And so I think that if the person has the funds, the network, and the equipment to do this, and also the experience, which is the key factor, then they can be quite deadly.

Clearly the Secretary of Defense, my boss, would like nothing better than to get Osama bin Laden and to get... to ensure the complete defeat of al-Qaida, because we know that al-Qaida is planning operations against the United States even as we speak here.

And over time, I think, as Iraqi security capacity builds, you'll see American and coalition presence there decline.

Morale is good; troops are confident; leaders are capable.

You don't build a new power plant in the United States overnight. It takes years to build.

Certainly our goal is to leave Iraq, but we can't leave Iraq with our forces until we know that the Iraqi security forces are capable and efficient enough to defend the sovereignty of the nation.

Well, the hardest thing to do, as we know from our own experience on 9/11 is protect everything all the time.