but afghans don't believe it. the war has brought some benefits to afghans. 3 million girls now go to school. that was banned under the taliban. better health care and new clinics have boosted life expectancies by as much as 22 years. but those gains could temporary. if the villagers in shakar dhara are right and the afghan government can't hold the country together, the taliban will fight their way back, undefeated by a super power. and the cost of all of this, brian, about $600 billion. and the meter is still running. >> richard engel, who covered the duration of this war, part of our team in kabul tonight. richard, thanks. now we switch over to the 18-month-long conflict in syria. a full-blown civil war, with hundreds dying every week. more than the u.s. lost in vietnam at the height of that war, and it's getting worse. nbc's ann curry managed to get safely in and out of syria. she joins us tonight from the safety of the nearby turkish border. ann, good evening. >> brian, good evening to you. this war, that has

we have started to build an afghan army. we have provided some services to the afghan people. so i can't look at this and say, we did nothing. we certainly did do something. the question is, the cost benefit analysis, and is everything that we've done at the cost of american lives, limbs, and billions of dollars, is that worth it when it comes to looking at the most core issue of american national security? certainly the death of osama bin laden, the evisceration of al qaeda at the mid-and senior ranks had nothing to do with the troop surge in afghanistan. that's central intelligence agency's drone program in afghanistan. so we did some good there, but with all that good work, did the price in american lives and dollars? and i don't think so. >> host: last call for our guest comes from mike in syracuse, new york. >> caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. my question is, what do you think that the war in afghanistaning going to do to the delicate turmoil of the situation that has been going on for almost 2,000 years over there? >> guest: well, look. there's been an awful lot

on the table with the afghan government and accept afghan government as the government they did to mitt system in the country so now that the foreign troops are leaving i think that the taliban have even less incentive to talks i don't think that it's possible to reconcile with the core ideological leadership of the taliban but it is possible to integrate a large number of the foot soldiers and also the mid-level commanders who are fighting in afghanistan by offering them political and financial incentives but that only happens when they are convinced that the current system in afghanistan is sustainable and the world community that is committed to i think you didn't you just hear what you just gave an argument to withdraw even earlier didn't you. no i did it i said that the world community should remain committed to afghanistan and that with convinced portions of the taliban that they will not win militarily and then when they come to the table i think that the president obama is. setting timelines really and they're kept a military and political mission in afghanistan because that gav

already now 75% of the afghan population live in areas where the afghan security forces have taken lead responsibility. that process continues that process continues and we have seen a decline in violence where in the areas where the afghans have taken responsibility. it's also a fact that 80% of the enemy-initiated attacks in afghanistan take place in areas where only 20% of the afghans live. in other words, a huge majority of afghans live in areas where a situation is relatively calm and stable. so i'm confident that we can fulfill the goal to end our combat mission by the end of 2014. >> rose: why should the taliban negotiate now if they believe they'll be in a stronger position when the nato countries leave at the end of 2014? >> yeah, but they will not be in a stronger position. that's a very important point in our strategy that when we stop our combat mission a very capable afghan security force will take over. we are building up the number of afghan security forces. by the end of 2014 we will have 352,000 afghan security forces and even more importantly quality wise they will be

the checkpoint is now manned by afghan forces.ut we found a disorganized group with few uniforms but plenty of guns, a potential danger for u.s. troops. >> if you come to an environment like this there are afghans with weapons. >> they're not going to put away their weapons just because we're here. as you see, everybody else has got theirs, too. >> reporter: you've built this relationship on trust and now you're saying well, hold on, maybe we don't trust you and-- that's not what you're saying. >> right. >> reporter: but that's the impression. >> that may be the message. we tried to soft than blow as much as we can. they felt guilty for the incidents themselves so they understood why we were trying to do this. we're going to continue this relationship as best we can given this and they were good with it. >> reporter: the soldiers that we were with hoped to finish vetting the afghan forces this week but, scott, commanders have a new list of conditions that have to be met before their joint operations can start again and we're told

