significant is so much more in this country that was a mom al-ameen abdulla t.v. president of the islamic leadership council of new york and his attorney mo is libby from the unit united it firm of carolina law and that is going to do it for now for more on the stories we covered go to our t.v. dot com slash usa and follow me on twitter at lauren lyster until then until tomorrow have a good night. issues the same up charge for your boss there's taliban with the killing of osama bin laden u.s. president barack obama has a historic opportunity and chemistry will he use it and what is the downside. me eat.

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looking. a little in the welcome to crossfire nine peter lavelle with the killing of osama bin laden u.s. president barack obama has an historic opportunity on afghanistan will he use it and what is the downside if he doesn't. stick. to cross the u.s. strategy in afghanistan i'm joined by bradley blakeman in washington he's a former member of george w. bush the senior staff and currently a professor at georgetown university and in islam about because the shop i could hear is a risk and security analyst all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want but first let's take a look at some of the issues and opportunities facing president barack obama when it comes to afghanistan. while in the weeks following the killing of al qaeda

leader osama bin laden the question that is gathering steam is going to the u.s. will now change its war on terror strategy a decade of chasing the specter of the loddon has marred the u.s. in a war against an enemy that is stateless and it seems ubiquitous with operations in afghanistan iraq and yemen the cost of the war on terror and mounts to a staggering three trillion dollars the death toll is the focal to estimates of hundreds of thousands of afghans iraqis and pakistani civilians are believed to have lost their lives and most of all we're making progress in our major goal or central goal pakistan. that's canister that is disrupting the despair we are going to ultimately defeat. but this begs the question since the valid goal of invading afghanistan to find bin laden is now complex what is to be done about al qaeda which though many argue is no longer relevant just franchise the sell out across

the region last week it issued a response to bin ladin scaling say his quote blood will be a curse that will chase the americans and their agents but curse that will pursue them inside and outside their country this spiral this gonna seems to be sticking to his guns promising to move forward with a plan to withdraw from afghanistan. the white house too has reaffirmed obama's stance saying the drawdown is on but the operation against al qaeda will now be relegated to the afghan army the focus of that operation of the u.s. personnel in afghanistan is on al qaeda the operation continues the july two thousand and eleven transition date for the beginning of the drawdown remains. very much in place the pace of that drawdown will be determined by conditions on the ground but it is still very unlikely that this is less would leave the income entirely especially given the much glossed over suspicion of pakistan's knowledge

of bin laden's presence in the country and not long ago general david petraeus himself cast a shadow over the prospect of withdrawing from afghanistan while the security progress achieved over the past year is significant it is also fragile and reversible nevertheless the bin laden's death could surely do is help pave an easier way to negotiations and then out of a van to stand a way that would allow the u.s. to walk away as a vector as even iran hails the success of its operation against bin laden say now it has no excuse to stay in the region russia china for across r.t. . all right i'd like to go to our guest in islamabad first bomb is that the united states after ten years to get osama bin laden kill him without anyone knowing about it in pakistan least that's the official line how will that change the facts on the ground in afghanistan because the effectiveness of al qaeda

is still relatively unknown but we know that the insurgency is quite strong well how is one affecting the other. well i actually would stick to what is on with we won't discuss or summers alleged gloom will we be glued pixels to the us let's tick over the thought that the ground situation of got a ton of going to be no different there is an ongoing insurgency and the insurgency if you understand it correctly if that is what should be called upon freedom struggle from occupation by foreign forces it's trouble today woodward in the eighty's when we were occupying them it's true that they're now involved in against the american occupation force so that struggle is an ongoing one and it's not good to end the american unfortunately the way they have conducted their operations and product on have alienated themselves when they came in in two thousand and one is they had conducted themselves as if they were saviors of august the oregon people

