themselves within the context of afghan history and afghan culture. yeah, we can make quick changes but what we really need is enduring change in afghanistan. and that can only be brought by the afghans, themselves afghans have never been very receptive to a foreignma master. they have revolted against that. afghanistan needs economic space and a period of relatively good security to be able to bring about a cultural transformation that i think is necessary. >> what about the capabilities of the national security forces? do people trust that they can keep the country safe in and i use that in the largest sense of the word. >> of all of the institutions, it's one of the better respected ones but i think it's still a young army. there is still a lot of disersion and i will literalliteracy. people are cautiously optimistic but there is, i think, understandable apprehension of the ana to fully provide security and protect the civilians once nato and the u.s. end combat operations. it. >> where does the taliban fit in all of this? at one point, people forg

of ownership the afghan people have for the afghan security forces. so while i'm very aware of the challenges that must be addressed to have sustainable afghan forces and capability gaps that continue to remain, i'm equally confident that the afghan forces today are capable of providing security to the afghan people. they have done that for the past year since they resumed lead responsibility. they're in a tough fight this summer. our forces, when i arrived, we had over 100,000 forces on the ground. we have 40,000 right now. we're providing very little support on a day-to-day basis to the afghan security forces and they are yet still able to be successful against the enemy. >> could you talk about the participation of women in the afghani forces? >> i can, senator. and it's not a particularly good-news story. there's a goal in the afghan army, in police forces for 10% women. we have about 1% in both the army and the police force right now. there are some bright spots. we have the first female police chief in kabul. we've got a couple other senior-leve

and to date, the afghan security forces, again, particularly the afghan army or the police, is doing better as well. are performing well above where many people thought they would be tow or three or four years ago. they are doing that despite the fact they don't have adequate air power. despite the fact that the intelligence support and logistical support from the u.s. and nato has decreased much more quickly than is wise and an increasing level of risk to that effort. and they're doing so by and large, this is from my own experience so in talking to afghans and being in afghanistan, and doing so because by and large they are committed to fighting for their country. they have a national spirit and a national identity. that is put at risk by the current political impasse. and the longer the political impasse lasts, the more likely it is there will be problems inside the army, inside the security forces and elsewhere. i think really a situation is that every day that there's not a solution, makes the situation for the future more dangerous and more difficult to resolve. and again, i tr

yes the afghans found me a bride took me to her house and we met and i like her. did you see her face before hand. yes well at first she wore a burka. but then put on a head job sure saw that i was russian and asked whether she would marry me she said he's a muslim and he's one of us i agree and so we got married. came and read the prayers we had a sort of a wedding there were even some guests so you fell in love with her yes and right now you have three children together right. before you return to russia. that you did you have any contact with the taliban. getting to some of the friends i had at the time later joined the taliban. why why did they join. up muscle does it goes away well with you muscled for to gets the taliban when he was in kabul when massoud died and the foreign troops the americans invaded afghanistan most of the afghans who were loyal to masood joined to the taliban he says in which he dean's joined the taliban they went on their side why the night there was you know i spent many years in afghanistan. let me explain the people of ghana stand a

in the afghan army it's about 40%. the core is about the same, the forces are about the same and that the slight overrepresentation in the sense that the population represents more than this and carrying out those statistics, telling you that there hasn't been a consensus that are in a the wild. but in general terms we have the foundation of a national army in afghanistan that has represented not only the various ethnic groups, but geographically as well. >> is this representation integrated throughout the force? that is, our individual battalions or units are they balanced ethnically? >> yes, they are balanced, there is a slight overrepresentation of forces from the northern west part of the country, but the demographics and each unit represents the nation as a whole as opposed to specific units so on and so forth. so the assignment of people is not based on geographics and most all serve away from home. >> we tend to focus around your arm here on problems we'll talk about that not our job. but my sense is that secret

