Public service by americas Cable Television companies and brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. And now the Senate ForeignRelations Committee assessing u. S. Strategy in afghanistan among the witnesses deputy secretary of state John Sullivan discussing the role of neighboring pakistan and randall slieber outlining the military role in training. This is about two hours. Well come to order and we thank those in attendance rolling out the new strategy. Reiterated our commitment to helping establish a foundation for political resolution. With a recent report of shrinking government control of territory continued of Afghan Forces and deadly attacks in kabul about and isis and it is clear that foundation is a long way off. We are encouraged by the troops strength authorized in the new strategy at 12,300 military personnel with an additional 1,000 on request in 2014. Our nato and nonnato allies reinforced their troop commitments and support to Afghan Forces through 2020. U. S. Commander general nickelson says he has what he needs to achieve a sustainable for afghanistan and the region. Providing afghans and our allies and tall ban a clear signal of america commitment as the National Unit government pursues critical reform and Self Reliance efforts. This administration is draw ago clear line with pakistan. Suspending Security Assistance of over a billion so as long as as they shelter other u. S. And allied forces. This appointed approach is designed to confront pakistans duplicity and aks to provide safe hoar boar to the greatest threats. Prioritized a broad diplomatic effort ascii sustainab im pl hear that deputy secretary will in kabul showing our resolve in the face of four deadly attacked. Two attributed to isis. These attacks highlight the deadly threat that is remain and we must counter act with a unified international community. President trump stated that these attacked preclude a Peace Process with the taliban at the moment, it is incumbent upon us to be ready when that moment occurs. I welcome our witnesses and hope to hear more specifics of this strategy especially in the area of economic general nickelson with that ill turn to distinguished Ranking Member carter. I appreciate this hearing on afghanistan so we can hear from the administration and the strategy in regards to afghanistan moving forward. The tech tear shriver i appreciate the department of defense is present represented here today. As you know, during the syria hearings, we were unable to get a representative from the department of defense and that was unfortunate and we havent had a classified briefing on the u. S. Troop moving forward in syria and i hope that will take place. Afghanistan, 16 years of u. S. Combat there and significant u. S. Investment of blood and treasure and it is harder to make peace than war which is something we know is a challenge. All of us condemn the recent carnage caused by the terrorists in the attack last month. And we very much are committed to ending the violence in afghanistan. But the question is what is the u. S. Policy . As it relates to resolving longterm peace in afghanistan . Mr. Chairman, i note president trumps comment to the United NationSecurity Council and here we are finding conflicting messages to as what the u. S. Policy is in afghanistan. The president said we dont want to talk to the taliban, were going to finish what we have to what nobody else has been able to finish, were going to be able to do it. That raises a question as to whether the president believes this is a military only operation which i disagree with. After the president s remarks, our witness, secretary sullivan said that the striategy is to convince the taliban that theres not a solution to the security situation and the peace and security of afghanistan will be determined by peace talks. So secretary, i agree with the comment. I think thats where the strategy should be. The question is, is it clear with the stake holders globally and afghanistan. Do we have a clear message as to what the u. S. Policy is in regards to our partners in that region and i hope well have a chance to talk about that today. I want to hear as i mentioned before coming into the chamber, i want to review here today the r regional efforts in regard to pakistan and how it impacts on the strategies in afghanistan. Does the Administration Believe it is a suspension of security drop support for the Afghan Taliban or the network. It hasnt before. We tried it several times over the past 16 years. I have little confidence in such behavioral change coming. Are we prepared to do more to have the behavioral change we want or is this more about the same . Secretary shriver, i hope you can give us a clear detailed sense of the military conflict on the ground. I understand it has focused on supporting Afghan Security and Population Centers. The recent attacked in kabul, something is not working. We see the taliban contest or control a increasing swap of the afghan territory. It competes with isis with influence leading to more attacks. By any standard, the current security situation is grim. The bottom line is the administration consistently says it has a condition based strategy contrasted with the approach taken by the Obama Administration but the administration has yet to articulate with precision what the conditions are. What is the end state that u. S. And nato troops are fighting for . Weve been there 16 years. Should the American People accept that this is a forever war. The answer is no. No military solution to the conflict in afghanistan. Last year i