military involvement in afghanistan, there was a lot in that briefing to so much up for us. gay bill is on the is live in washington d. c. gave. there was a lot of detail in that briefing about what's been happening over this past 24 hours and over these past 16 days, but just some up for us. what we've been hearing out of the pants again. there was a lot there. there are a lot of operational details. there is a lot of information about the u. s. relationship with the taliban. but before i get into that, i think it's important just to step back for one second and just remind people what we just heard. a historic moment at 329 p. m. eastern time here in washington, general kenneth mackenzie, the head of central command, uttered 12 words that essentially ended the u. s. is a 20 year occupation of afghanistan is 12 words where i am here to announce the completion of our withdraw from afghanistan. and that was some of the 1st words

that he uttered in this. in this briefing here. very interesting briefing. he said that it was the last 5 military aircraft that left a 100 cars, a international airport. he said that the commander on the ground was on the very last plane, as well as ross wilson, the us ambassador to have dennis den they were on the last plane. and those planes are now out of afghanistan airspace. he said the also that, that, that a lot of the military assets that the u. s. had at the airport have been destroyed . and that in terms of handing over to the taliban, he said some very interesting things. she said that the taliban has been in his words, helpful and useful over the last several days, especially helping to secure the perimeter of the airport. he was quite frankly, lack of a better word complimentary of the taliban and their efforts to help the united

states in the last few days, getting evacuees out of the country and securing the airport. but he did say that the u. s. did not coordinate at all with the taliban in terms of the exact time and date that the last plains left the airport. he said the airport is now plea out of the hands of the u. s. military. and he said, when asked, i can tell you with confidence that there are no single us service members anywhere in ghana. stan right now. he said also that he believes that there are about 2000. i saw k fighters still in afghanistan. and he said that the u. s. still, of course reserves the right to act against them. should it be necessary? and he said though, in his words, he said, and these are his words. he says, i think the taliban is going to have their hands full dealing with the ice. okay. fighters. those were his words. in short here,

it was an interesting briefing because it was really frank frank, in terms of he also mentioned that the last evacuees actually were taken out of afghanistan 12 hours before the us actually pulled out of the airport. he insinuated that there could have been a few few, i don't know how many, but some people still wanting to be evacuated. that simply could not get to the airport. so he said in his words, they could not be accommodated by the time that the u. s. had to get those last 5 planes. he said, leaving how many cars i international airport. to summarize, the united states no longer has any military presence in afghanistan after 20 years, gave l as onto they are joining us live from washington d. c. well, chris alexander is the former canadian ambassador to have gone a son. he joined us by skype from thorns of borg chris, very warm. welcome to the program. we heard a corresponding gape, elizondo,

something up there that said, marking the end of the united states longest war. what do you make of what you've heard this evening? and that briefing, well, it is a historic historic moment, very long commitment to united states and an unprecedented commitment for the nato alliance. for whom this was the 1st time in large scale, a combat sustained over many years involving all allies and a number of partners full from europe and from the region. and i think the years will have been, will be remembered by africans then worldwide as a, as an opportunity for a new generation of people to move their lives ahead to connect to the world to obtain education. and the future looks very uncertain as we sit here tonight. one further comment. we have to keep in mind that while the taliban call it an

occupation and all of those fighting the u. s. tomato for it, there's an african forces over these 20 years. claimed it was an occupation, this was actually an internationally mandated mission from the very beginning. us active in self defense with the full support, unanimous support of the security council in 2001. and then the missions of the un and i stuff the nato mission and the follow on training mission were unanimously supported by the united nation. so this was the international community acting under international law. the way we've always hoped it would to bring peace and security unfortunately that those hopes were dashed by the taliban taken couple on august the 15th and chris, we all know the phrase. it's not over until it's over and we heard the marine corps general kenneth mackenzie mentioned here he used towards the military face has ended and now the diplomatic phase will begin. so. so what happens now?

