the Afghan Forces which will expand special operations units while reducing less effective units. We will also continue our efforts to develop capable and sustainable Afghan Air Force. Finally we will enhance and expand our own Counterterrorism Operations in the region. By next spring this approach will have our most senior, capable and operationally experienced leaders advising the Decisive Point and afghan operations. The efforts will be fully enabled by the support and authority needed for the afghans to take the fight to the enemy. As we implement the strategy we are dealing with corruption, the single greatest roadblock to progress. Our military objectives are clear and achievable. Defeat isis and al qaeda in afghanistan and ensure other terrorist groups are unable to launch attacks against the homeland, us citizens or our allies. Further developed Afghan Forces capable of managing residual violence with limited international support. Support president gaudios efforts to secure key population, centers and Enduring Counterterrorism Partnership with afghanistan to protect our shared interests in south asia. Secretary to listen recently outlined this entire effort is intended to put pressure on the telegram and have them understand they will not when the battlefield victory, so enter an afghan lid Peace Process to steal the conflict. Thanks again for the opportunity to join you and i look forward