if we're going to fight, let's fight the war. >> so you explain to them, bill kristol, you explain to their parents why are they there? they should be there because they are fighting for a stable government that's going to be able to withstand the insurgents coming from the taliban and al qaeda? if we don't have a clear sense of that mission -- >> then we should get out. >> don't you think we have -- >> go ahead. >> we're not committed to doing what it takes to win. >> you said weaken. i don't see -- why is anybody thinking that we want to weaken american forces? we are american forces and i don't think the president has done anything but committed. >> well, panel, thank you. i'm glad we settled this. now, this is a perfect plug. don't forget to check out the latest edition of panel plus where our panel will continue this argument on foxnewssunday.com shortly after the show ends. up next, our power player of the week. this country definitely needs to focus on other ways to get energy. we should be looking closer to home. there are places off the continental shelf. natural gas can be a

at the same time, bill kristol reports that rahm emanuel seems to be -- without consulting our pentagon. he said this this past sunday. >> it would be reckless to make a decision on the u.s. troop level is, in fact, we have not done a thorough analysis about whether or not there is an afghan partner to fill that space that the u.s. would create an become a true partner in governing the afghan country. sean: excuse me. who is asking the sky about decisions about afghanistan? -- who is asking this guy? the press is not supposed to ask about that, because to do so would mean that you are under white house control. >> very rarely did we communicate to the president that we did not absolutely -- sean: i guess we will stay out of that rabin whole. joining me is a former white house secretary -- stay out of that rapid poll -- rabbit hole. joining me is former white house press secretary dana perino and another guest. >> it is hard to understand their priorities. i can understand the president wanting to think things through, but it has been a long time. i also think that it is interesting that

bill kristol wrote will take most of the bailout traffic. -- bell crest road will take most of the bailout traffic. no complaints about traffic in virginia. back inside. >> one day after john gosselin got dropped, new reports say he is trying to slow down the pri -- slow down the divorce process. he is trying to get back with his wife as a partner in parenting. he filed a motion to delay the divorce by 90 days. kate wants to move on as scheduled. jon will sit down with larry king tonight. we cannot seem to get enough. >> so now it is now "kate plus 8." >> i am sure he will of something in the works soon. a 5-year-old texas boy bitten off will bit more than he could shoot during a hunting trip. he shot an alligator. he was not afraid. his mom said she was scared to death. the catch is 5 inches short of a texas state record. he is now setting his sights on a bigger gator next year. i think maybe he is too young to know that he should be really scared. >> look at bethe claws. >> that reminds me of a book. d remember the book? >> no. >> thank you. >>> here are some stories to watch of her in t

the editor of "the weekly substanda substandard," bill kristol. this is the guy whose news room neared when chicago lost its olympic bid. he goes on tv this weekend with some more anti-olympic sentiment. >> we don't need the olympics. we've had them a million times. our economy doesn't need the boost of the olympics. >> told it right there. crystal must have been living underneath a rock for the last year. our economy is not in good shape. we need work, right? okay. the olympic games would have brought $22 billion of economic activity, a minimum, a minimum of 315,000 jobs. full-time jobs. wait a minute. that would have made obama look ge good. we need a boost like the olympics. >> the american president and the sort of george w. bush-like way goes to try to bully the olympic committee. can you imagine if some republican, bush had done this and hadn't gotten the typical bush cowboy, imperialist action? >> crystal, i remember you being a big bush boot licker. so he shouldn't think obama acting like bush is such a bad thing, right? more importantly,

kristol of "the weekly standard," and juan williams, also of national public radio. brit, your thoughts on the back and forth publicly about whether more troops should head into afghanistan. >> it's a little worrisome to think that the key policy voice opposite general mcchrystal in all of this is joe biden, who was in a position to do no real harm, but if he's now the lead negotiator or lead policymaker or one of them in the white house versus general mcchrystal, one hopes general mcchrystal will win the day. i think basically that it comes down to this. president said he had a new strategy. it was a little general when he laid it out back in march. and then he sent a new general over there to execute it who's now come back and said, well, we need more troops if we're going to do this. and the question is did he change the strategy or is he simply doing what was necessary militarily to carry it out. if it's the later, what's necessary to carry it out, it seems to me the president is in an awkward position to rebuff him. >> yeah, i think it's a little bit more compli

i want to bring bill kristol back in. the question becomes, there is no talk about pulling out, so don't you have to go in? there has always been a controversy about you cannot do just what you're doing now. you either have to go all in or ou at lst have hava justify oure edea thgoing to aomprensi plann cotahe e, lot of civilians, the idea that he is going to arbitrarily cut the number in half because it is easier to sell here at home -- it is amazing. he said the general over there a few months ago and they have hardly begun to execute the strategy. surely come he wants to give this a chance. the idea that he is getting cold feet now makes me worried. trace: thank you. martha: afghanistan is clearly the biggest story of the day, but this is another one. they are some of our closest allies, but are they part of a plot to rub out the greenback? trace: the possible economic tsunami is forming in the persian gulf, taking aim at the u.s. some report that our allies have banded together with opec members in a plot to neutraliz