in afghanistan, reducing afghanistan, and the ability to so the afghanistan problem, an alternative to stop the afghanistan which is fatal to the threat of terrorism and insurgents -- >> afghanistan was pretty isolated in the 1990s and look what we got. i don't know how to make it work, the number one concern i had was a measured terrorist strike. mentioning that period, it is not reason enough to say our mission is bound for failure, they helped us when the cold war in a more direct way than any american ally because it led the soviets through the 1980s, they accepted the risk, did the dying for that mission to be successful and that brought a end to the cold war. i'm not suggesting 30 years later that should guide our policy. if we can't come up with a policy that works, but if we have a strategy that is muddling along and the cost is tolerable it is something to keep in mind before we pull the plug. >> some people later became the taliban and so it is a little complicated. >> bill goodfellow. afghanistan peace campaign. it is hard to believe after 19 years, a great cheerleader of th

withdrawal from afghanistan. and what i'm interested in are what are the constraints on that issue that the government, the pentagon, and so on will face. >> well, i'll put it this way that president trump not entirely unlike president obama, two different guys, slightly different in their personalities and politics, but they are not totally different on afghanistan, as i read them. they both concluded that no ambitious strategy was going to work. they both essentially said so. most of their presidencies. and they both had to balance the desire to get the heck out with the desire to protect the homeland from another major terrorist strike, or regional dislocation on a scale that like we saw with isis taking over syria and iraq could flood refugees into important allies of the united states. they both had to wrestle with competing impulses that were almost contradictory. we saw almost annual policy reviews in the second obama term and now in the first three years of president trump's term. when we're always on the

policy in afghanistan. then, from "washington journal," a look ahead to the house floor vote on the articles of impeachment. after that, a look back at the impeachment trial of president bill clinton. next, a discussion on the current political situation in afghanistan and the role the taliban and other powerbrokers like the u.s., china, russia and others play in peace agreements. the brookings institute posted this discussion. -- hosted this discussion. >> hi, everyone and welcome to brookings. i am briefly playing the role of mc to say hello beforehand it over to our moderator. tom is a distinguished and accomplished npr reporter. really thrilled he would join us. he spent a lot of time in the field in afghanistan, embedded with u.s. combat units in other parts of the broader effort there that is now approaching the end of its second decade pretty soon. , my co-panelist, acting -- laura miller. she has been at the rand corporation subsequently, where she recently completed a 200 page study on in afghanist

well, i left afghanistan when i was eight yea rs i left afghanistan when i was eight years old. yes, you were a child. i was a child, and i was away for many, was a child, and i was away for any was a child, and i was away for many, many years. but then i went back to afghanistan in 2010, and that's when i really made that connection with afghanistan and the people, and what i felt and what i saw that really touched my heart, and it made me feel like i should give something back to that country, especially those innocent people. give something back to that country, especially those innocent peoplelj wa nt to especially those innocent peoplelj want to explore all the feelings involved in that. yes. and i want to start, actually, with fear. because it's very striking to me, when you have talked about your limited memories of being a little girl in carpal and afghanistan, you talk quite a lot about fear. —— kabul. i think there's one particular incident when a rocket shell landed very close to your family home, and you remember that very well. so wonder when you went back as a

i served six years in afghanistan. but i can tell you about the perceptions that existed in afghanistan. when people saw what was happening in iraq, they said let's not let that happen here. this is a social issue and i would say inside the enemy camp as well. and i believe this has been a motivation on the part of the taliban in negotiations, they don't want to see afghanistan generate into a scenario where isis gained a foothold. this will expecter of a civil war and syria-like scenario, i think proved to be an incentive for some people and deterrent for not allowing this to happen, point number one. secondly, the afghan people have endured four decades of war. and yes, the others in the middle east have endured long wars. this has been crushing. the misery and suffering of the afghan people has produced a country that desires peace and ready for peace and see the international community are the ones that achieve a peace that they can't achieve on their own. the express of international support for them and these exp

