to be withdrawn from afghanistan in addition to the humans troops there is also a nato base in afghanistan in kabul at least the result of supports and they have a very clear mandate off training and mentoring the afghan national security forces but benito forces there is a lot of support which is also troops from different 7 countries who have been allies of the u.s. if u.s. troops were drawn not just to careen and in terms of you know supplies at this particular base that the supporting after violent capacity building supports to our military forces in afghanistan they will not be able to survive in the absence of the u.s. troops this is why we have seen the news that's that general secretary of nato is inviting president elect joe biden a 2 didn't to nato to collectively make a decision on how to arrange this exact unfortunately and the way the media is portraying gets a probably this was because of the election season and the united states it is like troops withdraw and that's so it's 0 brits on the ground if you ask me as an afghan i am more happy more than happy to actually hear that

side from the afghanistan side how do you pack that. well there were a reef so it's sheer afghan's if like that. that the military intervention in afghanistan in 2001 was related to the elections back to the u.s. elections the military really draw on particularly the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan and again in 19 or 20 years on it's again related to the american elections so we understand that there has been a rush there has been a sort of a pressure by taxpayers by those certain families of the soldiers and why our children where our sons are go or doctors are going to be killed there and we understand that's but without such massive level of investment made on afghanistan to just and leave it's not the responsible kind of arrangement in relations with the country so really i'm also a advocate for it was a response about withdrawal where achieve some basic arrangements could be could be place like the interview you have shown are what worries us as afghans is a chaos and we are all them and unfortunately being from the our generation

for coming here to afghanistan. i only knew what i'd been told which in reality means absolutely nothing. naturally i had my doubts really sorry but i knew that if i came here. anything could happen to me more from which it's. not on julie doot. elite as time went on doubts grew of waddle because there were huge losses it could be and the soldiers who came back alive began to talk about the atrocities they'd suffered. or that they'd inflicted. because both sides were violent people and all that began to attract criticism slope lucas's model of the us you see dear decree teac. my mission today was to seek out caravans and targets to strike. and i think the only people who could understand how i feel and what we experience here are those who were in the vietnam war. they lived through the same thing and were exposed to the same dangers that we are. in all countries and all societies people look out for themselves their own daily problems and i don't the soviet union people don't know about what goes on in afghanistan

for coming here to afghanistan. i only know what i've been told which in reality means absolutely nothing naturally i have my doubts. vary but i knew that if i came here. anything could happen to me more from this which it sir. poor guy says mom you're not on julie doot over the top 100 ton elite as time went on doubts grew. because there were huge losses. and the soldiers who came back alive began to talk about the atrocities they'd suffered. or that they'd inflicted. because both sides were violent people and all that began to attract criticism slow progress is more of france you see dear decree teac. my mission today was to seek out caravans and targets to strike. i think the only people who could understand how i feel and what we experience here are those who were in the vietnam war. they lived through the same thing and were exposed to the same dangers that we are. and all countries and all societies people look out for themselves their own daily problems and i don't the soviet union people don't know about wha

former united nations special envoy for afghanistan. the atlantic council hosted this hour long discussion. >> good morning, good afternoon, good evening to all of you joining us this wednesday. my name is -- i'm a professor at georgetown university and director of the south asia center at the atlantic council. on behalf of my colleagues here in washington, it is a real pleasure to host this conversation. in partnership with their friends and colleagues at the embassy of islamic republic of afghanistan and washington. my colleague and associate director of the south asian center will be moderating the conversation. but it is my great pleasure on it to ask the ambassador to provide welcoming remarks. your excellency. >> thank you good morning good afternoon or good evening, depending on wherever you are sitting right now and joining us for this session. may peace be upon you. it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the second event of the embassy of afghanistan's listen and peace series. we are glad to be hosting this event on lebanon'

for coming here to afghanistan. i only know what i've been told which in reality means absolutely nothing naturally i had my doubts. very but i knew that if i came here. anything could happen to me more from which it's. poor guy says mom you're not on julie doot burbled up 100 ton elite as time went on doubts grew. because there were huge losses. and the soldiers who came back alive began to talk about the atrocities they'd suffered. or that they'd inflated. to because both sides were violent people and all that began to attract criticism slope lucas's model of the us you see dear de critique. my mission today was to seek out caravans and targets to strike. and i think the only people who could understand how i feel and what we experience here are those who were in the vietnam war. they lived through the same thing and were exposed to the same dangers that we are. and all countries and all societies people look out for themselves their own daily problems and then the soviet union people don't know about what goes on