for talking to me guy was a former soviet soldier turned afghan would. he give us an amazing insight of what it's like to be a war captive in afghanistan and also shared out some of these thoughts of what could happen after the american troops leave the country and that's it for this edition of sophie and co and stay tuned for next time. we profit very large very attractive and now very globally recognized source of oil for the world with. the world's cheapest and best petroleum deposits. we have to use more energy to get this energy industry. where. all. the. it's your drinking water that's our wildlife so everything fisheries. this is what it takes. to make. you know you're at the bottom. and that's where we're. society. people are going to. want to thank you. for. teaching every minute. touch me. laugh though i. like mccain. setting all. these cases to eat lots. sometimes for nothing. it's not just a story he's giving jobs to if you see a stage eight looking. but he was still. waters. spread all over. food you have a new will profit drowns out in the

as we learned nothing about the afghan society and also a misunderstanding of karzai as an afghan leader because when you meet him it isn't like the other traditional afghan leaders but nor is it like the leaders that have spent decades abroad to receive their education etc.. he is there and it's easy to think here is a western oriented leader dressed in afghan clothes and it's far from the truth. president karzai is afghan to the core. he is an afghan political leader and he lives in two worlds at the same time. he lives in the old afghan political context with his culture and traditions into the new institution established after the fall of the telegram. -- talbo tally taliban. that is the world in which he grew up. and we tend to not understand that unfortunately. in discussing his legacy with an intact in may i ask him how to use your legacy and he didn't want to respond. he pushed the question back to me and said how do you see my legacy? i sent mr. president, first of all, i see you as a conscientious builder and yes i very much wanted to be the builder and i sai said but that isn'

i will leave to the afghans and i suspect i will hear a bit in a moment from a very prominent afghan journalist how they view their president. but from the many afghans i have dealt and i have never asked an afghan their opinion on the president because i didn't want to put him in that place. doesn't mean they didn't offer it. but i had a sense of their open but sometimes grudging respect for him. they respected hamid karzai. but there was a sense of melancholy on the absence of his presence and governance in his life and i am talking about subnational governance when we worked hard to develop but defied my ability as a commander. they were very proud of him in many ways. proud he today up the the foreigners of which i was one. but in regard to the bilateral security agreement, many afghans were horrified that he sacrificed his future and never fully explaining why or clearly understanding why. i think in some respects, in terms of a contemporary legacy we see much grounds was lost in that regard. i don't think pakistan will view the karzai era are much nostalgia. karzai's view of pa

we will hear from a permanent afghan journalist, how they view their president but from the many afghansith who i have anlt and i have never asked afghan his or her opinion of their president. i believe at a respect for the president, i did not want to put him in that place. it does not mean they do not offer their opinion. [laughter] i always had a sense of their grudgingsometimes respect for him. they respected karzai. there was also a a sense of melancholy on the absence of his presence and that of his governance in their lives in talking about subnational government which we were to so hard to try to develop. it defined my abilities. we can talk about that if you like. they were very proud of him in many ways. they were proud he stood up to the foreigners of which i was one. in regards to the bilateral security agreement which would enshrine, many afghans were horrified that he seemed to be sacrificing their future and not signing an agreement and never fully explaining why were clearly understanding why. in some respects, in terms of a thatmporary legacy, we see much ground was lost

citizens of the afghans again. we also had a period of time where we worked very closely on night operations and special operations, and that resulted in a memorandum of understanding as well where we sought to move from being unilaterally engaged in night ops, spec ops, to one where we partnered with the afghans to one where i committed to him and to the afghan security leadership the development of special operations capabilities where afghanistan could eventually operate unilaterally without specific u.s. or nato help. and then very clearly it was a time of transition, as scott properly said. we were moving the afghan forces from being in trail to being in the lead. we were moving isaf forces from being in the lead to being advisory in nature, but very importantly for me i worked hard, and i know stan mcchrystal had before me, and ultimately dave petraeus in succession to him, on trying to understand hamid karzai's sense of his ownership of the afghan national security forces as the commander in chief, but more

