THE SITUATION in AFGHANISTAN HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION

Chairman MCCAIN. Well, good morning. The committee meetstoday to receive testimony on Afghanistan and United States effortsto sustain the gains that have been made over the past 13years.I want to thank each of our witnesses for appearing before ustoday: Ambassador James Cunningham, who was the UnitedStates Ambassador to Afghanistan until he retired from the ForeignService last December; Ambassador Ryan Crocker, formerUnited States Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq and manyother countries; Admiral Eric Olson, former Commander, UnitedStates Special Operations Command; and Mr. Michael Leiter, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.All our professionals are-all our witnesses are national securityprofessionals who have served loyally and with the highest distinctionin both Democratic and Republican administrations, includingthe current administration. All of them also have years of experienceworking on, and often serving in, Afghanistan.And, on a personal note, could I just say that I-I've had thegreat pleasure of knowing these four witnesses over the-manyyears. And I don't know of four more honorable witnesses who haveever appeared before this committee in the years that I've on it. So, I consider this committee honored by your presence today on anissue of crucial importance to our country, the future, and the menand women who are serving in the military.More than 2,200 Americans have given their lives in Afghanistan, and thousands more have been wounded. And the progressthey have enabled is extraordinary. The number of Afghan childrenin school has increased tenfold since 2001, from less than 1 millionto almost 10 million today. Forty percent of these students aregirls, and 40 percent of Afghan teachers today are women. Life expectancyhas increased by over 20 years in less than a generation, an achievement unheard of in modern history. Less than 10 percentof the Afghan population supports the Taliban, while over 70percent express the confidence-express confidence in the Afghanmilitary.These gains and others are significant. But, as General Mattistestified last month, the gains achieved at great cost against ourenemy in Afghanistan are reversible. Afghan National SecurityForces are now leading the fight and responsible for safeguardingtheir country. They've made real progress as a fighting force. TheAfghan army and police maintained their professionalism duringthe presidential runoff last summer, upholding security and allowingthe democratic process to play out without armed intervention.And, while the casualty rates of our Afghan partners in their fightagainst the Taliban are high, there is no doubt-none whatsoever-about the Afghan willingness to fight and die for their country.But, like the Iraqi Security Forces at the end of 2011, the AfghanNational Security Forces are still developing some key enabling capabilities, the shortfalls sounding eerily familiar: intelligence, logistics, airlift, close air support, special forces, and institutional development.Our commanders on the ground in Afghanistan are developingplans to address these shortfalls, but they need the time, resources, and authorities to help our Afghan partners to developthese nascent capabilities.As I've said before, wars do not end just because politicians sayso. Indeed, in Afghanistan we've seen an initial emergence of ISISas well as the residual capabilities of al-Qaeda wrapped in theirsupport network of the Taliban insurgency.The world walked away from Afghanistan once, and it descendedinto chaotic violence that became the platform for the worst terroristattack in history against our homeland. The threats are realand the stakes are