-afghanistan relations. speakers include former special representative for afghanistan marc grossman. this is hosted by the u.s. institute of peace. this panel is one hour and 10 minutes. welcome on behalf of u.s. ip. i would like to thank all of you for coming, and our distinguished guests. we also want to thank our panelists for this first panel which is titled "the united states and afghanistan, the longview. view.the long -- the longview." given policy relations of late, there is lots of focus on the security transition and the upcoming political transition in 2014 in particular. i do think in terms of the current discourse in washington, talking about life beyond 2014 is taking a long view. i think that one of the objectives for today is to try to look at future relations between the u.s. and pakistan beyond 2014. there is a longer-term interest in this relationship. i think it is also important that we have a balanced and realistic view in this relationship. that was -- just what we heard from ambassad

pledged not to anything the politics in afghanistan, pledged to support afghanistan's process. they begin to turn also to other avenues to protect their interest. i think we saw an unraveling in the trust between states, between nations, and between people. so what does this tell us looking forward? i agree with our keynote speaker and the other panelists that enormous achievements, especially, who would've thought we would now be heading towards an election that is going to be respected. but looking beyond that i think we know that democracy is not just about one day of elections but it's about the days and years in between elections. it's not just about one liter. it's about a team of leaders. as we look at those countries around the world that have transitioned successfully from complex and from difficult regimes to better governance, they have all been delivered by a group of leaders. i had the pleasure to introduce some of them around the world. they've all said history looks at a great man, sometimes a great woman, but it's always been about a team of people to work toget

a day that i you can depart afghanistan but you can never leave afghanistan. there is not a day that goes by that i do not think about the wonderful afghans with whom i served and with whom i felt such great affection. of reflection today for me, i see a german uniform and audience. probably many folks from diplomatic missions here to represent many of the 50 countries that served in that coalition. i just want to remind his audience as i remind every troops have0,000 served at the height of this war. they performed magnificently. seldom have we seen so large and so capable a field force do so much for the good of the country when it has such capacity for destruction. it is a great example of how one countries to come together with a common set of values, they can make a contribution in a difficult environment. for the u.s. and the coalition, we are exceptionally fortunate to have a fellow by the name of joe dunford commanding in afghanistan. it has been -- beyond his many personal and professional characteristics which recommend him for this very difficult jo

afghanistan, what happens to the women in afghanistan? >> senator think the plight of women would be pretty dire. i think the support we provided with security for political transition creates a climate that women or other members of society flourished to achieve their own goals or objectives. >> i don't think any of us will forget the images of the soccer stadium with the taliban what they did to the women as he looked at the importance of our commitment the let us not forget what you just said if the the thing and abandon the work we have done in afghanistan to put those women back in the soccer stadium i don't think that is acceptable to any of us. >> it is important for me to share i did not provide you with my own assessment that is a feedback from the afghan women. i am voicings on their behalf their concerns 2015 and beyond. >> if we don't maintain a presence what happens with al qaeda and how quickly would this happen? and to hear why does it matter for people at home if we were to withdraw this year of what happens with al qaeda

-afghanistan relations.ecial representative for afghanistan marc grossman along with former deputy assistant defense secretary for afghanistan, pakistan and central asia david sedney. >> i would also like to thank all of you for coming, thinking artist in which guests, ambassador dobbins in particular. would also our panelists for this first panel which is titled the united states and afghanistan, the longview. i think it's only in a town like d.c. that we can talk about looking beyond 2014 that is a long view. but given the tendency to have a quite our reactive u.s.-afghanistan policy and relation certainly of late, there's lots of focus indeed on the security transition in the upcoming political transition in 2014 in particular. i do think in terms of the current discourse in washington, talking about life beyond 2014 in afghanistan is taking a long view. i think one of the objectives in this for today is really to try to look at the future relations between u.s. and pakistan beyond 2014. that there is a l