introduced legislation that most diplomatic on a Peace Process and hard work pursuing justice for wartime atrocities and accountability for human right abuse and corruption and undermining the Peace Process m i stand ready to work with the administration so that we have a clear policy for an end game in afghanistan that can bring stability to the people in afghanistan and allow our troops to come home and achieve i hope is our objective. Thank you for those comments. With that id like to recognize our distinguished witnesses today. Our first witness is the honorable John Sullivan, the deputy of state, honable randall shriver. Thank you for being here. If you can keep your comments to around five minutes that would be great. And written testimony will be enter into the record and secretary sullivan if you would begin, we would appreciate it. Good morning Ranking Members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here today to provide an update on the Administration South asia policy as it applies to afghanistan. I want to offer my thoughts in light of my trip to kabul last week and we are engaging together with our partners across the agency in a regional approach in south asia to i was able to extend in person our condolences thoughts and prayers to the hundreds of victims and families all of those affected by the recent terrible acts of violent terrorism. The United States remains committed to supporting is the Afghan People and their governments effort to achieve peace and prosperity for their county. I met with the president and chef executive and other afghan pa partners. Bringing the taliban to the negotiating table as senator carter mentioned, thereby establishing an environment for sustained peace. These leaders reaffirmed their support for the afghanistan compact. A series of benchmarks established to implement reforms in security, governance, rule of law and spaes reconciliation. We reviewed and highlighted progress on the benchmarks. I discussed with the afghan leadership the critical importance of timely, credible and transparent elections. Its vital that parliamentry and president ial elections take place this year and next respectively and reflect the will of the Afghan People in creative inclusive government that implement fundamental reforms. Shifting to a conditions based approach, the south asia strategy marked a change from the status quo. We intend to hold pakistan accountable. We also encourage restraint and Pakistans Nuclear and Missiles Program and seek continued close are alignment of pakistan nonproliferation policies with our own. We continue to the value our relationship with pakistan and recognize the benefit of cooperation. Pakistan played an Important Role in pushing al qaeda close tore defeat. Combatting isis, securing nuclear weapons, refugees and providing access for supplies and equipment used by u. S. And Afghan Forces. We acknowledge the sacrifices the pakistan people made to combat terrorism. We have shared with pakistan and south asia strike that psychiatry and detail and made expectations clear to pakistan emphasizing they have to take Decisive Action against militant and terrorist groups based there. In january the president suspended Security Assistance with limited programs which will be decided on a case by case basis. We may consider lifting the suspension when we see sustained aks to address our concerns including targeting all terrorists groups operating within the territory without extension. The United States is committed to do our part to reduce tension in ways that address pakistans legit concerns. To be clear, we oppose the use of terrorist proxy by any country against another anywhere in the world. The use of terrorism has no place in a rules based international system. We hope they will help to convince the taliban to enter into a Peace Process. We continue to deepen our Strategic Partnership with india. Secretary tillerson traveled to deli, and we want to launch a two plus two dialogue this spring when secretary tillerson and mattis will meet with the indian counterparts to deepen our security ties. The United States and india Share Interests in afghanistan. India allocated more than 3 billion to afghanistan since 2001. And further strengthening ties last year. We appreciate these contributions and we look forward to work with india to promote Economic Growth and security in afghanistan. We are strengthening partnerships with the central as asia two weeks ago i attended a c 5 plus 1, the c is the five central asia republics where we discussed the bilateral and multilateral efforts to support afghanistan and enhance Central Asian cooperation. These initiatives and others have helped the effort to build stability in afghanistan and provide a better opportunity and economic for the people in asia. The senseless acts of violence rewitnessed recently, the president south asia strategy showing signs of progress. On the battlefield we are seeing it begin to slow. Since the temporary occupation in 2015. Afghan forces are now on the offensive. Our allis and nato partners contributing more than 4,500 troops supporting our vision for a stable afghanistan and a prosperous sa prosperous south asia. Tackling challenges including corruption that have greatly hindered progress to date. Thank you and i look forward to answering your questions. Thank you very much. I want to the thank you thank you sir. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. And other distinguished members of the committee. Im thankful for the opportunity to give a dod perspective on the implementation of the the south asia strategy. In august the president announced the strategy and it was developed to address the interest we have in south asia and afghanistan in particular. It is home to two Nuclear Armed countries and home to the highest concentration of the u. S. Designated Foreign Terrorists groups. Our strategy emphasizes Regional Cooperation to reduce the threat of terrorism, reduce the threat and possibility of Nuclear Conflict and to put pressure on the taliban and other parties to seek reconciliation. We remain engaged with pakistan to protect americans, our homeland and ensure there are no safe havens that terrorists can plan and operate. We focus on a region as a whole and shift to a time based approach to conditions on the ground approach and promotes political settlement. Regarding afghanistan, we focus on four key pillars known as the four rs. Regionalation, reinforcement, realignment and reconciliation. Let me update you on both. Expanding burden sharing, neutralizing potential spoil spers durable political solutions. As the deputy secretary noted, we are placed with indias role in this regard and their decision to increase economic aide to afghan staistan. They are key to the strategy succeeding. During secretary mattiss trip last year, he made clear that we appreciate the sacrifices and our interest to continuing to partner with them and made clear that we must see a change in pakistans behavior in particular areas that we have great concern. Reinforcement involving the cape ables and the effectiveness. We provide advisory support and tailored equipment and training and assistance in expanding the size and reach of the more high performing forces of special forces of afghanistan. We also do this by assisting in areas where they lackey cape ables such as aviation and intelligence. Uplifts are under way and we will continue through 2018 and our own uplift is under way. U. S. And nato will seek control of Population Centers, reduction in violence, and increase to the independence of an sdf operations. Simultaneous were aligning u. S. , military and civilian assistance to coincide with the overall objectives and strategy. Major realignment include, train advise and assist authorities. Seeking to approve. Theres an ambitious road map defined by leadership in kabul and they seek to double the size of their special forces and modernize their air force which we are contributing to and helping them with. Next steps will include the deployment of u. S. Secretary in the assist structure and evaluate and determine how the efforts contribute at lower levels and tactical levels impact the effectiveness. Reconciliation is our over to remain our overarching objective, and the taliban will not achieve the goals on the battlefield or through violence. To do so, we will continue to support the Afghan Security forces on the battlefield to shape the forces of the taliban and any other opponents of the government. We seek to drive all of the parties through the political settlement that ends the conflict, reduces violence and denies safe haven for terrorists. Thank you and i look forward to any questions that you may have. Senator cardin. Thank you for your testimony. Secretary, let me start with you for a moment if i might, and that is that the good part of the u. S. Engagement in afghanistan is to maintain the confidence of the people that we are there in an interest of having a government that is going to protect the rights of all of the people. Will there have been some reported cases of that involving the behavior of involving Afghan Security forces and children that would, that it has been reported that u. S. Soldiers witnesses said it is best to leave it alone rather than reporting this misconduct. Do we have a clear policy among the military that the United States has a are responsibility to make sure that there is a accountability including the forces that we are working with to report any abuse of human rights to make sure that the accountabilities for atrocities are ensured whether they be the terrorist groups or the Afghan Forces . We do. We certainly reject any of that kind of behavior and we would seek to address that. We welcome any scrutiny that reveals that including reporting by our forces, and certainly will, we have seen the same kind of reporting and word has been delivered to our forces that they have a responsibility to report this kind of activity should they see it. It is really important, and we have are had this conversation with secretary sullivan and the state department that part of the healing process in afghanistan is accountability. For those who have committed gross violations of human rights whether they are the insurgent t terrorists or by local forces. So i take it, mr. Secretary, that is still the policy of the United States on accountability as part of the settlement of what is going on in afghanistan . Emphatically so, senator. We bring it up repeatedly with the partners in the Afghan Government and i did during my visits in kabul last week with president ghanicabinet. Would you briefly review with us the status oof the opportunities for regional diplomacy and whether the United States will be participate manage the meetings of the kabul process that are scheduled to take place i think later this month . Yes, senator. There are a number of opportunities. Theres the kabul process following that is going to be a conference in tashkan, uzbekistan in coordination with the Afghan Government. Who is representing the United States . The United States will be represented, but i am not sure it ha