Well, the most important thing I have to do is say welcome to call him Colin Powell and apologize that the ice isn't quite thick enough for ice fishing yet. So come back next week called and then we'll we'll make it all work. And I would remind Colin that 49 years ago today Minnesota Guardsmen were Landing in North Africa for The Invasion there. So you come to an audience that represents that sort of tradition the people who stopped Pickett's charge at Gettysburg and went on to the meuse-argonne to those first battles in North Africa to casino and what have you so you come to a state with a great military tradition, even though we don't have any active military installations here. For the rest of you. Let me say that if you can read and if you do read there are certain things, you know about our speaker tonight. I don't have to tell you of his remarkable American success story the son of immigrant parents and Harlem growing up in the South Bronx graduating from this ccny and the ROTC program and coming into the army and you undoubtedly read about these other marvelous things. This man has done about going to graduate school and getting an MBA and being selected as a White House fellow. A graduate of the national War College being executive assistants to the deputy secretary of defense and the Secretary of Defense being chosen by presidents to be Deputy National Security adviser and being the National Security advisor. You've read that so I don't have to tell you that and I won't but I want to tell you about a different colon Powell of Colin Powell that I know and probably you don't know but I think you ought to know. Fellow who who paid his dues in the other part of the armed services as an infantry platoon leader as an infantry company Commander as a battalion Commander as a brigade Commander as an assistant division Commander as a Corps Commander as a commander of the the forces command the Great Central reserve of the Armed Forces of the United States. A very competent Soldier and recognized as such by his contemporaries and officer who understands tactical and operational Concepts but also understands National strategic Concepts and can Bridge the two and understands how to get things done in Washington and how to use his influence to provide this Republic for the best defenses. It can probably have given the support that we the people of the United States are likely to give those defenses. But there is another colon Powell beyond that that not too many of us know a fellow who doesn't take himself very seriously who has a marvelous sense of humor who had an awful lot of luck in his life the good luck to marry Alma Johnson the second nicest lady I know in the whole world. And the fellow with the remarkable empathic and understanding view of the people who work with him and for him. And more importantly a very decent human being and a person that can be counted upon to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do and I'm very proud to have him here in Minnesota. But I'm more proud as a citizen of this country to have him in the tasks that he's in I know that the senior military officer this country cannot guarantee in these times that we will not make the same mistakes. We made after World War one after World War II and to a lesser extent after Vietnam, but if history is any Criterion, we are likely to make those mistakes, but if anybody can help keep us from those mistake making those mistakes, it's the man that's to talk to us tonight Colin Powell and I'm very pleased to introduce him to you. He's a great guy. Thank you. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Ladies and gentlemen for your Very kind welcome and thank you so much General Vesey Jack my dear friend for that most kind introduction. I've got to tell you that I'm very very pleased to be with you in the home state of Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale and Jack Vesey in the 1991 World Series champions the Minnesota Twins. And the home state of Highland Park seon. Mr. Jack Morris and my favorite Minnesota is adored an adopted son The Honorable Kirby Puckett. I'm a New Yorker and I still remember Bobby Thomson in 1951. But I'll tell you what Kirby Puckett in the six-game match that. And as you know, he's an adopted son of Minnesota. I want to tell you about another adopted son of Minnesota a new one. That you don't know about yet. I'm going to tell you a little story about this gentleman. Tell you the story by holding up this picture which obviously none of you can see. But this is a picture. That was taken 28 years ago. in the jungles of Vietnam Who's taking the place called The a Shau Valley which is along the Laotian Border in Northern portion of South Vietnam, and it's a picture outside of a grass Hut. And there are six Little Mountain yard children in this picture and standing behind them are two infantry captains. One of the Infantry captains is a Vietnamese Captain by the name of Hugh Captain Hugh and the other infantry Captain is an American Captain by the name of colon Powell who had been in the Army about three years at that time and was in his first war Vietnam. This picture came to me through the mail. in the fall of 1989 When I opened the letter in this picture dropped out, I recognize it instantly because I have a copy of this picture in my own personal album. And in the 28 years that have passed since this picture was taken I often wondered what had happened to Captain Hugh. And when this picture showed up in the fall of 1989, it was accompanied by a letter from Captain Hugh who was now Colonel Hugh. and after the fall of Saigon He was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese. And he was put into jail for over 13 years. It was called re-education. And at the end of those 13 years finally the North Vietnamese, let him out of jail. They let him out of jail because of international pressure. They let him out of jail because they realize they had to change their relationship with the United States. And so it was time to close down these prisons and they also let him out of jail because of the efforts of General Jack Vesey who at that time 1988 had started work as the president's Emissary on PO wmia Affairs and was making it clear to the Vietnamese that they had to behave in a more acceptable way. And I got this picture in the letter in 1989. I was asked to see if I could help in getting Colonel Hugh out of Vietnam with his wife and his children and his