Admiral Michael Mullen, Joint Chiefs of Staff

from bramlage coliseum a kansas a university keep your prisons admiral mike mullen chairman of the joint chiefs of staff i'm kate mcintyre as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral mullen serves as a principal military advisor to the president the secretary of defense the national security council and the homeland security council is served in that position since october first two thousand seven mullen recently made headlines by calling for a repeal of the military's controversial don't ask don't know and gave the man the metro state university and now admiral mike mullen chairman of the joint chiefs of staff thank you for the service there are mercifully brief introduction to this and also a doctor and i'd like to just add my thanks and appreciation for all you've done for so many years to facilitate the series i know how important is to you and actually i think important to all of us it really is a great honor for me to be here today at kansas state and in particular for the

landon lecture series and i like to recognize before i get started more in depth recognize those members of the iraqi unit here for their willingness to serve at this critical time in our history you really are the future and i'm really humbled by what you were about to take on there's no greater task no more meaningful career than toledo america's sons and daughters in uniform and i have and i know you'll be great so thank you i also like to recognize also recognize and remained humble but along a prestigious list of former land and lecturers who preceded me go to my boss and drought plans and secretary bob gates indeed secretary could not have been more gracious when i told him i was coming here he assured me that i would find you all are wrapped and engaging audiences eager for every scrap of wisdom i have to offer then again he said if you bore them or if you claim you know who will is

all bets are off steam and i'd like to start our discussion by talking about the nature of war today the essence of these conflicts we find ourselves in this ruthless an irreconcilable adversaries but enough about the giants our cream actually has some underground southern california as a basketball player under the aegis of john wooden i have a special appreciation for the game tonight a major all here quite frankly you know in each era of american history at least in terms of armed conflict each one can be defined by an overarching strategy a doctor in if you will that captures the proper use of military force suitable to the threats of the day during the cold war it was largely the strategy of containment that dominated our thinking the notion that

military force or more importantly the threat of military force was best applied in preventing the spread of communism through nuclear deterrence can or conventional alliances soak a more nuclear triad in the theory of mutually assured destruction in the advent of nato during war two we followed a doctrine very much akin to that used by general grant in the store attrition of the enemy force to accomplish this however we need also to attack the enemy populations will to fight and so came the bombings of dresden and hiroshima nagasaki on and on farther back in our past week ago from the trench warfare moore won a limited conventional war we fought against spain and at ninety eight to the unconventional wars we fought against the barbary pirates are nearly eighteen hundreds each era has something to teach for there is no single birth

mining american way of war it changes over time and it should change over time adapting appropriately to the most relevant threats to our national security and the means by which that security is best preserved as the godfather for himself called dan clowes whats once observed war is but an instrument of policy beholden to it and because policies changed the conduct of war must also check which we have as a nation been a more continuously over the last nine years yes indeed you could argue that your military has actually been engaged in combat operations since nineteen ninety one we fought desert storm and then stayed around iran for sanctions or no fly zones again sit on the enemy's we face in that time that certainly very we could we'd oppose the taliban from power shortly after the attacks of nine eleven and then went on to defeat the conventional forces of saddam

saddam's ba'athist regime later struggling a throwback a ramp a sunni insurgency today towards interact and afghanistan have generally become a fight against a syndicate other islamic extremists led by al qaeda and support by a host of both state and non state actors the epicenter of this fight remains in my view the the border area between afghanistan and pakistan where not only does al qaeda's leadership plot and plan to attack america but also were new collection of like minded extremist groups partner together to support them and to further destabilize the entire region in other words these wars also had changed in character i watch and advised two administrations as they have dealt with this struggle the outcome the three conclusions three principles about the proper use of modern military force is the first is that military power should not

maybe cannot be the last resort of the state military forces are some of the most flexible and adaptable tools available the policymakers we can merely by our presence help alter certain behavior before shot is even fire we can bolster a diplomatic argument support a friend or deter an enemy we can assist rapidly in disaster relief efforts as we did in the aftermath of haiti's earthquake we cannot gather intelligence support reconnaissance and provide security and we can do so on little or no notice that ease of use is critical for deterrents an expeditionary force that provides immediate tangible effect this is also vital when innocent lives or grits so yes the military maybe the bass and sometimes the first tool it should

