troops in afghanistan. in the coming months we will withdraw our troops responsibly, deliberately, and safely with nato allies and operational partners. we have made it clear to the taliban if they attack us as we draw down, we will defend ourselves forcefully. we will reconfigure our counterterrorism capabilities to ensure our ability to monitor and address terrorism threats emanating from afghanistan. we will maintain assets in the region and will continue to work closely with afghan security forces and regional partners. we will hold the taliban accountable to their commitments to prevent al qaeda or any other terrorist group from using afghanistan as a base for attacks against us. if the terrorist threat emerges, we will be ready. even as we withdraw our military forces we will continue our diplomatic support for the peace process and urge all party, afghans and international stakeholders, to remain focused on securing a political settlement and permanent cease-fire. it is time for all concerned to aban

two, encouraing unity among afghanistan leaders on the islamic republic of afghanistan side. three, sustaining military, political and economic support for the islamic republic of afghanistan. four incentivizing the taliban to reduce violence, accelerate negotiations for a political settlement and agree to a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire. five, strengthening our cooperation against terrorism with countries in the region through enhanced monitoring and response capabilities. and six, promoting economic activity trade and development between central asia, afghanistan and south asia. mr. chairman, the taliban face a fundamental choice between two very different futures. they can embrace a negotiated path to peace, make the transition from a violent insurgency, to a political movement, and be part of a nation that enjoys respect in the global community. but if they pursue a military takeover, they will face isolation, regional and international opposition, sanctions, and our and our allis' support for afghan security forces will continue. we appreciate qatar's hosting of

reconstitute in afghanistan . so just worries there and i hope everything goes smoothly and that the impact to stability are minimal. i do also share the concerns raised by senator shaheen and gillibrand. we were to visit a number of training facilities where afghan women were being trained in various secretary and clerical positions but also as women warriors and very concerned about what will happen. what will happen to girls at the intended schools now working in businesses so i want to that. senator shaheen is writing a letter to our president for those special immigrant visas . it is something we are very concerned about. in the new iowa we have to an afghan interpreter in iowa and is request has been denied. just received a letter the other day can also work with the state just stress to them as we are stressing to them how important it is that as we are withdrawing we're also making sure we are protecting those who have enabled our forces in afghanistan. it is extremely important and it's not just the men t

future policy toward afghanistan? is there a strategy to ensure that the high levels out federal government, we're hearing the concerns of people at the grass roots of afghan society? >> thank you for that question, congresswoman. first, that's one of the reasons we are keeping -- we're committed to keeping a strong embassy presence, besides our own direct engagement from here with women activists, women leaders of afghanistan. we also meet an engaged women negotiators who have done a great job in doja, and our assistants, and support of women's rights and programs that advocate for the rights of women make progress on those issues will continue. and at the same time, we are -- our strategy is to have women's rights issues, one of the key factors, elite factor in our assistance programs in terms of dealing with the future government. that if the -- we made it clear. we talked to them with the government, that that's the key concern of the united states, and i mention and when i talk to the talibs, i mentioned repeated

reconstitute in afghanistan. so just worries there and i hope that everything goes smoothly and that the impacts to stability are minimal. i do also share the concerns raised by senator shaheen and by senator gillibrand. and senator gillibrand and i went to afghanistan pre-pandemic and we were able to visit a number of training facilities where afghan women were being trained in various secretary and clerical positions but also as women warriors. and i am very concerned about what will happen to them and girls that have attended school and are now working in businesses, so i just want to re-emphasize that. senator shaheen is leading a letter i'm a co-lead to our president asking for those special immigrant visas. it is something that we are very concerned about. just in the news this morning coming from iowa, we have an afghan interpreter in iowa falls and his asylum request has been denied. he just received the letter the other day. so if you can, also work with the state department and just stress to them as we

