impact your community. the studentcam competition has cash prizes and a shot at a grand prize of $5,000. entries for the competition will begin to be received wednesday comes to temper eighth. for competition -- september 8. for rules, go to studentcam.org. >> today, sector of state antony blinken will brief reporters on the state department's work to support the evacuations from afghanistan and the broader effort to evacuate afghans and others from the country. we will have live coverage here on c-span. host: 20 us is the ceo of -- joining us is the ceo of afghan

veterans of americans. i want your opinion on the afghan decision. guest: my personal opinion is it was the right decision in general. there has been a lot of mistakes. mission creep over the years. we have accomplished what the original goals for our mission and were -- a long time ago. the mission creep has been real. the decision was correct. there is plenty of room for error and recommendations around the ways in which the withdrawal was executed. in general, the decision was correct. we wish there was more listening to the veteran's groups. who are calling for the early withdrawal of immigrant visas long ago. there is bipartisan criticism

for many decisions made throughout her time -- our time in afghanistan. the agreements that were arranged and the way it has been executed. host: what are you hearing from other veterans? guest: the biggest things has to do with the immigrant visas. this is not a new issue. what i get so frustrated about, when i hear the president talking about how no one expected the taliban to take over so quickly. that has nothing to do with this issue. the visa program was put in place back in 2008. it has been years since this program has been established, here since he first allies started qualifying. year after year, the administration administration there has been excuses, mismanagement, and we have not executed on applying and giving these visas to those who qualified. the fact that we are where we

are now is by our own government inaction. lack of congressional oversight for years. we could have so many applicants through the system and out of the country a long time ago. host: tell us about this bond between u.s. soldiers and afghan s who have served alongside u.s. soldiers. help them throughout the past 20 years. guest: you cannot say enough about that bond. this is something where you have afghan allies that not only were putting themselves and their families in danger by aligning with the western forces. they were going out on patrols, often unarmed and unarmored. side-by-side with special forces , conventional forces, everybody. suffering the same casualties and risks from roadside bombs,

everything you can talk about. they have been doing this for years. there are literally saving the lives of the service members they were working alongside. everything from being able to read the landscape, understanding the cultural issues. getting a sense if something is not right, something you are told is not accurate. two very directly saving -- to very directly saving lives by pulling people out of the way, civic soldiers that were -- saving soldiers who were in ied attacks. it was a side-by-side partnership for years. it has not only been the u.s. government who has been promising that these applicants would get with the promised -- we promised them. it was not just about a paycheck, we are going to come through for you. where going to process this application -- we are going to process this application.

america is going to follow through on his promise. is not to see greater issue -- it is not just the greater issue , so many of our servicemembers made the promise to them. that america would keep its agreements. it is heartbreaking to hear from those people that they promised that they are unable to get to the airport, let alone even into kabul. host: what stories are you hearing? guest: i am working with a lot of incredible people who spend a lot of time in afghanistan. made a lot of very close friends. they are hearing heart-wrenching tales from people who are trying to get to the airport. they are unable to. due to administrative issues where they have all of the paperwork and had it for years. the state department and others have denied them.

people have died. some of these allies are trying to get out have already been killed. it is tragic. they are hearing from so many of these allies. obviously, today with the committee kitchen abilities. this -- with the communication abilities. we have been raising the issue for months, if not years. we need to take a real round turn on making sure we are getting these allies out. we do not need to wait until the withdrawal was underway for this to be something to be working on. what have resulted in a better situation. host: according to a new leak state department cable, these are the latest evacuation numbers. the total manifested since midnight in kabul,, 483 american

citizens, a total of 6916. the total manifest is 4407 american assistance, 21,583 afghans -- put 1533 afghans. --21,533 afghans. does that sound? -- does that sound low? guest: we are talking 80,000 afghan allies and family members that we promised to get out of the country who made every requirement that was required of them to achieve this

