. , they, with the cia's helped pushed out the soviet union in the eighties. and that was their big moment, and these war lords, because they were able to push out the soviet union, rose up. they got a lot of power. they became pain famous. they got a lot of momentum. and there's been talk since then, that these war lords, these famous war lords, we're going to stand up and fight against the taliban. they did not. a lot of them escaped. they escaped at first contact. because over the last 20 years, these were lords were living on their name, and their reputation. they said they had all of these thousands of fighters, they actually didn't have all of these thousands of fighters. but they were able to live on that reputation, of having pushed out the soviet union. and it was a giant feather in their cap. they faded away. they got old. they got lazy. the taliban came in. and they, i don't know if it'll be for the next 20 years, they are now the ones who will benefit from that same kind of psychological boost. the initial war lords defeated the soviets, we defeate

we the soviet union will do a better. who thinks they can do a better job than last guy that failed. the problem, wasn't necessarily the character of the invasion, the way the invaders waged the war. they tried a lot of different versions of it. the problem, more likely, was afghanistan. which for all of its poverty, and conflicts, and everything else, afghanistan does not particularly want to be under any other countries remote control. and so when the soviet union invaded in 1979, the modern history of afghanistan would've told them how that would end. but they invaded, and then just shy of a decade after they invaded in 1989, the soviets went home to. they went home february 15th 1980. >> the end of an era. the last of the soviet troops leaving afghanistan, after nine years of defeat. nbc nightly news. with tom brokaw. good evening. it really is one of the most remarkable military stories of our time. a nuclear superpower, defeated by a sort of bands of rebels who waged a hit and run war for almost a decade. tonight, a

maybe they thought we, the soviet union, we'll do it better. who doesn't think they could do a better job than the last guy who failed? but the problem wasn't necessarily the character of the invasion, the way the invaders waged the war. they tried a lot of different versions of it. the problem more likely was afghanistan. which for all its poverty and conflict and everything else, afghanistan doesn't particularly want to be under any other country's remote control. and so when the soviet union invaded in 1979, the modern history of afghanistan would have told them how that would end. but they invaded, and then just shy of a decade after they invaded in 1989, the soviets went home, too. they went home february 15, 1989. >> the end of an era. the last of the soviet troops leaving afghanistan after nine years of humiliation and defeat. >> announcer: "nbc nightly news" with tom brokaw. >> good evening. it really is one of the most remarkable military stories of our time. a nuclear superpower defeat bid a sordid band of rebels who waged a hit and r

maybe they thought we, the soviet union, we'll do it better. who doesn't think they could do a better job than the last guy who failed? but the problem wasn't necessarily the character of the invasion, the way the invaders waged the war. they tried a lot of different versions of it. the problem more likely was afghanistan. which for all its poverty and conflict and everything else, afghanistan doesn't particularly want to be under any other country's remote control. and so when the soviet union invaded in 1979, the modern history of afghanistan would have told them how that would end. but they invaded, and then just shy of a decade after they invaded in 1989, the soviets went home, too. they went home february 15, 1989. >> the end of an era. the last of the soviet troops leaving afghanistan after nine years of humiliation and defeat. >> announcer: "nbc nightly news" with tom brokaw. >> good evening. it really is one of the most remarkable military stories of our time. a nuclear superpower defeated by a sordid band of rebels who waged a hit and

and the war lords because they were able to push out the soviet union rose up. they got a lot of clout. they became famous and got a lot of momentum. there's been talk since then that these war lords, these famous mujahedin were going to stand up and fight against the taliban. they didn't. a lot of them escaped. they escaped at first contact. because over the last 20 years these war lords were living on their name, on their reputation. they said that they had all these thousands of fighters. they actually didn't. but they were able to live on that reputation of having pushed out the soviet union and it was a giant feather in their cap. they faded away. they got old. they got lazy. the taliban came in and they are now the ones who are going to benefit from the same kind of psychological boost. the initial war lords defeated the soviets. we the taliban defeated the united states. so there were two scenarios here as things started to deteriorate. one that it would collapse into a civil war. i actually didn't think that would happen because i saw the old war lords,

and the war lords because they were able to push out the soviet union rose up. they got a lot of clout. they became famous and got a lot of momentum. there's been talk since then that these war lords, these famous mujahedin were going to stand up and fight against the taliban. they didn't. a lot of them escaped. they escaped at first contact. because over the last 20 years these war lords were living on their name, on their reputation. they said that they had all these thousands of fighters. they actually didn't. but they were able to live on that reputation of having pushed out the soviet union and it was a giant feather in their cap. they faded away. they got old. they got lazy. the taliban came in and they are now the ones who are going to benefit from the same kind of psychological boost. the initial war lords defeated the soviets. we the taliban defeated the united states. so there were two scenarios here as things started to deteriorate. one that it would collapse into a civil war. i actually didn't think that would happen because i saw the toothless old g

union and enforcement of the foreign corrupt practices act, and international antinarcotics efforts, all the darkest, hardest stop, john sopko worked on that for years. for years before that he was a state and federal prosecutor, including years as a trial lawyer and the justice department's organized crime and racketeering section. he was the lead attorney in the first successful federal reco prosecution of the entire leadership structure of the a american la costa crime family. john is not a pushover. he's not going to tell you things you want to hear unless you deserve it. in the decade-ish that he has been the man in charge of saying what we're doing wrong in afghanistan basically, his assessments have often been just brutal. at least they've been brutally blunt. here, for example, is how pro publica wrote up just one of his more well known findings, quote in 2008, the pentagon bought 20 refurbishes carbo planes for the u.s. air force, but just about everything you can think of was wrong. there were no spare parts for the planes, for example, the planes were also, according to th

union. and enforcement of the foreign corrupt practices act, and international anti narcotics efforts. all the darkest hardest stuff, he worked on that for years. four years before that he was a state and federal prosecutor. including years is a trial lawyer, in the organize prime in racketeering section. he was the lead attorney in the first successful federal rico prosecution of the entire leadership structure of an american crime family. which he proudly notes in his biography. mr. sopko is not a pushover. he's not going to tell you things you want to hear, unless you deserve it. but in the decade-ish that he has been the man in charge of saying what we're doing wrong in afghanistan basically, his assessments have often been just brutal. at least they've been brutally blunt. here for example is how propublica rode up one of his well-known findings. in 2008, the pentagon bought 20 refurbished cargo planes for the afghan air force, but as one top u.s. officers put it quote, just about every