well this is the focus now that the air air bridge air lift that so many military lead by the united states were undertaking is over. the focus is on ensuring freedom of movement for africa and making sure that the taliban don't turn key in the lock of how to because i airport and prevent people from leaving $100.00 plus countries have challenged the taliban to do just guide to ensure that those with proper documentation are able to leave. the security council has broken again tonight, 13 in favor only to obtaining in order to sanction this principle of freedom of movement at the highest levels and to require the taliban to, to hold them to account. to do this, at the same time, we know from reports on the ground, credible reports across the country from

n jose from human rights defenders that many people are spending tonight in fear. they're worried that they didn't make a flight. they're worried that the taliban are looking for them and there are credible accounts of summer executions having date in place, atrocities, and, and even larger scale work around. so we hope that this international pressure, which is starting to build, to hold the taliban to account changes that behavior. and that there is the africans have the ability to cross both land borders and to take flight when they feel themselves to be in danger. chris and generals does not ever sorry to interrupt you there. chris chris alexander, form a canadian ambassador to afghanistan. joining us this evening. thanks so much. the final american plane has taken off from cobble the war in afghanistan is over. the confirmation from the pentagon came within the past half an hour, bringing to an end to decades of conflict in 2 weeks of chaos on the ground. as he

17 transport plane took off in 1929 gmc clearing afghan airspace as the announcement was made. i'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from afghanistan in the end of the military mission to evacuate. american citizens are country nationals and vulnerable afghans. the last c 17 lifted off from hammered cars, international airport on august 30th this afternoon. at 3, 29 pm east coast time, and the last manned aircraft is now clearing the air space above afghanistan. we will soon release a photo blast the 17 departing afghanistan with major general chris donahue and the u. s. and bastard, jeff gast and ross wilson board. while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional us citizens and eligible afghans we want to leave continues. or more than a 100000 people have left on us flying in the past 2 weeks. but thousands of

afghans hoping to leave the country now on the taliban control being left behind, including many who worked as u. s. allies were world bright, is live from cobble, rob, when we spoke to earlier, you said you thought it would happen that the wheels were up on the final c. 17 and now it has bringing historic close, at least for now to us his involvement. and i've got a son that's why we've had to finally the confirmation that the american military involvement in afghanistan has ended after 20 years. and the celebration in cobble are underway for the past hour or so. the whole skyline around the city here is being completely lit up with burst of gunfire. it has died off in the last few minutes or so, but we've had terrific burst. the automatic gunfire with the red traces streaming into up into the sky. hence the helmets of the body, which will be pointed out, this is celebrate to reconcile. it's all aimed up into the sky,

but it has to come down somewhere. so that's why we are dressed up in helmets, but they started be room is have around midnight 30 midnight, $35.00 local time. interestingly, that's into the 31st here in afghanistan. that is, of course, the deadline for the u. s. withdraw. then we started to get chapter on social media, we started getting bells from the alabama that they were taking control of the port . we started to see from the direction of the full burst of gunfire from over that that trace is going up into the net. there was a drop in the amount of aircraft for days being here. we go all sorts of aircraft over us here in cobble war, plains, american, jets, high overhead, and then making lower passes both through monday evening. and then of course, mix them with that have been the low rumble of all of these transport heavy transport aircraft taking out take me off from how many cars i international

airport. and just about the time that we were getting all this chatter that the final wheels were up on the, on the final aircraft out of, out of cobble. then we started, we started to hear all the gun fire and all of the aircraft always seemed to go away. so now we have confirmation of that. the celebrations have gone on for a while. here it's, it will probably go on for a while longer, but this is the news that certainly the taliban had been waiting for. but it does, as you say, there are still many thousands of people who had hoped to be part of this evacuation, who are still here in cobble is still here in afghanistan, a country that is now very firmly in the control of a new taliban government. and we did hear rob from marine corps, general kenneth mackenzie, when he was speaking he gave lots of detail on what's been happening over the past couple of days. and his told was i supposed complimentary towards the taliban

