questions in afghanistan. russian or other neighbors didn't well i know that they have begun to do something. it's a bit late it's quite late but we supported we need. a concerned voice we need questions to be raised with the someone to ask questions and to do something well you know as we say in russia better late than never but this latest efforts on on the part of russia to get more involved in the diplomatic talks surrounding afghanistan do receive certain pushback from the united states and the u.s. state department specifically says that this recent consultations organized by moscow seemed to be a unilateral russian attempt to assert influence in the region despite the fact that there were senior officials from a dozen countries present do you think the americans still fill in tie told to afghanistan as their sort of privileged zone of influence well they may feel that way but that's wrong nobody should feel intitled to a privileged position of afghanistan afghanistan as a country. at least thousands of

and afghanistan knows it. afghanistan has been fighting with each other time.long, long and those guys ain't going to don't cause they really care. i mean, they go out, they get care.they don't even they are going to keep fighting everything and how are you going to have a good if you just, they just keep doing it? host: mike, i will leave it there. mr. ambassador, as an afghan, how do you respond to his there?ts that afghan people don't care. guest: hurt. deeply hurt by that comment. sorry to say, this is not a human way of thinking about people. have families everyday, we mourn the death of our people killed across the country. we're fight thanksgiving war to not only the afghans have stability, but stability across the world. the afghan people's dream is no american than an dream. it is peace and stability, we just want to live at peace. visited dent, when he the united states in 2015, -- has said that escaped us and that is what we be able to live an ordinary life, we want to be walk on the streets without

questions in afghanistan. russian or other neighbors didn't well i know that they have begun to do something. it's a bit late it's quite late but we supported we need. the concerned voice we need questions to be raised with the someone to ask questions and to do something well you know as we say in russia better late than never but this latest efforts on on the part of russia to get more involved in the diplomatic talks surrounding afghanistan do receive certain pushback from the united states and the u.s. state department specifically said that this recent consultations organized by moscow seemed to be a unilateral russian attempt to assert influence in the region despite the fact that there were senior officials from a dozen countries present do you think the americans still fill in tie told to afghanistan as their sort of privileged zone of influence well they may feel that way but that's wrong nobody should feel intitled to a privileged position of afghanistan afghanistan as a country. at least thousands o

preventing the taliban from taking over afghanistan. and stopping mass terror attacks against america before they emerge. we will ask our nato allies and global partners to support our new strategy with additional troop and funding increases in line with our own. we are confident they will. since taking office, i have made clear that our allies and partners must contribute much more money to our collective defence, and they have done so. in this struggle, the heaviest burden will continue to be borne by the good people of afghanistan and their courageous armed forces. as the prime minister of afghanistan has promised, we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us. afghanistan is fighting to defend a secure their country against the same enemies that threaten us. the stronger the afg ha n that threaten us. the stronger the afghan security forces become, the less we will have to do. afghanistan will secure and build its own nation, and define its own future. we wa nt nation, and define its o

in afghanistan and pakistan, america's interests are clear. we must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten america. and we must prevent nuclear weapons and material from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us or anywhere in the world. for that matter. but to prosecute this war, we will learn from history as a result of our comprehensive review. american strategy in afghanistan and south asia will change dramatically in the following ways. a core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions. i said it many times how counterproductive it is for the united states to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin or end military operations. we will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on. america's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. i will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we

troops to afghanistan. good evening, everybody, i'm martha ma maccallum coming to you from washington tonight. and this is the story. since 9/11, the u.s. mission has been to never let it happen again. a war on terror under president bush gave way to president obama's ending of the iraq war and a focus on what he saw as the right war in afghanistan before pulling out there as well. two hours from now, the president will speak to the nation about the most solemn question that a commander-in-chief faces, the call to put more american lives at risk. it is his first prime

let's remember that the afghanistan project or the afghanistan mission is notjust an american mission. america is the big elephant in the ram, but europeans have a lot at stake. they have spent billions of dollars in afghanistan. the japanese, countries in asia, in europe, in other places, have all invested in afghanistan. and i think if, let's say, the americans stop supporting certain aspects of what is called nation—building, maybe others were picked up. and this is where i think american diplomacy can come in and help put a more comrades of strategy in place, beyond the american strategy. we have touched on the role of russia and iran in this. how unstable is the region at the moment, and if america was to withdraw at all, what sort of opening would russia and iran have? until a couple of years ago, in that pa rt until a couple of years ago, in that part of the world, the taliban and their affiliates, and before that al qaeda while it was at the zenith of its power, were seen as the spoilers and destabilises and the bad guys. for the past two or three years we have seen the rise