the 2016 warsaw summit was critical to the future in afghanistan. so, at that summit, the alliance agreed on an extension of security assistance to the african forces for four more years, to 2024. once that political outcome was achieved at the summit, then we could begin to do the military planning to take advantage of that opportunity going forward. so, many, many examples. another example -- and i say maybe in the political side that i use is the effect of domestic politics in afghanistan on the fight. and so a good story to illustrate that point would be in the summer of 2016 when we had some political tension at the governmental level. there was a concern there might be fracturing of the government which could find its way into the security forces. so, as the -- as the coalition commander and as one of those involved in assisting and advising afghanistan, the afghan security forces is central to the outcome. so, this was a point where, in close concert with the ambassador, we engaged with afghan political leaders from the government and the opp

war in afghanistan. that senior political and sendmatic officials americans to fight in afghanistan despite believing it's unwinnable. bringing that war to an end is a top priority and has been since we have been founded. we are concerned about the rest of the picture with national security. president trump has taken actions that have destabilized things in iran, and he walked away from the iran nuclear deal that was helping us to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon. we fought hard in this last congress to make clear that the take americated to towards offense of military action with iran, he needs authorization to do so. when we look at the veterans and military family picture, primitive veterans affairs has been weak and since president trump has come into office. he is allowed political appointee warfare, chaos, and failed nominations to come before veteran care. we don't need leaders who are going to go against veterans and try to dismantle the v.a.. we need leaders who strengthen the v.a.

only a couple of and now there is a whole topic and reports in afghanistan that the only person in afghanistan who's satisfied off the job is that coffin seller and also about the almost all of it in a couple of pulled against this backdrop the u.s. media has published a revealing article which details years of deliberate to some formation on the part of top american officials who it transpires have been putting on a brave face despite knowing the unpalatable truth about the war in afghanistan. hundreds of thousands dead trillions of dollars lost generations traumatized but you know what nothing good comes easy nothing in afghanistan we helped liberate an oppressed people. and we will continue helping them secure their country rebuild their society and educate all their children boys and girls. all that i set to defeat al qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is within reach and we're doing a tremendous job. and as you know a big part of the job is isis certainly the biggest and al qaeda and we. we've got them down very low numbers you didn't need to be nostradamus or clairvoyant to know that

and after 18 years of war with afghanistan trying to the taliban from afghanistan the united states has come to the conclusion that they have to negotiate and we negotiated with the taliban the same force that 18 years ago. afghanistan was the taliban from the country because they were harboring terrorism and they were hovering some of below them. you mentioned the tanks that the taliban there and of course those have been on and off and on and off but what do you make of the timing of this attack given that they've just resumed recently. the timing is just that they were they want to show the taliban wants to show the americans and. to the war that they're still in control of afghanistan at least half of afghanistan you know recently in the. yesterday or 2 days ago they published an article about the war in afghanistan and they had messages from former secretaries of state ambassador and generals american generals and they were saying the didn't know afghanistan at all they didn't know the geopolitics of afghanistan and they didn't know what to do with afghanistan and with the tali

we are devoid of a fundamental afghanistan -- understanding of afghanistan. ,hat from douglas lute three-star army general who served as the wars are during the bush and obama administrations. he told that to government. he added, we did not have the fog's notion of what we were undertaking. if the american people knew the magnitude of this dysfunction of 2400 lives lost he said blaming the deaths of the u.s. military personnel on what he called your credit breakdowns among congress, the pentagon and state department, who will say this was in vain? the afghanistan papers, secret history of the war is the investigative piece by craig whitlock in the washington post. that is our focus. the afghanistan war still worth fighting based on mobile enough from this. next to joe in gibson, nebraska. caller: good morning. done twouggest, having tours in vietnam, and vietnam we did not have an understanding of the culture or the country or its history was like. we seemed not to learn anything from history. afghanistan has never been kind to outsiders. the russians did no

outpost in afghanistan the very same air base donald trump paid a surprise visit to a less than 2 weeks ago the news comes as a damning report is released shedding light on how top american officials have been routinely distorting the facts and figures on the war in afghanistan and an attempt to convince the public the drawn out war is winnable. u.s. president says he looks forward to more dialogue with russia after meeting its foreign minister at the white house and that visit harbor more speculation about supplies and secret trouble. some things are brushed off as absurd. he might as well. as against russian diplomats the case with the athletes and cold for our criminal liability goes on. and the french government pushes forward with its new pension reform which has already led to days of mass demonstrations civil unrest and strike action. if you're watching our 2 international bringing your live news update from our studio here in moscow welcome to the program. a suicide bomber has detonated his car outside one of america's main military outpost in afghanistan the barren airfield att