invaded afghanistan back in 2001. public is losing patience with fighting wars abroad president trump also appears to be bent on bringing troops home at any cost he has been willing to make concessions to the taliban and there are reports that the u.s. has been pressuring your government to do the same do you think the u.s. is really invested in a peace agreement or is it more the trump just wants to get out and cut the u.s. losses. the idea was agreement would have been if the negotiations between united states taliban and taliban with the delegation from republic of iran is what are some of the public of one a son would have started at the same time which was almost 2 years back that would gave the delegation of republic a better position for bargaining but in the meantime we hope that there is no rush in terms of withdrawing troops under the circumstances that withdrawal is an issue but on the basis of the condition reality of afghanistan this is something that has been also stated in the us taliban agreement that

for coming here to afghanistan. i only knew what i'd been told which in reality means absolutely nothing. naturally i had my doubts. even i knew that if i came here. anything could happen to me more from which it's. not on julie doot. elite as time went on doubts grew out of walk or because there were huge losses. and the soldiers who came back alive began to talk about the atrocities they'd suffered. or that they'd inflicted. because both sides were violent people and all that began to attract criticism. of the us you see dear de critique. my mission today was to seek out caravans and targets to strike. and i think the only people who could understand how i feel and what we experience here are those who were in the vietnam war. they lived through the same thing and work s'posed to the same dangers that we are. and all countries and all societies people look out for themselves their own daily problems and i don't the soviet union people don't know about what goes on in afghanistan was an ordinary north korea when we

to be withdrawn from afghanistan in addition to the humans troops there is also a nato base in afghanistan in kabul at least the result of supports and they have a very clear mandate off training and mentoring the afghan national security forces but benito forces there is a lot of support which is also troops from different 7 countries who have been allies of the u.s. if u.s. troops were drawn not just to korea and in terms of you know supplies at this particular base that the supporting after violent capacity building supports to our military forces in afghanistan they will not be able to survive in the absence of the u.s. troops this is why we have seen the news that their general secretary of nato is inviting president elect joe biden a 2 didn't to nato to collectively make a decision on how to arrange this exact unfortunately and the way the media is portraying gets a probably this was because of the election season and the united states it is like troops withdraw and that's so it's 0 brits on the ground if you ask me as an afghan i am more happy more than happy to actually hear that i

for coming here to afghanistan. i only know what i've been told which in reality means absolutely nothing naturally i had my doubts. but i knew that if i came here. anything could happen to me with some of which it sir. you're not on julie doot over the top 100 ton elite as time went on doubts grew out of walk or because there were huge losses it could be and the soldiers who came back alive began to talk about the atrocities they'd suffered. or that they'd inflicted. because both sides were violent people and all that began to attract criticism slope lucas's model of the us you see dear de critique. my mission today was to seek out caravans and targets to strike. and i think the only people who could understand how i feel and what we experience here are those who were in the vietnam war. they lived through the same thing and were exposed to the same dangers that we are. and all countries and all societies people look out for themselves their own daily problems and i don't the soviet union people don't know about wh

and former united nations special envoy for afghanistan. this is just under an hour. >> good morning, good afternoon, good evening to all of you joining. i'm a professor at georgetown university and director of the south asia center at the atlantic council. on behalf of my colleagues it is a pleasure to host this conversation in partnership with our friends and colleagues at the embassy of the islamic republic of afghanistan in washington. my colleague and director will be moderating the conversation but it's my great pleasure and honor to ask the ambassador to provide welcoming remarks. your excellency. >> thank you. good morning, good afternoon or good evening depending on where you are right now in joining us for the session. it is my pleasure to welcome you to the second event of the embassy of afghanistan. we are glad to be hosting the event on lebanon's agreement and partnership with the atlantic council a wonderful partner of the embassy in washington. i want to offer a warm thank you to the atlantic council further help in organizin

invaded afghanistan back in 2001. public is losing patience with fighting wars abroad president trump also appears to be bent on bringing troops home at any cost he has been willing to make concessions to the taliban and there are reports that the u.s. has been pressuring your government to do the same do you think the u.s. is really invested in a peace agreement or is it more the trump just wants to get out and cut the u.s. losses. the idea was agreement would have been if the negotiations between united states taliban and taliban with the delegation from republic of iran is what are some of the public of one a son would have started at the same time which was almost 2 years back that would gave the delegation of republic a better position for bargaining but in the meantime we hope that there is no rush in terms of withdrawing troops under the circumstances that withdrawal is an issue but on the basis of the condition reality in afghanistan this is something that has been also stated in the us taliban agreement that