afghanistan's a country. at least thousands of years old we have been around as a formidable country. we have shown our our our our our strength in our mental. already in iran creating to add to the soviet union included to the to to to to britain three times included and americans should recognize that as where our poverty is should not be seen as a request by the americans and they should allow afghanistan to be a place of cooperation here i would ask the russia the russia the same thing that their intention should focus on returning afghanistan to a competent of environment and to a movement to peace well the present this is part of a larger problem of conflict resolution is the fact that it's seen as a competitive felt for him to gain or lose influence rather than solve problems you've seen so many futile talks what makes you believe want to stay in your believe in it in the. south fullness of any negotiations especially given that those countries that are involved in those negotiations they haven't resol

afghanistan's a country. at least thousands of years old we have been around as a formidable country. we have shown our our our our our strength in our mental. already in iran creating to add to the soviet union included to the to to to to britain three times included and americans should recognize that as where our poverty is should not be seen as a request by the americans and they should allow afghanistan to be a place of cooperation here i would ask the russia the russia the same thing that their intention should focus on returning afghanistan to a competence of environment and to a movement to peace well the present this is part of a larger problem of conflict resolution is the fact that it's seen as a competitive felt from to gain or lose influence rather than solve problems you've seen so many futile talks what makes you believe want to stay in your believe in it in the. south fullness of any negotiations especially given that those countries that are involved in those negotiations they haven't resolve

questions in afghanistan. russian or other neighbors didn't well i know that they have begun to do something. it's a bit late it's quite late but we supported we need. a concerned voice we need questions to be raised really someone to ask questions and to do something or you know as we say in russia better late than never but this latest efforts on on the part of russia to get more involved in the diplomatic talks surrounding afghanistan do receive certain pushback from the united states and the u.s. state department specifically says that this recent consultations organized by moscow seemed to be a unilateral russian attempt to assert influence in the region despite the fact that there were senior officials from a dozen countries present do you think the americans still fill in tie told to afghanistan as their sort of privileged zone of influence well they may feel that way but that's wrong nobody should feel intitled to a privileged position of afghanistan afghanistan as a country. at least thousands of year

america's foreign-policy with afghanistan, india is putting money into afghanistan. india and china are at each other's throats greater now china is helping pakistan. got 300 troops bombed out of lebanon. what happened to that state? overthrew awer freely erected iranian government, that was it. our national resources are hours. america is not going to put up with that. some russian hacker but something on a guitar business -- cutter business. host: you're talking about a lot of places. let's go back to where you started, bringing india and pakistan to the table. guest: either regional powers have an important role to play in this. they're going to have to be involved in the discussions. that means iran as well. they are nuclear weapon states like israel and north korea. those are the four unofficial nuclear state in the world. we have to figure out how we're going to come to terms with that. to come into yet afghanistan with greater economic resources as a challenge to pakistan is not the way to building diplomatic solution. if we need diplomacy and not war in pakis

let afghanistan take care of afghanistan. host: the you feel the same way with obama's management of afghanistan? host: i don't know caller: -- caller: i don't know why we couldn't have president obama for more years. host: off of twitter -- we're on track to spend 6 million -- $6 trillion. if you and see all the things he said about afghanistan, go to our c-span library and see those for yourself. let's hear from michael in florida. republican line. caller: good morning. i have to agree with staying in afghanistan. we are starting -- we started out wrong. we're fighting vietnam pete we have a -- vietnam. we have an arbitrary line. if we don't go in there and clean them outcome of this war will never end. pakistanant a war with but we need to go to those mountains could we're losing people over that area because stupid decisions are made by civilians who don't listen to the military. this has happened over again. we've got to stop fighting arbitrary lines because we lose people people we cannot win wars. you have to go in and