never be the only tool the tangible effects of military engagement may give policymakers a level of comfort not necessarily or holy justified as we have seen the international bar menus more fluid and more complex than ever before not every intended target of one's deterrence will act rationally and not every good intentions will be the us received longer lasting more sustainable affects almost as surely demand a full of government if not a whole of nations effort defense and diplomacy are simply no longer discreet choices one to be applied when the other one fails but must in fact compliment one another throughout the messy process of international relations as president obama noted in his west point speech when he announced his strategy for afghanistan we cannot count on military might

alone we have to invest in our homeland security we have to improve and better coordinate our intelligence we will have to use diplomacy because no one nation can meet the challenges of an interconnected world acting alone my fear quite frankly is that we aren't moving fast enough in this regard us foreign policy is still too dominated but the notes are too dependent upon the generals and apple's lead our major overseas commands it's one thing to be able or willing to serve as emergency responders quite another to always have to be the fire chief senators clinton and gates have call for more funding and more emphasis on our side and i could not agree with him or should we choose to observe american influence only through our troops we should expect to see that influence diminish entire in

fact i would argue that in the future struggles of the asymmetrical counterinsurgency work karen certain variety we ought to make it a precondition of committing our troops that we will do so only if and when the other instruments of national power are ready to engage as well as a broader issue involved here for addition to bring the full weight of the us government to bear we must also bring our allies and partners with us to the final forty two other nations to fight alongside us in afghanistan as did so many others you know what about formal alliance or by informal agreement these multinational commitments were not only a higher sense of legitimacy to the effort they land to local populations certain skills and knowledge which we alone do not possess the australians are expert in counterinsurgency warfare the british a lot of a

long tradition of service in that part of the world and bring unique insights the germans and the french and the italians have superb national police organizations for afghans to emulate in my view whatever drawbacks of alliance management there may be they are they are more than outweighed by the benefits of operating in union in unison with us providing the bulk of forces it should come as no surprise to anyone that some may avail themselves of lesser contributions but that doesn't detract from the very real impact many of the net it also doesn't mean we should note sort them to do more for our part we become the best counterinsurgency force in the world and we didn't do it or we have a lot of help that brings me to number two force should to the maximum extent possible be applied in a precise and principled way

were caused the he's been engaged in a great deal live in resources diverted from pursuits that a more peaceful time would allow even now as we are poised to reach one thousand us troop deaths in afghanistan we're reminded of the thousands more afghans who have been killed in the hundreds of other coalition soldiers who have likewise perished not to mention the property in infrastructure damage that will yet take years from which to recover though it can never lessen the pain of such loss precisely applying force in a principle manner can help reduce those costs and actually improve our chances of success and sitting for a moment ongoing operations in march in afghanistan general mcchrystal chose to move into this part of southern afghanistan specifically because it was a hub of taliban activity there they had sway over the people there they were able to advance

their interest to other places in the country it was a ground we were interested in retaking so much as enemy influences we were interested in the great and so this is a much more transparent operation we did not stoop and under the cover of darkness we told the people of mars and the enemy himself when we were coming and where we would be going to deduct from the battlefield with carpet bombing or missile strikes we simply walked in on top because frankly the battlefield isn't necessarily a field anymore it's in the minds of the people it's what they believe to be true that matters and when they believe that they are safer with afghan and coalition troops in their midst and local governance at their service they will resist the intimidation of the taliban and refused to permit their land from ever again

becoming a safe haven for terror that's why the threshold for the use of indirect fire in this operation is so why that's why gen mcchrystal issued more restrictive rules for night raids and it's widely as coalition troops operating in support an afghan soldiers and not the other way around in this type of war when the objective is not be enemies defeat but the people's success less really is more each time an era bomb or a bomb actually game but against the wrong target kill third civilians we re setting our strategy backed months if not years despite the fact that the taliban kill and maim far more than we do civilian casualty incidents such as those we've recently seen in afghanistan will hurt us more in the long run then any tactical success we may

achieve against the american people expect more from us they have every right to expect more from us now there's been much debate over how to balance traditional an irregular warfare capabilities in our military as an underpinning i see this principle applying to both it uses quality of people training and systems over quantity of platforms it means that we choose to go small in number before we go follow in capability and it favors innovation in leaders in doctor in an organization and in technology precise and principled force a wise whether we are tapping into an entrenched enemy or securing the population in either case it protects the innocent we protect the innocent it's who we are and in so doing we a better

