>> because there are not that many places in afghanistan that i have seen where you can turn over to the afghans. but i think you will see a detailed plan of how to draw down the troops in the future. and starting in 2011, they will withdraw this month, similar to iraq. and scheduled withdrawal in the

months to come. >> a couple of weeks ago, i saw this headline iraq saying that prime minister al-maliki. >> what maliki has said, and talk about predictions. all of us thought that iraqis would say, we want to renegotiate this. we need troops there after september, 2011, and now saying we do not want troops there after 2011. i think that's extraordinary. and when you think of what the iraqis have in terms of army. they don't have much of an air force or much of intelligence gathering in terms of drones and things like that. i think what going to happen there, they will say they want the troops out.

the u.s. will worry about that. and they will be some contracting or some behind-the-scenes consulting to help out the iraqs. because i don't know how they do it at that point. >> the last time four years ago you had been to iraq 11 times. what is the total number? >> 20, and i haven't been for a while. like everyone else my venue has changed. definitely want to go back to iraq. and i definitely want to go back to yemen. and i remember i was flying there new year's eve. after attempted christmas day bombing. and yemen is a very important place to watch in 2011. yemen has a lot of safe havens.

>> what about afghanistan? how many times you been there? >> it's one of those things, i so carefully counted my trips to iraq. i don't know. i was there six times in 2010. every other month i would be there. it's difficult to get there, it takes a couple of days to get there and back. so it's a little harder to get in and out of afghanistan. >> how do you go? >> you go by commercial airlines. i take a nonstop flight to dubai. which is about 14 hours. so i quite familiar with that flight. and then there is a dreadful layover of eight hours in dubai. and then four-and-a-half hours from dubai to kabul.

and there is an airline called safai air ways. and they h troops coordinates

with the fighter jets, as we fly

to surrounding mountain tops to valleys. and we link up to a fuel tanker and traveling at 300 knots. the boom is lowered to deliver gas. no soon are our jets refuelled than we hear a transmission. >> the f-15's get a call that an rpg has been fired at the french groups. >> the french air controller fears that the dozens of troops are in grave danger. he asks the fighter jets to drop a 100-pound bomb. >> three to four degrees. >> you still expecting fire? >> very close, and we can see one more rpg:.

>> but thre 300 feet a school i located. they face a difficult choice, risk killing someone inside the school. or possibly places lives of the french troops into greater danger. a low level attack of using the jets powerful 20-millimeter machine gun. it's more likely to hurt civilians or property. the lead fighter jet goes to the line. the controller is not satisfied. >> it's too close to that building. go to the south, it's too close.

>> the crews of the fighter jet seemed frustrated by the insisitance of the french to drop the bomb. but the fighter jet raises with smoke rising from the tree line. it works. the french troops resume their control. our jets return to the air field. dropping as fast as we rose. prepared to take to the skies again the very do before they dp

bomb. yes, there are complaints from troops, yes, we are too ansy to drop bombs. if you have a school and a tree line, you can't drop a bomb. other situations are more dynamic. if you are out in the field and u.s. force are underfire, and

taking heavy fire. and there is fire damage, the word if you can kill someone. and that's when the equation gets really difficult. >> this is may, 2010. when did you get idea to try to do this? >> i got it years ago. and have been asking for years. and what is difficult about this. i am not a weapon's officer and i took a back seat of the aircraft. they don't reporters to fly around because they have a job. but they decided it was worth it for people to see what they do. and i got the idea and out of nowhere they said you can do. and six months before that, i had to do orientation flights. >> where? >> in south carolina. we did that, and i to go through physicals and all sorts of

training and classes. i did compression classes it's andrew's air force base. and we did ejection seat class. that i have to say, if i have to eject, i am done for. i just had faith that it wouldn't happen. and it didn't happen. and it's also, it was extraordinary for me to do. i think you imagine what it is like up in those fighter jets. and it is so dynamic. it changes so quickly. and you also don't, i am a little phobic, and i felt silly, and you had to do regulation things they do. >> how many cameras were

involved? >> that was my person, the photographer who was not with me. i shot some of those scenes. i shot the scene where we were refueling. and we had a camera on me and a camera in the pilot. and they are just small cameras mounted here. and we had a camera shooting outside. i had a hand-held camera. and we gave one of the weapon officers in another jet a camera. and when that engagement started, all bets off. and dropped the camera. and when flying, he shot great video. >> how many planes involved? >> amazing day.