grandchildren and when the help of a wonderful friend of mine by the name of mr. Richard Armitage who knows about such things we went to work on it and it took us almost two years, but we got Colonel you out of Vietnam with his family to include his grandchildren and we brought them here to the United States and this afternoon for the first time in 28 years. I had to chance to see my old friend and fighting companion from 1962 and we reminisced and he is now Adopted son of Minnesota. Where does he live? He lives in New Hope New Hope Minnesota. Please join me in welcoming your latest citizen kind of outcome Hugh. With Colonel you is a member of his family who was a boat person who escaped from Vietnam in the late 70s. Had to leave that country and just got on a boat and headed out into the ocean and also found her way to the United States and to Minnesota and to New Hope and it was through her efforts that Colonel Hugh and his family were able to get out. She doesn't want to be introduced. She is going to be embarrassed but she's a hero and she needs to be introduced mrs. 280. Yes, Minnesota is home to outstanding Americans. Patriotic Americans is General vessey alluded to Americans dedicated to the Heartland values of our nation and a minnesotans have always been willing to defend those values. Americans in uniform such as the superb young Minnesota men and women from the great 34th Infantry Division have your Army National Guard and men and women from the outstanding 130 third Tactical Air Wing and the 148 fighter Interceptor group both of the Minnesota Air National Guard the almost 40,000 Minnesota men and women of our army our Navy and Marine Corps in our Air Force testify eloquently to Minnesota's abiding commitment to America's defense. Mike and look back through the years and see among those citizen soldiers of Minnesota a young Guardsmen that you've already been introduced to this evening again named Jack Vesey receiving his Commission on a battlefield and Italy that young Minnesota Guardsmen fought in two Wars held every enlisted rank in the United States Army every officer rank and then became the 10th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also became my very dear friend and mentor and to this day. He continues his service serving brilliantly as President Bush's special Emissary to Hanoi or po W and Mia Affairs, or I can look to more recent times to the Persian Gulf War and see the fine young men and women who brought us victory in Operation Desert Storm. Minnesota since Sailors two aircraft carriers such as Kitty Hawk Minnesota sent Marines in Minnesota sent soldiers and Airmen and I can look all across your state and I can look right here in this audience and find Minnesota men and women who helped win the Cold War people who stood watch in Korea and Germany or who tended a thousand campfires around the world in Service to America in service to the Free World and I can find throughout your state the great civilians who supported them as a result of your sacrifices as a result of America sacrifices. We have won a victory of historic proportions the Cold War. It's clearly over. But more than the Cold War has gone by the wayside. We are witnessing the end of a period of history that began with the end of world war one and which manifested itself in fascism and communism fascism Was Defeated across the Atlantic and across the Pacific in 1945. And today communism has ended in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe and it is fading fast among its few remaining adherence. Can there be any doubt in anyone's mind that over time communism is final bastions Cuba. North Korea Vietnam will eventually discard it's worn out useless Concepts even these nations will eventually see freedoms like at tyrannies end, but the old International order of the Cold War was very familiar to us. It had form. It had substance. It had an ideology we could see it could be touched. It could be heard. It had its Devil's it had its demons. It had its armies. It served as a focus for the free worlds response. And that focus is now blurred the form and substance are disappearing before our eyes Vanishing in a world would have changed and still more change that appears daily in our newspapers. And on our television screens. This is good news. This is great news, but it is also disconcerting news. It is disconcerting because we are not sure what is coming in the cold War's place. We are looking through a glass rather dimly as our grand Nemesis the Soviet Union disassembles literally disassembles before are anxious eyes. We have no way of knowing what new form this well endowed and rich land of 11 time zones called the Soviet Union will take we can only watch we can hope we can offer our assistance where it is prudent and in our interest to do so Around the world. We are seeing a proliferation of nation-states seeking new ideologies new political systems new economic systems and new alignments to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. We can be proud very very proud and we can feel Vindicated that most of these nations are basing their systems on the Democratic model we have espoused in which is brought freedom and prosperity not only to the world but freedom to the human spirit. All of this turmoil all of this dramatic change leaves us dazzled and little bewildered as we try to keep up with it and to determine its ultimate outcome and yet despite this change in the middle of all this confusion. There are certain certain realities certain constants that we can use as stars to chart our course. The first reality is that the United States will retain and must retain its position of world leadership are old friends in Europe look to us to continue the all-important transatlantic link the newly freed nations of Central and Eastern Europe now look West to us rather than East for their inspiration and for their security Today and tomorrow as we meet here tonight. NATO's leaders are meeting in Rome to approve the most dramatic revision of Alliance strategy and for decades and to reaffirm that NATO is crucial to the security and to the stability of a Europe that is going to be whole and it is going to be free our friends across the Pacific similarly look to us to stay engaged and to continue to be a stabilizing force in one of the world's most dynamic regions in our very own hemisphere. We have served as the model for the democratic reform which has swept Central and South America which in many cases still rests on extremely fragile foundations in every corner of the globe. There are people who are counting on us for leadership were counting on us to remain engaged were counting on us to remain committed Only we could have put together the Coalition that stood shoulder to shoulder in Saudi Arabia, and then reversed the brutal invasion of Kuwait only we could have projected the military force that countered and then defeated the world's forced fourth largest army in Iraq only we could have served as the Catalyst for the historic Middle East peace conference that is unfolding in Madrid. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot we dare not we must not abandon our leadership role and Retreat into a shell of isolationism twice in this Century. We have tried to abandon our leadership role and the consequences were disastrous World War one and World War Two. We must not make this mistake again. After I Titanic struggle of half a century first against Fascism and then against communism America has found her home in the world. We are not locked into our territorial limits by two great oceans to our East and to our West. Our home is the International Community. Our home is with the nations of the Free World by being a part of that world and not withdrawing America makes that world safer more productive more prosperous and more Humane a second reality that we must not forget. Is that while the Soviet Union is transforming itself. We can't lose sight of the fact that more than 27,000 27,000 nuclear weapons. And a huge Red Army are still in existence except they are under increasingly tenuous control as we see the Soviet Center dissolve in front of our eyes this strategic strategic nuclear capability that exists within the disappearing Soviet Union is a capability that could destroy us in 30 minutes. And so we must continue to deal with it. It must be deterred and Soviet conventional capability of the Red Army even in its weakened state is still the most powerful Army in Eurasia and so cannot be waived away in the Euphoria of the moment the third reality is that We must devote more of our energies and our resources to our needs here at home our economy our cities our education system are minorities and the poor who are yet to share in our national wealth and forth. We must not close our eyes to the reality that we live in a still very troubled world where danger uncertainty instability in crisis lurk in many corners. It is a world where we have learned that crisis and War are very real possibilities. I have been chairman for 25 months and my staff tells me I have been involved in 14 separate and distinct crises and contingencies from little ones involving the rescue of our ambassador and Somalia two big ones involving Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The only thing all of these 14 crises have in common is I didn't know anyone of them was coming. And the one thing I'm absolutely sure of there's a 15th one out there and a 16 and a 17. This is a reality. We must never ignore forget or be unprepared for President Bush and secretary Cheney are fully aware of these constants. I've just described and these realities they have shaped a new National Security strategy to deal with them the new strategy recognizes that the likelihood of a global war with the former Soviet Union is so small that we can cut back in our forces the forces we have maintained to deal with the possibility of a global war this new strategy makes sure however that we maintain enough forces to deter anyone from thinking that we are unable to defend ourselves or our friends or our interest. It also preserves our ability. To reconstitute forces to reverse the course we're on if we discover that we have guessed wrong. The strategy also ensures that our armed forces are able to maintain overseas presence to reassure our friends to meet our treaty obligations and to make any potential Challenger think twice about challenging us our strategy ensures that we are always able to deal with a regional conflict of the type. We faced in the Persian Gulf and our strategy ensures that in a world of proliferating nuclear weapons. Our nuclear forces are second to none in the past few months. We have begun the process of reshaping our Armed Forces to meet the demands of this new strategy in the Pentagon. We are not avoiding the hard choices. We're not hiding our heads in the stand. We are looking at what needs to be done to keep America safe. And in doing this we looked first across the Atlantic to Europe for years. We have maintained over 300,000 troops in Europe why to deal with the Red Army? Well, the Red Army is now on its way home. We can cut our forces in Europe severely and over the next several years. We will cut them by 150,000 troops in this fiscal year alone in the next 10 or 11 months. The United States. Army will bring home seventy-two thousand troops from Europe and we've started the process of closing over 200 European basis. We are also cutting back on forces in the United States that are earmarked for Europe and this includes reducing some of the reserve forces that we have maintained here in the United States to go to Europe in time of emergency in the last 10 years. We added more than 250,000 Guardsmen and reservists to our roles in order to deal with this European global war. It is right and sensible to reduce this number if we do not need forces. We shouldn't keep them in the active component and we shouldn't keep them in the reserves either. If we don't need the forces, let's not spend the money. Let's give that money back to the American taxpayer at the same time. We're going to make sure that our remaining Reserve forces are an integral part of the overall force and will play an even more important role in the future. We must continue to provide sufficient forces in Europe to serve as an anchor of stability in a region of increasing instability. What's the threat in Europe? The threat is instability, even though the Soviet Union is dissembling. There are Wars taking place in Europe who would have thought in 1991 that bombs would be falling on Zagreb. NATO is an anchor of stability in this region of Great instability. NATO is alive and well at every meeting I go to with my NATO colleagues. They constantly tell us stay in Europe. We need you to remain engaged in Europe. Across the Atlantic there are other areas that require our engagement. We must maintain a presence in the