giving rise to a new afghanistan. one where many women and girls n the enter the workforce after years of exclusion. the dreams the sisters share forged in these classrooms. >> my wish is to raise the woman's voice. what really i want to be a very well known journalist. i will go for an interview in front of the boss. the main reason, what is the is- main wish that you hear, i would tell him that i want to sit in that chair that you are sitting, i really want that. >> reporter: this is what the taliban fears, open books, raised hands, questions, opinions, learning. a generation of young gir i want poli country. >> you want to be a politician? >> yes. >> president? >> no. >> reporter: the gains unimaginable for so long, but fragile, now hanging in the balance as american forces begin to withdraw from afghanistan. girls and women here have the most to lose. their futures, afghanistan's future uncertain once more. >> if the regime in particular, everything, all of our minds, all of our hopes would be closed. >> reporter:

occupation of afghanistan mitigated the taliban's power, giving rise to a new afghanistan. one where many women and girls are now free to pursue an education and enter the workforce, after years of exclusion. the dreams mastora and madea share forged in these classrooms. >> my wish is to rise the women's voice. really what i want is to be a very -- a well-known journalist. i will go for interview in front of the boss, and if he asks me that, what is the main reason, what is the main wish of you here, i will tell him, i want to sit in that chair where you are sitting. i really want that. >> reporter: this is what the taliban fears. open books. raised hands. questions, opinions, learning. a generation of young girls empowered. what are your hopes for the future? >> i want to learn the politics, law, to help my country. >> you want to be a politician? >> yes. >> president? >> no. >> reporter: the gains unimaginable for so long, but fragile. now hanging in the balance as american forces begin to withdraw from afghanistan. girls and women here have the most to lose. their future

but the people of afghanistan and the women of afghanistan want more. they want taliban to publicise their policy on education, publicise their policy on work for women, on political participation of women. these are... just saying that we have changed is not enough. it will not build enough trust by the women of afghanistan over taliban. they need to really demonstrate, because i know that in many places now under the control of taliban, still, girls have difficulty going to school, women cannot go to work. so, it has to come to practise from words. all right. but, look, i mean, obviously, the taliban are key to all this, but it's notjust the taliban who are impeding women's rights in afghanistan. this is a deeply conservative country. there have been moves to try to bring a bill against violence against women in the parliament in afghanistan. conservative religious forces, nothing to do with the taliban, are blocking this. so, it's not as though you get the taliban in the right place and then women can just walk around the streets of kabul and everywh

and i think the same lesson could be learned from the american engagement in afghanistan, even though we don't get any public recognition all by mistakes made. do you think this withdrawal will have any influence on america as thinking around wars and its ability to project power and its ability to achieve anything by military power? oh, it already has and you know, one of the things i think understanding what's happened about ghana, stan and joe by decision is he had, even though they were newspaper reports that he had to override the pentagon to pull out of afghanistan. there are a lot of people within the pentagon who are happy for this. what this does is this is really slow fighting again, the american way of warfare, again, from, from western africa, all the way of pakistan. the waiting states fight the small wars these, these war that the nicest of her to be uncovered, are not covered and unacknowledged. again, they use special operations and ca commandos. they use drones. it's done in secret . and what that does though, is that allows for the united states army to them focus on

afghanistan and isis and also rd operating in afghanistan. the and is that your understanding, and is that the understanding o our military people on the ground in afghanistan? senator,Ñi it's clear the e tht taliban's compliance uneven. i'd prefer to go into detail one that in our closedñr session. >> people are going to know very soon once we pull out whether al-qaeda and isis continue to these applicants and their families as we know are in danger from the caliban. many of th 18,000 afghan siv applicants currently in process.at tho we know they're in imminent tter danger from thes taliban. many of the delays stem from th. difficulty those applicants have in obtaining employment verification letters fromÑi forr and often defunct employers.an and considering thaty of many ov those applicants havee served support of the military and do directly with the department of xd be us defense, do we have a centralized database that can bi used to verify the employmentÑif those s.i.v. applicants? >> senator, it's my understanding we are drawing ri

but the people of afghanistan and the women of afghanistan want more. they want taliban to publicise their policy on education, publicise their policy on work for women, on political participation of women. these are... just saying that we have changed is not enough. it will not build enough trust by the women of afghanistan over taliban. they need to really demonstrate, because i know that in many places now under the control of taliban, still girls have difficulty going to school, women cannot go to work. so, it has to come to practise from words. all right. but, look, i mean, obviously, the taliban are key to all this, but it's notjust the taliban who are impeding women's rights in afghanistan. this is a deeply conservative country. there have been moves to try to bring a bill against violence against women in the parliament in afghanistan. conservative religious forces, nothing to do with the taliban, are blocking this. so, it's not as though you get the taliban in the right place and then women can just walk around the streets of kabul and everywhe