they provide the afghan forces with the operational reach to provide security and stability for the afghan people as well as conducting effective counterterrorism operations. thirty of the 80 are what we call a special mission, which would be the afghan special operations capability forces and without the operational reach of this, the afghan forces will not be successful in providing security and stability in afghanistan and will not be an effective counterterrorism partner. one of the second order effects which is why use this word is that we will also have an adverse impact on our force protection for 2015. among the assumptions i make in 2015 is the afghan security forces will contribute to the coalition forces in 2015 and their ability to do that would be sick efficiently great degraded. >> as the spare parts, as i understand it, the sustainment that is prohibited by that same language which is so important? >> there are two issues, one of the issues is to have spare parts and uses in its fleet and the other is the russian company owns the plans and blueprints, if you will, of this. s

the bases outside of kabul would be closed or transferred to the afghan forces or the afghan government by 2016. >> so if we do that, that's pretty soon, actually, if you think about it, that that would be the beginning of 2016 we would go to a kabul-based presence. what does that do overall to our ability to keep pressure on those networks on the ct mission, assuming something doesn't dramatically change with regard to those who would want to threaten us from pakistan and afghanistan? >> senator, that would reduce our collections capability, our signals intelligence, our human intelligence and our strike capability, so it would be a significant reduction in overall counterterrorism capability. >> and if we had that significant reduction in our overall counterterrorism capability beginning in 2016, what does that do in terms of threats that we could potentially face to our homeland? >> senator, i think the equation -- you have to look at it in perspective of what is afghanistan's ct capacity and what is afghanistan's ct capacity and will with the nature of the threat? from my perspectiv

to afghans who served troops. this will provide safe refuge for afghans who put their lives on the line for operation enduring freedom. i served personally with several afghans who literally bled with us and still aspire to emigrate to america to conform to our laws. this program is also critical to our national security and to our troops who in the future will again serve around the world and need support from local nationals. if we don't stand with these brave afghans now, how will our troops in the future get the support they need? indeed, many afghans who served with american forces are now hunted by the taliban and other terrorist groups. adding 1,000 visas this year may be the difference between life and death for some of these brave afghans. particularly as america withdraws our troops from that country. friends, colleagues, i urge you to support this bill because it's in our national security interest to keep -- interest, to keep our promise and to protect our allies. it's the right thing to do. the speake

the afghan asset security force has protected all the polling sites. based on the number of incidents that i read about, talking to commanders on the ground, they did an excellent job. the progression from where they were and where they continue to go continues to keep parent is a great news story but it is because of a great man would have a coalition. so it is not by happenstance but because of this great work. they continue to work at. you're absolutely right. >> i think it is important for members of this body in committee to recognize the challenges going forward are not simply military. the nsf is performing at a level where they can protect the physical integrity of the elections are still called into question because of political corruption. there are other tools we will need to explore. i wish you well and look forward to working with you you and i talked about the other day. i am concerned about the force and the fraying of the force after the incredible amount of work that has been done. at a veterans round table. a widow whose husband was a

lucia he who is currently a member of the afghan high priest counsel in kabul and also reconciled bola of dual who was one of the few from top car who was minister of refugees and assassinated in patch our a few weeks ago after returning from a confidential meeting in dubai trying to start a peace process. their interpreter at that meeting was later the chairman of the central bank and minister of commerce and a presidential candidate in afghanistan and is going to be in the next cabinet so this is a historic room. it's really a pleasure to welcome dipali mukhopadhyay who i met first at isi in san diego many years ago through a mutual friend someone who used to work in the council forum relations. let me start by referring to something that was mentioned which i was on the u.n. delegation which launched the process that led to the current government of afghanistan after 9/11 and the u.s. decision to overthrow the taliban regime. one of the issues that we faced at bonn was how to cope with the fact that there were men on the ground leading armed groups such as the main figures in your b