would have welcomed them would have volunteered them but they didn't and today the situation on the ground is that they're fed up with the americans they want about so that's not going to change now your second part of your question which relates to al qaeda the al qaeda presence in afghanistan has reduced to a bare minimum there are perhaps about ten or twelve people there this still hiding out in the caves of tora bora the last that i ever heard of anything happening with al qaeda with when we carried out the operation it would be just on the total you will be destroyed. in two thousand and eight. and. the. one thought of a good pub and the most would poured out of the most poured out they had to go to the cave of. the people and there were only about twenty

odd people at that time they were due for the sims as your commentator bench and good elements under the given circumstances fact very very questionable ok ok but it was only brad bradley about that i mean after we did what we just heard here i mean right now and it was the death of. bin laden that's just a really good excuse having nothing to do with really facts on the ground for obama to say to start pulling back from afghanistan he found ok to hang his story on his his narrative because from what we just heard what happened last week outside of islamabad has really nothing to do with the war going on in afghanistan. it may or may not i think it's a time for the president to be cautious you heard his advisor his military advisers well his political advisors say that we're on track to withdraw however conditions on the ground will will determine ultimately what american policy will be so i

think we have to work very closely with the afghan government their military the pakistan government and their military in order to come up with a regional strategy by which america can withdraw but after the killing of osama bin laden now if ever is the time to be cautious and see what comes of his death who's going to take his place if anyone what kind of attacks will be made in retaliation so america must act patiently and cautiously and the president is right to keep on his timetable with the out that if things on the ground changed their policy will change ok riley if i can stay with you what does it mean to you to draw back in afghanistan because a lot of people say complete withdrawal is the only option for the americans right now absolute complete withdrawal not you know to take fifty thousand troops home and keep mother fifty there for another five years or something like that and keeping bases there and backing up karzai i mean where do you fall and how far the poll out should be i think it all depends on what our military and political and

state department people evaluation in concert with the local officials government officials up mechanics and think that's in their best interest and we have to evaluate what's in our best interest and our allies as long as al qaeda is operating in that region as long as the taliban is operating in that region i think the united states has an interest in preventing for the future harm to america and our friends and allies ok i go back to do you buy into that. no i'm afraid i don't my perception is that for a long time all u.s. foreign policy it uses that relates to this part of the world is dictated not by the white house or made on capitol hill it is in fact made in the pentagon and langley and by. once again posting. often with cia job to an ex military officer they would betray is who fight

recall correctly in two thousand and seven when he testified before congress about his asking for the surge in iraq and he got it approved from congress and the congress later but he told lies. he was told literally him a couple who had everybody did with the program not to trios because. so you go you know what's not to save people's lives so that is spread far frankly friday dr jumpin war this is true this is prostitution. gradually zero forty truth bradley go ahead and manufactured propaganda which general petraeus is is actually a revered on both sides of the republicans and democrats and if anybody thought that he was telling the congress and on truth he certainly would have been brought before the congress and public and brought down about it general petraeus

a strategy in iraq and a good player already gee if somebody if somebody were to put up a for p.d. ad in the newspaper the u.s. was read this and you know what i was curious and he didn't realize it was it was a it was a democratic it was a tenor craddick operative group called move on dot org and you know why no doubt it is because i put it out in the paper denouncing it in the new york times so don't say that it was the government for you and i did states who portrayed portray us as a liar and oh it will democrats who try to demonize him and were proved wrong so get your facts right not just not you know not not just the democrat congress old school it was in my studio elizabeth rather let him speak let them split i'm speaking here let him speak i had. in the congress also be a slogan were raised whether you would like to accept that what you're told there on the air that everything today is followed on the internet yet it's our landis

and you've got your lies you believe everything that's on the internet ok so i really i could yeah i believe i do something only in the event i mean i i don't really want to balance have either one of us ready to go to pull out group level. you're not going to put up well enough to make an allegation by the way that maybe publication next totally fails and then back it up by the internet it shows how at how ignorant you are to the facts i know the factions i was into million are all i have. thought me i'm focused on me i'm ignorant you are an american and boy you don't know what you're talking about no but i have to i have no i do on this issue i do your show all right gentlemen let me jump in here and jump in here after a short break we'll continue our discussion on afghanistan post-paid like stay with r.t. . look you can see