troops currently deployed in afghanistan. in tonight's primetime address, the president is expected to announce plans to send another 4,000 troops to the country. after a lengthy policy review within his administration over how to move forward in the nation's longest running war, the plans were finalized with the president's top advisors at camp david over the weekend. >>> we want to take you back live to arlington, virginia where the president is preparing to make his remarks. this is joint base meyer henderson hall. >> let's listen in now to president trump. >> secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general doneford, secretary shanahan and colonel duggan. most especially, thank you to the men and women of fort meyer and all at home and abroad. we send our thoughts and prayers with the families of sailors who were lost at sea, and thank all those in the search and recovery efforts. i am here tonight to lay out our path to afghanistan and south asia. but before i provide the details of our new strategy, i want

questions in afghanistan. russian or other neighbors didn't well i know that they have begun to do something. it's a bit late it's quite late but we supported we need. a concerned voice we need questions to be raised with the someone to ask questions and to do something well you know as we say in russia better late than never but this latest efforts on on the part of russia to get more involved in the diplomatic talks surrounding afghanistan do receive certain pushback from the united states and the u.s. state department specifically said that the recent consultations organized by moscow seem to be a unilateral russian attempt to assert influence in the region despite the fact that there were senior officials from a dozen countries present do you think the americans still fill in tie told to afghanistan as their sort of privileged zone of influence well they may feel that way but that's wrong nobody should feel intitled to a privileged position of afghanistan afghanistan as a country. at least thousands of yea

troops cannot leave afghanistan. those kind of vacuums lead to terrorist safe havens. >> the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum of terrorists including isis and al-qaeda would instantly fill just as happed before september 11. >> the mix of u.s. forces on the ground will not change in any dramatic way. the president did not announce u.s. troops would be replaced with contractors as had been discussed. what's different is the pace and scope of overall pressure on this campaign. already this year airstrikes are up 181%, 1,984 bombs have been dropped so far this year. remember just a few years ago the u.s. had 100,000 troops in afghanistan and the taliban didn't negotiate then. secretary mattis issued a statement from jordan where he's travelling calling on the chairman of the joint chiefs to implement the president's strategy. the president said it's not a blank check. right now the government of afghanistan only controls 60% of the country. >> j

will send more troops to afghanistan. defends flip-flop in somber speech." >> we are prepared to help paul ryan rally votes for impeachment. that was not said by nancy pelosi or any other democrat. that was said by a high-level unnamed staffer at breitbart, the right-wing hate spewing website ran by steve bannon before he joined the trump campaign and now once again officially run by steve bannon now that he's been fired by the white house by president trump. everyone in the white house, of course, assumed bannon was running breitbart while he was working in the white house so it's not that big of a change. but the part that we're prepared to rally votes to impeach president trump, that is new. steve bannon also fought with jared kushner over the direction of the trump presidency and one bannon ally told "vanity fair," "he said jared is a dope." if he continues to find himself on losing arguments, will he really lead the impeachment from the right wing of the republican party? joining me is david jolly from florida and wi

simp regarding afghanistan. people have a hard time staying difference , the between good leadership and bad leadership. telling ership, not your enemy when you're going to leave and we know in the past had people telling the enemy when you're going to leave and they just wait for you. if is a big difference and people want to, you know, really mean, we havety, i good leadership right now. don't wantll, people to talk about afghanistan, all they want to do is give prop dpanda, all i'll say about that. host: from twitter, several comments saying regarding the speech, only good news, we won't se a private army, aside from that ambiguity. hat role will allies play in afghanistan and also a viewer saying the afghans don't nderstand democracy, we are wasting our time nation building, terror control is the cause. members reaction from of congress last night over the speech in afghanistan, both on twitter. house speaker paul ryan commenting on the afghan a town hall on cnn, here is what he had to say. i'm pleased with

they are not mercenaries and not a private army operating in afghanistan, the are under the afghanistan chain of command and anduntable under the ucmj there to support the afghan military, what the u.s. army should be doing but for the last 16 years have yet organized that way. host: our guest is erik prince. nancy, democrat line, new hampshire. caller: thank you for taking my call. as an older person, i am much older than erik prince, i am curious, you do not seem to operate under any laws. military,e afghan there was no central military or government in afghanistan before, there was always tribes. you are men were arrested for open fire in the square in iraq when civilians were killed. how did you get access to all of our treasury money to build your own mercenary army in afghanistan? i am appalled we would consider hiring mercenaries on behalf of the american government. we will never be done with terrorists as long as you continue to occupy afghanistan. it is unbelievable, 16 years later that we are pouring all this money in dick cheney lied through his teeth and you are a good frie