preserve both our freedom of action in our security interests preserved preserving our security interest is also better insure but what my what i consider my third and final principal policy and strategy should constantly struggle with one another some in the military no doubt would prefer political leadership that lays out a specific strategy and then gets out of the way leaving the balance of implementation to commanders in the field but the experience of the last nine years tells us two things are clear strategy for military operations is essential and that strategy will have to change as those operations you've all in other words success in these types of wars is it are of it is not decisive there isn't going to be a single day when we stand up and say that's it's over we want we will

win but we will do so only overtime and only after near constant reassessment an adjustment quite frankly it will feel a lot less like a knockout punch and a lot more like recovering from a long illness the worst possible were like and imagine is one in which military commanders are inventing or dividing their strategies they're already it's in the absence of clear political guidance sometimes after initial goal our mission has been taken over by events that's why we have a need political leadership constantly immersed in the week to week flow of the conflict willing and able to adjust as necessary but always leading military commanders and the leeway to do what is expected of them policymakers after all have other concerns beyond those of the military that must be actually consider when taking a nation to war

including cost domestic support international reaction and so forth at the same time military leaders and all levels must be completely frank about the limits of what military power can achieve with what risk and in what time frame we all civilian leaders are candor in the decision making process and our unwavering support once the decision is made that doesn't mean every bit of military advice will be followed we shouldn't expect so but it does mean the military concerns will be properly considered and we can ask for nothing more in his most recent afghanistan pakistan strategy review the president of our extraordinary maritime to getting it right to understanding the nature of the fight we're in and the direction in which he wanted to take it and then he laid out clearly simply for the american people and we

are executing in december he will he will review where we are now we're doing and i think we should all be prepared to adjust of events on the ground didn't necessarily the notion proper by somebody once said a war policy cannot be changed or that to do so imply some sort of weakness strikes me not only as an incompatible with our own in history but also has quite dangerous lincoln did not emancipate the slaves one fort sumpter was fired on he made that policy change when it did and when he didn't it most necessary though if they were to germany first policy fdr still struggle to properly balance the war's efforts against both japan and hitler's germany and kennedy did not embark on the war in vietnam with any sense and his successors would be fighting it at all much less the way they

did conjured a popular imagination war has never been a set piece affair the enemy adapts to your strategy and you adapt to this and so you keep your play going between policy and strategy until you find the right combination at the right time it's what worked well interact will not necessarily work in afghanistan well today will not necessarily work tomorrow the day stop adjusting is the day you lose to call one of laura's greatest students winston churchill you can always count on americans to do the right thing after they've tried everything else trying everything else is not weakness it means we don't give up it means we never stop learning and in my view if we've learned nothing else in these two wars of ours it is

very flexible balanced approach to using military force is best we must not look upon the use of military force is only as a last resort but as potentially the best first option when combined with other instruments of national and international power we must not try to use force only in an overwhelming capacity but in the proper capacity and in a precise and principle manner and we must not shrink from the tug of war no pun intended that inevitably plays out between policymaking and strategy execution such interplay is healthy for the republic an essential for ultimate success for church also noted that in war as in life and i quote it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed to take up the best alternative open to take the best to take up the best

alternative and if so it is filing up to work for it with all your might ladies and gentlemen your military is working for you with all its might and we've not forgotten who started these wars and we will not forget those who have perished as a result we will stay at it for as long as it takes and we will succeed for as long as you support us in the end of it you're listening to admiral mike mullen chairman of the twentieth it's now university landon lecture on march third two thousand ten is kansas public we will have to target some questions will ask members of the audience to please come to the microphone as an unstated questions everybody can hear it my name is samuel runs and i am currently the president of the group lgbt q and more reason they are

lesbian gay bisexual transgender and allied students here the kansas state university sir i want to thank you for your support of a repeal of instruments are discriminatory policies usually don't ask don't tell my pleasantly was simple what can i have the student do to support your work sir what can we do to make service in our armed services people for every citizen well i think clearly what sector gates and i have laid out over the next year they're not quite a year for the answer is the review to understand and exactly what the potential impact of this change of the law change would be that i as the senior military officer i feel responsible to both understand that impact in order to lead it as we implement a policy that would be a new policy and then specifically what you can do

is to lead responsibly as well one of my biggest concerns is that the that this review and this issue not what heavily strain military in the middle of this debate in a way that debt burdens them when they are oppressed as hard as they've ever been pressed and performing at an exceptional level there has been criticism that it's going to take too long to do this in fact i spend a fair amount of time on this before my testimony looking for what i consider to be objective data in terms of impact on the force there's a lot of strongly held views on it there are a lot of the polls on it but in fact what we want to do over the next few months is really understand that impact objective really it impacts our troops will about how their families feel about it how the influencers if you