and the public saw largely the second day. and it was amazing experience but we didn't have the story. >> in the end what did they say about what you could use or couldn't use? the only thing, there is often on the shots inside a fighter jet what altitude you are at and how fast you are going. they took that out for operational services. they took out the parts that were classified. not as if sensored in any way.

and they were nervous about how the french would feel, with the fight so candid, and to drop the bombs. but other than that they didn't look but for classified material. it was in the briefs and to explain what they were doing. operationally we don't want to give anything away. >> you wrote numbers down, and the bottom line in iraq and afghanistan, and all the time we have been there, we lost 664 people killed, u.s. and total casualty for both wars, 8,348. >> what do we have now? >> brian, when we talk about iraq and hopeful and look at

iraq today. i think you can go back and talk to people that are happy that saddam hussein is good, and we don't want to go over the weapons of mass destruction anymore. and the american public should ask about the fact that we largely ignored afghanistan for years. you didn't have the eye on that you should. and afghanistan is probably why we are there in force now. and i think that members of the bush administration would say, yes, we had to transfer special forces. we had to transfer other people from afghanistan to iraq for years. and they are asking those questions as well. what have we got out of that? there are a lot of questions about afghanistan. the american public, more than half of them at this point do

not think that the war was worth fighting. iraq, i think they are still crossing their finger on iraq. >> say it was not worth fighting, what did we get out of it? >> i think you have a relatively stable government in iraq. let me tell the good news, you have parts of afghanistan and look back and the days of taliban rule, the people are much happier. and in my last trip, about a month ago, talked to people that think that it's worse. and they are in that stage of war that they where that's going. you can take the same set of statistics, and have the strategy review, and wow, things

are going better in the south. if you have that many boots on the ground and can't hold an area, then we are really in trouble. i think that the concern is what happens when those forces start to move out. and that's what you have to look for. when we spoke in 2006, we were in the worse time in war in iraq. >> how many troops in afghanistan? >> 48,000. >> 48,000? >> yes, and they are all combat troops. but it has been incredibly calm there. i think they are pretty much gone away with al-qaeda and iraq. i think they feel strongly about that. and on the other hand, al-qaeda probably moved into iraq because of the war. >> how many in afghanistan? >> 100,000 and i think that's as high as you will see it go. >> here is your 2008 report with

general campbell. >> marta raddatz in afghanistan again tonight. >> major general, john campbell, from the 101st air force division with the toll on his troops staggering. in july, he told us that 27 of his soldiers had been killed. he carried cards with each of their names in his pocket. by september so many he had to keep them in his rug sack. >> and today. >> i lost 145. it's been a big toll. >> the toll is especially personal for some. >> i can't even get it out. >> too painful to say? >> yeah.

>> we later learned that his friend's name was shawn mittler, 32 years old and a father of a young daughter. it seems that everyone knows someone who died and this 120 pound female in the fight. >> i think people say wait, women on the front line? >> i am glad to say i can go out there for my country along with every man. >> and yet today with all of this sacrifice and 30,000 additional troops. only 36% of the people afghan people express confidence in the u.s. forces. and we met one who said she was pessimistic about the future, and today she says thanks to the

u.s. that she's got security. if the u.s. forces left, she says, we would be back to the wildest days. the u.s. troops agree. and everyone we talked to said that despite the poll, they see progress everyday. that they believe will ultimately lead to success. >> can i win this war? i wouldn't be here if i didn't feel we could make a huge difference. >> but general campbell doesn't want to fool anyone. this will take time and more sacrifice. martha raddatz, abc news. >> this may sound simple, the general said i wouldn't be here if it wouldn't make a difference, wouldn't he be there? >> yeah, i think so. >> are they on the spot, not this general. but do they say things to you when the mics are off, either

positive or negative. you can't tell. >> i think there is concern. the way i would describe it is a jigsaw puzzle. generals have a part of that puzzle. and everyone is doing their part. every time you look at one of those pieces, they are making some progress. they are doing what they should be doing. what concerns them is how that puzzle fits together. there is a lot of wars being fought. i know that richard holbrooke said that we have to stop these wars in afghanistan. and he's right. there are a lot of wars. they are going to bring in tanks in the south. that's not real counter insurgency in the south. yes, i do think there is concern about how all of this fits together. and in this places there were an