state department advisor on afghanistan welcome to you all. so mad if i can begin with you this seems like something of an early victory for the taliban doesn't it they've kept up the violence ok they've avoided u.k. u.s. and nato troops but not afghan civilians and they've got a deal so a small deal with the afghan government. well i think it's. a relative part of their success step for all sides. and most importantly i think it's it gives a bit of hope to the afghan people who as you said are victims of violence from all sides this remember the bidens unfortunately. is obviously carried out by all of our who use it tacitly against certain targets and then also in a defensive or offensive manner by government forces and sometimes international forces when it's needed so it is a step but it opens the door for the next stage which is to talk about what and and to discuss down the road so it's to set the agenda for substantive talks now we are not a substandard talk yet at this is going to be another difficult stage in my opinion i think both si

forces afghanistan. developed and they were taking out heroin laboratories across the southwest of afghanistan in an attempt to reduce the amount of money that was available to the taliban so we started exploring this and in doing so spending time in some of the heroin laboratories. coincidentally some of these places were also producing methamphetamine now let's have been produced for a number of years using over the counter medicines and we could see the remnants of the bottles of various congestions and cough mixtures out the back of one of these labs what intrigued me was the fact that some of these cooks in these labs were saying we don't do that anymore so far too expensive and what i could see in some of the photographs that were being taken were some buckets some large barrack plastic barrels of green goo and i started inquiring about this and it turned out this was a federal. wild crop the grows in the mountains of afghanistan being soaked to make methamphetamine and the argument that these croo

invaded afghanistan back in 2001. public is losing patience with fighting wars abroad president trump also appears to be bent on bringing troops home at any cost he has been willing to make concessions to the taliban and there are reports that the u.s. has been pressuring your government to do the same do you think the u.s. is really invested in a peace agreement or is it more the trump just wants to get out and cut the u.s. losses. the idea was agreement would have been if the negotiations between united states taliban and taliban with the delegation from republic of afghanistan are some republic of understand would have started at the same time which was almost 2 years back that would gave the delegation of republic a better position for bargaining but in the meantime we hope that there is no rush in terms of withdrawing troops under the circumstances that withdrawal is an issue but on the basis of a condition reality in afghanistan this is something that has been also stated in the us taliban agreement that the wit

troop leaves afghanistan? or when the saudis -- seemingly unthinkable saudi thirst to last to it yemen has been slated. jeffrey said that we were looking for a defeat of isis in syria. i don't think those guys are going to sign a treaty on the [inaudible] . these things seem set up to go on forever. one of the things i heard when we were having the discussion about afghanistan was whether we needed to sort of renegotiate a new deal. whether the taliban not compliance in terms of the deal that was just mentioned causes a recapitulation of which were trying to do over there. it seems to me with many of these discussions about progress or decline, in the absence of a theory of sort of and state that we are looking for, and i think it is useful to try as best you can to flush out you know, with the end goal is, and what we're doing at present. to get us there. >> thank, you i'm going to go to the south asia theater, this seems questions madea for and vanda but feel free to comment on a broad range of topics as wel

february 1909 marked the end of what's known as the soviet invasion of afghanistan or the afghanistan war or as moscow called it sending a limited contingent to aid a brother country. the end of the conflict brought great relief to the multi-ethnic populations of both afghanistan and the soviet union it was to be the last armed conflict of the cold war. me but it had taken a heavy toll around 2000000 dead on the afghan side 15000 soviet soldiers killed and millions windows. there were countless victims of landmines and there was mass population displacement with around 6000000 people fleeing to pakistan and iran. it was a war that would change the face of the world a devastated afghanistan fell into a bloody civil war in which the islamist taliban would emerge as sponsors of a new source of international terrorism. it's no coincidence that the country is known as the graveyard of empires that's certainly true when it comes to the soviet union 2 and a half years after withdrawing its troops in december 1991 it ceased to exist. cal africa from culture. to environmentalist geoffrey offen

side from the afghanistan side how do you pack that. well there were a resort see it as afghans is like that. that the military intervention in afghanistan in 2001 was related to the elections back to the u.s. elections the military really draw on particularly the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan and again in 19 or 20 years on it's again related to the american elections so we understand that there has been a rush there has been a sort of a pressure by taxpayers by those families of the soldiers and why our children were our sons are born doctors are going to be killed there and we understand that's but without such massive level of investment made on afghanistan to just and leave is not the responsible kind of arrangement then relations with a country so really and also we advocate for it was responsive on withdrawal where achieve some basic arrangements could be could be place like the interview you have shown are what worries us as afghans is a chaos and we are all them and unfortunately being from the our generation to remember in t

