announcer: this afternoon, president biden will speak at the white house about the situation in afghanistan after the taliban seized control and the afghan government collapsed. watch live coverage of the president's remarks beginning at 3:45 p.m. eastern here on c-span. defenseone.com. back to your phone calls this morning, talking to you about this question. what does the war in afghanistan mean, after 20 years and the city of kabul falling to the taliban. this is abdullah in virginia, on our line for a finished in war veterans. good morning -- for afghanistan war veterans. good morning. you are up. caller: good morning. host: when were you in afghanistan? caller: i just went to afghanistan in 2001, 2002, the

beginning of 2002. i had been there until 2013. host: what was your role when you were there? caller: first i went to afghanistan, because i am an engineer by profession and i thought it was time to go to afghanistan, to do some land development and wound up building a city. that is a successful project. i was partnered with -- host: forgive me, i am just

trying to understand your role. were you working with the u.s. military? were you a contractor brought in on these engineering projects? caller: no. i designed from managing the project and i came back home. taxpayer money being wasted in afghanistan. a conference, i stood up and talked about -- the head of logistics asked me to come to the headquarters. i did a presentation about projects, how the projects are being selected and all of that. they sent me here and i went to afghanistan and pakistan. i made a presentation at the pentagon about contracting

systems and they hired me as a business advisor. in that capacity, i spent about three years with the major generals, and tried to do the right thing. i think if you have any specific questions, i would like to answer. but other than that, why we are there and why we went there and what has been done, i can talk about that issue. host: how are you feeling today, looking back on 20 years of u.s. efforts there? caller: it is a mixed feeling. i am disappointed about the way things folded out. a rapid withdrawal, i think it shouldn't have been that way but it is what it is in there is nothing you can do. right now, i am focusing on want

to do next and what is the solution. that is what i am focusing on and trying to organize the people here. host: what is the solution? what do you think needs to happen? caller: i think this moment, this critical moment, what needs to happen is to make sure our policy is such that they can force pakistan to influence the taliban, to make sure that the genocide and killing and all of that stops, and think about the 350,000 people out of their houses. no food. they are the priority now. the future, how things fold, i can say one thing and that is,

-- is going to take over and become the leader. i hope that will be the case. i think if the taliban except his leadership, that is one of the solutions -- accept his leadership, that is one of the solutions. if we could influence pakistan to make sure that -- the situation and they stop the killing of innocent people. that is the priority right now. how things fold, nobody expected this. host: you sounded proud earlier of that project, you designed in afghanistan. do you know if it is still there? caller: that is the most

successful project in that region. you can check the new york times or the washington post. a book was written about the project. it's about 10,000 acres designed with consultants and because i worked 11 years for -- on that, i knew that the zoning and all the standards, to create a modern city that is unique in the region. i think it is there and people are really appreciating they infrastructure -- the infrastructure. another project in kabul, an

apartment complex. after i criticized, they offered me a job to be a senior advisor. i did eight projects for the armed forces, including stadiums, schools, clinics and even dormitories for women. that was done under my watch. the only projects afghanistan has done without corruption and good quality. host: i was just going to say, thank you for telling us about it, calling in from virginia. caller: no problem, my pleasure. host: up next out of indiana, independent, go ahead. caller: hello? host: go ahead paul. caller: this is a sad day for

america. it is like vietnam all over again. we could have won that war. this war -- the russians couldn't even beat the afghanistans in this war. it is so sad, all these young men and ladies who gave their lives, for freedom for this country, and now -- i listen to cnn and fox. i stayed up all night listening to this. it touched my heart. i am a military man. my heart goes out to all the mothers and fathers, and all those young men and ladies who lost their lives, for people to be free.

why do these presidents tell people we will be out of there in five weeks, instead of saying nothing and keeping their mouth shut? the $1 trillion that you said, that is over 20 years. is that what you are telling me? host: that is one of the numbers, one of the estimates on u.s. spending in that country. caller: is that just for the army troops or is that training? host: i think that is total u.s. expenditure, for training. the number i had seen on that was in the $80 billion range. $83 billion on training of afghan forces. caller: do you know what that could have done in the united states, for the homeless? schools? i think we ought to pull out of all the countries, bring our