will families who raise young men women to come answer and how they how they feel about it and have that have that interaction if you will as we move forward through these reviews so more than an ounce how responsible leadership from your position and others in positions of responsibility that care about this issue would be what i would ask for i think it's a family and the reason afghan presidential election the red flags went up pretty much before the un vote to begin to be counted up all of those dramatic challenge the bowed out over what many people considered external pressure it seems like giving the afghans a choice between religious extremists and a corrupt government that franklin no one seemed to support un says only raises concerns we all have both getting into and through the elections and we

feel that with the level of corruption that we know exists and in afghanistan and it's been an issue that's been addressed at every level in afghanistan and probably the most important level is with the with the political leadership in afghanistan and president karzai laid out in his inauguration address he has some what steps he's going to take to get at the corruption issue and quite frankly and those that are in great for what i was speaking about a few minutes ago that the military aspect of this cannot succeed without success in other areas and there have to be there have to be significant steps taken on the part of president karzai and other leaders in afghanistan two to eliminate corruption it's been there for a long time it's not going to go away away overnight but where it has not been addressed before it is being addressed now and we can move forward in a positive way and less he

continues to be it's too early to tell how much is actually what effects have been taken i mean we've got there is a year there is a crimes task force which is there were working hard on rule of law not just weak but internationally with afghanistan what does that mean we're dressing is not just at the national level but quite frankly down to the tune in and the districts and one of the forces were most concerned about a local police we actually made quite a progress in terms of playing the local afghan the outside afghan security forces the army in particular but we still got a long way to go with the police and corruptions of a car that is worth over but at home on how how competent to have humanity and foreign corrupt election to address corruption why he is the duly elected president and we went through a process quite frankly that that not all united states in doors in terms of elections but also the international community

so he was duly elected by these people and you know after four minister thank you thank you for coming as he spoke of the importance of pursuing some are as was criticizing foreign policy for military dominance but i'm curious as how these goals can be achieved given that the obama administration refuses to make a nuclear non christians declaratory policy in the upcoming nuclear posture review well pastor views not done so quite frankly i don't know what the outcome is that with respect to that it'll be done here in the next few weeks there are the part that is stifling incredibly important about what i said is the whole of government approach here that that but we must work together to talk about in particular sectors clinton and gates and both secretary gates and i had advocated

for increasing the resources in the state department that was in great part that dramatically reduced in the early nineties and specifically with just a lot of work with you i said tee and in haiti and they were terrific but it was an agency that had been reduced by significant percentage of essentially of become almost a contracting agency that former gov that the policy diplomacy peace it needs to be continue to be energized and we're moving in that direction is just would endure for a long time which of the resources away maybe a decade or two before we can do all that and i had i just can't speak to an outdoor the president's position with respect to nuclear weapons and and their existence and where we go is very clear and certainly from what i know from what i see at npr

and that the nuclear posture review will speak to that but i wouldn't talk about what's gonna say until attacks actually publish despite the fact that there are ripples out their seemingly reporting themselves as knowing exactly what it says thanks very much for your discussion today acting career positions are very enlightening and hopeful or teacher i especially enjoyed your emphasis on to win the war against terrorism will have to win the hearts and minds of the citizens around the world are wondering this might be a time in history where we did accomplish that by reducing our military presence throughout the world and perhaps reducing the number of military bases that we have in other countries or if you think that would be unfeasible for me from my perspective and i know i grew up in the navy i grew up around the world and the united states police what was learned over the course of my career it was a lot about my country from other

people's shoes and how highly we're regarded how hopeful they are for leadership across a vast array of issues not just on the military side and in a time where the challenges that are out there right now in the charity's is one of them but the threat of terrorists getting their hands on nuclear weapons which is a very real threat and he's something al qaeda seeks for example what we see in countries like iran and north korea in terms of the assistance capabilities that they are developing from my perspective it requires the united states the united states the whole of government to be engaged around the world and what i worry about quite frankly is why we're calling terrorists and mentality that that we received globally and just come home get a