state department advisor on afghanistan welcome to you all. so mad if i can begin with you this seems like something of an early victory for the taliban doesn't it they've kept up the violence ok they've avoided u.k. u.s. and nato troops but not afghan civilians and they've got a deal a small deal with the afghan government. well i think it's. a relative part of their success step for all sides. and most importantly i think it's it gives a bit of hope to the afghan people who as you said are victims of violence from all sides this remember the bidens unfortunately. is obviously carried out by all of our who use it tacitly against certain targets and then also in a defensive or offensive manner by government forces and sometimes international forces when it's needed so it is a step but it opens the door for the next stage which is to talk about what adams to discuss down the road so it's to set the agenda for substantive talks now we are not a step standard talk yet at this is going to be another difficult stage in my opinion i think both sides

look at afghanistan. so creating the rule of law system is paramount, and i hope that if negotiations in doha get somewhere, i hope the first thing that the new afghanistan position will work out this, the rule of law. >> thank you. on the subject of foreign intervention, dr. corstange, you have done some research on the case of foreign intervention and how it affected the attitude of voters in the 2009 lebanese parliamentary election. can you maybe give us a quick rundown of your findings from the research, and perhaps shed some light on how we might interpret the support of the united states, nato and allies both for the democratic process, democratic system in afghanistan, as well as it's obviously programming position in the peace negotiations, vis-À-vis the opinions of voters, if indeed there is a relationship there. >> okay. a lot of work i had been doing is with lebanese but i can work beyond that particular election. the thing to start off with is when we talk about foreign intervention i think w

general has assessed american achievements after 19 years in afghanistan. we believe that now after 20 years 2 decades of consistent effort there we have achieved a modicum of success i would also argue that over the last 5 to 7 years as a minimum we have been in a condition of strategic stalemate. excess appears to be replacing progress as the buzzword for the water torn country making progress right now on a very very sort of critical to our combined success with afghanistan the progress is real and importantly that progress is sustainable make no mistake the progress there i think is very rose myself and mistake and it's very substantial 2016 has been a significant year for afghanistan and progress has been made we are making progress towards our common goal that is to ensure that we and our allies never again face terrorist attacks from afghanistan comes out of the taliban and the afghan government signaled a breakthrough in talks with agreement on a negotiation mechanism the country's struggling amid leaks revelations about the us government of mismana

general has assessed american achievements off the 19 years in afghanistan. we believe that now after 20 years 2 decades of consistent effort there we have achieved a modicum of success i would also argue that over the last 5 to 7 years as a minimum we have been in a condition of strategic stalemate and success appears to be replacing progress as the buzzword for the water on the wall torn country making progress right now in array of areas that are critical to our combined success with afghanistan the progress is real and importantly that progress is sustainable make no mistake the progress there i think is very roles my cessna mistake will and it's very substantial 2016 has been a significant year for afghanistan and progress has been made we are making progress towards our common goal that is to ensure that we and our allies never again face terrorist attacks from afghanistan it comes after the taliban and afghan government signaled a breakthrough in talks with agreement on a negotiation mechanism the country's struggling amid leaks revelations from the us

state department advisor on afghanistan welcome to you all. so mad if i can begin with you this seems like something of an early victory for the taliban doesn't it they've kept up the violence ok they've avoided u.k. u.s. and nato troops but not afghan civilians and they've got a deal a small deal with the afghan government. well i think it's. a relative part of their success step for all sides. and most importantly i think it's it gives a bit of hope to the afghan people who as you said are victims of violence from all sides let's remember the bidens unfortunately. is obviously carried out by all of our who use it tacitly against certain targets and then also in a defensive or offensive manner by government forces and sometimes international forces when it's needed so it is a step but it opens the door for the next stage which is to talk about what adams to discuss down the road so it's to set the agenda for substantive talks now we are not the steps and the talks yet at this is going to be another difficult stage in my opinion i think both s

general has assessed american achievements off the 19 years in afghanistan. we believe that now after 20 years 2 decades of consistent effort there we've achieved a modicum of success i would also argue that over the last 5 to 7 years as a minimum we have been in a condition of strategic stalemate and success appears to be replacing progress as the buzzword for the war torn country making progress right now on a very very sort of critical to our combined success with afghanistan the progress is real and importantly that progress is sustainable make no mistake the progress there i think is very rose myself and mistake and it's very substantial 2016 has been a significant year for afghanistan and progress has been made we are making progress towards our common goal that is to ensure that we and our allies never again face terrorist attacks from afghanistan it comes after the taliban and afghan government signaled a breakthrough in talks with a greenman sona negotiation mechanism the country's struggling amid leaks revelations from the us governments of mismanag