i think that allowed by the opportunity to try and do something different with afghanistan. but they're, by no means is joe biden turning into a, you know, make a dub. exactly. does, there's still going to be, be this very interventionist, very involved american presence militarily throughout the world. but the fact that he was willing to disengage from afghanistan in this manner is a very welcome development. it's certainly much different, right, than what we've seen over the last thing. we're still to see if that's right. but you know, assuming that the withdrawal proceed, i've got a son is a very big money whole according to the pounding of on an estimate that war has caused the united states over $800000000000.00. and that's a very, very conservative after. and i'm sure you would agree with me that there are many baths that interest not only the united states, but also among local and regional actors. so even if we accept that there is a genuine desire on the part of the administration to disentangle, supported as you sat by the overwhelming will of american people, 2 th

and i think the same lesson could be learned from the american engagement in afghanistan. it was, we don't get any public recognition all by mistakes made. do you think this withdrawal will have any influence on america's thinking around wars and its ability to project power and its ability to achieve anything by military power? oh, it already has and you know, one of the things i think understanding what's happened about ghana, stan and joe by decision is he had, even though they were newspaper reports that he had to override the pentagon to pull out of afghanistan. there are a lot of people within the pentagon who are happy for this. what this does is this is really solidifying again the american way of warfare, again from, from western africa all the way a pakistan, the way the united states fight the small wars these, these war that the nicest of her to be uncovered, are not covered and unacknowledged. again, they use special operations and ca commandos. they use drones. it's done in secret . and what that does though, is that allows for the united states army to them

and i think the same lesson could be learned from the american engagement in afghanistan. it was, we don't get any public recognition all by mistakes made. do you think this withdrawal will have any influence on america's thinking around wars and its ability to project power and its ability to achieve anything by military power? oh, it already has and you know, one of the things i think understanding what's happened about ghana, stan and joe by decision is he had, even though they were newspaper reports that he had to override the pentagon to pull out of afghanistan. there are a lot of people within the pentagon who are happy for this. what this does is this is really solidifying again the american way of warfare, again from, from western africa all the way of pakistan. the way the united states fight the small wars these, these war that the nicest of her to be uncovered are not covered and unacknowledged . again, they use special operations and ca commandos. they use drones. it's done in secret . and what that does though, is that allows for the united states army, to the

in nice, victoria fontan american university of afghanistan in kabul. and in doha sultan barakat doha , institute for graduate studies. a warm welcome to you all. let's begin in pittsburgh. this of administration, particularly, is pushing the fact that the afghans can do this themselves. that the afghan security forces are ready to do this themselves. you heard from the u.s. secretary of defense say they have the capability to be able to do it. what do you make of that? >> i respectfully disagree. i think if you watch what has happened in afghanistan over the years, if you have watch the afghan national security forces, who are clearly brave and courageous, they need the help and assistance of the united states military, not only in day-to-day operations, but in those critical, over the horizon operations. and i would say particularly in areas like i.s. are, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. >> but then you were looking at a situation where they are always going to be needed so they are never going to leave. at some point, 20 years after t

system let's not forget that afghanistan the population of afghanistan is i think 6364 percent of the population is under 27 years old this is for young population so most of these of this generation have been born either during the taliban regime or right after post taliban and these are the ones that have really made a lot of progress and of course the the ministers there the women ministers and civil society business women that have opened doors for these young younger generation makes a huge difference now if you talk about how how how it should be in the future but if they come let's say worst case scenario they come in on the take over the government let's protect the constitution or canister because the constitution of afghanistan and the clauses that protect women and minorities should not be touched and that is very very important right now he has a hole in the afghan canadian human rights activist filmmaker artist thank you so much for sharing your insights and for having me. all for most of us part is have been out of the question for a long time but now in the british city