get behind the walls of our borders if you will and i think my my own view of that is that put us on a track that actually potentially generate more crises as opposed to us all that we're working hard right now to get some seventy to eighty percent of my resources devoted to the central command a or a racket and a stand and that part of the world it is the most unstable part of the world i think for obvious reasons and the middle east have been a focus eric mind since i've taken over its chairman actually before that in seeking stability there is really key and how we do it we do it with with where we are right now i worry about not being engaged in other parts of the world not just on bases but in what i call routing deployments to in places where we are invited to be engaged to have relationships they actually through the strength of those relationships would preclude conflict breaking acts

sorry i come i come from a position as the more we receive the more likely something really bad it's going to happen we need is a globally engaged and actually there is an expectation in regions around the world that we will do that and i don't just the military specifically and we have relationships with countries that are long lasting that are underpinned in the military built a relationship with that is not that of that is not the main focus of the relationship and in fact in many cases relationships develop from having a military military relationship specifically that allow broader relationship instrument yes a little thank you admiral for appearing here today my question speaks to an earlier question someone as you mentioned in your speech we face a new kind of war against non state actors such as all tied up in this world what if any role does our current

size of our nuclear arsenal have and should there be any changes to the size or operational status of our nuclear arsenal i'm heavily involved right now mean that would personally heavily involved in the nose negotiations for their following start treaty the nuclear weapons treaty between us and russia which expire this landscape that we live in a world where russia it has an extraordinary number of nuclear weapons and the results of that negotiation not done yet but certainly the hope is that there is a fairly substantial reduction number of nuclear weapons and that aligns very clearly with wear president obama wants to go get there overnight in addition to the strategic weapons which is what this negotiation is about russia has thousands of tactical nuclear weapons which is not on the table right now how do you get to a point where you

get to something like zero which is what the president is out there and given the thousands that are there actually also given the potential so the treaty that we've got that have to be worked together it's been very successful historically and i think the one that will follow hopefully in the next few weeks we'll also both reduce weapons but recognize both countries still haven't quite frankly both countries still have the potential to white each other about china has developed nuclear weapons india has nuclear weapons pakistan has nuclear weapons so the totality of the challenge i don't think can be handled now they can just be answered with you with that with with one a single approach it's an enormously complex issue and that's the reality of where we are pragmatic side of where we are and in

terms of trying to achieve a lot a point where they don't exist anymore i thought an answer on the ten on tour marshall from opera for gay percent for division i can carry not the focus of the nuclear proliferation things that nature but in relation to the non id players players becoming nuclear states do see in a cell major indices in military strategy and often cross borders there's a tremendous emphasis on career become a nuclear state if you will at to grab to four focus heavily obviously on iran and continues from are going to seek nuclear weapons and i think iran achieving nuclear weapons is incredibly destabilizing

in the region very much potentially triggers other countries in the region to develop nuclear weapons themselves literally in response and i talked earlier about how unstable that part of the world is that we just don't need more incivility what we need for martin marty who's responsible leadership the evidence now that i've seen and there isn't there's an aspect certainly to do with those two countries in particular north korean iran which is tied to corporations and the worry that not only would they have the weapons and have the technology and in fact could spread the technology and meet the need in the requests the terrorists for example so it's a it enters and we were working hard on nonproliferation we will continue to do that it's not just the united states countries around the world are working on this putting regimes which are very top in that regard it is by no means a

perfect system and then the technology potentially still plans for and so dealing with that is all part of the same issue to make sure that not only do more countries achieve that capability but also eliminates as best we can the proliferation of these the police yeah question about the training and development of the people in the military tie and toward your principles about applying force in a principal and precisely and with increasing technology on the battlefield and feel is arabic push within the military to make sure that all the war fighters and have the training and the knowledge that they can apply the fortunate in a principled way i would think there would be a huge change so we've learned to

use want to be the signature example of what joe mcchrystal has led since he got there last summer which is to seek to eliminate any civilian casualties and sad and really focus on the people and not focus on the anime and actually goes to the uk goes to the larger question for me of the terrorists what what is at the root cause of terrorism and how we get to our world and in countries around the world where fifteen sixteen seventeen year olds are making decisions that are positive decisions about her life not negative if they see a way ahead which doesn't include kill themselves and kill a lot of innocent people along with them and we're a long way off from that is based on where we are so i think he'd be example that mcchrystal was lady lady in out there is is significant opt out the troops on the ground in afghanistan that thought interact and