they are not mercenaries and not a private army operating in afghanistan, the are under the afghanistan chain of command and accountable under the ucmj and there to support the afghan military, what the u.s. army should be doing but for the last 16 years have yet organized that way. host: our guest is erik prince. nancy, democrat line, new hampshire. caller: thank you for taking my call. as an older person, i am much older than erik prince, i am curious, you do not seem to operate under any laws. part of the afghan military, there was no central military or government in afghanistan before, there was always tribes. you are men were arrested for open fire in the square in iraq when civilians were killed. how did you get access to all of our treasury money to build your own mercenary army in afghanistan? i am appalled we would consider hiring mercenaries on behalf of the american government. we will never be done with terrorists as long as you continue to occupy afghanistan. it is unbelievable, 16 years later that we are pouring all this money in dick cheney lied through his teeth and you

to put it bluntly, what happens in afghanistan stays in afghanistan, so there's no spillover effect in pakistan or other countries in the region that can come back and harm us. >> david, what can they do? what other options are there that make any sense, that are politically viable and that make sense in the region? >> i think at the end of the day, the problem was this president did not want to be the president who pulled out, who gave up on afghanistan, he walked away, he certainly was urged by the generals to stay committed, the haunting memory of the u.s. departure from iraq followed by the rise of isis is a basis of this decision. here's what i see, there are two nuts that we have never been able to crack in this afghanistan commitment, there are tens of hundreds of thousands of troops, and pakistan has continued to be of supply and support for killing americans in afghanistan and pakistan. i see no evidence that that's going to change. the second is the corruption of pakistan, pakistan is just a fragile state, we pour money into it and it just gets more corrupt. this is something

we're there in afghanistan. we got in afghanistan. colonel, once you go in, i don't know how you get out because you run the risk you will see more terrorist events? >> you cover business, it is full of risk. iraq was utterly different. that was a tragedy. iraq was con velezing. iraq is strategic prize. obama did a horrible thing leaving. afghanistan is no strategic value what he sorry. our only concern should be terrorism. trish: talking to ben collins, who has been advising this president on afghanistan, his point it is absolutely strategic. where it sits is prime territory. you can't allow the terrorists to fester there because that is too risky in and of itself, colonel. >> what i would focus on is killing terrorists. afghanistan is of a concern to the chinese and russians and indians but everybody always said, you know, if we leave, we've got to go back. going back every 10 or 15 years and whacking them and leaving again is a lot cheaper than staying an trying to rebuild afghanistan in our image. trish: he said he is not doing th

troops would draw down in afghanistan. instead president trump will use a conditions based approach. if that sounds familiar, that's because it's going back to the way that george w. bush talked about the wars that he started. george w. bush when he was president saying i'm not going to give you a date when we're going to end the war or leave iraq. when they stand up, we'll stand down. it was a conditioned based approach to tend of that war. that war, of course, did not end while burge w. bush was president and it does not ended today. but that is what president trump is talking about going back to. he also said a couple of times that he wants to use all elements of u.s. power, not just the military power in terms of moving forward in afghanistan. it should be noted i think when he says that the other elements of u.s. pow thaer are brought to bear in a situation like afghanistan include the state department which is understaffed and underpowered to an extent that has never been true in decades. also crucially in june the s

i'm here to address policy in afghanistan and asia. before i provide the details of our new strategy, i want to say a few words to service members here with us tonight, to those watching from their posts and to all americans listening at home. since the founding of our republic, our country has produced a special class of heroes whose selflessness, courage, and resolve is unmatched in human history. american patriots from every generation have given their last breath on the battlefield for our nation and for our freedom. and thoughir lives their lives were cut short. in their deeds they achieved total immortality by following example of those who fought to preserve our republic, we can find the inspiration our country needs to unify, to heal, and remain one nation under god. the men and women of our military operate as one team with one shared mission, and one shared sense of purpose. every line of race, ethnicity, creed and color to serve together and sacrifice in absolutely perfect cohesion. that is because all service members our br

you know we're well over year 15 in afghanistan. this is not something the president planning to do some sort of other project. he wants to do this part of the war. under u.s. military ethics can the u.s. government go in with the protection of u.s. soldiers and extract the wealth of another country. >> we can we've done it before. there is no reason why we can't do it again. but the real question is what difference does that make in terms of achieving war objectives? if at the end of the day what we really want to do is to have a central government in kabul that can actually control afghanistan, the taliban is not a factor anymore. the people in afghanistan can defend themselves, the afghan army is at top condition. if that's what we are looking to do, then none of of the things that he said are actually going to contribute to that. including even to the point of building a -- a big wall an impen trabl wall between afghanistan and pakistan on the other, the real problem is actually inside pakistan and it includes a corrupt governme