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back to cross talk you all about to remind you we're talking about obama and his new afghan strategy. and you can see. ok bradley i'd like to go back to you in washington. what about just direct negotiations between the united states and the taliban on terms and conditions for the the drawdown and leaving afghanistan and i suppose the cabby out there is that they're not they don't want any more troops staying in afghanistan a complete evacuation is there and over time ok is that possible is that is that a scenario that can do it can be brought out because the american people are tired of the war it's extremely expensive and goodness knows the people in afghanistan have had enough war to. well i think the mirror americans are worthy of war but we're not weary of being attacked and we're not weary of defending our country so i think we have to work with the karzai government and they are the elected government of afghanistan and figure out what is in their best interest what is in

our best interest one thing is for sure that we've seen out of the cab the killing of osama bin laden is both the afghan government and the pakistani government play both sides of the fence and the united states must get tough with both of these governments either they're going to be with us or against us and if they're if they're going to be against us then i think we need to get out of the region and do what we have to do to protect ourselves just like we did in going into pakistan without their knowledge and taking care of business so i think it's a time now for our governments to get tough with the afghan and the pakistani government and actually find out where they stand with regard to american presence in their countries ok it's go back to islam about here we we still we hear the term ask pak meaning america thinks its convicts its problem in afghanistan and it has to do with pakistan after this unilateral act and people would say the be a violation of pakistani sovereignty how can that happen because pakistan really

does play a key role here in resolving if it is resolvable the issues in afghanistan at least for the americans. you know what we just heard from. the washington post that too which was tough and that the u.s. hold with a good. because it's a sole superpower and it thinks it can get away with it i think it's starting to talk a lot of on its own also to look at options even perhaps. the only people if that is to be you know who absolutely who have a lot of thought and problem and i think it's already under way that is hard to do given the initiative which began last year he had to go to disobey laws you know which part of the back from. the from the chief and if that addition to his work because if you do essentially the constitution which you screwed both pockets of and the u.s. but of course for any negotiation with the world of problems and live on it has to

be some facilitation of my pocket stuff so i would perhaps have that group of plea facility. no more i think that would have perhaps begin to be what we would be looking at us could start getting kids off of that like we poor fellows you know we that we've got these of sticks with come from the white old both the boy who got going poorly one of the ones where yeah i really feel bad i really just bad for pakistan right rice with corruption and rife with harboring america's most wanted in the world's most wanted terrorist how is it possible that pakistan did not know or was complicit in hiding this guy either way either answer is totally unacceptable and you can't tell me that pakistan did not know or was totally incompetent and in a military town crawling with retired and current military and your largest bases

there and this guy's been living there good resource years i thought we would go to move on to talk about of lot of stalin and so i let you be and i thought we'd move on top. because then just pakistan is a pakistan if you go back you can't do one without the other all right you have is not i you are right you want to go back to parker. let's talk about pockets of whether this operation was carried out u.s. forces by themselves or with the assistance of the i.s.i. has apparently if i recall correctly president obama in his speech when he addressed the public and we've known this fact he knowledge that without the assistance of the book i would be intelligence services this operation would go to be possible what is more than likely all he said he said the other day on sixty minutes that that pakistan had to be complicit in hiding him after the fact they might have helped us i don't know any great gentlemen to go and i doubt i'd like to

stay with you i'd like to state that afghanistan gentlemen i'd like to stay with afghanistan but really i'd like i said this is rattling i'd like to ask you you know we've been this is ten years going on the united states has been in afghanistan for ten years and its coalition of the willing that is dwindling all the time i mean it looks to me you know the insurgency should it can afford to wait it out ok i mean the united states is i mean i was reading an interesting article coming from a military source u.s. military source just today is if there's such a psychological thing teague of the military after ten years these were these people didn't expect to be there for a decade ok it's take that's taking its toll as well i mean my point is is that if you don't make a pretty negotiated deal pretty soon on terms that are appealing to the people on the ground it doesn't matter that the united states will just be bled dry over just a year after year tens of billions of dollars you know. there is fatigue

