resilient or self-sustaining. if 20 years, hundreds of billions of dollars in support and equipment and training did not suffice why would another 5, or 10 years. conversely there is nothing that strategic competitors like china and russia or adversaries like iran and north korea would have liked more to than to demain bogged down in afghanistan. in advance of the president's decision i was in constant contact with our allies to hear their views. when the president announced the withdrawal nato embraced it. we all set to work together on the drawdown. similarly, we were intensely focused on the safety of americans in afghanistan. in march we began urging them to leave the country. in total, between march and