is set to count down its troop levels in afghanistan -- cut down its troop levels in afghanistan to 2000. joe biden is expected to take office. they will review a piece deal with the taliban. let's bring in our guest. in washington dc, we have the nonresident senior fellow of the atlantic council. he is also a former spokesman for the afghan ministry of foreign affairs. from kabul, we are joined by the founding member of afghanistan affairs unit think tank and also , in washington dc, the director of the justice security 2020 program and a former u.s. state apartment advisor on afghanistan. welcome to you all. if i could begin with you, this seems like something of an early victory for the taliban. they kept up the violence, they avoided u.s. and nato troops but not afghan civilians. they have a small deal with the afghan government. >> i think it is a relatively positive success step for all sides. most important, it is good for the afghan people who are victims of violence from all sides. remember that violence is carried out by taliban who use it tactically against certain targets. so

general has assessed american achievements after 19 years in afghanistan. we believe that now after 20 years 2 decades of consistent effort there we have achieved a modicum of success i would also argue that over the last 5 to 7 years as a minimum we have been in a condition of strategic stalemate well and success appears to be replacing progress as the buzzword for the war torn country making progress right now in array of areas that are critical to our combined success with afghanistan the progress is real and importantly that progress is sustainable make no mistake the progress there i think is very rose myself and mistake and it's very substantial 2016 has been a significant year for afghanistan and progress has been made we are making progress towards our common goal that is to ensure that we and our allies never again face terrorist attacks from afghanistan. comes out of the taliban and afghan government signaled a breakthrough in talks with agreements on a negotiation mechanism the country's struggling amid leaks revelations from the us government of

it is my pleasure to welcome you to the second event of the embassy of afghanistan. we are glad to be hosting the event on lebanon's agreement and partnership with the atlantic council a wonderful partner of the embassy in washington. i want to offer a warm thank you to the atlantic council further help in organizing this important discussion and all the great work they are continuously doing. furthermore i would like to express my gratitude for taking the time to share their knowledge and insight with us today. ambassador i thank you and not just for joining us today that for all the great work that you've done in afghanistan over the years. it is an honor to have you with us today. and thank you for moderating and guiding us to this conversation. for those of you who were not able to join us for our lesson in peace event with the united states last month, we focused and i want to take a moment to reflect on some of the most critical lessons we have learned so far as we continue our journey to learn more about the peace process all around the world. the first main l

this is the 3rd funeral of a journalist in afghanistan in 2 months with a t.v. and radio presenter malala my wife and her driver were killed by gunmen in early december. and then so hard i'm there but i wouldn't put out a 1000100 common knowledge she knows that she was on her way to work and we had planned to do a show together i was on air when i got the news we had to stop the show as well but how about a round in our own home to all of us knew goodbye to the world of a journalist and a woman in the spotlight a 25 year old with a symbol of the new afghanistan a threat to fundamentalists and those she criticized that but i have 10 more daughters like my lai who could give their lives for a cause but i want the killers apprehended back in the know what is not targeted killings of journalists like my one by gunmen or car bombs have become all too common in afghanistan despite the ongoing peace talks between the government and the taliban the country is still rated as one of the world 5 most dangerous places for journalists and with weekly reports of new attacks t

they came to afghanistan after the 911 attack happened to me york. so they actually came to afghanistan, partly to save all sorts from terroristic attacks. now, because the americans want to leave, we just ignore the woman. it's a question. u.s. government can answer and they did not agree to speak to us. what is clear is that after the death of tens of thousands of people, many view a peace deal with the taliban as a stunning betrayal. baguettes that was, i only play on and on all those american and nato soldiers who have been killed. they weren't fighting me. i didn't kill them. they were fighting the taliban. the same taliban that you're now going to bring back into power. is the face of who country and its women has never been more uncertain. but she also has a warning for the west. and yes, just had another day on the car. yes, i want to be. if american politicians can play with the future of afghan women like this, then they can make the same deal for their own women. it's possible. so american women need to stay vigilant. because their politic

previously have been working in afghanistan during the 1980's. the cia s helping to fund the motion dean against the soviet occupation at the time. -- lucia dean entirely under the control of the cia but made up of entirely of afghan soldiers. they are better trained, better paid, better armed than a conventional counterparts -- an their conventional counterparts. it is not often you hear about them often. the only time you do is winter atcities like -- whenhose atrocities like have document it in wardak in the past couple of years make headlines. rare they youvery make headlines because of the places these militias nd to operate deep in taliban-controlled territory where there is often limited andss to communication ten the inrmation that does come out is denigrated as propaganda which the television well-known for using. been more recent years, in fact since the trump administration started to undertake peace talks with the taliban regime in doha that these militias have come back to the fore and been extremely of thein certain parts country an