and nato troops start to withdraw from afghanistan they leave behind a resurgent taliban and afghans living in fear so what needs to be done to keep the country safe this is its own story. and i welcome to the program on the run come on it's being called the beginning of the end for america's longest war us soldiers have started leaving afghanistan over the past week now president joe biden promised all troops will be gone by september the 11th 202120 years after the attacks that triggered the fight against the taliban 7000 nato personnel will leave as well but as they go the taliban is launching more attacks the u.n. says the number of people killed or injured is up by a 3rd compared to this time last year the u.s. defense secretary admits afghan security forces face a major task ahead. we were remain partners with the afghan. government with the afghan military and certainly we hope through our continued support. the afghan security forces can can be a factor but you know it's. they have a pretty significant capability but it's going to you know we expect that this will be a challe

and nato troops start to withdraw from afghanistan they leave behind a resurgent taliban and afghans living in faith so what needs to be done to keep the country safe this is its own story. hello welcome to the program on the wrong call and it's being cold the beginning of the end for america's longest war us soldiers have started leaving afghanistan over the past week now president joe biden promised old troops will be gone by september the 11th 202120 years after the attacks that triggered the fight against the taliban 7000 nato personnel will leave as well but as they go the taliban is launching more facts the u.n. says the number of people killed or injured is up by a 3rd compared to this time last year the u.s. defense secretary admits afghan security forces face a major task ahead. we were remain partners with the afghan. government with the afghan military and certainly we hope through our continued support. the afghan security forces can can be a factor but you know it's. very they have a pretty significant capability but it's going to you know we expect that this will be a c

and nato troops start to withdraw from afghanistan they leave behind a resurgent taliban and afghans living in fear so what needs to be done to keep the country safe this is inside story. hello welcome to the program on the run colonies being cold the beginning of the end for america's longest war us soldiers have started leaving afghanistan over the past week now president joe biden promised all troops will be gone by september the 11th 202120 years after the attacks that triggered the fight against the taliban 7000 nato personnel will leave as well but as they go the taliban is launching more facts the u.n. says the number of people killed or injured is up by a 3rd compared to this time last year the u.s. defense secretary admits afghan security forces face a major task ahead. we were remain partners with the afghan. government with the afghan military and certainly we hope through our continued support. the afghan security forces can can be a factor but you know it's. they have a pretty significant capability but it's going to you know we expect that this will be a challenge for a

helmand is the largest province in afghanistan. it was the site of the most amount of fighting between the taliban, and american and british troops. it remains a taliban stronghold. elias daei was an award—winning reporterfor radio free europe, well known for his bravery. aged 14 when american troops arrived, he was 33 when he was killed. on the morning of his death, elias was travelling in the capital lashkargah when a bomb attached to his car exploded. elias lived with three generations of his family. the youngest, his two—year—old daughter. her name meant kindness. as part of the us—taliban deal, the taliban had committed to reducing violence. in the weeks leading up to his death, elias reported on a new taliban offensive in helmand. soon after, his house was searched and the day before he was killed, he sent a text to a colleague believing his life was in danger. elias is one of 12 journalists individually identified, targeted and killed since the us taliban deal of february 2020. journalists are the eyes and ears of th

helmand is the largest province in afghanistan. it was the site of the most amount of fighting between the taliban, and american and british troops. it remains a taliban stronghold. elias daei was an award—winning reporter for radio free europe, well known for his bravery. aged 14 when american troops arrived, he was 33 when he was killed. on the morning of his death, elias was travelling in the capital lashkargah when a bomb attached to his car exploded. elias lived with three generations of his family. the youngest, his two—year—old daughter. her name meant kindness. as part of the us—taliban deal, the taliban had committed to reducing violence. in the weeks leading up to his death, elias reported on a new taliban offensive in helmand. soon after, his house was searched and the day before he was killed, he sent a text to a colleague believing his life was in danger. elias is one of 12 journalists individually identified, targeted and killed since the us taliban deal of february 2020. journalists are the eyes and ears of t