afghanistan? >> i think the plight of women would be pretty dire if we were to withdraw at the end of 2014. we are actually providing -- i think the support we provided in security, it actually creates the climate in which the other women and members of the society actually can flourish and achieve their own goals and objectives. i would say the prospects are not very good. >> i don't think any of us will ever forget the images of what they did to women. i think as we look toward the importance of our commitment in afghanistan, let us not forget what you just said, that if we leave and if we abandon the work we have done in afghanistan that we could send women back into those soccer stadiums. i don't think that is acceptable to any of us. >> i did not provide you with my own assessment. this is the feedback i have received from the afghan women i have spoken to. i am actually voicing on their behalf. their concerns about 2015 and beyond were we not to remain a presence. >> if we don't maintain a p

that afghanistan will remain a dangerous place. our presence here will be far more narrowly described in terms of training and advising the system at the upper echelons. not at the level where we will be on patrol with the afghans or not on the level where we will be partnered with them in small tactical formations. rather at the core level. at the to and three-star level and above. what they really need from us is not our firepower with some exceptions. what they really need from us is our expertise in logistics and communications and signal a medical survey can build their own systems over time that can sustain that tactical fighting force. the tactical fighting force is credible and confident today. they will go out and fight. what they need to figure out is how to sustain themselves with logistics and communications, intelligence. we will be operating at that level, not without risk, but for those who are weary of war. it will be a very different mission. host: host: he said down with nbc news. others may say why stay there? wh

this is not only about afghanistan. america has larger interests in central asia and the whole south asian area. that is an important part of it as well. third, i come to a point that is often overlooked. professor dobbins made an important point in his address and that is to keep focused on the economic aspects of the future of this relationship. direct investment. these connection between central asian economies and south asian economies, the interest of american companies and some of the important resources that are tore to work with afghans bring to world markets. the economic aspects of this, whether it is the new silk road, or whether it is promoting afghan businesses, i think it is something americans will be interested in being part of this relationship. something i don't think that needs much detail is to keep ,ocused on counter extremism not just counterterrorism. afghanistan is still a very important part of that area as well. the region, economic issues, counter extremism, all of these are part of our founda

we traveled to afghanistan in the midst of this transition. but on the base we found a story that isn't being told. the people doing the day-to-day work here are mostly civilian contract workers - men from india and nepal, who traveled to a war zone just for the promise of a good job. for many of them, that promise turned out to be a lie. they ended up deceived and indebted, victims of human traffickers who thrive on military contracts. fault lines examines the lives of these workers - and investigates how the american military has come to rely on an indentured workforce. camp marmal is the largest base in northern afghanistan. nato's mission here centers on training the afghan national army. >> the complexity, when we first got here i started thinking about it. it almost becomes overwhelming. >> this is the us regional garrison commander, responsible for daily operations in the north. >> there's a lot of great contractors that come up here. local nationals, third country nationals, us expats. they're really good, they work together. >> what a

forces in afghanistan to hear testimony on the security situation in afghanistan. thank you, general, for your decades of great service to the nation. the committee has both held regular earrings in afghanistan over the years more than 2200 americans have given their lives and thousands more have been wounded. despite those sacrifices and despite the fact that afghanistan harbored those that attacked the nation in 2001 the recent poll shows that for the first time the plurality of americans be that sending our forces to afghanistan was a mistake. i do not share that view. more importantly, neither do the afghan people. the recent public opinion poll in afghanistan shows that a large majority belief that conditions in the country have improved over the last decade. our troops in afghanistan working with afghan forces and the coalitions o coalition's ofr countries have taken critical steps to deny safe havens and to ensure that afghanistan does not serve as a sanctuary for terrorists seeking to harm the united states. there are a number of signs of continued progress

in afghanistan. and there are in calculations out there on the number of dollars that are being spent simply by the u.s. there's one particular site that has these meters that run regularly every second updating the cost, and that estimates the cost at about $10 million an hour for the war in afghanistan. of course there are different figures out there. there is the famous brown university study that calculated a cost of 3 to 4 billion roughly. there's been an updated overall cost estimate looking at opportunity costs as well as complimentary costs of the u.s. in these wars that go as high as 6 trillion. there's no end to the numbers. but inspector general john sopko deals with real numbers. he deals with the amount of assistance that's going to afghanistan and how it is used. and so over the 12 years we've been talking about $102 billion figure for the reconstruction effort. so we will hear from him on how he sees this proceeding, how he sees afghanistan preparing itself for life after the u.s. and