Mediterranean and in Southwest Asia in our immediate response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. We prove how vital our interests are in that very important part of the world. Next Looking across the Atlantic and deciding what our needs are there. We looked across the Pacific to our friends and allies and that rich vast and dynamic region. We can be very proud of the role. We have played and making the Pacific region the place of stability and progress. We believe that we can continue that progress and stability with fewer forces. So we will be making modest reductions to our forces in Japan and in Korea and of course, we will be leaving the Philippines, but we must likewise not withdraw totally from this most critical region of the world and when we turn to our own hemisphere, we knew that we would continue to allocate forces to work with our friends in Central and South America to fight the war on drugs. Then finally as we looked at the uncertainty and instability in the World At Large, we knew that here in the United States, we had to maintain a pool of forces instantly ready in a moment's notice to respond to contingencies to respond to one of those 14 crises or the 15th one that no one expected. But which most assuredly is always out there waiting and of course in all of that we made sure that a strategic forces were in good shape. When you add up all of these Force requirements. You have what we call the base Force the base Force the minimum force needed in this new environment to accomplish The New National strategy at the minimum cost to the American citizen. It's a force that will be 25% smaller than our Cold War force over the next several years will be cutting the size of your army by one-third from a teen division. Is down to 12 your Navy will lose over 100 ships and close to 20% of its people your air force will drop from 36 tactical fighter Wing's down to 26. Your Marine. Corps will be cut by almost 1/4 will reduce over 250,000 reserves as I mentioned so far, we've canceled or terminated more than 100 programs and we're looking for more to kill some 85 thousand civilians have gone off our roles in the last year and a half. We are closing or withdrawing some 300 different bases and installations worldwide. These cuts and closures will be a mixed blessing when we cut back five hundred thousand troops in the active Force. We are also eliminating 500,000 jobs in the American economy jobs that went to young men and young women and especially to minorities Industries and communities will be affected by our Cuts in our closures and I know from Reading one of your newspapers last week at the Twin Cities are beginning to feel the impact of this cutback. I wish it could be otherwise, but the simple fact of the matter is that cutting the budget means cutting the budget we need to face these reductions over time so they can be done and absorbed and sensible way with minimum impact on our troops those proud volunteers and with minimum impact on the industries and the communities who have supported us so well over the last 40 years, but we are determined to do in this process is to make sure that the new smaller force is even better than the wonderful Force. You saw it work in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It isn't a demobilization of draftees with a disastrous results. We saw after World War One World War II Korea and to some extent also after Vietnam. We have a proud force of volunteers. Proud volunteers who must still be ready to go in a moment's notice In Harm's Way, they must be well-trained well-equipped well-led and confident of their ability. They must also feel that they have the continuing love and support of the American people love and support of the kind. We saw in the post desert storm period in the months since the war ended America has had a love affair with its armed forces the likes of which I have never seen in 34 years of service parades and homecomings have dotted the land. The American people have seen in their Armed Forces a portrait of what they would like to see in the whole nation bright Brave drug-free responsible caring concern cooperating young men and women. They've seen the American family in the person of their Armed Forces at it's very very best. One vignette which never fails to touch me has to do with the television show that came out. During the war and was just before the ground War started. And Sam Donaldson was visiting one of our units that was getting ready for the ground war that Shirley was coming. And it was an armored unit. And Sam in his irrepressible. and loving fashion dropped in on the unit with the corps Commander Lieutenant General Frank's General Frank's one of our great leaders had his leg blown off in Vietnam and he's got a false right leg and he just Wobbles a little bit, but he's a great commander and he took Sam into one of the tank companies and this tank company of about 90 Soldiers with their M1A1 tanks. They knew what was coming and the camera just cut to several of these young men and listen to them speak and about four or five of them spoke. First a couple of grizzled old sergeants and you can see them taking care of their youngsters training them and one white sergeant said we're going to be all right, we've trained hard. We've trained. Well, we know it's coming. We'll take care of business cool calm and collected they cut to a young. Chinese American soldier who said a few words then they cut to a black Sergeant who gave that same kind of reassuring comment. He clearly was the oldest soldier in the company few wrinkles around his eyes, which I recognized it said that he'd been around the track a few times and he said don't worry about a thing. My boys will take care of business and then they cut to a young white Soldier could have been more 19 years old and he said, I'm proud to be here proud to be American Proud to be in the United States Army and then they cut to one final shot. And it was a young black soldier and he was sitting on a case of ammunition and they focused in on him and behind him. You could see other members of the company can only see their hands white and they were black occasionally cut to the face and they were Hispanic was America and the young black soldier looked up at the camera. He wasn't scared of Sam. Look right back at the camera, and he said I'm not worried about a thing. I'm going to be all right, we're going to be all right. We've trained hard we've been