application. they have done what they were asked to do. we have filled them. numbers -- failed them. the numbers are going up and speaks to what happened -- could have been done if the government had made this a priority a long time ago. host: we want to hear from our viewers. here is how we are dividing the line. if you are a veteran, dial in at (202) 748-8000. if you are a veteran of another war conflict, dial in (202) 748-8001. all others, your line is (202) 748-8002. we will take those text messages from you, (202) 748-8003. the white house announced an extension of the perimeter around the airport. what do you make of that? guest: it says they're doing the

right thing. this is a tenuous situation. the servicemembers who have redeployed back into afghanistan to augment the forces and help with the withdrawal are in an incredibly dangerous situation. we cannot understate the amazing work that our military is doing around this effort. they are in real danger. the commanders on the ground always want to be expanding their footprint. increasing safety, increasing their ability to vent and check those coming in. to improve their ability to provide protection. it is a good sign. it shows we are not is getting more forces but more equipment to do that. they are so in an incredibly daunting situation. it is the geography, the number of taliban that are around the area, we are talking about isis kate coming in.

-- isis k coming in. it is going to add to the challenge of when this operation is going to be over. and those forces need to fall back and make their own exit. that is an incredibly tedious operation that will happen after they have completed all of the evacuations. host: here is a text from michelle, in illinois. if former president trump had forced the removal of afghanistan, why didn't they process the applications? discuss the trump administration and their withdrawal plan. what are you hearing from the biden administration when you started pushing for these evacuations before the -- before afghanistan failed? -- fell?

guest: i would try to get to everything. this has been on the policy agenda for year. this predated the trump administration. want to reiterate that this is an issue that has been around since the u.s. has been in afghanistan. this is not new. in trump administration it was difficult to even get to this part of the discussion. there was such a letter pushback around immigration. especially -- such a larger pushback around immigration. especially from muslim countries. veterans groups or not hearing from opening -- about what we were so passionate about. a lot of good work could have been done there. you compound that with that we were so focused with the other responses to the covid pandemic.

this was an issue that they did not focus on. they should have. as soon as the withdrawal date was noted it could have been another time and a missed opportunity to be getting these applicants out. as we saw, trump administration was really drawing down the overall numbers of immigrants. the siv applicants did not even make the list in terms that they were looking at or planning around for the withdrawal. host: now compare that with the right and administration. -- withee biden -- with the biden administration. what was their response? guest: the frustration continues. it was made clear, and the expectations were made high that the biden administration would be more coming to the message

that we had to act immediately to save our siv applicants and afghan allies. there were so many groups who stepped up. work that they have been doing for years in terms of making it clear what was needed. how early this evacuation process had to begin. love the steps it would be -- all of the steps that would be required to get them out. you have groups opposing daily updates, saying it is undertake exit number of flights, -- x number of flights in order to get them out. it was much louder than it had been in previous administrations. there was a real optimism that the president and his administration would be much more proactive and responsive to the urgent need to get these allies out.

that adds to our current frustration. disappointment and anger that things are going so poorly. that's a little was done until now. the message was there. -- that so little was done until now. the message was there. pleading on social media, mr. president, if your staff is not feeling -- delivering this message to you, they are failing. how urgent it is that we get all of our allies out. we are breaking a bond to those who stood by us for so many years. host: built in virginia, beach -- bill in virginia beach. caller: i assume you are a veteran. you are the ceo of the organization. i have a question for you. i would like your comment. we want to pray for the best but be prepared for the worst. the worst would be that the

taliban go to war against the united states by the deadline date. having said that, we are going to need more troops in afghanistan to get the rest of the civilians, american and afghani people out of there and over to the u.s.. who helped our troops during the conflict. we need to get our equipment out of their. we need more troops -- out of there. we need more troops over there. we need to continue the effort to get everything out of there that we want out of their. we have to be able to -- out of there. we have to be able to fight the taliban out of there. we have to get rid of them. guest: i sheet the question. i -- i appreciate the question. i am a veteran. i served in the navy. i was deployed to the persian