amazing material in the atlantaic, written by a former infini infini soldier. and they were saying we have to go out, and we have to go out tomorrow to protect my brother, my brother soldier. and you come away from that article, what are they doing? what are they doing out there? they are going out and getting killed in certain areas. i think certain areas you don't quite know of the strategy in those areas. you might have an overall strategy. i just completed finished "obama's war," i read the articles, and i read that and i hear obama saying i don't want to talk about counter insurgency. and he doesn't say that often

but general petrius says it all the time. and there are a lot of questions to ask about this war. >> but when we readboutead that government. >> you can't go a day, and that's the thing about wikileaks, too, how concerned the u.s. government is about that. but on the other hand, there are not a lot of options, and like anything in diplomacy and war. how far can you push them? like the afghanistans, are we happy and have they done enough? no, and al-miliki and karzai has leverage. but you have to be careful. >> what is the end goal do you think? >> disrupt, dismantle. certainly destroy al-qaeda.

and you have to listen in afghanistan, they don't say that about taliban. defeat al-qaeda and not taliban. and they want to wait until the afghans take over and that's a while. there is careful language you have to listen from the administration and very careful language from david petraeus. i talked to him in 2010, where we are in the counter insurgency clock. that it could take 10 years. but really they have just begun to fight. they just got all the troops in there as september, 2010. and general petraeus said we are at the beginning of the clock.

i don't think that president obama sees it that way. >> obviously than your reports, where else can we get reports on a daily basis you can trust. how many reporters there? >> the network sends people over there from time to time. we actually have a reporter there most of the time. and a full-time producer there most of the time. i am a huge fan of dexter from the new yorker doing great stuff. and chris schrivers does, and i try much less successfully than he does, to tell the stories over there. like general campbell, i have

known him since he was a general in iraq. and you know these people deployment after deployment. and you want to tell the human story. talk the about loss. and the extraordinary number of casualties. and sclifrers brings that home. and they have amazing work. i know chris schrivers when i ran into him in afghanistan. with the helicopter's evacuation. these things are happening everyday, and people have no idea. it's extraordinary. >> you are how many years with abc? >> i think in my 13th year. >> and the jobs you had? >> pentagon at abc, i covered the white house three years. so pentagon 10 years. and i covered the pentagon

before that, in 1993, yikes. >> and the secretaries of defense you have known? >> i think i knew secretary william perry well, and secretary gates. and aspen not as well. william collin, yes. we have been through a lot of secretaries of defense. >> secretary gates made a speech in abilene, kansas in the middle of 2010. >> the duke speech? >> no, this is the eisenhower library speech. there is a bunch of them. and i want to get you to interpret this. he said that -- almost a decade looking it was eluded that 17 levels of staff between him and a line officer.

>> he goes on to say other things, why can't he do anything about this? >> i think frankly secretary gates more than anyone in my memory has made some changes in trying to work on things. changing the pentagon is -- you can't even imagine how it is to change the culture. i mean to change anything they do, to get through that red tape is just enormous. i think that people think they come in and make these changes. and they hit a brick wall. i think he's chipped away. >> let me read more. >> again, you read it, and he's

the secretary of defense, and he says, we still have. >> i think he's getting rid of joint forces demand in a year. i think they are closing that down. this is terrible, i won't remember where this is. it's not in norfolk, but he's closing that down. because they felt that was a redundant command. i think that small progress, i think even saying that and being. that may sound like nothing. that even saying that is progress in a sense at pentagon. >> the department commission study a few years ago to assess the flag officers and to assess positions. >> no, i think he is pulling out his hair half the time. because he can't get a lot of this stuff done. but i think it's a start.

and i think that the things he's done is progress. in the middle of two wars, it's pretty hard to change things. but it's absurd, the red tape at pentagon is absurd. the layers have to go through. and that's the hard thing of connecting dots in these organizations. the dots are so far apart you can't connect them. >> your time there? >> i have had one foot in the state department and abc. >> and the time in the white house? >> president bush about three years. starting november, 2005. >> we talked about this four years ago. but here is a clip of the same item that we talked about. that has to do with your own education in 2009.