troops home, let the countries take care of themselves. host: paul in indiana. the human cost of the war in afghanistan. the number of u.s. service members killed through april of this year, 2448. another 3000 contractors. allied forces including those from nato member states, and additional 1144. afghan national military and police personnel killed, 66,000. tens of thousands of afghan citizens. those numbers from the associated press. earl is next, in indiana, republican. what did the war in afghanistan mean? caller: i believe this is the start of armageddon. the last days. people rioting in the streets. the young people rise up against their parents. we will have destruction everywhere. we will have all kinds of

destruction. we are getting ready for the one world government, the one world church. that is what the bible says it is coming to. we are heading for the battle of armageddon. israel was -- host: we got your point. our next caller is out of louisiana, democrat. caller: good morning, how are you doing? it has always been about the money from the beginning. the minute you leave, that is their culture, they will not fight against their people. russia tried like the gentleman said earlier and they left. we should have went in with the purpose and then got out. in truth, there is no great way to get out of a war. you say don't say anything but you think those people waited 20 years? there is no way they could have

moved that fast. they were watching everything we were doing. if they saw people leaving. it was going to be a mess trying to get out any kind of way. host: 20 years, over four administration's. does one u.s. president bear more responsibly than others? caller: all of them bear the response ability. all a general wants is war. they never want to get out of a war. i say follow the money. you have general contractors, defense contractors making all kinds of money. it is not only corruption in afghanistan, it is corruption here. you have people in the government making all kinds of money. host: this is marked on that line for afghanistan service members and family members. when were you in afghanistan?

caller: this debacle we are watching unfold as a slap in the face for our goldstar families. i've lost brothers in combat in both iraq and afghanistan. i did three tours in afghanistan. their sacrifices are being trampled on right now. this is an insult to all of us who served in our families who sacrificed. i've been deployed five times myself and i was retired this year. joe biden and the democrats are cowards, and the generals and the pentagon that followed them. everybody knew this was going to happen. i called this in april. i have a friend in kabul. this debacle, everybody who has been on the ground knew this was going to happen. you have the generals and pentagon who are not on the ground and do not listen to their officers and senior enlisted on the ground. that is why this happened. this is on joe biden, aspen and millie. those cowards knew this was going to happen.

you can't just walk out of afghanistan. the airport will be attacked, mark my words. host: you say you called this in april. are you talking about the announcement that president biden made in april, about the september 11 withdrawal date? caller: absolutely. i was talking to my brothers then. i said there is going to be a saigon moment. all of us know the culture, there. we know the enemy. host: was yesterday the saigon moment? caller: absolutely. the taliban will have a ceremony at our embassy. this isn't over yet. they know biden is a coward. they're going to start attacking western europe, and then the united states again because he is not going to do anything. millie and those generals are not going to do anything either because they are nothing but politicians. host: what years were you there, and what capacity did you serve in? caller: i was in afghanistan in

2009, 2010 and 2013. i flew tactical air vac. i was in the infantry before that in iraq. i spent a lot of time working with afghans and nato forces. everybody knew, this commitment was not for 10 years, not for 20. it was for 100 years. after world war ii, we are still in germany and japan. western type countries. 70 years after world war ii. how long did you think we were going to have to be in a middle eastern or south central asian country? that is a century long commitment. the american people have to start thinking long term. the afghans had a saying. you have all the watches, but we have all the time. because we are a week people now, not like the world war ii generation. we are selfish and weak. our enemies have found that out,

and we are going to suffer greatly, our children and grandchildren. host: mark in indiana, pennsylvania, talking about how he knew this day was coming back in april, at the announcement that joe biden, president biden made about the september 11 withdrawal date. this is president biden's statements from april the first of this year. [video clip] >> i'm speaking to you today from the roosevelt treaty room in the white house, the same spot where on october of 2001, president george w. bush informed our nation the united states military had begun strikes on terrorist training camps in afghanistan. it was just weeks after the terrorist attack on our nation that killed 2977 innocent souls, that turned lower manhattan into a disaster area, destroyed parts of the pentagon and made hallowed ground of a field in

shanksville, pennsylvania. it sparked an american promise that we would never forget. we went to afghanistan in 2001 to root out al qaeda, to prevent future terrorist attacks against the united states, planned from afghanistan. our objective was clear. our cause was just. our nato allies and partners rallied beside us. i supported that military action along with overwhelming majority of the members of congress. more than seven years later, 2008, weeks before we swore the oath of office, president obama and i were about to swear, president obama asked me to travel to afghanistan and report back on the state of the war. i flew to afghanistan, to the kuhn our valley. a rugged mountainous region on the border with pakistan. what i saw on that trip reinforced my conviction, that