cause in afghanistan, namely russia and iran. i mean, russia has been called out by top military commanders for arming the taliban. what do you make of that? >> well, the russians -- the russians deny that they're arming, but they are quite up front with their taliban contacts. i was in a conference in afghanistan last month with some russians, and they were quite up front about that. they say this is a function of the islamic state being there, but it is also a function of russian distrust of our commitment and the sense that things may fall apart and they have to protect themselves. and i think that is also part of what is driven iran to begin working with the taliban. so, these things are all very interconnected to the extent that we project real strength, the ability to stay involved, i think we have a much stronger hand to speak with the russians about pulling back from what they're doing. >> i want to ask you, leon pinetta spoke after the president gave his speech and he said one of the things that concerned him was the pre

war and take the world to war against afghanistan in response and at that time afghanistan was the worst place in the world for a child to be born and expect to survive to her first birthday it was the worst place for a woman to give birth and survive sixteen years later sixteen years of u.s. military occupation u.s. military engagement intervention whatever you want to call it it is still according to all the stats the worst place in the world for a child to be born and survive to her first birthday it's slightly less than the bottom of the lists on women dying in childbirth because a few west african countries have really collapsed in recent years short of that afghanistan is right in there but for children it's as bad as it ever was this last six months of the trump administration's war in afghanistan there has been a sixty seven percent rise in the number of civilian casualties most of them children according to the un that sixty percent sixty seven percent more than last year at the same time which was more than the year before every year that the un has been collecting data on the

stories of afghanistan you know you remember when the afghan war began this version of the afghanistan war of course there have been earlier ones in the eighty's the u.s. was fighting the soviet union in afghanistan. in the ninety's there was a terrible civil war in afghanistan and this war began in two thousand and one right after nine eleven when george bush said that the response of the u.s. to this horrific crime would be to treat it as an act of war and take the world to war against afghanistan in response and at that time afghanistan was the worst place in the world for a child to be born and expect to survive to her first birthday it was the worst place for a woman to give birth and survive sixteen years later sixteen years of u.s. military occupation u.s. military engagement intervention whatever you want to call it it is still according to all the stats the worst place in the world for a child to be born and survive to her first birthday it's slightly less than the bottom of the lists on women dying in childbirth because a few west african countries have really collapsed in re

afghanistan is very difficult. afghanistan is you have capital of kabul and a number of provinces that are broken down from tribes to subscribes, what they want most in localized area is they want peace, security and watch their kids go to school, food and some power. they want security. they wanted it in us, then from the africa afghan government, td not get it. like 80s, the whole reason call big ca--taliban came to bed them a way of life. neil: they change. >> you do have to -- understand that this, there is a separate. i am not one that advocates there is good taliban and bad taliban, however taliban itself, as an organization, has always been intraafghanistan this a markedly different ideology and thought process. neil: we're not interesting in toppling them. >> taliban will be a part of afghan society and that fabric of pashtuns. forever. but you ask the going back to mullah omar, who started taliban, they concerned themselves with afghanistan. talibans did not say let's go conquer the world. neil: is it your

country and afghanistan. country and afghanistan. we are minutes away from thahaha i'll never find a safe used car. country and afghanistan. we are minutes away from thahaha start at the new carfax.com show me minivans with no reported accidents. boom. love it. [struggles] show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. it's a highly contagious disease that can be really serious... especially for my precious new grandchild. it's whooping cough. every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. >> this is fox business coverage of president trump's address to the nation, here is neil cavuto. neil: we're seconds away from hearing the commander in chief, second major address if you think about it. last one in january. this time he is going to make the argument we need more troops in afghanistan, up to 4,000 more. this, of course, heeding advice of all his top generals, saying this is the way to go about it. we have