>> a while back i was speaking to some graduates in washington, d.c. and they read my bio and it seems pretty impressive. and one young graduate stood up and said, miss raddatz, how do i follow in your footsteps. and i looked at her and said, it's too late for you, you would have to drop out of college, drink a lot of beer and shoot a lot of pool. so i am exceptionally honored to be here. i am a bad example as a student. but a good example of someone who made up for her mistakes. you will make some mistakes. i assume you made some already. so learn from your mistakes. i managed to obtain this wonderful degree today and skip

over that bachelor part. it's not a bad way to go, turned out already for me. [applause] >> you know a lot of people in this business, in the same situation you are in. i read where you were traveling with brian williams from abc. he didn't graduate from challenge and peter jennings, so why is everyone spending all of this money going to college and have a job like yours. >> i say to my children or anyone else, it's a much harder way to go. and stupid, and wouldn't work at all combam anymore. life experience is fantastic. i had so few hours to finish degree and i dropped out and it was stupid. but i tried in this last year to try to get my degree. and i tried everything and the

communications department. and they said, sorry, the requirements have changed. you have to come back and take classes, and i thought, this will not be happening. can i just teach a couple of classes. i don't want to be arrogant. but no ma'am, we are following the rules. and norwich is a tremendous university and half cadets. and i see in the field they have to bridge between the civilians and the military. and that university is unique. the military has to stay in touch with the civilian world and the civilians have to stay in touch with the military. >> i have to go back to the university of utah. how many hours left? >> i think i had 12 hours but not in the proper major. and now it's changed to two

years. i really did try to work with the university and they were just following the rules. and saying, the woman who teaches communication would be thrilled to have you in her class. she won't have me in the class. and i have written a book, can you bend the rules. that college degree won't happen. >> and you talked about marriage in your family. >> yes, my daughter got married in april. and graduated from law school and moving to l.a. and she married my wonderful son-in-law, and they got married in sonoma, california. it was wonderful. and i joke and it's not an original line. we gave her an unlimited budget

and she exceeded it. >> son jake. >> at the university of michigan. and i think we are paying tuition to go to sporting events. he's having a great time. >> and husband, tom jones. >> yes, still with npr. all is well. >> what about, we talked some about going into the zones, the war zones and all that. have people relaxod that all this time? it sounds like you have been overseas 20 times. >> is my family relaxed about that? son jake still gets concerned. we had so many family event and it is wedding, and jake graduated from high school in 2010. and there were blocks of time, he was the quarterback on the football team.

i wanted to be sure i went to all of his games. and he goes off to college. and i said, i am going to afghanistan a couple of days. and he says, don't go now. i just started college. but jake, you can call me any time. so jake is concerned and that concerns me. >> we will show a video of the work you do with woodruff foundation. >> yeah, woodruff. >> bob woodruff of abc. and want to mix this up, you afraid you get too close? and why involved in the foundati foundation? >> raise money for the wounded. and i have no problem and abc has no problem. i care about the wounded and we don't have to be objective about

the wounded. we are a nation that have sent the young men and woman to the war. and we as a nation have to take care of those. i have a love/hate relationship with veteran's day. i think it's wonderful that we honor them once a year, but we should been them everyday. >> how is bob woodruff? >> he's doing amazingly well. he anchored our sunday broadcast and was fantastic. i can't be around bob without thinking of his injuries. i think bob is a walking miracle. and he knows it. i tear up when i haven't seen bob for a while. he survived that horrible incident. and his old self. i think he would be the first to say he's got slight afacshia

problems. and he and lee that run the foundation, have dedicated their lives to help the wounded. they are amazing. >> he was wounded in what year? >> january, 2005, six weeks after being named co-anchor the the nightly news. in a horrible ied accident that rocked his brain. >> this is part of what you did for the woodruff foundation. >> i thought i was dying. you have a choice to sink or swim. >> they have given our nation so much and have had so much taken away. and this is what the bob woodruff foundation created,

