Part 49 (2/2)

56.

During my first visit to Afghanistan I met with the determined leader Hamid Karzai in an abandoned hangar at Bagram Air Base.

57.

One of Karzai's challenges was to integrate former Northern Alliance generals such as Ismail Khan into the new Afghanistan. With the a.s.sistance of our Afghan-born diplomat Zal Khalilzad he was able to do so, and Khan became an influential provincial governor.

58.

During the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, those of us meeting in the situation room of the White House could communicate by secure video with commanders around the globe-here President Bush and I prepare for an update from Gen. Tommy Franks.

59.

Arriving at Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, in 2003. Our country benefited from the close partners.h.i.+p between the then U.S. amba.s.sador to Afghanistan, Zal Khalilzad, and our military commander Lt. Gen. David Barno. They understood the importance of linking American diplomatic and military efforts. Their effective model of cooperation was regrettably not always followed by their successors.

60.

In the lead-up to the war in Iraq, President Bush made an effort to invite his combatant commanders along with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the White House cabinet room for face-to-face meetings with their Commander in Chief.

61.

At a town hall meeting at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. I welcomed the opportunity to meet with our troops overseas. They were a constant source of inspiration.

62.

At a December 6, 2003, meeting at Baghdad Airport, I advised Jerry Bremer that the Department of Defense's oversight of his activities as CPA administrator was ending.

63.

At a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, I pa.s.sed a note to President Bush informing him that Iraq was sovereign on June 28, 2004-two days before the deadline.

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