saying that they had in fact helped to secure the perimeter of the airport. but of course he was saying that isis k remain a threat. so with all that said, in the days that come with all the number of vulnerable people who still want to leave afghanistan, what do we think is going to happen in these? in these coming days? it is going to be an interesting dynamic, the developing relationship between 2 former foes, if you like, adversaries. it is true that in the past few days, especially there were problems at the beginning of this whole crisis a couple of weeks ago that were these k arctic scenes at the airport with the us read trying to keep control and the terminal building and the runway being invaded by thousands of people from a hearing cobble, especially all trying to get on to flights and then thrown into that mix. you had the taliban arriving at the airport them. they tried to keep control and then these clashes and fire fights between taliban and us. forces with

a couple of taliban being shot and killed. we've seen in more recent times, more cooperation between the 2 sides and the confirmation that on a daily basis the commander of the us contingent in the, in the airport, was talking with his opposite number in the taliban. and that has been a greater degree of cooperation. i think it's in everybody's interest that they did that because clearly the, the taliban wanted to see the back of this evacuation wanted to see it over the course for the americans. it turned into a nightmare that they really wanted to see and end off. so it was in both of their interest that they brought this to an end, which they have done, but it does open this new chapter. where did they go from here? how do they start dealing with each other? especially when you do have the complication of islamic state thrown in there, this is a foe that is common to both of them. they both want to deal a blow to islamic states. the us having lost a 13 of its soldiers most recent,

the here at the airport. but yes has been blamed for other attacks. and of course the taliban themselves. they have the last taliban fighters and the latest attack at the apple. they want to seek revenge against the i s, so it will be very interesting to see how they co operate in future. there was the us drones strike against the parent or a suspected i yes. target the apparent the vehicle carrying at least one suicide bomber that has been condemned by the taliban because they said it didn't have that . they weren't informed about it. there was no cooperation. and in fact it does appear that a number of civilians died in that attack. but going forward the it is going to be a real security problem for the taliban dealing with this is, i'm a state that doesn't seem to follow any rules. it does seem to embark on the some

of the most outrageous kinds of attacks that the taliban would with themselves would never get involved. and so it remains to be seen how they taliban might might cooperate with the united states. because of course, the us still has this phenomenal app, our sophisticated strikes that up precise says that joe biden said they, they what they say prepared to hit back in his lap, make state using all of these precision mass methods, which seemed to point to this over the horizon drone strikes and so on, which the taliban simply don't have. so it does oppose the intriguing possibility of the taliban with our intelligence on the ground, which the us because i don't have any boots on the ground. our lacking providing us with intelligence to strike it. i s targets but it, it is a fairly fraud relationship. it nothing is cost in stone. i think both sides will have to feel as they go along how this relationship works as the future. but this is with the departure of the americans,

the boots finally off the ground after 20 years. de, one of that relationship will buy their live from cobble as you say, well, boots off the ground, but in no less complex picture as a result. and let's take a look at our next live destination. we can have a little look at the podium there, the m podium. that's the state department in washington d. c. and we are expecting the secretary of state blinking to be standing there and talking to us, of course, as soon as we get that picture will take you there live. interestingly to hear the marine general earlier talking about the military phase. being over because of the announcement of the withdraw this evening, but the diplomatic phase will be next to begin. and i believe that's where the state department picks up the reins. let's talk now to roles. jordan, she's live in washington, d. c. hi, there was. so my right and thinking that this is where the state department gets involved when we moved into this different phase. well, actually, the state department and the pentagon have been working together on the evacuation

since it started on august 14th. but now it is going to be solely the state department's responsibility to make, make it possible for those remaining american citizens. fewer than $250.00, we are told by state department officials as well as those afghans who are applying to come to the united states under the so called special immigrant visa application or s i v application as well as those are vulnerable afghans who believe they may be targeted by the tall bond because of their past work with the united states government or with us based companies into n, g o or simply because of their position in current afghan society. that work will be carried out by the state department, along with its partners and allies. what we hope to hear from the secretary of state antony blinking is the result of a meeting with his foreign minister counterparts in the g 7. as well as with the