trained well. But most importantly said I'm with family. These men are my family. And then as our young soldiers do nowadays troops behind him went Hua Hua you seen him on television, which means right on go and the Young. Soldier just said they're my family. Then I can let anything happen to me. I'm not going to let anything happen to them. I've seen this tape hundred times and never fails to move me never fails to move me that we are able to produce young men and young women like that. Send them 8,000 miles away and have them talk about we're family. Well we have to do is to bring that 8,000 Miles back here to the United States. And remember that we are family all family gods family in the greatest country in the world. Are you seen my you've seen my kids on television? You didn't need to see me and know my buddy Norman. We try to stay off the tube because we're bound to say something would get us in trouble. So I love when they showed those young troops because they told it from the heart and the reaction throughout the country has been their wonderful. But how did you do that? Those young American teenagers aren't supposed to be like that. They're supposed to be Troublesome. They're supposed to be not up to standards. How did you do it in the Army and is a transferable well. The Armed Forces we've been doing it for years and we've been very consistent in our methods. We start off by having the highest expectations of our young men in our of our young women. Our philosophy is that you only get back what you expect. So if you start low and expect low you'll end up low and you'll get low back. So we start high the first moment we see them. We tell them we have the highest expectations for them. Once they believe that they'll meet that never fails. We then impose discipline and standards. They learn our way of doing things. You cannot teach and train in an unstructured setting they measure up to our standards because if there are no standards and there is no learning. We take them through a set training pattern. We also educate them training teaches them skills and education teaches them to think and in both processes, we do meaningful things and we do them to specific standards high standards and we evaluate rigorously we don't waste the time of our young people. It's too valuable for them. And for us it's their time we're using and we don't waste it and throughout their training and throughout their education. We stress teamwork and we stress family. We tell them that people are betting their lives on the actions of a buddy and we tell them that they are betting their lives on other people's actions. We make them learn self-responsibility and self-accountability and we motivate them constantly, so constantly that gradually it turns into self-motivation gradually their teaching others and there's one other thing we don't do We don't tolerate drugs. We are so serious about drugs in the military that will go to any extent to stamp them out wherever they're found. We learned about drugs the hard way in the military when I was a brigade Commander 15 or 16 years ago. We were being torn up by drugs. We decided to get serious. We educated we counsel we discipline we test even I have been given a random urinalysis test as a four-star general, which I passed. But we don't fool around with it a few weeks ago. I was in San Diego. And after giving a speech and visiting some people I had some time on my hands and I said let's drop into a recruiting station unannounced. Well, I want to tell you so don't tell anybody we're coming because all kinds of officers will show up and try to supervise it. So we didn't we didn't tell anybody where we're going. We just showed up and I walked in the recruiting station and the Sergeant's they're just started, you know, just jump all over the place the Navy managed to get to a phone to call an officer real quick, but I went and visited with the Army and I was proud of what those sergeants were doing talking to young people and I went and I visited with the Navy recruiters and they were doing a great job visited with the Air Force recruiters and they were doing magnificently and the last office I came to in this little office complex was the marine recruiting station and they were two sergeants in there. One was busy with a potential recruit sitting at a desk and the other one reported to me. We talk for a moment of two or two and suddenly the other Sergeant freed up the man young man. He was talking to left and so he came over and reported and I sat down at his desk with him. I said I didn't want to interrupt anything. It's more important for you to talk to that potential recruit than it is to talk to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and he said yeah. But then he got he got very serious. And he said we were through with our conversation General. I said well you're going to get him. He said no. Not going to get them. And can't take them. One he didn't finish High School. And two, he's got a drug problem. He had a drug problem for years. He can't shake it and I've been talking to him for months, even though I know I can't take him in the Marine Corps any other service but he still comes by and I still talk to him said why? He says because of what he tells me every time he comes in here every time he comes in here. He says sergeant. I want the life. I never had. I want to get the life I never had. And sergeant said it's the most depressing thing to talk to that young man and other young men and women who have drug and alcohol problems and who are now trying to recapture the life. They never had and they never will have unless they break that habit. So we're serious in the military. We're not going to tolerate it in an R group of youngsters. We're down to less than 1% identified use of drugs and I'm telling you ladies and gentlemen until we do that in every community in every school. This nation will continue to have a major problem. It'll take all of our effort. And the last and most important thing we do to these young men and women of our Armed Forces is that we tell them we love them. We love our family the first commandment every officer who takes the oath. Believes in is that you have to love your troops with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind. It is the essence of our family relationship. We want to keep this family intact. We know it'll be smaller. We know we'll have fewer soldiers and fewer Sailors and fewer Airmen and