troops to afghanistan. that is in line with the tweets and commentary we saw from candidate trump during the campaign. and from citizen trump four years before that, with the president, as we expected to announce an increase in troops in afghanistan, it looks as though a hawkish argument won. but the president faces a challenge tonight in convincing his supporters that increasing engagement in afghanistan is the right move, considering he spent so long arguing for full withdrawal. >> athena jones, appreciate that. a second ago, in fact, the president expands the footprint in afghanistan, it will be a blow to the foreign policy that steve bannon supported. he's back at breitbart news. and the publication is taking aim at its former west wing opponents. take a look at some of the headlines. what is the goal in afghanistan? washington does not know. h.r. mcmaster endorsed book that advocates koran kissing. there's word that he's ready to go after some of the people he butted heads with, jared kushner and ivank

proposed solution to afghanistan to depend on solution to afghanistan and then you have votes a united preserve the picture. politicians often make poor decisions but one former australian prime minister has finally come clean that he missed a historic series of votes in parliament during the world financial crisis his excuse sip happens the leader of the opposition tony abbott finally admitted recently in an interview that instead of attending debates he was in the same don't often secretive members only dining room where he and other astray and part of members drink so much wine that abbott then passed out of his office till morning missing a number of votes at the time when asked by reporters about the accusations he was governor governing while intoxicated his response was that is an impertinent question we had a couple of bottles of wine. maybe two it's like it was a few more likely his absence didn't spark a great depression and australians can laugh about it now well time maybe everything does happen for recycling. you knowing about it no you don't want to bother to. look in his

in afghanistan tonight. and he is asking the nation to trust his leadership at a time when his competence and moral authority are in question, as well. how do you think he did tonight? >> i think he did a pretty good job overall tonight. look, i think it was difficult for him. there are people on the right, isolationist who's won't like what he had to say tonight. he said look, i thought as a candidate that maybe we just would abandon the entire enterprise in afghanistan. i think he realizes that for the u.s. after all these years, to be defeated on the battlefield by the taliban and by al qaeda is not a good idea. he doesn't want that to happen. he introduced several new ideas and he introduced a strategy. i'm not going to tell you it's the best strategy. it gives a lot more authority to his commanders in the field, on the battlefield. i think that's a good thing. i think a president shouldn't be sitting there with a map trying to figure out how to run these battles. among the things did he, for example, th

in afghanistan and pakistan, america's interests are clear. we must stop the resurgence of safe havens that allow terrorists to threaten america. we must prevent nuclear weapons and material from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us or anywhere in the world. to prosecute this war, we will learn from history as a result of our comprehensive review. america's strategy in afghanistan and south asia will change dramatically in the following ways. of our newar strategy is a shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions. howid it many times counterproductive it is for the announce ins to advance the days we begin or end military operations. we will not announce our plans for further military activities. conditions on the ground, not guideary timetables will our strategy from now on. america's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. i will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will. another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of ame

policy in afghanistan. he spoke monday evening at the joint base meyer henderson hall n arlington, virginia. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. president trump: thank you very much. thank you. lease be seated. vice president pence, secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general dunford, and secretary shanahan, colonel duggan. most especially thank you to men and women of forment and very member of the yaud states military at home and abroad. we send our thoughts and prayers to the families of our brave sailors who are injured in a loss after a tragic collision at sea as well as those conducting the search and recovery efforts. i am here tonight to lay out our path forward in afghanistan nd soug -- south asia. before i provide the details of our new strategy i wan to say a few words to the service members here with us tonight, to those watching from their posts, and to all americans listening at home. since the founding of our republic our country has produced a speci

but he apparently did say version of that about afghanistan not that long ago, we need to go into afghanistan and a lot the place, take their mineral we actually to cover our costs. that reporting from nbc news stuck out a couple weeks ago because it was bizarre and provocative. but i think that might have been what this line was about tonight. >> we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us. >> that's my first question. was that the real policy shift announced today that we're going to start doing something in afghanistan economically to defray cost of our war there to make some money out of this thing? if that is what the president's announcing, that seems new and controversial to say the least. second question, how is our relationship with our friends, the pakistanis right now? is pakistan likely to get upset by the president insulting their civilization? >> it is time for pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order, and to peace. >> pakistan is big, it's got 200 million people. it's also got more than 100 operational nucle

