Complete transcript. Excerpt below:
DICKERSON: I want to start with something Senator Kerry said, which we’re going to play later in the show in an interview. He said that he didn’t think the president should make a decision whether he adds troops or not in Afghanistan until there’s stability in the government. Is the president going to delay his decision?
EMANUEL: Well, it’s not a matter of delay. The review will continue. He has had a meeting just yesterday with his national security team or parts of his national security team. And the review will continue the next week and the following week. So there will not be a delay in the review. Obviously what I think Senator Kerry was pointing to, which is absolutely correct, which is the essential part of the strategy or a key component or a leg on the stool, is an Afghan partner that is ready to take control of both the security situation in Afghanistan, and the civilian side of that.
DICKERSON: But the problem is, that partner may not be ready by the time the president is done with his thinking.
EMANUEL: You have got to notice what we noticed, John, which is that is a very important point. And even then, I mean, look, you will have an Afghan government. There are two roads here. One is obviously a run-off election or a negotiated settlement. But what’s most important about that process is that there’s a credibility and a legitimacy to the government at the end of that process. So which road they choose, that’s up to them. It must have -- be legitimate and credible in the eyes of the Afghan people.
DICKERSON: Let me ask you...
EMANUEL: But...
(CROSSTALK)
EMANUEL: Go ahead.
DICKERSON: The run-off question. A lot of people are concerned it has gotten too cold there. It’s too late for a run-off. What’s your view?
EMANUEL: Well, there is -- well, I’ve not been to Afghanistan or -- but what people are clearly pointing to is that it becomes more difficult to have it. You could do it. I think weather is a factor. The most important factor though is credibility and legitimacy. What I wanted earlier to say is what I think Senator Kerry is pointing to, which is important, is the strategic review on whether to send more troops is only one piece of the puzzle, important piece.
But the puzzle is much more complicated than that. Because when you’re creating -- what the American force would be expected to do is -- in General McChrystal’s report, is create a space and an opportunity for the Afghans to fill. And the question is, do you have a credible partner that could then fill that space that we’re asking the American troops to create?
And what is I think clear after the five meetings and the review is that basically this war for eight years was adrift. There really wasn’t any build-up of the army, the police, or the civilian side of delivering services to the different parts of the region.
DICKERSON: But let me...
EMANUEL: And so we are starting literally from scratch on that key component.
DICKERSON: From scratch on that key component.
But let’s go back to the partner because the partner -- is in our American national interest what happens in Afghanistan, and therefore, are we putting pressure on Karzai to take one of these two roads? This isn’t just about the Afghan people. It’s about our national security.
EMANUEL: Oh, right. But what would be -- as you probably know, what would be worse is if the Afghan people thought that the course that was chosen was done by the determination of the United States. And then it would lose the legitimacy and the credibility to the Afghan people.
And you are right about that piece. I would add the second point is that -- that, in fact, in Pakistan, you know, they have a different view about whether we should add troops. So there’s a -- a decision about Afghanistan has ramifications to the region which is why we have a strategy that’s comprehensive in its review.
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