and we deployed in afghanistan together. as i mentioned earlier, that's when clay really began questioning the merits of our involvement there. and when we came back, clay was one of the first people i called to go to haiti. and he ended up joining us down there on the ground. but about a year after haiti, clay took his own life in houston, where he'd moved back to, and where he'd been struggling to figure out who he was and who he was going to be. and he fell victim to this scourge that is plaguing the veteran population, which is the suicide epidemic, and he became one of those statistics which, as you can imagine, was tragic. susan: i want to unpack that. there's a lot there. let's start with your decision to leave the military after four years. was that an easy decision for you to make at that point? jake: yes and no. yes, because my body was really starting to break down. at the end of my four-year enlistment, i really had, if i was going to stay in, i was going to have to just from how i was thinking about it -- the on

amy: this is president trump speaking about afghanistan in 2017. pres. trump: we are not nation-building again. we are killing terrorist. amy: there you have it, pompeo it makes in 2017 and me think about what you write in your piece, the prevalence of voice among those killed in wardak indicates that zero-one was trying to eliminate not only existing enemies, but potential future foes as well. talk more explicitly about what trump and pompeo are doing right now. and at this point when milley has just met with the taliban in qatar. >> what they're doing right now? well, they are coming to potentially the end of their involvement in afghanistan, something president trump campaign on in 2016. , it is myy reporting understanding that trump wanted to get out, as we all know of afghanistan, by the end of his term. in the four-year term -- in the of 20 year war, it is not a lot of time. as often said, much easier to get into war than to get out of one. the way i see it, trump wanted to connect goforth and a minimum amount of time to course the taliban into the

this is the 3rd funeral of a journalist in afghanistan in 2 months the t.v. and radio presenter malala my wife and her driver were killed by gunmen in early december. and then start of the what i would have been i don't know no real madrid common knowledge you know that she was on her way to work and we had planned to do a show together i was on air when i got the news that we had to stop the show as well but how about an auto number to all of us and him good advice from that a bit of a journalist and a woman in the spotlight 25 year old with a symbol of the new afghanistan a threat to fundamentalists and those she criticized them and i have 10 more daughters like milo who could give their lives for a cause but i want the killers apprehended back in the know what it was not targeted killings of journalists like my one by gunmen or car bombs have become all too common in afghanistan despite the ongoing peace talks between the government and the taliban the country is still rated as one of the world 5 most dangerous places for journalists and with weekly report

>> we have looked at that in afghanistan. general miller and general mckenzie have made that brief and given it back to acting secretary miller has approved the plan to go forward. i prefer, at this point, not to discuss exactly what bases are coming down. as a general comment, you're looking at a couple of larger bases, with several satellite bases that provide the capability to continue our train advise assist mission and continue our counterterrorist mission. >> thank you. in regard to korea, there are a couple questions that are focused on the need for vigilance in what is always a tense part of the world. speaking of going back in time, we have to go back 70 years to the origins of that conflict. there's obviously been a lot of history that has transpired in just the last few years under the obama and trump administrations in regard to korea. how do you feel about the overall situation on the peninsula today? are you worried about a north korean resumption of nuclear or long-range missile testing? do you feel our deterre

she wouldn't have had 19 years ago when the taliban ruled afghanistan. under its regime, women were not seen. all they were forced to wear as a boot and work banned from skins and jobs. and if they broke these rules, they were filled and sometimes executed was in the gift was it had been that we've gambled with our lives minute by minute. just why? because we want women to have a place in society to show them how much things have changed. and i like new friends, take me to a place. so to boot. it was completely banned by the taliban. now it's a bowling alley. not exactly the hotbed of vice i was expecting, but not that long ago. all of us would have been publicly flogged, just being feet was injured or something like this is a goat and probably just is not a good one. i would listen to it. ali khamenei didn't do that, john, only one shot her novel. one of the physicians not have it at the end, like not. and i would suggest that the scene look at it. and they tell me that's not the only change. was a design and that john duff wanted out that he made it ou

for anybody and so you know it's a matter of how are we going to stay in afghanistan where you've been there 20 almost 20 years now for we're going to take when we get out you know the british were there the russians were there all kinds of people that persians went there you know how many people are going to take the convinced that we ought to stay out of afghanistan or other places like tell him you know his let's remember there's plenty of people i mean i don't look at the whole afghan thing as a huge drift i mean they know there's there's no solution to it but plenty of people are making money hand over since right and they know the level of corruption they were words of very profitable business that's where that sense and it's a very profitable business for very few people and a lot of other suffer for interact nicholai is if this is the inability to reimagine american foreign policy i mean is there such inertia then you know even considering a change of course here because i guess you know when you look at the form of policy blob and the people that biden are thinking about their