Marines and Coast Guardsmen. We know that our modernization programs will be slowed and we know equally well that if we are allowed to restructure sensibly in the months and years ahead if we are allowed the time to reshape the force and we don't get caught up in a political battle. We can continue to have this great military family, which the American people deserve this military family. Your Armed Force is the ultimate guarantee of our future and of our children's future of our grandchildren's future. I have said time and time again so long as I can keep that family intact, even if it is a small family we can do any job. Bob the president gives us break that family apart and we can't so our plan for the base force keeps the family intact quality of life will stay high training will remain tough will maintain the highest standards of Readiness and will remain a proud Force proud and being the best pride in taking care of business in a professional way and pride in being Americans your Minnesota Twins. Just won the World Series in one of the most exciting seven games in a long time. You wouldn't think of the spending that team you wouldn't think of the mobilizing them. There's a season to play next year. There are record crowds to bring into the Metrodome again, and there's another world series to be one. Well, I have a World Series class team to its your armed forces and when I put my players on the field they have to win. For us it is always two outs the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series. I never know when the game will be most often. I don't even know who the opposition will be. But the one Rock Solid certainty is that it is always a World Series class game and we always have to win you and the rest of the American people would have it no other way. So you see why I want to keep your arm forces at the top of their form if you're twins lose hardship broken and you mutter a lot of unspeakable words under your breath and your dream about next season if my team loses lives are lost and the security of the nation may be threatened indeed. There may be no next season. So what President Bush and secretary Cheney and I and my colleagues in The Joint Chiefs of Staff are trying to do is to keep your Armed Forces team the Every best in the world. Our roster will be cut our strategy and our structure will be different, but we'll never lose a World Series game ever will always win and we'll go on winning so that this great nation which God blessed and called America will continue to lead the world to Freedom. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much General Powell for those remarks. I think you can see from the audience reaction that they really touched a very responsive chord while you didn't mention the words. I think that you were telling us your definition of Eternal vigilance and you were reminding us that the home for the United States is now the world not just right here at home. Not just domestic affairs but very much the whole world. Thank you for those remarks. And now if there are a few questions in the audience, I think we know where the microphones are. I see there someone there you think you can handle this on your own General Powell. I'll try man. Yes, sir. Chairman. I have one quick question for you. And that is could you give us a little more detailed explanation of the role you see for the reserves the Army Reserves in the overall National Security strategy as you've mentioned absolutely vital Army Reserve Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard as well. We could not have done Desert shield/desert Storm without our reserves and I'm a great believer in what's called a total Force concept at the same time. However, there is no reason that we cannot reduce the size of the reserves back to the size. They were at during a before the Reagan build up when we had a serious concern about the Red Army one of the problems. I'm having in Washington with the Congress is they are trying to isolate parts of the budget say you can't touch that you can cut but don't cut a single reservist or you can cut but don't close any basis you. Cut but don't force anybody out in voluntarily we can't do all of those things. And so what we're asking to do is to trim it down in a balanced way, which will include some reductions of our Reserve forces and the reserve forces that will remain will be just as vital and we'll try to keep them as ready as possible. Yes, sir. Yes, Steve whitehill Chanhassen General Powell what sort of accountability should there be for cold war crimes? And can you comment on the prosecution of former East German spy Master Markus wolf? No, really with respect to any East German spies. I will I will leave that in the hands of the German government to handle and they are quite efficient with respect to rooting out the Stasi the old East German intelligence service. I'm not aware of any systematic effort that's underway to try to identify what might be called cold war crimes order prosecute them certainly in the American government. I'm not aware of any such effort at this time. Yes, sir, General Paul with your present knowledge of what has happened in Iraq and the Middle East since the end of Desert Storm. What would you have done differently during and especially in how we ended the Desert Storm Conflict not a single thing. It's important to remember that you go to war for specific political purposes not to have fun and not to race around the countryside. And the reason we went to war in Desert Storm was to eject the Iraqi Army from Kuwait to restore the legitimate government to protect Third Country. Enter at risk and to provide for regional security and stability in the region. That was the Mandate given to the president by the Congress and their resolution. It was the Mandate of the United Nations and it was the Mandate being followed by the Coalition Nations 28 Nations that joined us in the battlefield. We knew a day would come during the course of the conflict. When the Iraqi Army would be out of Kuwait. We had accomplished our mission and we had also brought it down to a size that it would not be threatening its neighbors any longer when we did that and reported to the president and we all agreed at that moment had been reached and our objectives have been accomplished. It was time to stop the fighting and killing the killing of araki's the killing of CODIS and the killing of our own troops. I have had not the slightest