we talk about afghanization. but we were very reluctant in and lamenting that. -- in implementing that. so -- i think much of his bitterness today. he also looks back at the last 13 years as we do. much of it is -- his bitterness can be understood. he disregarded the chain of command. put at the head of the government he did not trust. with regard to the informal networks, many of the people who came in and we believe were among the best members of government didn't know much about afghanistan. had been out for 25 years. so no wonder why he would pick up the phone or bring me and others to meetings and say now you will hear what the afghans really think. those were the ones he trusted. the people he met during the friday meetings or during his in frequent visits to the provinces. being called the mayor of kabul. and criticizing him. it's to a large extent a result of the fact that we did not in the beginning start building an afghan army immediately. we did allow isaf to go outside of kabul. and we did not build

i found this out because an afghan, i spoke to an afghan about this and she said it's -- so turn that those actually a term for those who officially don't exist. that's when i realized that there must be many more of these girls. >> that's a you discovered this practice? >> i discovered this practice originally why anything a female parliamentarian on the topic of women and what it was like. she invited me into her, her family and into her house to me when she was in another room i spoke -- his fortune and i spoke to her twin daughters, and the family had been presented to me as having three daughters and a young boy. and the two oldest girls said to me, you know our brother is really a girl. and then i thought that, i was like okay, you know, they speak broken english and i thought we had a language issue. i thought to myself what are they talking about? and then i met the son of the family, a six-year-old child who came in with a whole different body language and attitude, short, spiky hair shooting a toy gun at me. you know, presenting himself at the time as a boy. and i was too af

karzai is, he's in afghan political leader and he leaves in the old afghan political context with its culture and traditions, and he word ofn the new institutional established after taliban.of the and where does he feel most at he's? by far feels most at traditionalold afghan world because that's his world, that is the world in which he grew up. and we tend to not understand that, unfortunately. discussing his legacy with him, asked him how, i do you see your legacy? he didn't want to respond. he pushed the question right back to me and said how do you legacy? can i answer, mr. president? see you as a i consensus builder, and he said builder.nsensus i very much canned -- the consensusbe builder. i said that's not the easiest country from a a to b. and he said how do you define democracy? my answer was democracy is ruled by majority. no, no, no. that's impossible. mustis country democracy by consensus. if you are ruled by majority this country will go through conflict and fragmentation. ithink he is quite right, and must say there's no other afghan have met who understands his society,

at 10:00, a look at afghan president karzai's legacy. a new afghan president is scheduled to be inaugurated august 2. also attending and eastern on c-span, the u.s. security council meets to discuss the ramifications of the downing of a malaysian airliner over eastern ukraine. >> so we're here at the salisbury house in des moines, iowa, and it's a home that was built by carl indeed of the weeks in the 1920s. karl was a man of many and varied interests. one of the most notable legacies of these interests of his amazing collections, in terms of artwork, sculpture, the library collection is an amazing collection of rare, limited first edition works, medieval manuscripts. it's incredible. >> so karl collected the books that he collected not only because they are important historical works but also because he believes that books themselves were works of art, and had a worth beyond the words on the page. so he collected almost every addition of leaves of grass, walt whitman added poems buffer grow it was the art of collecting. karl also collec

continue to have to work with the afghan army. it is very important not only afghanistan,and but for our nation. meetings with both candidates for president, they expressed a want and desire for concerna very deep about a date certain withdrawal as opposed to conditions-based. both said they were concerned , their abilityty parts of afghanistan that you're very familiar with. do you think that that concern on their part is legitimate? i believe whoever becomes president would have great concern that any of the coalition forces would continue to provide for them. as i mentioned earlier, i think my job and what my senior leadership and with the committee would expect us to provide continuous updates based on our mission and resources. >> one would hope that the president of the united states would look at the nightmare in iraq today and the ability that we could have had to provide perhapsbility there and reevaluate his decision not for american combat troops but the much-needed capabilities of support and counterterrorism that we c