they do desire they do what they can in afghanistan they don't, see instability as -- afghanistan is bordered by six countries. pakistan, uzbekistan, to seek stan, china, and iran. very different nations those six. but can i dig in with you a little bit general mackenzie on. that as different as those nations are tech and how different they are in their relationship with the united states would you say that they offer -- threatened by instability in afghanistan? >> i would agree with you completely. i would say all for their own reasons and as you noted those reasons are different. they all want stability in afghanistan. the other thing that some of the month as well as they recognize the vast resources better inherent and seek access. >> in terms of wanting stability i would imagine for their own reasons, but that could lead to unacceptable refugee flows into neighboring regions if that's not managed. and instability could lead to the possibility of terrorist or other tax and their own nations if that is not managed correctly. are those two of the reasons where they want stability a

withdrawal of the of the troops from afghanistan. we're not talking about the seen afghanistan as let's say 20 years ago where there were only taliban and you have to deal with we have 22. extremist groups that are active regionally nationally and internationally in there and now the gains that we've had in afghanistan it's for women especially it is just so concerning that we know that in parts of afghanistan where the taliban group right now or or are present right now women do not have a lot of rights and the the claim to allow women to do their work and to go to school that is not the case because there have been reports and there's been substantial reports that that is not the case so and and this is this this extreme shari'a. style of living has not been the case within that within the past 20 years enough in afghanistan to not consider so that is of course alarming to everybody because as they start leaving the troops are starting to leave today it's you wonder whether we go back fall back to taliban era again and even worse b

how much of a threat do terrorist groups in afghanistan posed to the us? >> a difficult question to answer and the long and short of it is the united states has to make the decision without knowing the answer and that has been the case along the way. these are close organizations that don't want us to know what they are up to and do a good job preventing us from knowing what they are really up to so it becomes that decision policymakers and generals have to contend with, what is our best guess about the threat isis poses for the post and this is a question we grappled with all along the way and a case in the early years of figure us forces were hunting from 2002, any jeppesen militant who had been there since the 80s, he had never left, and worked himself into the fabric of their society. at some point after the us intervention he became a key figure in establishing the anti-american and antigovernment insurgency to al qaeda, he became the al qaeda liaison to local insurgency in the valley and because the figures were few and far between and had a high pro

troops moving out of afghanistan. from your standpoint, what does that mean for the u.s., the military, and the veterans? >> a lot of things. it is a broad question. i think most of us would agree it is overdue. that it is overdue. 20 years of being there, we have lost a lot of men and women, spent a lot of money and it is clear that there is a limit on what we can do. we are not the best at nation building on that is what it has become. it is overdue time for the u.s. to withdraw service members. we should still remain engaged as a country, and we certainly owe a debt to those allies that served with us. the afghan translators and interpreters, other staff. without which we truly would have been a complete failure. we owe them, we promised them visas, we promised we would take care of them and we need to make sure we follow through on that quickly. host: that came up yesterday on cnn's state of the union. mike mccall was asked about how we deal with afghan residents who have helped us and what the u.s. needs to do mo

afghanistan withdrawal. messick terrorism and addressing sexual assault in the military. >> good afternoon, everybody. for coming today. just a couple of ground rules we are setting here. we will have statements for both the secretary and the chairman and i will open up for options. please identify who you are and your outlet when you ask if you can't limit follow-ups, we don't have a whole lot of time today. as both of these tenement have the schedules. will try to keep this thing moving. with that, secretary? >> thanks, john. let me start by thanking all of you for coming today and let me also tell you just how much i appreciate the work that you do. our free and independent press is one of america's greatest strength. when you hold us accountable, it makes us better and it makes our country stronger. so, thanks for what you do. it's been a very busy 100 days. we have been focused on my top three priorities. i will quickly review what our team has accomplished thus far. clearly, we have a lot more to do th

helmand is the largest province in afghanistan. it was the site of the most amount of fighting between the taliban, and american and british troops. it remains a taliban stronghold. elias daei was an award—winning reporter for radio free europe, well known for his bravery. aged 14 when american troops arrived, he was 33 when he was killed. on the morning of his death, elias was travelling in the capital lashkargah when a bomb attached to his car exploded. elias lived with three generations of his family. the youngest, his two—year—old daughter. her name meant kindness. as part of the us—taliban deal, the taliban had committed to reducing violence. in the weeks leading up to his death, elias reported on a new taliban offensive in helmand. soon after, his house was searched and the day before he was killed, he sent a text to a colleague believing his life was in danger. elias is one of 12 journalists individually identified, targeted and killed since the us taliban deal of february 2020. journalists are the eyes and ears of p