but the people of afghanistan and they never let any invasion to be successful. and if any other invasion happens, if any other war breaks out, again, my trust is in afghan people not americans. >> reporter: persuading afghans like ahmad massoud that an american deal with theiban is a withdrawal and not a suender will be tough; leaving behind a country at peace, even tougher. a sreenivasan: in more th dozen television scials and stage shows in his native gland, illusionist derre brown has showcased a wide range of nearlimpossible abilities, including convincing ordinary people to take alarming actionsb in his debadway show, brown seemingly reads the minds of the entire crowd. what makes his bramagic--out or "mentalism," as he calls it-- appealing to audiences. in this stage show "miracle" performed london, brown took on the illusion of faith healing and appears to "heal" an audience member with bad eyesight. >> open your eyes. let's have a look. okay. does it look any clearer to you? >> "turn off the shower if you've been out for a week." >> this is effortless. t

traditional music from afghanistan right next door music from the west. and it's not just boys here almost half the students a female something which is quite a sensation in afghanistan. the races practice room is the last one down the back of the building. there is a live together with other female students in this dormitory she comes from a remote region in the north of the country that was a long hard battle before her father finally agreed to let her study alone in kabul 9 girls live here in this crowded room and sometimes the homesickness is overwhelming. 7 some for me one day i would love to play with one of the biggest and most famous symphony orchestras in the berlin or london that's my dream and that the instruments at the school a 2nd hand donated by germany in sweden even today it's not exactly safe to make music in afghanistan especially for girls. everywhere there are many problem wind there taliban people who are seeing young musicians on the streets of kabul especially i guess they might be called by different names each look pleasing but t

you are in afghanistan within the last several months. one criticism is those talks are undercutting the afghan government. is there reason to be cautious in negotiations with the taliban? rep. thornberry: there is abundant reasons to be cautious. i know the united states as well as the afghan government believe you can only get an agreement when you have afghans talking among themselves. it has been the taliban that has refused to sit down with the afghan government whom they consider to be illegitimate. what is going on now is a negotiation to get to a negotiation. that's really what it amounts to. i don't know if it will work or not. i trust the taliban as far as i can throw them. i think the president, the ambassador, general miller they are some of the best this country can possibly produce for this situation. we will see what happens. joe: turning to syria, you said in april when president trump moved to withdraw troops that it was a mistake. subsequently, we know there is a small force of about 500 to protect the oil. those troops

and after 18 years of war with afghanistan and trying to force the taliban from afghanistan the united states has come to the conclusion that they have to negotiate and we negotiate with the taliban the same force that 18 years ago they invaded afghanistan was the taliban from the country because they were harboring terrorism and they were harboring some of bin laden what the american government says it says because they're taliban are weak that's why they keep sending terrorists every day but the real the real truth is that the taliban are the real forces unfortunately in afghanistan and you have to count on them in order to secure afghanistan. well alongside all of this an article has been published in the u.s. press to 10 years it deliberate disinflation by top american officials and cast yet has more on the story hundreds of thousands dead trillions of dollars lost generations traumatized but you know what nothing good comes easy nothing in afghanistan we helped liberate an oppressed people. and we will continue helping them secure their country rebuild their society and educate al

war in afghanistan which is claimed some $2400.00 u.s. lives and cost nearly a trillion dollars a bombshell. we're not winning the war in afghanistan we don't know who the enemy is ike i can't believe we're just finding this out if only we known me years ago it came out 3 years ago that the united states is funding both sides of the war in afghanistan paying the taliban millions to let our trucks through so that we can fight the galah bad no wonder scrubby group of insurgents in. sandals are able to compete with the most powerful military in the world they have us on their side. as you can see i thought people might listen to me if i. i don't a tie. was not the case. if c.n.n. just found out afghanistan is a catastrophe i wonder when they'll find out the truth about the war in iraq this week wolf blitzer wondered the same day we building how they top commanders top officials to talk about the war account for success in the war wolf it's remarkable to see similar problems happen yet again i can only imagine and brace for a similar report a