remind.org. >> it's been hard, it's been a long recovery. >> whether the wounds are physical, psychological or both. >> there are a lot of times i can't think. >> the foundation has been there to be sure that they receive the support they are reluctant to seek. >> they don't see it and think you are ok. and you are not. >> whether funding organizations that provide recreation and rehabilitation. college scholarships for the brain injured. or paying for a place to sleep when visiting family members. the foundation through generous donations lets the injured know that we are here to enrich your lives and lessen the burden. >> you worry about your future

and recovery? do you worry where the money will come from? in 2008, our veterans received grants from the bob woodruff foundation. providing funds for those who need extra care and near those who loviingly provide it. >> he gets down and i say remember where you came from. don't give up. >> the foundation encourages collaboration between government and the private sector. and has focused on grassroots organizations in towns and cities across america. encouraging communities to welcome the wounded back home. and to take care of their own. we built countless swimming pools, bought physical therapy for rural areas and reingrated

the wounded through education and job training and retreats and much more. >> the word foundation, it goes through it and no red tape. and say, he are here, it's am e amazi amazing. >> this is how america will heal its wounded. and the bob woodruff foundation will do its part. when a father knows that his children are getting the support they need and when a mother know that is her son is welcomed back. the road to recovery is smoother. >> i don't know, i have (inaudible) i keep saying, i am so overwhelmed. >> it's the lesson bob and leewoleigh woodruff learned, families heal

together. those are the ones in this nation that are asked to sacrifice. we ask you to remember that sacrifice. we ask you to continue to help, and remind others to do the same. >> people like that, make you realize it's going to be ok. >> support our troops is no longer a slogan. it's an action. you can take action at remind.org. >> what does the foundation do? >> foundation looks at as we said partly in there, what the foundation does is find organizations that will help the wounded. and whether recreational programs or other programs or to help them find apartments. and rene the executive director weeds out ones that aren't going to help them.

she raises money, it goes directly to the families. it goes directly to the men and women that are helping out. there is a wonderful story about rene. rene with her spouse, and early in the war and she and another spouses began helping the marines coming back. when you think of how unprepared this nation was for the number of wounded. and in 2004 i met her at a hospital and working for a fund called the sampler-5 fund. and i watched rene getimo morai money and when the wounded came in, get this. and imagine a horrible thing happen to your son or wife, and how do you get the money to fly

there and leave the jobs. how do they do all of these things we take for granted. we are lucky and fly relatives back. but others who are not so lucky. how do you provide for child care. those soldiers, those marines, there are parents who care for them and will for the rest of the their lives. the country doesn't do a lot about that. you have to raise funds privately. you have to help them. >> so when you try to cover war, and you have to rely on the military for access. and you see things that you don't think are all that good. how do you report that? or do you have to pull your punches in order to get access the next time you go back? >> no, i would have no respect with people i traveled with if they wouldn't take me if i didn't pull my punches. >> do they kick back at you?

>> you bet they do. the administration does, you get kicked back all the time as a reporter. i go with general campbell because he's very honest. i think he probably gets heat for the things he says. but because he's honest about things. i think not everyone wants to put focus on who has died or wounded. but there is not a time that is not his focus. they have made progress but look at the loss. and i sense from you too, brian, that's something that i always look at. when i look at these young people who have been hurt, or who have post traumatic stress disorder, and you think about things you have seen. even the things i have seen. you don't get that out of your

mind. you don't get that out of your mind. i can't help remembering lieutenant tim who was 6'4" when i saw him in march of 2009. and a few months later had both legs blown off. and spent months at walter reed near death. because of he was evacuated in a dust storm and had infection. and every organ was failing. and his family was by him everyday. and he's now an amazing story. but i worry now 10 years, these young marines who are so brave and strong. and all of their buddies are with them but what will happen in 10 years, when they can't get a job or depression sets in. there are amazing stories but

it's the people you don't hear about, they worry about. >> if you were able to be at the center of the geopolitical discussion in the american government about why afghanistan and why iraq. what would we hear that we don't hear in the news? >> why you should stay or go? >> yeah, why are we there. you hear the relationship with pakist pakistan. >> that's the thing, it's not my job. >> but what would you hear? >> i think you would hear a lot of discussion about afghanistan and debate. and i hear that and more about iraq. and i think because of iraq people are more skeptical about afghanistan. because there were lessons learned in iraq, it's -- i think

you would hear people say, what are we doing there. how could we make a difference that is worth the sacrifice. i think those are the things you would hear in the discussion. >> on a lighter note. >> ok. >> here is video of you and unfortunately the deceased secretary. >> the president has views but i am not taking you into the room with you. does martha have a hip-hop ringtone? [laughter] >> play that funky music, white girl. [laughter]