system let's not forget that afghanistan the population of afghanistan is i think 6364 percent of the population is under 27 years old this is a free young population so most of these of the people this generation have been born either during the taliban regime or right after post taliban and these are the ones that have really made a lot of progress and of course the the ministers and their women ministers and civil society business women that have opened doors for these young younger generation makes a huge difference now if you talk about how how do you how it should be in the future but if they come let's say worst case scenario they come in on the take over the government let's protect the constitution or canister because the constitution of afghanistan and the clauses that protect women and minorities should not be touched and that is very very important right now he is the holy me afghan canadian human rights activist filmmaker artist thank you so much for sharing your insights and he for having me here. well for most raves have been out of the question for a long time but now

natasha got job with the afghanistan human rights. afghanistan human rights commission. she was the youngest so we were the least worried about her. this was her firstjob. the least worried about her. this was herfirstjob. she the least worried about her. this was her firstjob. she was just there to start her life. she was so excited. she would always say this is the real thing, this is real life. at 7:30am on the morning she was killed, natasha was picked up was killed, natasha was picked up by was killed, natasha was picked up by a government car to go to work. within minutes of leaving the house, a bomb attached to the house, a bomb attached to the car exploded. both she and her driver were killed. natasha's are killing is part of a chilling new tactic by insurgents who identify and target individuals for murder. the victims are all people working to rebuild the country after decades of violence. they are often young and women. the? are often young and women. they are often young and women. they are the generation _ are often young and women. they are the generation o

will a quick reaction be based if not in afghanistan? will it be quick if it response time goes from the minutes two hours. we learned from ben ghazi, the so-called tyranny of distance, if the taliban takes cobble, will the biden administration recognize as legitimate government about afghanistan will we shatter our embassy and our aid programs and the reality is they don't know. they can't say. there is no plan. it is not courageous to abandon our allies and that is a view many democrats said they held when the last president considered withdrawing from syria and afghanistan. but now, as afghans, especially women and girls, face even worse dangers , many democrats have suddenly become much less local. the horrific, horrific reports of the tele- ban beginning to reimpose their version of sharia law are just a taste of the catastrophes basing our friendsh in afghanistan who have borne te brunt of the fight. human rights, women's rights, counterterrorism refugee flows -- as far as i can tell the administration has no plan. the world is wat

helmand is the largest province in afghanistan. it was the site of the most amount of fighting between the taliban, and american and british troops. it remains a taliban stronghold. elias daei was an award—winning reporterfor radio free europe, well known for his bravery. aged 14 when american troops arrived, he was 33 when he was killed. on the morning of his death, elias was travelling in the capital lashkar gah when a bomb attached to his car exploded. elias lived with three generations of his family. the youngest, his two—year—old daughter. her name meant kindness. as part of the us—taliban deal, the taliban had committed to reducing violence. in the weeks leading up to his death, elias reported on a new taliban offensive in helmand. soon after, his house was searched and the day before he was killed, he sent a text to a colleague believing his life was in danger. elias is one of 12 journalists individually identified, targeted and killed since the us taliban deal of february 2020. journalists are the eyes and ears of p

overall over this 20 years of war in afghanistan. the military solution was never the solution for afghanistan. it was important to to actually have a much more of a political approach towards this conflict where since 2001. that many of the taliban who surrendered for example in 200120022003 there was a will to talk with the americans and the new afghan government and instead of accepting that and it's that of like supporting also from the lack of support from the taliban because if anyone had no support at all in the beginning of this war the americans mainly and the europeans followed the americans in what they call actually an obsession for counterterrorism and that means you started a war where there's actually no enemy and so does as the people say in this in this report tars from them have got to stand as well they joined because of the government they're joining because the the the creation of this this this military solution together with the afghan government ok well that's that's helpful background to you yourself lived an