troops and the afghan society, the afghan civilians, and ultimately the afghan government. >> logan:sident karzai blames the u.s. for not confronting pakistan years ago. why has the u.s. failed to address the issue with pakistan, do you think? >> karzai: perhaps politics. >> logan: what has been the cost of that? >> karzai: heavy for us. disastrous for us. >> logan: would afghanistan look completely different today if the issue of sanctuary and safe haven in pakistan had been dealt with years ago? >> karzai: absolutely. completely different-- much more peaceful, much more progressed, much more stable, and a society that would have been thriving on its own. >> logan: does that make you angry? >> karzai: absolutely, very much. and we have shown it. >> logan: was there much yelling and screaming behind closed doors? >> karzai: plenty of that. >> logan: listening to you, i get the feeling that there's a lot of anger towards the united states. there's been bad blood. what went wrong? why do you feel this way? >> karzai: i don't feel angry. i'm... afghanistan feels let down. >> logan: pres

as they try to build and then we teach the afghans to help themselves. and i think that's where we're going to see our success down the road. thank you. (applause). >> thank you, barry, now it's lieutenant commander serrano and captain napalitano >> good morning, everyone, i'm pleased to be here today to tell you about an exercise we conducted this past summer in hawaii as part of rim of pacific exercise which involved 22 participating nations and this offered us a venue to be able to conduct a humanitarian and disaster relief exercise with all the different partners that we had together and collaborating with this exercise, this offered a perfect opportunity for us to introduce the military capabilities and interaction in exchange with our civil military partners as well. the exercise was located on oh oahu we had used that island as a fictitious island of chianti where we wanted to do a humanitarian response but it also provided us an avenue for the state-wide partners, the civil hawaiian partners, to be able to exercise their exercise as well. this ex

this concept was also not an afghan concept.gn concept that started when afghans were in pakistan. it is not very clear why they are there and what they should be doing. what i am trying to do is create a model where ngos should be helping the government to do what they cannot do. there are 70 or sometimes 90 students in a classroom in a government school so we are trying to outsource classrooms to en geos, 50% of the budget mess so this is one way they can spend money and have better quality education because i am sure that once there are smaller classrooms and teachers have more time for the student, the quality will automatically go up. >> we will finish the session. university program in afghanistan, why not get in touch with your next school because they have programs, they funded these other -- >> through the ministry.

among the afghan police, it's not much better. nato told us 15% quit, fed up with corruption, a lack of supplies, or scared away by the taliban. the insurgents are still powerful in many parts of the country. in rural helmand province u.s. marines told us there aren't enough afghan army soldiers to take over. in one case, when the afghans did take over this base in the east, the commander and his men deserted. the u.s. army had to come back. >> you're relying on us to do your security far you, y'all need to be participating in this security. >> reporter: but much of the training has been put in jeopardy by the recent rise of insider attacks-- afghan soldiers turning their guns on their american partners. major matthew kessler is a logistics advisor at camp leatherneck. how has it been here? you work with afghans everyday. >> it's a concern. it's frustrating for both sides. it makes the marines angry and it makes the afghans angry. >> pelley: kelly cobiella is at our cbs news bureau in kabul and, kelly, i wonder what nato is saying

general allen takes it very seriously and ito's to the afghans do. -- and i have told you the afghans do. the threat is more of a morale threat than a physical threat. that is why we take it very seriously. it is important to put it into context. in the last year, the total number of casualties of their troops was reduced by 30%. as we move forward, we gradually disengage from the afghan forces and the rest will become less and less. the key thing is we must maintain the confidence of our partners and keep them with us. if we suddenly precipitously pullback in the face of this risk, when the campaign itself is deliver it so much success, we would unravel the efforts we have worked so hard to deliver. across the country, the insurgency is under pressure. their attack rate reduces. we pushed them out of the settled populated areas into the desert margins. they are becoming less and less relevant to the people. the survey data we're getting back suggests security is the number four concern behind things like provision of electricity and employment. so they are seeing their lives become m