second thought about that decision and some of the Teenage Ninja Mutant analysts who run around Washington saying why didn't you just race up the road to Baghdad one? I'm not sure. Sodom Hussein would have been at the exit waiting for us and to we'd still be in Baghdad trying to sort out two to three thousand years worth of history in that region as to who's in charge of what right now Saddam Hussein is not in Kuwait. The neighbors of Iraq field rather secure and the only threat he is presenting now that we've pretty much pulled up his nuclear capability. The only threat he is presenting is to his own people and I still believe in due course, they will find a way to resolve that problem. Could I just ask each question your to please remember and give give us your name. This is being recorded, and we really need your name. Thank you. Middle there. I'm sorry. My name is Sarah Lottie. And now that we're pulling out troops from Europe. I was wondering how you if you feel United European force would be successful in the region. The Europeans are very anxious to have what they call a European security identity so that they can look at their defense needs from a distinctly European perspective but not at the expense of NATO. I believe it's possible for NATO to remain the key Alliance in Europe and for their also to be a European security identity. And so the fact that some of the European nations most recently the French and the Germans are trying to build up independent European force and the German part of that force is part of NATO as well does not concern me greatly and we have made the point to them that they need to make sure that it does not. Flecked with their obligations and their commitments to Nato and we have received those assurances. I think if you saw President Bush on television earlier today, you will notice that he is satisfied that all of our NATO colleagues agree with that. So I think it's complementary to our presence and it also makes it easier for us to go through that 50% reduction without feeling to concern that perhaps we are doing it too fast and too too low level. Yes, General Powell. Your briefing for civilians is blown my questions right out of the box, but it has left me CIB one star has left me with one question. You have spoken about a 25% base Force. Hopefully you are driving towards a fully professional bass Force at 25% less than its current status. I know you don't remember training with paper tanks and would machine guns as we did in the third infantry at Fort Snelling in 1939 and 40. Do we have to look forward to anything like that again under this Reduction Program? Not while I'm chairman. The the the uniform leadership of your Armed Forces is on record repeatedly the Congress the secretary and with the president that we will never go back to the days of hollow forces or units that are unable to perform their mission. We should never ever put a young American fighting man or woman in a position where they may be called upon to put their life on the line and they are not well-trained well-equipped well-led and fully prepared. It would be the height of irresponsibility and I won't have anything to do with it and I'll take the force down to whatever size the American people give us enough money for but whatever size it goes down to it will be ready to fight. Pack on the ROTC at the University of Minnesota. The ROTC program has to be scaled back for the simple reason. We don't need as many Lieutenant says we did at one time and that's one of the impacts of drawing down the force for size Yes, Federal Paulo. My name is Don Conley your US forces played a very key and critical role in the Kurdish relief situation. I don't know whether that role was unprecedented, but it's clear that it's saved Untold lives. And certainly it also is clear that it it moved those people back to their homes a lot sooner than might otherwise have happened. Do you see such a role continuing for the US military especially in light of what's happening in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe and the potential for Mass migration of people, I think the possibility is there. I don't want to present it as a new Mission because people will say aha, you don't know what else to do. So you're now looking to do this, but we have that kind of capability. Ability within the Armed Forces. I am prouder of that operation Operation provide comfort. Then I am of Desert Storm and provide Comfort under the leadership of a refugee American General by the name of John M. Shalikashvili who himself was a refugee from Poland and became an American citizen at age 16 went to OCS and then became a three-star General he went back in to Iraq and to Eastern Turkey with a force from about twelve Nations and in the period of a few weeks saved 500,000 Kurds not only save them but in a period of roughly three months resettle them back into their home and told the Iraqi Army get out of Dodge. The Iraqi Army is still well south of the security area. We fenced off. We did something similar in Bangladesh where our Marines went in right after the Cyclone hit there in May of this year. And so we're always ready able and Willing to perform missions of that kind it's good training and our troops would much rather save lives and take lives. If I could just ask a quick follow-up for that. I'm not sure of my facts here, but I understand that the current defense budget has a billion dollars in it for humanitarian. Aid does any of this Refugee relief is a part of that billion-dollar if that's a fact the Congress in the authorization bill this year has authorized the president to spend up to a billion dollars out of the defense accounts for Soviet humanitarian relief, if the president sees fit to do so it's totally discretionary and up to the president if it's subsequently passes. It's not yet law and There are some issues about the use of this kind of authority. If you have a billion dollars in the defense budget that's not needed for defense. Shouldn't you do something else with it? And so it's quite it's quite a heated political debate in the Congress right now, and I think I'll stop there. Thank you. John Herman General Powell doesn't the breakup of the Soviet Empire the proliferation of nuclear power and the reduction of our forces make the Strategic Defense Initiative more vital now than ever. Yes. It certainly does and I'm glad you give me the opportunity to talk about it with the breakup of the Soviet Union and