most prestigious hotel is being held for the school's donors names like these are extremely rare in afghanistan. with the years the taliban forbid all music. that i know might be so out of advantage that it was an amazing anything and it's greats from the get the chance to play in front of an audience i was nervous but i think we played well and people really liked it so are you with that stuff as i think it was a joke that they got it over 100 students study of couples music school every practice room sounds different than i traditional music from afghanistan right next door music from the west. and it's not just boys here almost half the students a female something which is quite a sensation in afghanistan. the races practice room is the last one down the back of the building. there is a live together with other female students in this dormitory she comes from a remote region in the north of the country that was a long hard battle before her father finally agreed to let her study alone in kabul 9 girls live here in this crowded room and sometimes the homesickness is overwhelming. said it soun

outpost in afghanistan on the very same base donald trump paid a surprise visit to less than 2 weeks ago. news comes hard on the heels of a damning report which sheds light on how top american officials have been routinely distorting facts and figures on the war on the in afghanistan in an attempt to convince the public the drawn out war is winnable. the us president says he looks forward to more dialogue with russia after meeting its foreign minister at the white house visit however triggered more speculation about suppose that secret trump moscow leaks something so gay lover of brushed off as observer. might as well your positions against russian diplomats calling the case with the athletes and called for our criminal liability. by. the french government pushes forward with its new pension reform which has already led to days of mass demonstrations civil unrest on strike which. is. a very good morning to you you're watching r.t. international with me. now we begin with breaking news this hour a suicide bomber has detonated his car outside one of america's main military outposts in

our original objective going into afghanistan on the 7 of october, 2001 was to prevent afghanistan from ever again becoming a platform to launch terrorist attacks against the united states. and to date that has been successful. that's not the only criteria but i do not. i could not look myself in the mirror or 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and see the dead roll in front of my eyes. as far as military victory, for years we have clearly stated that there's not going to be a rationale reasonable chance of a military victory against the taliban something like signing on tokyo bay. president bush said that early on before christmas in 2001 and only way this is going to end and negotiated solution with the taliban and has to be an afghan to afghan solution. this has been in a state of strategic stale mate where the taliban cannot defeat kabul as long as the united states and its allies has military support and the regime isn't going to defeat the taliban or the various other groups so long as they have sanctuary and small degree of popularity which is 10 to 15%. this is a difficult situation. i

officials failed to tell the truth about the war in afghanistan throughout the 18 year campaign making rosy pronouncements that they knew to be false and hide in unmistakable evidence that the war had become on winnable the post sources more than 2000 pages of previously unpublished notes of interviews with people who played a direct role in the war from generals and diplomats to aid workers and afghan officials and it's one hell of a read michael then matthew in that order in the weeks since this drop how does the washington post description of this document within the pentagon and how must it strike troops who served there michael then matthew well it's not anything new we've we've known it for quite some time and it's and it's we've known it's been an unwinnable war for ever since we took our eye off the ball right after we chased the taliban out in 2001 then we switched over to iraq and we saw how that war went it's it's it's it's tough today it's going to be it's the taliban are going to be taking over they're just waiting this out even if they were to take over i think that the c

he was called in an attack in afghanistan. the taliban taking responsibility for it and a lot of questions about what this will do to talks going forward in afghanistan. from the washington examiner, quote, this scenario his shutdown talks in the past. a pentagon official told the washington examiner it is as far from good faith as you can get. philip klein, executive editor at the washington examiner and white house correspondent for mcclatchy, white house reporter for the associated press panel, welcome, happy holidays, merry christmas, your thoughts on the impact in terms of afghanistan and these peace talks? >> a couple things what this does to the peace talks immediately. the bigger idea of what donald trump wanted to end these endless wars, he puts himself in a situation where he has been in a good place in the sense that he has not gotten the country into more wars, he has reduced troops but from a political standpoint is not biting off more than he can chew and at this moment this is a good time to listen to your gener