training afghan security forces to stand alone while still providing military backup. that includes teaching them to find homemade bombs, the biggest threat here. >> ak-47 or a remote device with wires on it, preserve that evidence. >> reporter: rick poor formally of the georgia bureau of investigations trains police on how to secure a crime scene. sort of a csi kandahar. and there has been progress. afghan forces now take the lead role in defending against attacks like the taliban assault on the u.s. embassy in kabul. nato officials say afghans now participate in 90% of military operations. >> that is cause for optimism says analyst michael o'hanlon of the brookings institute. >> if you give them a gun and tell them where the enemy is and ask you them to maybe cover for each other as they move from rock to rock or building to building, they can do that kind of simple stuff because they are fighters. >> yet afghan forces remain vulnerable. last month they failed to stop a suicide bomber from killing 12 foreigners in kabul. 11 years after u.s. troops and allies topped t

the frustration came from the afghans because they relied on that training on a daily basis. so the person that was with them training them may not be there now for days or weeks at a time. so we kind of changed that around and said we need to take our armed personnel and put them out there and spend time with these folks day in and day out, not only built trust between us and the afghans but it gave them the ability to prg on a daily basis. so the other frustration was the coalition effort. there was a lot of people with great intentions willing to help shared by many different countries. the frustration was many different countries, there's many different ways of doing things. so we would be out there telling the afghans, this is how you conduct police operations, this is how we do police training, this is how you hold your weapon and engage the enemy, and then several weeks later another force would come in and not that it was necessarily wrong, but it

army and first shared his thoughts on sergeant turner and the afghan war overall. well i'm very impressed with the start of knowledge of the real root issues which reveal and frankly. the majority the folks we want after using also wise use of military force the yuan that have been killed or captured that should have been the big indicator that it was time to think about our strategy a parent back especially at one of the what we got then lot instead what you've seen is what my son jerry goil calls combat to commerce where we've actually seen a full on use of military resources to go to both create a democracy for the afghan people which frankly as we're seeing right now or we step away a less ready the karzai government is just that you know and most importantly you're i think as you pointed out and this is something you can go to new york times website actually look at. we actually won this and zero two zero three the change in policy which allowed us to start this counterinsurgency strategy is the root of the real problem and one of the their own this is not a b

in afghan society men and women are separated. in journalism school men and women sit on opposite sides of the classroom. (diane guerrazzi/director of afghan journalism project): "there are very few women who want to go into television. why? well because it's a risk to put your face and name on the air." this is one of the first exhange programs of it's kind in the united states. and although they have a bit more freedom here, the visiting professors still have to be careful about what they say on social media sites like facebook. (diane guerrazzi/director of afghan journalism project):"there's a lot of forces that would like to interfere with our process. so at the same time, we're excited to get our publicity out about our program, we're not going to be foolish and compromise the safety of ourselves and the future of the program." the afghan proffesors say they will do all they can to bring their knowlegde back to their war torn nation." the program will provide the afghan professors with 30 new courses that will enrich their kn

dead an afghan war and then there c.n.n. afghanistan green on blue attack show there's no easy way out we can't forget the b.b.c. from out a month ago three dead and baghran base attack you know background supposedly the most protected u.s. base in the country well these headlines exemplify just a few of the impossible challenges that the u.s. military faces in its continued occupation so let's break it down a little bit further recently learned that the u.s. soldier deaths in afghanistan reached the two thousand mark half of which occurred just in the last two years but interestingly this figure was already reported on last year but really it doesn't matter if it's two or two thousand it should be zero because the invasion of afghanistan was a legal and immoral from the onset and hillary you say that the us government's committed to the afghan people so why is it that prior to two thousand and seven no one even did body counts of dead afghans. since two thousand and seven the official death count was thirteen thousand afgha

and nato constructed afghan national army there's a nato program which will continue after two thousandand fourteen out of straw down the western troops called the nato training mission afghanistan nato doesn't intend to leave the country but whether the afghan national army was capable of providing security for the country i think is is highly questionable it is a matter of fact it's not even questionable they simply will not but we have to keep this in historical context as we're talking about anniversaries this is in fact a conflict occurring in afghanistan that began at least as early as nine hundred seventy eight with the united states operating out of pakistan to topple the government of afghanistan and to fight against the soviet allies and none of those . the barcode would have occurred in the first place out of nothing for the harder in the reagan administration straightened the war which you know they are separated out make and regional and other times she's inside the country and there's a mass and it's led to a twenty four year with the i'm sorry thirty four year old thirty