war in afghanistan. the president breaking from his campaign rhetoric and that of a private citizen when he promised to pull out of afghanistan. keeping with the america first theme, saying the days of nation-build regular over. the vat gee, light on -- strategy, light on specifics by design. the president reaffirmed he does not want the enemy to know his plans. and a hasty withdrawal like the one in iraq is not an option. >> the vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for isis to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks. we cannot repeat in afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in iraq. >> the president signaled the u.s. would increase troop levels in afghanistan but offered no numbers. the president also put no end date on america's longest war. >> let's bring in retired air force colonel cedric leighton, former head of the joint chiefs. >> good to see you. >> let's start about what the speech was light on. again, by design. light on specifics. here's what president trump said abou

policy in afghanistan. he spoke at the joint base meyerson hall in arlington, virginia monday. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ pres. trump: thank you very much. thank you. please be seated. vice president pence, secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general dunford, deputy secretary shanahan, and colonel duggan. most especially, thank you to the men and women of fort myer and every member of the united states military at home and abroad. we send our thoughts and prayers to the families of our brave sailors who were injured and lost after a tragic collision at sea, as well as to those conducting the search and recovery efforts. i am here tonight to lay out our path forward in afghanistan and south asia. but before i provide the details of our new strategy, i want to say a few words to the service members here with us tonight, to those watching from their posts, and to all americans listening at home. since the founding of our republic, our country has produced

in afghanistan and pakistan, america's interests are clear. we must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten america. and we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us or anywhere in the world for that matter. but to prosecute this war we will learn from history. as a result of our comprehensive review, american strategy in afghanistan and south asia will change dramatically in the following ways: a core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a time- based approach to one based on conditions. i've said it many times how counterproductive it is for the united states to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin or end military options. we will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. conditions on the ground at arbitrary timetables will guide our strategy from now on. america's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. i will not say when we are going to attack but attack we wil

troops to afghanistan. good evening, everybody, i'm martha ma maccallum coming to you from washington tonight. and this is the story. since 9/11, the u.s. mission has been to never let it happen again. a war on terror under president bush gave way to president obama's ending of the iraq war and a focus on what he saw as the right war in afghanistan before pulling out there as well. two hours from now, the president will speak to the nation about the most solemn question that a commander-in-chief faces, the call to put more american lives at risk. it is his first prime time policy address as president of the united states. and it comes as he returns from a working vacation that was mostly work and during which he struggled with a tragic day in charlottesville that reignited the racial divide. so, in just a moment, we will be joined by retired four star general jack keane but first we go to chief white house correspondent john roberts who is live in fort meyers, virginia tonight a few hours from here where th

if you go back many years ago prior to this disruption, that was afghanistan. that was the nature of afghanistan 30, 40, 50 years ago. it is part of their culture already. we want to support that. in terms of the clear and hold, that is still the approach. areas will be cleared and afghan security forces can hold those areas. thereby enabling growth in the afghan economy. they do not have control over but a portion of their economy. as the forces are able to hold areas and stabilize them, not giving up further ground. they are still losing ground today as you well know. this will take a little while. stabilize and then regain control. as ground is gained it will be held by afghan security forces while allowing the afghan government to continue what it has been successfully doing under our assistance for many years. and not roll back any of those gains. i do not think that is the aspiration of the afghan government or people either. we will continue to help them institutionally. we may take different approaches and not putting so much u.s. taxpayer dollars on th

our top stories: donald trump spells out his new policy for afghanistan. no nation—building but no let—up in the battle against the taliban. we must ensure they have every weapon to apply swift, decisive and overwhelming force. our troops will fight to win. we will fight to win. the us navy temporarily suspends operations worldwide after one of its destroyers collides with a tanker near singapore. spanish police say they've shot dead younes abouyaaqoub, the main suspect in the barcelona terror attack. and lights out. millions look to the skies to witness a rare event, the total eclipse of the sun. he was talking about america's longest military conflict, but his speech was short and to the point and even began with soothing words calling for national unity. president trump has made a prime time address to the american people, outlining his administration's vision of the us military‘s role in afghanistan. in front of a military audience at fort myer, he said he'd changed his mind about a speedy withdrawal from afghanistan, which he supported as long a

afghanistan is very difficult. afghanistan is you have capital of kabul and a number of provinces that are broken down from tribes to subscribes, what they want most in localized area is they want peace, security and watch their kids go to school, food and some power. they want security. they wanted it in us, then from the africa afghan government, td not get it. like 80s, the whole reason call big ca--taliban came to bed them a way of life. neil: they change. >> you do have to -- understand that this, there is a separate. i am not one that advocates there is good taliban and bad taliban, however taliban itself, as an organization, has always been intraafghanistan this a markedly different ideology and thought process. neil: we're not interesting in toppling them. >> taliban will be a part of afghan society and that fabric of pashtuns. forever. but you ask the going back to mullah omar, who started taliban, they concerned themselves with afghanistan. talibans did not say let's go conquer the world. neil: is it your