think we can give afghans hope. weeks or more,wo if there is a decision to prolong the waiting to accommodate the audit and make sure that we have a fair and audit.e this would be acceptable to the great majority of afghans. one is to make sure the mechanisms that will be used is thoroughlyjob and fairly as possible. >> when you're one of the candidates saying that this result is the result of a coup, it doesn't bode very well, does it? -- we havesomething not use the word coup over the last few weeks but he is open about what is happening, where are the fault lines and where can we solve this problem. i think that his position has been clear. i think the international community at some stage realize that he is speaking responsibly. his position now is being recognized by the u.s.. >> you sound very sanguine about the political situation after so many people turned out, expectations so high and the violence was pretty low. and we had a good news moment in the first round. it looks like we are in a position of almost

and in some ways, my books have been windows into afghan culture, afghan life for many of my western readers. it's a mixed blessing in the sense that, a, people now if they read my book, they see there is so much more to afghanistan than the kings of tora bora and the taliban. i don't want them to think that this is some kind of exhaustive manifesto on afghanistan. it is a novel, and every novel is written with a narrow "viewpoint" and mine is that of a person living in exile. so that has to be understood by readers. >> khaled hosseini thank you for talking to al jazeera. >> thank you. >> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now who is heeding and

so part of this is the commitment of the afghan leaders and the afghan people, which is provided -- there is an opportunity for them. and most legitimate elections, i see an opportunity, at the same time, continued support from the international community and the united states is needed and, hopefully, the future opportunities will be utilized in a much better way than what has been done in the past few years. >> charlie: it is said the taliban took advantage of the corruption of the karzai regime, and it was part of what enabled them to come back as a potent force. do you agree? >> i do. the growing gap between the people in the government because of corruption, because of bad governance, because of lack of commitment to the democratic principles and the rights of the people, that helped the insurgency, and that feeds insurgency. on top of this, absence of a policy towards insurgency. we are releasing prisoners without taking a guarantee or assurances that they are not joining the battlefield. in absence of a clear policy which not only has elements of dealing with the insurgency by also

the afghans kept shooting, even as one of their leaders was wounded.americans quickly came to his aid. >> i'll never forget the courage of afghans like abdu wally, to fight with the americans side by side. that is what we needed to win in afghanistan. [ speaking foreign language ] >> it wasn't about body armor or weapons. it was going to be about how we treated them. and it worked in a big way. >> reporter: the tribal leader took on gant like a son and gant nicknamed him sitting bull. and gant's village became one of the few examples of success in afghanistan. called by some the petting zoo because so many politicians and top commanders showed up for tours and photo-opes. as the senators, including john mccain walked around. ann said she had to hide for fear they would recognize her. >> when he came, i stayed out of the picture. >> reporter: at other times she was out in the open, trained to use weapons, and she says, the taliban was overheard on radios talking about the woman they called gant's wife. >> we didn't want my presence there to be widely kn

a very significant commitment was made to building up of the afghan security forces, and thank god, afghan security forceforces have shown their patriotism and their commitment. now we are assuming that the process of building the security forces would be supported for 10 years. the united states administration is repeated this assurance, but we need to understand and acknowledge that it would not just be the administration but the congress and the american public and the media, of course, that would review this. so given the decision that the president of the united states has made, we need to focus on these two and a half years. we cannot waste a moment. and we must make every effort, and then see where our american partners will see the accomplishments and that we can make sure that the commitments of the 10 years are honored and support continues. >> rose: you think there are lessons to be learned from iraq? >> there are lessons to be learned from iraq. and one of the key lessons that from day one i entered as a candidate we insisted on, inclusion. a winner-take-all approach is counter

but some afghans are becoming impatient. the coverage of the election process is all over afghan television, but with the preliminary process delayed, all afghans have to look forward to is more uncertainty. >> in brazil, the government is hoping that the world cup will cause the economic cup to spill over, bringing money in long after it ends, but the games have only increased the divide been the haves and the have-nots. >> brazil's surfing capital, a hot spot for tourists who want the sun-soaked beaches of brazil's wild coastline. but there's another side of the city where not everyone is riding the wave of prosperity, she lives it in the impoverished community that she has called home her entire life. raw sewage runs through the streets, and rats are common, and dengue fever is widespread. but the families who live here have few options. >> the majority of people who live here are people who are in need. we can't afford to live anywhere else. they don't live somewhere where there's open raw sewage because they want to. >>