extremely important for afghanistan because afghanistan on the path started of democracy. we will not be able to have much success in building democracy in the country. it has its own weaknesses. one of the important weaknesses of the afghan government is lack of strategic vision towards immediate outlets. that will lead to the bankruptcy of a significant number of media outlets. it is because there will be an amount of reduction in -- a major sorts -- major source of funding. >> that is what i want to get to. how worried are you looking forward about the future of the afghan media and you have any sense of how many stations may close if they lose foreign support? >> knowledge is success. i think it is an extraordinary achievement. it is an astonishing achievement. a tradition of afghan journalism goes back to 1911. there was nothing in 2001. 10,000 people are employed in the sector. saturated with a number of radio stations that exists. this is very much down to the and -- to the energy and entrepreneurialism and courage .f people it is a big success story. it is also bei

in afghanistan.and there are in calculations out there on the number of dollars that are being spent simply by the u.s. there's one particular site that has these meters that run regularly every second updating the cost, and that estimates the cost at about $10 million an hour for the war in afghanistan. of course there are different figures out there. there is the famous brown university study that calculated a cost of 3 to 4 billion roughly. there's been an updated overall cost estimate looking at opportunity costs as well as complimentary costs of the u.s. in these wars that go as high as 6 trillion. there's no end to the numbers. but inspector general john sopko deals with real numbers. he deals with the amount of assistance that's going to afghanistan and how it is used. and so over the 12 years we've been talking about $102 billion figure for the reconstruction effort. so we will hear from him on how he sees this proceeding, how he sees afghanistan preparing itself for life after the u.s. and a

recent trip tos afghanistan. the afghanistan -- the u.s. has spent more than $100 billion on afghanistan reconstruction. good morning everyone. the southrector of asia center at the atlantic council. on behalf of our politics, i would like to welcome all of you to this very important session. with the special inspector supko., john as we know, the political and military transition has begun in afghanistan. the political and military transition has begun in afghanistan. this is going to be a very critical year. the issue of afghanistan, the issue of costs, the issue of the use of taxpayers monies has been alive in this town and other capitals around the world that have contributed to the actions in iraq and then in afghanistan. and there are in calculations out there on the number of dollars that are being spent simply by the u.s. there's one particular site that has these meters that run regularly every second updating the cost, and that estimates the cost at about $10 million an hour for the war in afghanistan. of course there are differen

especially afghanistan policy. i know some ngo's are represented here and we'll be following the discussion here. i have been to afghanistan several times since i have been in the united states senate. back in 2011, i remember a particular meeting i had the great privilege to attend. it was a meeting of women parliamentarians in the american embassy. one of the women in that group told us about her journey into politics. as a politician here in the united states, this was not a familiar story to me. i did not have anywhere near the same experience that she did. mine was a different path. mine was not the path she had taken, because in her case, her father had been killed during the soviet occupation of afghanistan and she lost her brother to an attack by the taliban. but this woman decided to fight back, not to accept that as the danger that would prevent her from getting involved in politics. this particular reaction she had on the path she had charted for herself would not have been possible under the taliban's r

role in afghanistan. he currently serves as chairman of the foreign relations committee on central affairs. he spoke earlier today at an event hosted by the center for american progress. >> if more than one entity manages the key identifiers of nature thet, then by internet will not be in that. at the heart of it is the domain system. and there is the services system. appreciate that there is an actual root system. resolved to make sure that when you type c-span.org or any other website name you go to the exact site that c-span1 to to go to every time for the last few decades. >> that is on the communicators tonight on c-span three. >> speaking of the special senate conversation is happening out. dangerous path. they see that we, our country and our congress, must change. so this is where we start, a moment of great peril for massachusetts, for america, for the world, but also a >> secretary carney discuss the climate change issues. good afternoon, everyone. thank you for being your. i have an announcemen