with the distribution of those twenty seven thousand nuclear weapons still not entirely settled and with the number of third world Nations trying to acquire nuclear weaponry. It seems to me that the president's Strategic Defense Initiative and its current form called G Pals Global protection against accidental launch of nuclear weapons is very very sound essentially it says we should not be left defenseless our defense for the last 40 years is that we have equally capable offensive weapons, so don't shoot at us, but if you get a Madman or if you have an accidental launch my Nuclear It is not under the same kind of tight control. It used to be under in the days of the Cold War. Our only response should not have to be shoot a nuclear weapon back. This limited defensive Shield will give us the ability. We hope in time to defend against that kind of accidental or very limited attack from a third world nation. So if anything I think the case is strengthened for Strategic Defense Initiative and 4G Pals as we call it. General this will be our last question what we got to take the soldier down there after this gentleman. General my name is Raja Suresh and I have two questions relating to Desert Storm. The first question was it seems like we had a lot of problems with skirts and mobile missiles and at times it felt like Israel was taken hostage and we were being held to Ransom. What are we going to do to prevent such a situation in future Wars is my first question and the second thing is that it seems like another problem that we also had in Desert Storm. And this is a particularly painful and gut-wrenching for many of us. And that was the loss of American lives by Friendly Fire. What are we going to do? Once again to prevent a repeat of such a problem with respect to the scuds? It shows the whole world clearly the danger associated with ballistic missiles and what happens if you don't have an adequate defense the Patriot missiles that were used against the scuds were barely adequate frankly. They were really not designed for that threat, but we were able to upgrade them so that they dealt with that threat rather effectively, but the scuds were rather primitive missiles and so the Strategic Defense Initiative and what's called a theater missile defense component of that will make the Patriot even more effective and look at other ways of dealing with the problem of incoming ballistic missiles with respect to Friendly Fire. Tragic it's tragic that such things happen in war they happen in every war. There were some unique differences in this war because of our ability to fight at night and the sophistication of our Fire Control Systems inside of our tanks and our ability to see other vehicles at night and engage them at long range. We discovered that we have to do more work on being able to not only see a vehicle but make sure we have positive identification that it is enemy and not friendly we also have to do that with respect to fighter planes that are looking down from above so we have to do more work but I would say that you should never expect a war to be error free when you go into a battle and there's somebody out there waiting to kill you and when it's dark and when it's blowing sand and when units are moving Rapidly across a dark desert floor and when you have young men and women the adrenaline is Flowing first time being in combat, those sorts of things will happen. It's tragic when they happen it it tears my gut out, but they do happen and it's a cost of War we will do everything we can to correct the deficiencies we found this time and hopefully and God forbid we ever have to go to war again. I never want to see another one. We will not experience that. But regrettably we probably will thank you. Okay Sarge, you're it polystyrene. Make it a good one. Steve Anderson United States Army Reserve command Fort Snelling Minnesota. I have a question concerning women in the military sir. After I was not myself personally activated during Desert Storm, but I have friends who were activated who are female and in light of the fact that many Man in the United States Services altogether took many active in sometimes very dangerous roles in the military shortly after I understand they had a lot of discussion as to easing the restrictions that women head of certain certain jobs combat oriented jobs. What is your view on that? And briefly how do you feel that? That's going to be rather reversed in the next few years in light of what's happened during Desert Storm. Thank you women were in combat. Let there be no doubt about it women were in combat. They were up Ford. They lost their lives. They were captured they were wounded and they went through all of the pain and anxiety that their male colleagues did being in a combat zone. Right now we restrict women from ground combat units infantry armor and field artillery in the Army and in the other services, the restrictions have to do with sailing aboard combatant ships in the Navy and flying combat aircraft. The Congress is about to pass legislation, which removes the legal restriction that keeps women from flying combat aircraft and I suspect that in the very near future. Each of the services will come to grips with that and I would expect to see women flying combat aircraft in due course. It may not be the same in each service. It's different flying a combat aircraft in the Air Force from a land site that it is flying off an aircraft carrier which because of the law does not have any females aboard that aircraft carrier, but we will work our way through that and I would expect to see women in cockpits. I do not expect to see women allowed into ground combat units such as infantry units armored units in artillery units. I believe the physical demands are too great. I believe the nature of ground combat is of an entirely different character in order than any other kind of location on the battlefield or occupational specialty on the battlefield. I don't think the American people want to see that and I may be a bit of a troglodyte but I have no desire to see women and infantry units are armored units and in field artillery forward units, but other than those restrictions, I think women should be fully integrated throughout the rest of the force. We have done that to the greatest extent possible and they have made a magnificent contribution and I wouldn't think of doing anything to restrain them or deny them the They're entitled to in those skills. Thank you.