gulf. i did not serve in afghanistan, but i am honored to be the head of this. organization. so much needs to be -- i am honored to be the head of this organization. so much needs to be done. they should not have to continue to fight when they come back home. to be able to step in and help them with that. this is an incredibly challenging situation. we are basically asking u.s. service members who have already spent so much time and effort fighting in these countries to go back in. do a lot of the work that should have been done before. it is tough. i do not have a good question -- answer to your question. it is going to take a commitment on the part of the u.s.. to navigate this very challenging environment. to get our allies out, two retrograde our equipment and

personnel that we have flooded in to the area of operation. and to do so safely. i do not think anyone within the administration wants to engage in direct combat with the taliban. i do not think it will be helpful. we have spent 20 year string to do that. we have seen where it has -- trying to do that. we have seen where it has led us. what the focus is going to be is on diplomacy. they are clear that they are in talks with the taliban. we are already hearing, that the taliban has called the august 31 date a redline. i do not think our best case scenario is going to be involving combat operations as opposed to continuing noncombatant operations. we are going to need longer than

the august 31 deadline in order to get out everybody. hopefully the u.s. and our allies can continue discussions with the taliban to allow that to happen peacefully. i would not call what is happening peaceful, but it is relatively peaceful compared to what it could be. if we begin to engage in direct conflict with the taliban. host: ralph in augusta, georgia. when did you serve? caller: i am retired from the military in 1986. i did work until 2014 in mexico and el paso texas. the soldiers were came to the united states, they worked as interpreters and other places.

assisted the united states. my job along with them was role players. the staff would work with the different scenarios these units would face when they got to iraq and afghanistan. if they were going to iraq, to work in entertainment -- detainment facility we would work as detainees. we would play in that area as village people. i would like to say that each major commander that went over had a big theory as to how they were going to deal with these people. regardless of the training. one of the things i will say is these people told us that they

had to have a job within four months after arriving into the united states. some of them left their families with their trunks. i would have them to live beside them. they expressed their opinions. we had great conversations. host: thank you. your thoughts? guest: i appreciate the comment. it is important to remember that so many of these allies have made it over here throughout the years. not nearly as many as it should be here. they continue to support our efforts. they continue to support america. he was talking about some of the many trend facilities that the u.s. is establishing within the u.s. to give deploying service members a real idea of what it

is going to be like when they find themselves on the ground. to understand the cultural and language barriers that are going to be there. you're not talking about folks who serve only overseas. many come back and continue service over here. they have grown to love the u.s. military. they want to continue to work with them. these are folks that want to continue to provide service to the u.s.. they have been incredibly well vetted. there were vetted many times over before they were allowed to go out on patrols and working with safety of the u.s. forces. these are incredible folks. who are going to add to the beauty of america. host: sandy in kent, ohio. caller: thank you. i seen a veteran who lost both

of his legs on tv the other day. he worked in afghanistan. he said that, we can train them, to drive a tank, train them to shoot a gun. but these people are not brave. you cannot train them to be brave. he said when the push came to shove, they fled. all of our equipment is there. he talked about how he spent all of the latest technology, all of our equipment. we just leave it all for the taliban. that -- if we took in, can we get it out? thank you. host: a couple of questions. guest: a couple of things. there is definitely the veteran community which is diverse.

i do not want to imply that i speak for everybody. in my view, the comments you heard from that veteran actually speak to the challenges of the overall u.s. goals as the evolved. to say that afghans do not fight bravely for their country. you have to look at the bigger picture. they were fighting and dying on orders of magnitude larger than u.s. service members. we lost 2500 u.s. service members. the afghan forces were losing that many in days throughout the last 20 years. even in larger numbers in the past 10 years or so as the u.s. handed off the lead to so many efforts to the afghan forces. we have seen examples of afghan forces crumbling relatively quickly when put to the test. we have also seen outstanding at

unbelievable levels of courage from so many of them that hung on for so long. especially the special forces, those were given raider degrees of training -- greater degrees of training. i think this has been glossed over, the speed by which the taliban took over the country. while we were trying to do training for the afghan forces, one thing that was lacking was the overall emphasis of what they were fighting for. we were trained to build an afghan national army in a country that does not see themselves as a country. there is much deeper alliances at the tribal and local level. that was filled to be taken into account by the u.s. -- that was failed to be taken into account by the u.s. the reality is, thousands and thousands of afghans have been fighting and dying.