nato officials say afghans now participate in 90% of military operations.hat's cause for optimism says this analyst. >> if you give them a gun and tell them where the enemy is and you ask them to maybe cover for each other as they move from, you know, rock to rock or building to building they can do that simple stuff because they are fighters. >> reporter: yet afghan forces remain vulnerable. last month they failed to stop a suicide bomber killing 12 foreigners. 11 years after u.s. troops and allies toppled the taliban, afghan forces are still unable to hold their own against a determined enemy. >>> coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning" new poll numbers in the presidential race and a preview of mitt romney's foreign policy speech today at the virginia military institute. plus the latest on the meningitis outbreak. we'll talk to a doctor with the national foundation for infectious diseases and the recent drop in iphone thefts around the country and why that's actually got police worried. that and more later on cbs "this morning." for now that

and afghan soldiers exchanged fire over the weekend. the killings seem to underline the growing sense of mistrust between international troops and afghanistan's own security forces. nhk world's hideki yui reports. >> reporter: two americans, one soldier and one contractor, as well as three afghan troops, died following an exchange of fire in wardak province, eastern afghanistan, on saturday. >> according to isaf and a&a reporting, after a short conversation took place between a.n.a. and isaf personnel, firing occurred which resulted in the fatal wounding of an isaf soldier and the death of his civilian colleague. >> reporter: the details of the incident remain uncertain. local authorities say u.s. soldiers came under fire. the soldiers believed the shots originated near an afghan army checkpoint. but tension and mistrust is really growing between u.s. and afghan soldiers. there has been a steep rise in attacks against the u.s.-led international forces by afghan soldiers and police officers. or people wearing their uniforms. they coaliti

now, we have reached the recruiting goal for afghan forces, we have degraded al qaeda. tell me, why not leave now? what more can we really accomplish? is it worth more american lives? >> we don't want to lose the gains we have gotten. we want to make sure that the taliban does not come back in and give al qaeda a safe haven. we agree with the administration on their 2014 transition. look, when i think about afghanistan, i think about the incredible job that our troops have done. you have been more than the two of us combine the. first time i was there in 2002, it was amazing to me what they were facing. i went in kandahar, before the surge, i sat down with a young private in the 82nd from the menominee indian reservation and he told me what he would do, every day and i was in awe. to go back in december and go with the marines to see what they had accomplished, it is nothing short of amazing. what we don't want to do is lose the gains we have gotten. now, we have disagreed friments on a few issues. we more likely taken into account the recommendations from our commander

we've actually seen a full on use of military resources to go to vote create a democracy for the afghan people which frankly as we're seeing right now before we step away a less ready the karzai government is just that you know and most importantly you're i think as you pointed out and this is something you can go to new york times website actually look at. we actually won this and zero two zero three that the change in policy which allowed us to start this counterinsurgency strategy is the root of the real problem and let me be very clear on this is not a bush or obama problem although i would say this administration is far worse if you look at the number of troops we put into afghanistan look at the number of acts of violence and death rots so we should have focused on what we want there to do to take take care of all kind to take out the terrorists not to create nation building and not to conduct ourselves such a way to try to stimulate the afghan people western style of living which frankly is hard to overcome two thousand years of culture not hold or trying to. i think it's a reall

the afghan soldiers walked up to the americans, they exchanged a few words with them. it's not exactly sure what was said between the american soldiers and the afghan soldiers. but then one of the afghan soldiers pulled out a weapon, opened fire, killed an american soldier, killed an american contractor, and then other american soldiers in that area responded, killing at least three afghan soldiers. richard engel, nbc news, kabul, afghanistan. >>> on this first monday in october, the u.s. supreme court begins its new term today. six of the nine justices attended the annual red mass to pray for judges at st. matthews cathedral in washington. this month, the high court is expected to take up the question of affirmative action. during the session, the court may also hear arguments on the issues of same-sex marriage and civil rightles. >>> the justices will hear their first case relating to the terrorist surveillance program that allows tapping phones and e-mail communications as part of the war on terror. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early t