has defended its actions in afghanistan and has responded by attacking the i.c.c. its threatened to prosecute its investigators and take retaliatory measures against any country that cooperates with the investigation. in eastern afghanistan they've been bombed from the air shot on the ground and no investigation is about to change that. we're caught in the middle when government forces on the other side of the fighting we are the ones who suffer our houses are destroyed our loved ones are killed we want it to end. it's not clear if the i.c.c. investigation will ever get off the ground and achieve anything but what is clear is that all sides have blood on their hands and most people in afghanistan want something more than justice they want peace tony berkeley al jazeera eastern afghanistan. a u.s. sailor has killed 2 people and injured a 3rd at a naval base in hawaii before taking his own life the base was put into lockdown after he shot 3 civilian defense workers there to officials say the soldier then the sailor rather then turned the gun on himself. tens of thous

and it will have to be an afghanistan-afghanistan discussion. it has been a strategic stalemate. and the regime is not going to militarily defeat the taliban and or the various other groups over the militarily so long as they have some small degree of popularity among the people. this is a difficult and complicated situation. but on the face of it, it has to do with our vital national interests. >> i would just add, for 18 years the media has been over there. many of you have traveled multiple times. multiplehas been there times. i was probably the first congressional delegation to go over there. -- ig's there. think with the conflict over the years, and in said new asian that there has been a large-scale conspiracy is ridiculous. and i echoed the chairman's comments on that front. you have talked to the commanders. history will continue to evaluate this war. thank you, all. have a happy holidays. >> c-span's "washington journal" -- live every day with issues and policies that impact you. holly harris will join us to discuss prisons and sentencing reform. and then jennifer kavana

outpost in afghanistan the very same. donald trump paid a surprise visit to less than 2 weeks ago news comes as a damning report is released shedding light on how top american officials have been routinely distorting facts and figures on the war in afghanistan in an attempt to convince the public the drawn out war is winnable. elsewhere the french government reveals more details of controversial pension reforms that have sparked mass strikes. us president says that he looks forward to more dialogue with russia after meeting with foreign minister sergey lavrov at the white house visit however to get more speculation about supposed. links something. might as well. as against russian diplomats. with the athletes and for our criminal liability. either thanks for joining us this. suicide attacker has detonated a car bomb outside. one of the main u.s. military outpost in afghanistan comes not long after trump surprise thanksgiving visit to that same base local media reports say the powerful blast at a medical facility close to

>> well, first of all, the reason that we put troops in afghanistan was to prevent afghanistan from becoming another jumping off point for a terrorist group like al qaeda. we all know al qaeda used afghanistan as their staging base for the 9/11 attacks in 2010. ofg wou so today it may not be al qaeda, it might be some kind of remnant of isis that might do it or another group we don't know about yet so all pobleddpossibi. the other concern we leave afghanistan and leave pakistan on one side and they may have proxy wars without going to war with each other so that is a possibility. plus on the western side of afghanistan you have iran and iran is also very interested in what is going on in afghanistan and they will seek to influence things there as well and if we are not there, we lose all influence. >> "the washington post" published afghanistan papers, thousands of these documents and memos through interviews just a couple of days ago showing that the obama administration and bush administration were not fairly candid with afghanistan and not telling the clear truth. with that reporting does

we can't go back to afghanistan because we wouldn't stand a chance their. daughter. did a lot for germany and afghanistan he even risked his life now the question is how much germany owes him and others in his situation so that they can build a new life in their new home. tesser club who made the report is with us here in the studio good morning tessa good morning were you able to find out why germany is not agreed to offer his family permission to stay in this country permanently well i would assume that this question i think we have to understand that chis did not come to germany as a ordinary refugee he came here for a special program and that special program was set up for people like him people who served or employed by the promise that abroad locals who were then threatened and had to leave their country and this program simply does not 1st see for them to stay here permanently until no anyways and with regards to other refugees he actually has a disadvantage so he would have to pay into a german over time and scheme for 5 years until he could apply a permanent

ask about a few hotspots around the world, starting with afghanistan. almost 18 years into the war, more than 150,000 people killed, more than $1 trillion spent. the washington post came out with a series of articles that contrasted the statements of being made in public by senior u.s. officials with their private concerns that the war is not winnable. an echo of the vietnam situation. the same arguments are still being made about the war in afghanistan. prevention is to terrorists from ever having a safe haven. we can lead once the afghan security forces are up and running enough to perform the mission. it seems we are still on the same hamster wheel. when does this and, how does this end? knew the answer. i don't think any of us do. we still have some troop decades afterrea the korean war ended. it's to prevent north korea from attacking again the way they did in 1950. we still have some presence in europe and japan. it is not hard for any of us to andy up the costs, lives, dollars from -- for what we had been doing in afghanistan since 2001. it's muc