they have concerns about some of what they've been asked to do in terms of rules of engagement because it wasn't that way early interactive and it could make them and in some cases have made it and they believed they had been they become more vulnerable when president obama rolled out the strategy for afghanistan and pakistan the following up a couple days after that i went down to lose you can't lose you to talk about a thousand marines and i went to fort campbell kentucky to talk about the same number of soldiers the vast majority of whom are going to afghanistan and i specifically talk about this issue because these are instantaneous decisions that are made at a very very small unit level that that are there to take the training which we are focused on visits back up right now all the way into the training demands but it had not been the focus that it had it has not been up to

now the focus that idiots and so we're reading habits change that as well and it and in some cases it it's a tougher decision but we are totally dependent on the night i also have a great conference in our young men and women on this is that as i've i would say how long they had to do this a longtime started in vietnam this is the best military in my career in and i'm in my fifth decade seoul and it's a it's a it's great because our young people make it bright side every confidence they can do this it's just it's just an adjustment and it is what i said in my remarks we can tactically we're strategically lose and if we keep killing civilians they're not gonna believe we're there for their good it just it wouldn't work in your home and it doesn't work and mayors thank you good afternoon and most around the officer first class neil strachan and and

i wondered if you live with your intelligence gathering had any insight as to what the final score the basketball game would be this evening as business that's matt thank you for coming and one moment in commander in the navy active duty in years a student my question has to do with the young navy psychiatrist that couple months ago killed i think it was thirteen individuals so it seems apparent that he was more motivated by some radical muslim got in their duty do you believe enough was done to or what could have been done differently to to try to care act this has prevented is that perhaps a systemic of our own

aluminum of a more systemic problem we might have a military with gorgeous sensitive issues issues such as this and this was before the forties and we learned a lot from that and one of the things it said became more obvious to us than we knew was the potential for the radicalization use an internet and clearly he had been in contact with a very eloquent a very radical imam in yemen were actually lawyers had spent a lot time in nine states and it is it is there in some ways the next phase if you will of radicalization and an end and the same was true as we as we found out more more about the individual who was on the plane and different from the torah at the same time so it's four for all of us not just the military but for

all of us we need to get a lot more attention i set very early in that discussion about this was asked questions and there are military leaders here i'm told military leaders responsible for no one is in their unit known what they're up to and i don't think there's anybody more capable and prepare for doing that than the leaders that we have across the military and i have very high expectations for that before this incident it continues to be in retrospect there clearly were some signs that that could have been picked up the specifics of both the revue hand the determination of outcomes with respect to that that there are certain that were were not know we haven't completed that i wouldn't i wouldn't talk to any more details on that i'm really speaking to the part of the reports that have been made public that mr

clark in for surgery are you togo west record out on the study that reviewed that they did but i'm also my points back to my expectations for leaders that it isn't just about radicalization is about the totality of behavior of our people we are experiencing right now in all our military record suicides and were working day and night to try to figure out how to fix that but the numbers actually continued very hard questions and they are dramatically increase since these war started this hard pressed to believe that the wars don't have an awful lot to do with it even though that hasn't been proven scientifically yet but the only thing i think that the best way to get at this is to leadership and the individuals were going to see these individuals are those who were closest to him in the workplace at all also in the home and that we need to have our antenna up for those

signals as leaders so it isn't just about the radicalization piece which i spoke it's about behavior in general and the pressure is that so many of our young people are under and can and we must as leaders intervene or too often and so tragically and saddened the cell phone of a convention results in the suicide rate that we've got right now so it all of us myself i knew anybody in leadership position recently got a lot of work to do and and in ways that are actually is their core leadership principles that we all understand and taking care of people no one who they are know a lot about what their hopes and dreams are how they're doing an awful lot of the suicides are best we can tell tied to financial difficulties or relationship difficulties we got it out there right

now in rebel outsider but were not things are thinking they might sell for your really enlightening but just alluded to bluff ago michael thompson from kentucky to be student insecure to stay busy helping including someone who is becoming the next afghanistan and did the gaze of military solution to dating we all restoring the functioning government and so i did and what we're continuously but under the last one is obvious phoned the country in africa but as we pull stuff a couple of stories where they use all the country enough of that is predictable stuff a couple for the last couple of years as a republican two countries potentially becoming safe havens for terrorism al qaeda specifically one of which is yemen and the others is a smart there's not a military solution here