if we needed to build new ones, we certainly did, but we always made sure the afghans understood they had the ultimate responsibility of maintaining this once we leave. finally, girls in school. as i mentioned, literacy rate was 20 percent. that was country-wide. in southwest afghanistan that literacy rate was women was 8 percent. so you have to work very hard to get an 8 percent literacy rate for women, which means you actually have to stop and implement policies to make sure that women actually couldn't partake in any learning, any health systems, anything that would contribute to their growth. so girls in school, big focus area. we wanted to reverse the effects of the state of women and girls in afghanistan. so once the security foot hold was gained in southwest afghanistan by the marines in 2010 and 2011 and they continued to conduct operations as i'm speaking, we began to build capacity at every level to ensure the afghans are ultimately able to take the helm of their own destiny and they have the capacity to run this system. we instituted assessments for growth in schools, we cr

but afghans don't believe it. the war has brought some benefits to afghans. 3 million girls now go to school. that was banned under the taliban. better health care and new clinics have boosted life expectancy by as much as 22 years, but those gains could be temporary if the villagers here are right and the afghan government can't hold the country together, the taliban will fight their way back, undefeated by a superpower. >> that was nbc's richard engel reporting for us. "the new york times" reporting the u.s. ais bandening hopes of a peace deal with the taliban right on the front page today. the report says that goal has been scrapped in favor of a less ambitious plan that would have the after ghans work out a deal among themselves once u.s. combat troops withdraw. >>> now members of boeing will return to the bargaining table this afternoon after the union overwhelmingly rejected the company's most recent contract offer. the union's current contract expires on saturday. let's get the latest from karen chao. she's

a one afghan policeman was also killed. the m.o. de said in a statement that the provision patrolman were not in working with any afghan partners of the time. we do not yet know what initiated the exchange of gunfire. the investigation is ongoing. >> the female british soldier has been -- has been named lance corporal channing day. she was just 25. she was proud to be an army medic and always wanted an army career. the corporal who died alongside her was david o'connor, age 27. he was called one of the best, brave, committed, and a true friend. the u.k. may have to recognize that creating a viable state in afghanistan is achievable and p's on the international development community has failed in working alongside the afghan government. >> a huge amount of life has been lost in afghanistan. gains have been made since the taliban were in charge. but we have to focus on securing those gains, rather than more ambitious objectives, for tebow, like building a viable state. -- for example, like building a viable state. >> in kabul, one afg

his other afghan officers.hnically, they are not counting this as one of the 53 coalition deaths so far this year in 38 separate insider attacks. they are still investigating and they could put knit that column but step not counting it so far but a very large number of insider deaths this year from afghans, of u.s. troops at the hand afghans. >>shepard: there is word today a new push for peace in syria. activists say a civil war has led to the deaths of 33,000 men and women and children. the special envoy for syria called on the regime to take the lead in observing a cease-fire during a major muslim holiday this month. he added that rebel fighters have vowed to observe the truce if the syrian government takes the first step. before the international envoy spoke syria dismissed the peace plan claiming the rebels down the have any clear leadership. on the ground in syria peace is nowhere to be seen, with fighters claim they downed a syrian government helicopter as activists report the syrian government unleashed

. >> we are afghans. have to defend our country. >> reporter: they are the first two afghan women to go through the u.s. army's helicopter flight school at fort rucker, alabama, which required them to learn english before they could learn to fly. >> we knew that we are going to start a very hard thing. it's not going to be easy on us. but we didn't know it was going to be this hard. >> reporter: barely into their 20s, neither had been outside afghanistan before. they have not been back for a year and a half. >> but now we are going back to our country with a really big accomplishment. >> reporter: : they have gone from learning how to fly a steady hover, which they say was the hardest thing, to flying at night and will graduate next week. they are flying american scout helicopters. in afghanistan, they will be flying russian-made attack helicopters. so you're going to be in combat. >> yes. >> yup. >> reporter: are you ready for combat? >> i think we are ready for that. >> reporter: this has already been a