and we deployed in afghanistan together. as i mentioned earlier, that's when clay really began questioning the merits of our involvement there. clay waswe came back, one of the first people i called to go to haiti. and he ended up joining us down there on the ground. but about a year after haiti, clay took his own life in easton, where he'd moved back to, and where he'd been struggling to figure out who he was and who he was going to be. and he fell victim to this scourgethat is put -- that is plaguing the population, which is the suicide epidemic, and he became one of those statistics which, as you can imagine, was tragic. susan: i want to unpack that. there's a lot there. let's start with your decision to leave the military after four years. with that in easy decision for you to make at that point -- was that an easy decision for you to make at that point? jake: yes and no. yes because my body was really starting to break down. at the end of my four year in this meant, -- enlistment, i really had, if i was going to stay in

and we deployed to afghanistan together. as i mentioned earlier, that's when clay really began questioning the merits of our involvement there. and when we came back, clay was one of the first people i called as team rubicon was forming up to go to haiti. and he ended up joining us down there on the ground in port-au-prince. but about a year after haiti, clay took his own life in houston, where he'd moved back to, and where he'd been struggling to figure out who he was and who he was going to be. and he fell victim to this scourge that is plaguing the veteran population, which is the suicide epidemic, and he became one of those statistics which, as you can imagine, was tragic. susan: i want to unpack that. there's a lot there. let's start with your decision to leave the military after four years. was that an easy decision for you to make at that point? jake: yes and no. yes, because my body was really starting to break down. at the end of my four-year enlistment, i really had, if i was going to stay in, i was going to have t

mercenaries offered money to attack american service members in afghanistan. this time, the offer came from china. international security editor nick paton walsh has reported extensively from afghanistan, and he joins us now from london with this story. nick, what can you tell us this morning? >> reporter: well, it is something of a confusing tale here. i think the best thing is to give the context of the plot we heard about earlier on this year, under which russian intelligence agents were accused by u.s. and european intelligence officials of paying money to the taliban to attack american forces and that seems to have resulted in some casualties. what we're hearing now, though, from a senior administration official talking to my colleagues in d.c. is the suggestion, in fact, that the chinese paid what was referred to as non-state actors to launch similar attacks too. now, this doesn't at this point seem to have been information that's been corroborated as far as these officials say, and it's not clear quite exactly resulted as a consequence of this plot. i s

this is the 3rd funeral of a journalist in afghanistan in 2 months the t.v. and radio presenter. and her driver were killed by gunmen in early december. and then somehow but i wouldn't i don't want to know hundreds coming. she was on her way to work and we had planned to do a show together i was on edge when i got the news we had to stop the show. that's true but how about a round and all but i want to go to one of the simply points from that a bit of a journalist and a woman in the spotlight 25 year old with a symbol of the new afghanistan a threat to fundamentalists and goes she criticized that i have 10 more daughters like my lai who could give their lives for a cause but i want the killers apprehended back in the know what is possible not targeted killings of journalists like my one by gunmen or car bombs have become all too common in afghanistan despite the ongoing peace talks between the government and the taliban the country is still rated as one of the world 5 most dangerous places for journalists and with weekly reports of new attacks threats and intimidation local journ

aixa: agreements are a milestone but it is disappointing violence continues across afghanistan. christ there is no doubt people are fed up with this level of and violence in afghanistan, which continues as an attack on the structure. lives being taken to attacks carried out more intensely in the past few months. the very fact that there is violence makes it more necessary to engage more into peace discussion. our primary demand is to reach a cease-fire, and that is what we are committed to achieving. there is the discussion about decisions by key partners is a decision of them, as much as it depends on our side, the islamic republic of afghanistan is committed to protect our people and our constitution but also committed fully to reach a peaceful settlement in ending this war. anchor: still ahead, the blame game in israel. lawmakers moved to dissolve -- that could trigger the fourth national election in under two years. three pro-democracy leaders in hong kong are jailed for their role in antigovernment protests. ♪ >> the weather looks quiet for china, quiet for the korean pen

in your experience why is afghanistan so dangerous for journalists. afghanistan is dangerous for journalists because the truth is that journalists are under attack from all angles obviously they come under attack from the taleban from groups or groups claiming allegiance to the so-called islamic state but also we have strong men we have mafia you know there's no shortage of guns it's very easy to buy sticky bombs and i e d's and things like that in this country and what we've seen is that with all of these journalists killings there have been no real answers of who is responsible for it and so for a journalist the scariest thing is that you don't actually know who could kill you you know i was talking to a friend of mine the other day and he said think about it if one of us gets killed we don't even know if they would investigate the killing meaning the government and even if they had investigated the killer what would that really accomplish you know he was saying that it doesn't bring us back to life and it doesn't change what's happening right now s