and i think the same lesson could be learned from the american engagement in afghanistan. it was like, we don't get any public recognition all by mistakes made. do you think this withdrawal will have any influence on america's thinking around wars and its ability to project power and its ability to achieve anything by military power? oh, it already has and you know, one of the things i think understanding what's happened about ghana, stan and joe by decision is he had, even though they were newspaper reports that he had to override the pentagon to pull out of afghanistan. there are a lot of people within the pentagon who are happy for this. what this does is this is really solidifying again the american way of warfare, again from, from western africa all the way a pakistan, the way the united states fight the small wars these, these war that the nicest of her to be uncovered, are not covered and unacknowledged. again, they use special operations and ca commandos. they use drones. it's done in secret . and what that does though, is that allows for the united states army to

afghanistan? president biden�*s not making good on president trump's promise — this is something that president obama also wanted to do. well, personally, for me, i'm relieved. there's a high degree of melancholy about it. i spent 15 months there, under the command of general sir nick carter, when he was commander, regional commander, south in kandahar. that was the hardest year i had in the army. we invested a lot. but i think... but i think after 20 years, it is time to go. we all did our best to help afghanistan. we accomplished the original purpose. and then we stayed about 19 years too long after that. well, i'm not sure you really did accomplish that original purpose, because i'm just looking at what hillary clinton said the other day. she said that, actually, one had to be honest and say that when the us forces do pull out by september, one possible outcome could be that the afghan government will be toppled and the taliban will take over. she said that there could be a resumption of ci

to afghanistan now and the pentagon's central command says the withdrawal of u.s. forces is 13 to 20 percent complete in april u.s. president biden promised that all u.s. troops would be out by september 11th to mark the 20th anniversary of the $911.00 attacks that triggered american military involvement they are there are currently around $2500.00 u.s. troops in afghanistan on top of $7000.00 from nato allies including germany they too are withdrawing and a 1st buddhist airplane landed today in leipzig bringing materials back but the withdrawal has triggered questions about the fate of afghanistan heavy fighting resumed on monday after a 3 day truce the taliban ruled most of the country before the us led invasion now the islamist group is seeking to regain control and it is recruiting more find. a rare glimpse of another world a home visit with the taliban. welcome come on in. this father and his son don't want to tell us their names but they are willing to tell us why the son recently decided to join the taliban. i did this for 2 reasons one i have no job and 2 i

then to afghanistan. at least 85 people have died, mostly schoolgirls, after an attack outside their school on saturday. >> when school time was over and we were coming out when a car exploded in front of us. amy: we will go to kabul for the latest. then we speak to ari berman on the latest republican attack on voting rights. >> all across the country and a state like texas and florida, republicans are weaponizing and institutionalizing trump's big lie that the election was stolen in order to make it harder for democratic constituencies to be able to vote. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. a warning to our audience, our top stories contain images of violence. israeli forces stormed the al-aqsa mosque in occupied east jerusalem this morning amid mounting violence in recent days. soldiers deployed rubber bullets, tear gas, and sound bombs at palestinians, injuring hundreds. over the weekend, israeli forces wounded hundreds

to afghanistan now and the pentagon central command says the withdrawal of u.s. forces is 13 to 20 percent complete in april u.s. president biden promised that all u.s. troops would be out by september 11th to mark the 20th anniversary of the $911.00 attacks that triggered american military involvement there there are currently around $2500.00 u.s. troops in afghanistan on top of $7000.00 from nato allies including germany they too are withdrawing and a 1st buddhist airplane landed today in leipzig bringing materials back but the withdrawal has triggered questions about the fate of afghanistan heavy fighting resumed on monday after a 3 day truce the tele been ruled most of the country before the u.s. led invasion now the islamist group is seeking to regain control and it is recruiting more fighters. a rare glimpse of another world a home visit with the taliban. welcome come on in. with. all this father and his son don't want to tell us their names but they are willing to tell us why the son recently decided to join the taliban. i did this for 2 reasons one i had