and there's a question as to what the end game is sooner or later the pakistanis and the afghanis have got to stand up on their own it's their country but having said that i think after the death of osama bin laden we have to be more cautious than ever i think the president is smart to stick to his timeline publicly but with the cabbie out that we're going to evaluate the situations on the ground which will determine our ultimate policy i think that's the only rational policy this is ministration our ministration and our military can take at this time but it's certainly it's up to the afghan people themselves to determine their ultimate destiny and if they want to help and it's reasonable we should give it ok and i go back to islam and i mean and looking at these two countries i mean is karzai a partner that can be dealt with other than with the americans i mean is he a legitimate force within afghanistan to make negotiations happen with the insurgency and to deal directly with pakistan is he strong enough we get him in a regretfully regretfully nod no i think you see if. we go we go back

a little bit and tell you when you could recall. the. president. collusions who called lee about having to do the lections and that bad period of time between the water. that of course the us pulled back a little be but because they had lost his whatever credibility he had a problem. doctors were a number we've been we don't need to go back history trace all that but he lost to credibility the people below trust him my own gut feeling is if if the us back up to go because they will be a lot of the excess baggage. but there would have to be as i said before i don't know who the solution go from it's not and it's not going to be a taliban solution i can assure you that i think whatever the i think that or the relation of one is gone as well as in pockets but we want we want a peaceful honest i'm talking point we want. people look at it and it can only call

vote on the get together and make a collective solution which would make it work it would not be a car those who should it would perhaps be something else it would perhaps be a national government to some sort something that would make it work because the longer the one who started on stable we had on stable the longer we had unstable of around it are the people who cut rules with their fortitude are interested in something something meaningful begins to work but it broke a bradley what do you think about that i mean we didn't hear the u.s. in that in that i mean i mean what role i mean if you read the afghans and the pakistanis they deal with the problem themselves because a lot of people say looking at the insurgency on a number of people and these are legitimate polls that have been taken that the bottom line is is what's called occupation of afghanistan now that's just it can the united states afford to completely withdraw from the country because that's the single most important demand that many members of the insurgency have. it

remains to be seen i think as time goes by in a very short period of time because we're up against july when we start to make major withdrawals let's see what happens but i agree that it's obviously up to the pakistani government and the afghan government to solve their own problems both individually and collectively as they share a border so if if i the best possible scenario for me would be the administration actively engaged with the afghan government the pakistan government and other credible allies to help them stand up on their own i think that's a great solution whether it's possible or not remains to be seen but let's be hopeful and cautious and not not just act out of a knee jerk reaction that a gate certain means that we have to withdraw regardless of what conditions are what if i go back to islam at a little closer look ok let's also don't let's all sort of threaten each other

let's sort of. we hope let's not just you know let's not just pull people to go to guns ok i can do this you know on the big. yes you had a question you know ok well what i'm very interested in looking at here is that i don't want to stay with islam like is just policy from a caucus any point of view is this just politicking is this obama looking for reelection ok he's got national security credentials now that no one can really question ok and you know he looks like a powerful guy and americans like that when they go to the polls you've got how much of this in your mind and in the timing of it all of this is politicking and really it doesn't matter about the people on the ground ok it's about how americans feel about themselves go ahead. well the the truth about to lose everything everywhere on the world is about politics when it comes to politics and nothing is not politicking so it's the right the actual right.

and the first. really for all that was going on when obama gained about ten points . seventeen points so yes he's gained and if you let me jump in here we're almost out of time bradley i want to give you the last thirty seconds of the program is it all about politics it's all about the election two thousand and twelve go ahead and look at the era lection is going to come down to the economy we are light years away from. the election in political terms so when people go into the poll voting booth or ask themselves one question are we better off today than we are four years ago and the answer today is no regardless of this national security credentials it's all about the economy all right gentlemen thanks to my guest today in washington and in islamabad and thanks to our viewers for watching us here are to see you next time and remember rostock rules.

martin here broadcasting live from washington d.c. coming up today on the big picture. when you take.