they're they're most likely is a military certainly a citizen security aspect to this i mean you know provided by united states but clearly that's key and so we are we work hard to support the government in somalia as quite frankly does your country but it's the same kind of mix if you will that where there has been a weak government that is what i call an audio data terrace going on to tuesday and governs basis or weekly governs cases that's where they live and they dominated ahmed the people and we got aggressive from from that point of view and as far as the home for apple com which is the four star commands that has responsibility from the united states perspective militarily as responsibility for the continent of africa we stood this up about a year ago last october and we did it because we think apple

is a critical condiment with lots of challenges and having that kind of leadership engagement and focus does what i talked about earlier which is it engages the leadership engages the militaries so that we have long term relationships and we really developed province between the countries and if we have no one there no one doing it it's hard to build up that trust and that headquarters is is stationed in stuttgart germany and ice a very comfortable with workstation right now the pages are preparing to address is today you mention that nuclear nonproliferation is important goal and especially by certain states like iran and korea that have that ability to minister interests and allies abroad in event that sanctions are not enough to deter the acquisition of nuclear weapons to extend our military

interventions a possibility it with with the colorado with a tree or both their value that answer the question again with it with a rod specifically there's a an awful lot a war going on with respect to both dialogue and diplomacy to engage them to see if they will give up essentially give his goal they certainly haven't thus far there's a lot more gone right now with respect to sanctions and in an additional united nations sanctions regime that that if you work hard to make it a very very stringent set of sanctions and i think as the president has said sectarian state segregated myself and said that doesn't mean that all options are out there are

contingency options certainly that is not the preferred path at this point it's very narrow space between iran getting a nuclear weapon and someone who might strike iran and both of those outcomes i think generated an enormous amount of instability in a part of the world that's already very unstable so i worry about not just the accident in and of themselves but also the unintended consequences of those acts which are very hard to predict but it's made at triclosan five countries in the middle east a couple weeks ago and there are there are extraordinary and increasing concerns about the development of this capability for ron and what the potential outcomes that the sonar while people were in a car and the same is true actually for north korea and in terms of the stabilizing part of the world that is viable economically vital to our

france vital countries we have alliances with and that potentially could be very destabilizing as well so there's an awful lot against the united states has a lot of countries are focused on north korea ensuring that they would never get to a point where they would have the capabilities and they can with that we really appreciate the ever will and coming in speaking to us today and come backstage and it's with me all the locus or a win by five tonight at that we do have the sweatshirt here present sometimes called washington post faced a lot as you just heard admiral mike mullen chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the top military advisor to the president of the united states secretary of defense the national security council and the homeland security council admiral mullen spoke a kansas state

university's bramlage coliseum on march third two thousand ten audio from this landon lecture was provided by kansas state university i'm kate mcintyre keep your presents is a production of kansas public radio at the university of kansas city initiative raul know murder victims in the united states cannot afford to present itself to the world as a mission that still excludes human beings next month on cape york prisons the military's controversial don't ask don't tell policy last month admiral mullen and secretary of defense robert gates called for a review of the policy which they have homosexuals from openly serving in the nation's military experiment the revolution contains the wells that were set

challenge continues to be reset and we challenge is very big coming up on keep your presents how other countries are dealing with gays serving openly in paramilitary forces or the issues of privilege and we certainly we said that parts of a gift that we've all gotten to two excellent service so the country very well and what we can learn from the us military's experience with blacks and women in the armed forces the senate's use of the news now that we use to prevent integration of blacks in those very same excuses and you know that's been successful in the nose is to be successful so if the order is given leadership sense that also moves at a certain target that's next month on cape er preserve its finest next week and keep your prisons as we close out women's history month it's a conversation with janet murguia president of the national council of the ross of the largest national hispanic civil rights

organization in the united states and her twin sister judge miriam or via the first latino to serve on the us court of appeals mr gere sisters gave this year's women's leadership lecturer at the university of kansas you can hear it in a club next sunday evening on kansas public radio every week keep your prisons brings you some of the most interesting speakers and lectures in the central kansas we can do that only because keep your listeners just like you have supported this program since it began four years ago show your support for this and other locally produced programs on campus public radio by becoming like a pr member today we just kicked off a campaign for excellence two thousand ten are spring membership drive you can become a kbr listener member today by logging on our secure website kbr that hey you got edu call us at eight eight eight

five seven seven five to sixty that ever again at age eighty five seventy seventy five to sixty four at eighty eight k p r k a n e and from all the city kansas public radio thanks for your support it's b it's b it's b