>> can we talk about that? >> do you still have a hip-hop ringtone? >> i do not. i lost that hip-hop ringtone two seconds after that press conference. >> why? >> that's what you get for having your teenager son with your phone. it was white and dirty, and i asked my son to make my phone ring louder. i wasn't hearing it and i should have it off in the briefing. but that's what he put on it. you know women grab for their purses and can't find the phone. >> you said years ago that you weren't worried about what was going on the news and what has happened as abc in four years? >> we have had 25% of our staff

cut. and you have that in the news business all over. it's heart breaking. and it is also reality. and the truth is as we downsize, i think we still have a very strong, strong news division. i truly do, and not just saying that because i am an employee of abc. you do the best you can. the reality is that people don't like to say the news is a business. but it is a business. it's a business, it has to survive on revenue. and if advertisers aren't buying time on news programs anymore. but i am still optimistic about the news business. i still believe that people need to find out the day's news. certainly the internet and you can find the news in different

ways. but there is not places to go for one half-hour every night where you have all the days news presented by professionals. >> what has changed in the last four years? besides the 25% loss. you said shooting your own video in the airplane. >> i had to shoot that because the only one. but did i used to travel with a three-person crew. pretty much. and now our producer shoots the stories when we are together and he does a great job. yeah, that's changed. and you have to concentrate more on what you are doing, and how are getting a story. what richard might have done before as a producer, i probably have to do more of that. because he's doing more camera work and producing. i guess you are working even harder. i would say, you are working even harder. and i think what is challenging

for people too, we do not want our standards to go down. i don't want a situation where i am inaccurate or something will happen. i think in a news organization, and those all over have readjust readjusted. when i look at layoffs at the new yo "new york times" or washington post, that's what news business can't replace. you can't replace experience. we have a marvelous bench at abc, a marvelous group coming up that will be terrific. and i am sure "the new york times" and the post. and with the post, you lost a lot of amazing people, who had covered the beats forever. and that's really hard to replace. >> and a lot of them go to the think tank. >> yes, they do.

>> where else do people go in this business when they don't have a job? >> i think some go to local news and some into public relations. and some go into government. i think that's what you see. but the media, i think they have done a terrible job over the years of convincing people it's important to have experience. and a professional media. i mean this term mainstream m e media gets thrown around all the time. and in a derogatory way. and people like me that like to be objective and gift news in a compelling way. and accept an accurate way and objective way. and this is what happened, and let me tell you about it.

and i want to tell you in way you will understand and care about it. but objective projection of the news. >> how long do you want to keep doing this? >> i can't imagine not doing them. i am not a great 10-year out planner. and i am a valuable voice, and have been there for a long time. and i know that abc thinks that too. and i think that foreign news has been cut across the boards because it's incredibly expensive. i have never had a problem at abc saying, we need to cover and i need to go there. and they never have said no. >> do you get any sense that american people are less informed of the closing of newspapers and television and radio and everything? >> i think that news organizations have adapted. is it great that we are not,

that overall news organizations probably aren't doing much for news. but the public bears some responsibility too. the public bears responsibility of keeping themselves informed. you know not just going to the top-10 searchs or -- believe me, i go to our website. and i will read about katy and tom too. but that should be your dessert. people should plan their days around a good meal of news. and it's important that we as a nation stay informed. your viewers are the best. and they are staying informed. i not that great with my son but he's 19. but it's a civil responsibility

what your country is doing. and it's disheartening that people don't know that much about afghanistan. and people turn off the tv when afghanistan or iraq unless it affects them personally. and that's why to me i keep doing this. i want to tell people why it matters. i want to show the effects of that war. i want to show that fewer than 1% of people and what they are doing. and i want to continue doing that as long as i can. >> thank you, martha raddatz, we are out of time. >> thank you. >> for a dvd copy of this program, call the number on your

screen. for free transcripts or to give your comments about the program, visit us at q-and-a.org. .