molly: benjamin hall on the ground in afghanistan, thank you. a new defense bill is looking to hold off withdrawing troops from afghanistan until the pentagon, state department and director of national intelligence are able to assess how that could affect threats to the u.s. between that and the ongoing talks over a second covid relief bill, my first guest has quite a lot on his plate. i am joined by senator kevin cramer, a member of the armed services and budget committee. senator, thank you so much for giving us a few minutes of your time on this sunday evening, we really appreciate it. kicking things off, i wanted to talk with you about something rather striking, what we're seeing, this withdrawal of troops in afghanistan. it's something the president has talked about for a long time but smuggles that's very much worth talking about is the national defense authorization act of 2021 is. now, we have a couple of bullet points that kind of highlight some of the things that are expected to be in the act. 740 billion in total funding for national

for anybody and so you know it's a matter of how are we going to stay in afghanistan where you've been there 20 almost 20 years now for we're going to take when we get out you know the british were there the russians were there all kinds of people that persians went there you know how many people or is it going to take the convinced that that we ought to stay out of afghanistan or other places like the i mean you know you have his let's remember there's plenty of people i mean i don't look at the whole afghan thing as a huge drift i mean they know there's there's no solution to it but plenty of people are making money hand over since right and they know the level of corruption they were words of very profitable business that's where that sense and it's a very profitable business for very few people and a lot of other suffer for internet nicholai is that if this is the inability to reimagine american foreign policy i mean is there such inertia then you know even considering a change of course here because i guess you know when you look at the form of policy blob and the people that bide

>> we have looked at that in afghanistan. the acting secretary miller has approved the plan to go forward. torefer at this point not discuss exactly what bases are coming down. you're looking at a couple of larger bases with several satellite bases that provide the capability to continue our train advise assist mission and continue our counterterrorist mission. >> in regard to korea, there are questions that are focused on the need for vigilance and what is always a tense part of the world. speaking of going back in time, we have to go back 70 years to the origins of that conflict. there's a beasley been a lot of history that has transpired in just the last few years under the obama and trump administrations in regard to korea. hadi you feel about the overall situation on the situation of today? are you worried about a north korean resumption of nuclear or long-range missile testing? and a comments in particular in regard to korea? -- any comments in particular in regard to korea? >> i think the alliance between the u.s. and

i want to touch upon the situation in afghanistan and iraq. you've been out in the media talking about your opinion about the proposed drawdown by january 15th. i don't necessarily want to have you repeat your stance on it, but i do want to sort of ask you where this leaves us come january 20th in terms of, do we have alternatives so that we don't create a vacuum in these two countries, which happen to be near and dear to both of our hearts? how do you basically stop this trend from repeating itself, essentially, where we were in the obama administration in 2011 and then having to go back in 2014. >> that's exactly it. we have to be capable of at least learning from our most recent history. i think that the trump administration's foreign policies have fallen short, mainly in areas where they've doubled down on the deficiencies of the obama administration policies, and this is in afghanistan in particular. and i know why americans are frustrated. i know there is a call to end the endless wars across the political spectrum. but vivian, i think w

to jump in severe coronavirus cases pounds pressure on afghanistan's drinking and system. today storm warning is for arland and their flood warning still the southwest of france in portugal the northwest of spain or because that slow moving frontal system the head of which is quite a tightly wrapped storm is moving eastward so the flood potential flood risk won't last forever just through much of the day and then these things started to k. ahead of it all the the mass of the last system is giving snow in the northwest of russia and finland but for the most part most of europe is quiet and cold even in the southeast corner the storm is dying down now this weakening system during tomorrow will bring rain to parts counter a via snow to norton's kind of a bit next want already winding up ahead of it as you can see we've seen flooding in southern turkey we saw heavy rain in cyprus well wednesday's forecast takes our storm system that is put into the other half in the eastern side of turkey flood warnings today from the dead sea southwards new can see why that's pretty nasty wea

for anybody and so you know it's a matter of how are we going to stay in afghanistan where you've been there 20 almost 20 years now for we're going to say when do we get out you know the british were there the russians were there all kinds of people that persians went there you know how many people or is it going to take the convinced that we ought to stay out of afghanistan or other places like tell them you know he is let's remember there's plenty of people i mean i look at the whole afghan thing is a huge drift i mean they know there's there's no solution to it but plenty of people are making money hand over since right and they know the level of corruption they were just words a very profitable business that's what that sense and it's a very profitable business for a very few people but a lot of others suffer for it interact nicholai is it is this just the inability to reimagine american foreign policy i mean is there such inertia then you know even considering a change of course here because i guess you know when you look at the form of policy blob and the people that biden are th