foreign ministers of got our and turkey to talk about the way forward, how to actually get these people out of the country. if they want to leave afghanistan, how they're going to continue to work with the top bon, using the leverage which of specials here in washington, in london and in other countries have said that they do have over the taller bond known. acknowledging frankly, that this is a pragmatic relationship. this is not a matter of recognizing the taller bond as the official governing body in afghanistan, but simply noting the fact that they are in control right now. so this is what we are expecting to hear from blinking. and this is also, perhaps the most precarious moment because there are now no civilian members of the us government. no diplomat, certainly no u. s. military members in afghanistan at this point. and so all of this work is

going to have to be carried out really from a distance and rolls. and i noticed that in the briefing there with marine corps, jen will kenneth mackenzie, a journalist, asked him how did it feel, leaving if canister in the hands of the group that used 1st started i would you wanted to defeat and i'm wondering if it's far too soon for that sense of them relief. well, i don't know whether they would be considered a sense of relief, especially considering that the country is officially morning. the deaths of those 13 young service members at the international airport this past thursday. but certainly there is already a lot of reflection on social media. we are already seeing the 1st early takes by the washington base pundits think about what this war has meant for the united states as well as the fall wild as it were from the september 11th attacks. september 11th is just a week from saturday,

and it will be the 20th anniversary. and so it has sparked a conversation about what this country has turned into in the past 20 years. whether it's foreign policy has actually grown and actually tried to embrace the reality of the world stage or whether the united states foreign policy really needs a fundamental rethink was jordan and they're joining me live. i was thank you. when i joined adults are as fundy of mere an affiliate of the sense of international security and cooperation of stanford university joins us via skype, from redwood city, california, sorry, very warm. welcome to the program. just as some up for me at your feelings as you're watching things progress this evening. this is a historic moment, a seminal moment of the post 911. and my reaction really ways, but who we are talking about here. you know,

i started with the guns 1st and foremost, this is the end of yet another. still getting jack in the cover history and not the power has left the country. and yet conflict has not ended. lot of gone. who would feed in the united states to turn the corner. they are deeply disappointed and for many women, especially those who gained over the last 2 decades. this is dark, yet another difficult to be. i'd say from us perspective, it is one of the lowest points, the u. s. foreign policy, national security in recent memory. i believe since $911.00, the slip collapse of the have gone republic. the fact that the military didn't put a book fight in the, in the military and the key arctic evacuation the trenching scenes from the ford, the savage attack, by the stomach speed. i think it is inescapable that all of this is tremendously in humiliating. and finally, for the thought of on it is a moment of trying to retreat. but the question is, if they're going to repeat the mistakes of the boss,

it appears that they've been slightly helpful to the u. s. military or the last few days. but there are a lot of questions about how to conduct themselves in the future. sandy are listening to the pentagon briefing earlier. there was an on previous to that listening to the book in the security council. there was a loss to talk about making sure that have gone on does not become a hot bed for terror. and then of course we heard the marine corps general say that the biggest threat he thinks to the taliban is the number of the 2000 hard core fighters of isis k. and he said that's going to be the biggest challenge for the taliban. how would you see this fragmented situation playing out on the ground? it is to been the bite in administration, had underestimated terrorism threat from a guy's done in general these last few months. it did not see the stomach stayed in the sky, present biting, referring to this group to be a major problem until

a few months ago. but the, a for today definitely put pressure on the u. s. government. and as somebody in general noted, you know, pressure on the dollar gone itself, which suffers from a certain amount of them isis is violent, its brand is attractive to dollar bond, get to losing the stomach constituencies as well as some of the militant allies. and i'd argue that come down to one better be commanded. i'm happy with this soccer line of inter leadership including on this post or m miss be holding fight against us. so i think this like this is likely to grow, obviously in this other competing militant ecosystem and some of which associated groups the feeling in board and. and they would want to make the most of this opportunity that the taliban has provided for them. and as funded, we also heard earlier at the, at the meeting, the, the security council about the,

the importance of the commitment that was in the room there around the safeguarding of humanitarian aid. to scan a son, creating safe passage for those. and the free movement of people who wish to leave not a lot of detail as there often is when these draft resolutions are being said on the how. and that's the interesting bit look, i mean i did that might, that might lead to leave them here really struggle cheap outcome in the context of going on in my day, it is too little, too late. yes, it is a revolution, but the most crumbling bit is that the chinese in the russian government epstein from the world. so it is unlikely that we will pressure the on demand by naturally, which is great. i think the dollar amount, i'm most likely to feel some hurt, some pressure and you know, can be convinced to, to move on some of these concerns of international community. what, what else can the us do on the grant to make a difference in the situation?