did in iraq to afghanistan. it is basically more of the same. >> we had as many as 140,000 troops in country, 100,000 americans and 40,000 nato troops and that did not work. americans have the watches, but we have the time. we have to do a sustainable, cheap, long-term strategy, that helps keep unrelenting pressure on those terrorist elements. to what toroclivity to--s, brush in -- once urge, it is a false presumption because the enemy just ducks and covers. they have the time. >> with your organization, or organizations benefit from this? if there's a chance to do some of this work, we would certainly have a go at it. folks at they white house, after i wrote in the wall street journal, to elaborate on the op-ed and ended up making a detailed analysis of what the budget would take. iey wanted a comparison, and can honestly and clearly say, this program would cost less than my plan includes everything on the budget remaining there to keep active duty some guys and this contracted these would provide mentors at th

when we got involved in afghanistan and ramp up in afghanistan many national guard units went and took their equipment with them. they love that equipment behind. some of it was worn down or damaged. the worry for the future is to have the money to replace that equipment in the hands of the national guard? we looked at was going on in texas. the national guard is a lot of things at home, not just a broad. the issue is are they going to be fully equipped to do this in the future? guest: daisy is, from washington, d.c. free democrats. caller: good morning. you know what? the government is all messed up. they need to clean this up and stop blaming all these people. they need to either go to jail, get trump out. they need to go do something. they are the ones who messed up. host: with good as steve coming from chatsworth, illinois on the line for independents. all, -- when we went there with charlie wilson. and supply the telegram. -- and supply the taliban. heroine to fester. at another of its basically but --in our country, h, is a wasted war, wasted money, wasted human life. that we wen

should immediately get out of afghanistan. so how do the president's most passionate supporters feel about this change and other recent news events? i sat down with a group of trump voters from florida, pennsylvania, michigan, alabama and georgia, some of whom even volunteered for his campaign, to see how they feel today and to get the pulse of the people. the president is going to increase troop levels in afghanistan. show of hands who is comfortable with that? everybody would like to see troop levels go up in afghanistan. tell me why, bobby. >> i think it's a serious problem that we've kind of not taken that seriously in the last eight years of obama. and this is what he said he was going to do, that he was going to -- >> no he didn't. president obama was increasing troop levels. president trump then donald trump tweeted we should get out, this is silly. we should rebuild the u.s., we should leave afghanistan immediately. we have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in afghanistan we he wanted to get out. >> how m

get out of afghanistan we will also expand. for american forces. repeated pledge to quit afghanistan now to expand the military operation with no plan for withdrawal. president also makes another attempt to heal the us political divide and claims that both sides are trying to exploit the divisions for political gain. at least forty civilians have been killed in a u.s. led bombing raid. in syria. very good evening to you my name is. international. a total disaster that is how donald trump as a presidential candidate denounced the u.s. military campaign in afghanistan pledging that he'd lead america out if he became president but now he's flipping on that promise and actually expanding what's already there gallus there is a total and complete disaster let's get with it get out of afghanistan we will also expand authority for american armed forces to target the terrorist and criminal networks would trump ours regularly slammed bombers approach to afghanistan even calling on him to get smart impulses insisted on a speedy withdrawal repeating that it wa

neil, that's the way we won afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. in when i was there in '03 we were winning the war. we have hobbled our troops by not allowing them to be on the offensive. as well as the fact that we have not dealt with pakistan adequately to hold them accountable. i talked to multiple commanders who have been over there. they were not permitted to deal with pack assistant way they wanted to. the taliban could rearm, reequip and always come back. unless you are willing to affect the real things that allow you to win. his plan regarding how he would go about winning the war. one point he made, more than any other, running out to me as one of the issues, this plan talks about controlling economic centers of gravity. we never did that. we always pretended we didn't know what was going on regarding the traders' routes and the opium and we tried to seize ground and hold it and it was complete folly. it's about setting up what you believe to be your stated objectives. being able to affect stability by working through proxies. neil: i'm w