entering conflict in afghanistan to root out al qaeda. the taliban was expelled from power, it has been defeated, osama bin laden is dead and now the 18-year-old aumf has out lived its purpose. there's a stunning "washington post" expose on the afghan war has made clear. the war in afghanistan is the longest in history but it no longer has a clear purpose. "the washington post" successfully sued for access to previously undisclosed government documents, dubbed -- from diplomatic and white house officials tell a shocking and tragic story. three separate administrations have had no well-formed mission for the war but fought on anyway and repeatedly misled the american people. according to the head of the nato command in afghanistan in 2006, there was no coherent long-term strategy there. that's his quote. the next nato commander, army lieutenant general dan mcneil said, and i qot here, i tried to get someone to define for me what winning meant even before i went over and nobody could. nobody could give me a good definition of what it meant.

he is pulling back in afghanistan and syria. he has been known to ramp up tensions with north korea, let's see how he does in the coming weeks. overall, this is a president who has not been quick to use american military power. --also host: our guest is peter bergen. previously he taught at harvard, johns hopkins university and nyu . he is a former contributing editor. our phone lines are open. is our line for -- message or tweet. bloomfield, west virginia is first up. good morning. caller: thank you. about what our future will be. i think i need to begin by saying that most people recognized that trump was sort china shop,ll in a but they also recognized the china shop was a very corrupt and self-seeking oligarchy. increasing its power at what might be considered next potential rate in terms of controlling people. and limiting democracy. expect this was part of what they feared when they set up the constitution so a particular beulated section would not able to roll the majority -- to rule the majority of the country. host: do

our original objectives going into afghanistan on october 7, 2001 was to prevent afghanistan from ever again becoming a platform to launch terrorist attacks on the continental united states. to date, that has been successful. that is not the only criteria. i could not look myself in the mirror. so no, i don't think anyone has died in thing, per se. -- died in vain, per se. in terms of military victory, we stated there will not be a reasonable chance of a military victory against the taliban signing surrender documents. president bush said that in early 2001. that remains true today. there is only way this is going to end, and that is a negotiation with the taliban. militarily, this has been a state of strategic stalemate, where the taliban cannot military defeat the government of kabul so long as the united states and its allies maintain military support, and the regime will not defeat the taliban. so long as they have pakistan and small popularity amongst the people, rated at 10% to 15% among rural areas. for the united states, it has to do with our vital national security interest. t

policy in afghanistan. in order to make money for contracting companies they don't care they will they will bid the contract they'll take the contract and then on the ground once you get the money then you figure out how you go about it afghan war papers i think they state things pretty clearly number one there was no mission we have not control the country at all so the taleban and al-qaeda and whoever else is in their islamic state which is actually a minority basically the funding and the money gets funneled down that way this is where the issue goes back to actually going back to the perpetrators of the war and the conflict and. you can blame contractors for a lot of things for sure but they're also they get these contracts and they they get to operate. at least 90 people have reportedly been killed as a security checkpoint in the somali capital mogadishu a truck filled with explosives blew up near a tax collection point most of the victims were university students and this is one of the most deadly is

we don't want to see car-bombs in afghanistan. we aren't going to want to see women executed again in soccer stadiums by the taliban or kept from going to school when they're girls. we're not gonna want to see that again. and so, in a sense, that is the price of america's continued engagement. and, again, the war, in a sense, is no longer the same war. >> you write in the book that you believe that the world may be drifting towards another great systemic crisis. >> right. >> what systemic crisis do you fear? >> well, the crisis is, in many quarrs, a rejection of the very international order that george h.w. bush and helmut kohl and others helped create after the cold war. and remember that this was the extension of ideas from 45 that we ought to have free markets, an open international economy that was not zero-sum-gain, where everybody could grow. we believed in free peoples. and now you see what we've called the four horsemen of the apocalypse -- populism, i'll call it nativism, not nationalism, because i think, in the american