the united states government has had, has left us gone. if we've done a whole lot of options left and we work with the only thing the us government might be able to look out from this point onwards. some of it's going to get some interest, but even point that the u. s. government does not have a lot of capacity, inability to monitor that enough. time is going to draw pretty rapidly. i think already the u. s. is not a lot of capacity use, government can try to coordinate more with the chinese and the russians, i think in joint diplomatic front, which tries to pressure the dollar on some of these concern is, has the best chance of being effective, any unilateral effort a you know, latham sanction unilateral damped at you know, getting the dollar bon, recognizing the withholding the ignition, you know, in my view is not going to work and you're going to have similar results as,

as the past few years. as funding me, they're joining me from redwood city fund. thank you very much. thanks for adding will already of the un security council adopted a resolution to let people who want to leave afghanistan do so safely, but it's not known. if the taliban will help us, hope the resolution will protect people's rights to leave afghanistan. no matter the reason consistent with the right to leave any country including one's own, everybody must be allowed to safely leave afghanistan for whatever reason. when ever they want, by air or by land. this is the utmost, this is of the utmost importance to us. africa stone can never again become a safe haven for terrorists. we have condemned unequivocally the

attack on cobble airport last week and we reiterate our condolences and sympathy to the bereaved and to the injured. a coordinated approach will be vital to counter any extremist threat emanating from afghanistan and we called on the taliban to uphold their commitments contained in the doe har agreement. let's hope that christine's luma has joining us live from the united nations. hi there, kristen. just tell us again the significance of this fall that happened earlier this evening. well, clearly the international community wanted to send a message on the verge of the u. s. troop withdrawal from afghanistan about what its expectations are going forward. and it's settled on a resolution that was written by the united kingdom, france and the united states,

spelling out their concerns, and their demands in their expectations, namely, safe passage for afghans and foreign nationals who want to come and go in the country. she met a tarion access as humanitarian concerns are expected to grow. and also the concern that the country not become a safe haven for terror groups for groups that could launch attacks on other countries. so this was the basis of this resolution it and it also talked about preserving human rights, particularly for women and girls and minority is also a big concern for the international community. so that was the basis of the resolution. unfortunately, not all of the countries agreed. unfortunately, for the united states, rush, the united kingdom and france and many other countries who, who had expressed a desire to send a strong message. but china and russia did abstain expressing some concerns that

they said they wanted to spend more time working out. but clearly, this was an attempt to get a message out before the us or as the us, as it turns out, was withdrawn from the country to, to highlight those areas of particular concern. and while russia and china did abstain, they did not veto the resolution which does suggest that they they do share some of these concerns, but they had issues with the wording and some places at kristen. it was interesting in the comments some after the vote had happened to hear from the different countries. and i can't remember exactly which country was who said that the intro thing thing was how determined and committed the whole group were around this idea of making sure that afghan assigned becomes a safe, secure nation with fair rights for everyone. and we've heard those kind of statements before is, isn't this different in the, the sense of commitment in the room from, from all parties?

well, anytime you can get this group of 15 nations to agree, it is an accomplishment in this day and age. but many express the point that this was just a starting point. the some countries would like to have seen it go farther and said that perhaps in the future there will be further action. the good the question is, what leverage does the security council have over the taliban as it goes forward? and one possible answer is sanctions. there are currently economic sanctions on the taliban. they would like to see those lifted. they want to encourage investment and development in their country in order to become a more thriving and growing country. the security council could hold that out as a carrot or, or possibly as a stick moving forward. the threat of more sanctions is one way that they can show

the taliban that they're not satisfied with the way things are going.