civilians as well as armed services. national police, so many over the years. we should not discount that. it is shameful that we do not remember the sacrifices that have been made by some and afghans in defense of their own country. host: the washington post up with a total number on what you're talking. 66,000 is estimated number of afghan military and national police killed in the conflict. this is a report to collating the cost of the war by brown university. 47,245, the number of afghan civilians killed. jerry in overton, nebraska. caller: thank you. president biden said that there was no comparison between vietnam and evacuations in afghanistan.

i see exactly the same. i remember the people running to the embassy to try to get out. they same thing happened in afghanistan. i had a brother a loss in vietnam. it tears me -- i had a brother are lost in vietnam. it tears me up to see it again. guest: there are many who are with you and are seeing a strong similarities. hopefully, we can use that as lessons learned. that is too often the case that as a country, we are too shortsighted in our foreign policy. yet to remember the lessons we have learned. i was hearing about it this morning, it was about the way in which many people of the vietnamese refugees have contributed so heavily and strongly to the strength and creativity and success of the

country. hopefully, all they are -- while there are negative similarities between the withdrawal from vietnam and afghanistan. we have to look at the incredible contributions that were made by the vietnamese refugees who did fight alongside us. we were able to get out in the 1970's. host: welcome to the conversation. caller: hello. how are you? guest: i am good, thank you. caller: i want to thank you for your service. i was going to talk about the 18 month proceeding time for this. when the taliban was signing agreements with tribal leaders. with the swiftness of the fall of afghanistan. i do want to address your comparison of vietnam to the

fall of afghanistan. at the time since the fall of afghanistan, has been 53,000 evacuated as the government fell. in vietnam, after the government fell, there were a total of zero. you are comparing apples and oranges. guest: by no means it is the exact same situation. there were hundreds of thousands of people, think we evacuated 300,000 total in the time leading up to the evacuation of the withdrawal from vietnam. it goes back to the point we have been trying to make. this evacuation of our allies should have been going on for years. at a minimum, four months. since the details were revealed.

it was a missed opportunity. we did not take it to shove that time when we -- we do not take advantage of that time when we had the forces on the ground and ability to bring siv applicants two areas to get them out. so much more could have been done. so many of us were pushing for it. host: i want to run this number by you. 51, the number of countries including nato and partner nations that have fought in afghanistan. when you think about that, how is the taliban now in control? guest: it is an excellent western. i do not consider myself an expert on everything that went wrong. i think it shows you the limitations of nationbuilding. it is the bottom line. when we went in, back in 2001,

we were able to quickly achieve the military success we wanted. the taliban were actually making the offer of complete and total surrender to the u.s.. u.s. turned them down and said no we are to keep fighting. if you out -- we want to wipe you out. it was the hubris and extent of the limitations of what military power can do in a foreign country. we have showed there was a huge dedicated effort over the past two decades to fight in afghanistan. to rebuild and create new institutions. that is challenging to do in another country. especially as the rest of those countries begin to turn their attention to other things. we have not been focused on afghanistan in a good two decades. there was zero conversation

around strategy, policy, goals, and estates in afghanistan. the sum total -- and stances in afghanistan. the sum total was to get out of afghanistan. congress has not been working on oversight rules. we continue to find -- find through overseas funding. -- fund these through overseas funding. this is an example of what happens when you take your eye off of the prize of why we went in there. this goes back to what i was saying earlier. hopefully this is an opportunity we can learn from. not just look at partisan lame game -- blame game.

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