only the afghans have the right and responsibility to lead the country, and that more an endless military force from america could not create a sustained in durable afghan government. i believed that our presence in up stand should be focused on the reason we went in the first place, to ensure afghanistan would not be used as a base from which to attack our homeland again. we did that. we accomplish that objective -- accomplished that objective. host: that is president biden from april of this year. asking you this morning, what did the war in afghanistan mean? we are taking your phone calls as well as listening -- reading your tweets and text messages. one writing in, i don't know what this means because a generation of afghans who've experienced a different life, we don't know. alan saying it means we should have left a long time ago. how many days are going to talk about this? this from janet in florida.

unless the u.s. learns a lesson that starting misguided unwinnable wars causes more harm than good, it will mean nothing. donna westbrook saying the failure of the afghanistan coup -- is what this means. just a few of your comments from social media this morning. also want to show you some newspapers from around the world. this from the guardian. the fall of kabul is the headline. a few other newspapers from around the world just to show you some pictures on the front pages of belgium and turkey. saudi arabia as well, with the graveyard of empires as the headline from arab news this morning. from the united arab emirates, chaos in kabul. from israel, this morning, the headline there with a picture of the taliban fighters driving

through the streets of kabul. from brazil, the headline as well about the taliban in afghanistan. also one from germany this morning. just some of the front pages. darrell is next out of idaho, independent. thank you for waiting. what does this all mean? caller: good morning. i was in the marine corps. i was supposed to get out september 29 in 1965. everybody got extended september 15. i was only a corporal. i had to stand for an additional four months and i got out in january, and then i go over to men's warehouse the other day and i am buying a brand-new shirt that is made in vietnam. everybody was saying when the north vietnamese get in, they will do this and that. turns out they united their country.

now we are in afghanistan and for some reason, nobody understands descriptors. it says one of the verses, i will break the pride of your power. women shall rule over you. slowly but surely -- host: you don't trust female elected officials? caller: i'm thinking about that lady in chicago, lightfoot. she has not only married to another woman but we have this kind of a world going on, and the creator of the universe controls the stuff. host: all right, that is darrell in idaho. this is matthew in new jersey, independent. caller: good morning, and thank you. here is the problem with mr. biden's unnecessary and precipitous disastrous withdrawal.

as both veterans and president trump's statement mentioned, we have now lost our eyes and ears, our intelligence ability to prevent taliban and isis from committing another god for bid 9/11 terrorist attack, and also the taliban have now implemented sharia law, which not only prevents girls and women from going to school, but it allows women to be stoned to death if they do not cover themselves from head to to. may god help the afghan men and women who helped us, our forces, trying to keep us safe over there. they will now be subject to torture and killing, along with their families because the ungodly taliban and isis are merciless. host: that is matthew in new jersey. this is kathy in new york, republican.

you are next. caller: thank you for having me. we are focusing on kabul today and we failed. meanwhile, we are being invaded on our own borders, taking our eye off the ball while biden tries to figure out what is happening. we could have taliban coming in here with the droves of immigrants. we don't understand other cultures. we go into countries with nothing but ignorance, like we can save them from themselves with money. let the arabs with all their opulence handle their own country. thank you. host: kathy in new york. a bit of discussion this morning, among viewers and on the sunday shows yesterday about whose fault this is. where the blame lies for what happened in kabul yesterday and what has been happening in afghanistan for the past several weeks. another voice on that from congresswoman liz cheney, on abc news this week, and was asked

that question about who is to blame. this is what the republican congresswoman said. [video clip] >> who bears response ability? >> i think absolutely president biden bears response ability for making this decision but there is no question that president trump's administration with secretary pompeo also bear a significant possibility for this. they walked down this path of legitimizing the taliban, perpetuating this fantasy, telling the american people that the taliban were a partner for peace. president trump told us the taliban was going to fight terror. secretary pompeo told us the taliban was going to renounce al qaeda. none of that has happened. today as we watch the taliban release prisoners across afghanistan, there is very real concern that they are not just fighters in those prisons who will join the battle and afghanistan, but the terrorist groups globally will be fed new

soldiers from those prisons. this is a devastating set of circumstances, but the delegitimization of the afghan government, the notion in the trump administration, the suggestion that they were going to invite the taliban to camp david. this disaster certainly began