Reconciliation is what takes place, of course, at higher levels. President Karzai has been very clear about the red lines for reconciliation, accept the constitution, lay down their weapons, cut their ties with al Qaeda and essentially become productive or at least participating members of society in that regard.

I am not a politician, and I will never be, and I say that with absolute conviction.

Pakistan are very keen to carry out the operations themselves. And there's significant effort on the part of the US and other countries to provide assistance that can enable Pakistan to do just that.

This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias, or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight.

Syria has allowed its soil to be transited by foreign fighters who have come from a variety of source countries in the Gulf area and in the - in North African countries.There are some signs that that may have been reduced somewhat in the last couple of months. We need to watch that a bit and see if that is the case.

The president and I sat down in the Oval Office, and he expressed very clearly that what he wants from me is my best professional military advice.

I will not ever run for political office, I can assure you of that.