finally, let me end with afghanistan. the president has decided to end america's involvement in our longest war. we are going to do just that. so far, less than one week in the drawdown is going according to plan. at the same time, we are shifting to a bilateral ration ship our afghan security partners we will work towards our common goals in new and different ways. i am grateful for the effort that the generals have put into planning for all of this. of course, i am enormously proud of the men and women of the military who are now and for the past 20 years dedicated themselves to an important mission. that mission is now changing. they are meeting the challenge with the same professionalism with which they have met every task assigned to them. as i said in brussels standing side-by-side with our allies, we will do everything we can to make this drawdown deliberate, orderly, and safe. and to protect our people and partners. with that, i will handed over to the chairman to offer specifics on the drawdown. thanks >> thanks,

finally out of afghanistan after all of these years. typically called the longest war in american history. it makes it sound like we had been in constant conflict, which we have not been. there have been deployments overseas. at various times it has been more challenging than deployment to germany or japan or south korea, but recently it has been pretty benign. we have not been doing the fighting. they have. i think the war on terror does not end simply because we give up. [laughter] >> i think we wish it would but it is not the case. obviously the concern i know john mccain shared is the reason we have kept al qaeda and other groups that they is because we have helped put pressure on them . so that is the danger of the taliban coming back. >> i think this administration has decided the war on terror is overhyped and not as big a threat as something. so they will and it -- end it and focus attention on big power competition, which is important. russia, china. but i we are setting the predicate for afghanistan looking like it used to and

afghanistan withdrawal. domestic terrorism and addressing sexual assault in the military. >> good afternoon, everybody. for coming today. just a couple of ground rules we are setting here. we will have statements for both the secretary and the chairman and i will open up for options. please identify who you are and your outlet when you ask if you can't limit follow-ups, we don't have a whole lot of time today. as both of these tenement have the schedules. will try to keep this thing moving. with that, secretary? >> thanks, john. let me start by thanking all of you for coming today and let me also tell you just how much i appreciate the work that you do. our free and independent press is one of america's greatest strength. when you hold us accountable, it makes us better and it makes our country stronger. so, thanks for what you do. it's been a very busy 100 days. we have been focused on my top three priorities. i will quickly review what our team has accomplished thus far. clearly, we have a lot more to do t

but in afghanistan already we see that last year. over 30 percent victims of the conflict in afghanistan which you are doing and this is said and on the right i mean i read what you say about the need to protect civilian infrastructure but i sill and other groups other parties of conflict have shown that they cannot thing for. what you describe civilian life or indeed for preserving the rights of people to be able to go to school so what can be done then to help civilians because there is a fear that we are likely to see more strife intensifying attacks the country to have a security vacuum in the in the absence of foreign troops and you worry that we're likely likely to see more of this. we awarded humanitarian workers and humanitarian organizations are weren't what this. but i think i think that the the the world has to remember that this is the the challenge of day to day life in afghanistan and the government of afghanistan needs to do more to ensure that children can be safe and oh i i talked to the u.n. and other international

children and taken place for the victims of 3 bomb attacks which targeted a school in afghanistan at least 50 people mainly schoolgirls were killed in kabul on saturday and no one has claimed responsibility. for the 2nd day running more than 4000 people have died of covert 19 in india there were 400000 new cases confirmed sus the experts are warning that the truth figures are likely to be much higher. than last military has designated a rival so-called shadow government and its defense force a terrorist group explaining the national unity government for carrying out bombings austin and killings the unity government which is mainly made up of exiled politicians announced the so-called people's defense force to protect civilians from the military a local monitoring group says the more than 770 people have been killed in the army's crackdown on demonstrators as well and he could protest as are continuing the demonstrations in the finance of the crackdown and yanked on dozens of people from different districts marched through the city center large crowds joined rallies in several other r

my husband is overseas in afghanistan. he's been gone for six months and will return in about six more months, in time for christmas. on this memorial day, we are asked to honor, remember, and mourn those servicemen and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duties, home and abroad. as a veteran myself and spouse to a servicemember overseas, i am all too aware of the cost these young men and women are asked to bear, as is president biden. some of you listening to my voice right now have also suffered a loss. i would like to extend my external and internal gratitude however willing to protect the american dream, to keep our nation a beacon of democracy and hope to others. it comes with a great sense of honor and pride. though i've taken off the uniform and have transitioned to being a military spouse, i am still afforded an opportunity to serve others as an educator. go bulls! [laughter] thanks to programs like the cares act. however, as most educators know, not all lessons are contained to t