secretary kerry has been in regular touch with the two leading candidates in the afghan presidential election and we expect he will be in close touch with them in the days ahead. kelly. >> what is the president's schedule, you are calling it an urgent situation, why wouldn't the president see value in visiting the border, if not this trip, then sometime soon? >> the president has been to the border as a candidate and as president of the united states. his secretary of homeland security, secretary of h.h.s., fema director, senior white house officials have made separate visits to the border to assess the situation there and assess the strength of the federal government's response to that situation. the president is well aware of what is happening on the border and what we are focused on right now are not political statements that would be made with a -- with an appearance but with specific concrete action. steps that could be taken to mitigate this situation. >> downsizing him going personally? >> the focus of the president's attention is on making sure that we are taking all of the n

afghan security forces killed men after an attack. gunmen used rockets, targetting the military side of the airport in kabul. >>> the former president of south africa mbecki is to testify into an arms deal the government negotiated 15 years ago. it's been subject to accusations of corruption. >>> three al jazeera journalists spent 201 days in an egyptian prison. they are accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. peter greste and mohamed fadel fahmy were gaoled for seven years, last month. baher mohamed was given seven years and received an additional three because he had a spent bullet in his possession, which he picked up at a protest. al jazeera demands the journalists be freed. >> to syria, four people have been killed and another 22 wounded from mortar fire. video posted on social media claims to show opposition fighters. the town is important because of its procximity to damascus. >>> president bashar al-assad says western and arab states will pay the price for supporting opposition groups in the country. he's been swor

he has been in the heart of afghan politics, and he will not cease and desist from being a player. but i think at this point the greatest weight really must be given to the afghan people that voted in enormous numbers. of course there was rigging all over the country, but we just have to find out the proof of that. >> are you optimistic that this can be resolved? >> i think so. i think the afghans have traditionally been able to resolve differences among themselves under a term that is sometimes used to describe the process, which is the concord of the people. afghanistan has been a country with national boundaries much longer than its neighborhood. so i am optimistic. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> today the world health organization issued a bold new recommendation to stop the spre of h.i.v. sexually arging active gay men to take the drug, saying it could prevent one million h.i.v. infections. a baby girl was thought to be cured after early treatment, but now doctors harbaugh discovered she still harbaugh harbors s the -- still the virus. >> do you think gay men sh

as being equal to another afghan. one of the slogans. the taliban both the word and we acknowledge are political reality of afghanistan. they cannot be wished away or eliminated through use of force. all conflicts must end at the negotiating table. we are committed to ensuring at those issues that are grievances, that are about participation, that are about paving of political solutions are brought forward. the key to this is that afghan taliban who believe in being afghan operate themselves from larger regional networks of violence that are dedicated to nothing but destruction and would like to use our country as a battlefield for half-baked ideas, this means serious engagement. this election is already created a major platform for peace because in the insecure provinces previously conceived widely insecured provinces of the country where participation was impossible our religious scholars and our people have created the conditions of engagement. >> to achieve that would you sit down with mulea owe mar and talk about

president karzai is afghan to the core. he's an afghan political leader. lives in two at the same time, the old afghan political context with culture and tradition, and he lives in the new world, institution established after the fall of the taliban. where does he feel most at ease? i think he by far feels most at ease in the old afghanistan world, because that's his world. that is a world in which he grew up. we tend to not understand that unfortunately. discussing his legacy with him, in fact, in may, i asked him how do you see his legacy. me pushed the question right back to me and said how do you see my legacy? let me answer, mr. president, first of all, i see you as a consensus -- yes, i very much wanted to. i said, mr. president, it's not the easiest way of moving the country from a to b. he said how do you define democracy? my answer was democracy is ruled by majority. no, no, no. that's impossible in this country. in this country democracy must be rule by consensus. if you try to rule by majority, this country will go through conflict and fragmenta