you -- if we were to withdraw from afghanistan happens to the women in afghanistan? >> i think the plight of women would be pretty dire if we were to withdraw at the end of 2014. -- ie actually providing think the support we provided in actually creates the climate in which the other women and members of the society actually can flourish and achieve their own goals and objectives. i would say the prospects are not very good. >> i don't think any of us will ever get the images of what they did to women. as we look toward the importance of our commitment in afghanistan, let us not forget what you just said, that if we leave and if we abandon the work we have done in afghanistan that we could send women back into those soccer stadiums. i don't think that is acceptable to any of us. >> i did provide you with my own assessment. this is the feedback i have received from the afghan women i have spoken to. i am actually voicing on their behalf. their concerns about 2015 and beyond will not remain a presence. >> if we don't maintain a presence, what happens with al qaeda? i w

in 2001, afghanistan had 20,000 teachers all mail.oday, there are 200,000 teachers including 60,000 women. u.s. assistance has helped build or refurbish nearly 700 schools across afghanistan. maternal and infant mortality is -- has declined dramatically. the average afghan has a life expectancy now of 62 years compared to 45 under the taliban. only seven percent of afghans support a taliban return to power. how is it that a large majority of the afghan people think that conditions in afghanistan are improving when most americans do not? unfortunately, the american people rarely read about positive developments in afghanistan. instead, the media focuses almost exclusively on negative incidents, depriving the american people of the sense of accomplishment that they would receive if they were provided a balanced view. as a result, our troops have not received the recognition for the positive changes in afghanistan for which they and their families have sacrificed so much. the positive developments are not the whole story to him of course

the second panel will be on the future of media in afghanistan. again, four distinguished david as chaired by moderator from voices of america. we hope that you can conclude from today's program that afghanistan still matters to the united states. america's national security therest are best served by emergence of a stable and prosperous afghanistan. this objective can still be and what has been accomplished in afghanistan over the last decade offers some grounds for optimism that we can achieve this objective. afghanistan has made great progress over the last 12 years in health, education, women's rights and economic development. you will hear about that today in these remarks. you will also hear about the political progress that the afghan people have made. a presidential election is scheduled for this coming april 5. for the first time, there is the will be that power handed peacefully and democratically from one leader to another. the presidential campaign is on in force. recent visitors to kabul have noted walls and billboards plastered with

and i was ready to walk out of afghanistan.eady to just follow the know mads, although i had rejected that. it happened to be the seem that james mitcher in deals with in caravan, but i rejected that because the nomads were just kidnap me and keep me. i had nothing of value. ... we went through europe and the high life you know and as i say in the book is very much like an italian film i thought. he wasn't you will browner. he was omar sharif. so when i came back i couldn't tell anybody what really happened because when i tried they didn't understand and they didn't believe me. i would say things like slavery. i saw slavery. i saw servants treated like slaves. i would say the women, they had no value. we went to a maternity hospital and there was a woman screaming and it turned out that her husband who had, was fighting with the doctor in charge because the wife died, the baby was bound to die. the father didn't want to have to pay for nothing. he said he would have to take a lot of money to get a new wife and all this other ki

afghanistan has also landed in the west and the west is still the plate in afghanistan and no, i don't think that we should be there. ask me about this afterwards. and afghanistan is the country where i was once held hostage in the early it is the same country that shelters bin laden where he hatched his diabolical 9/11 plots after saudi arabia and sudan exiled him. and now the entire civilian world is held hostage to that brand of to hottest terrorism, to that al qaeda style. this was a very eerie coincidence to me. my adventure lasted more than 15 years when my afghan house and he fled before the soviets invaded. he came to my door here in america and not. and i have been criticized ever since then. but americans and jews have a long tradition of hospitality to those in exile who come to our shores. so i did not turn away from him and from his second wife and their young children. and i recount some of our conversations that took place between 1980 and 2012 in the book. they serve as a conversation between east and west. perhaps like so many of the others, i'd yearn for a mystical un

it's not just afghanistan and iraq. in atlanta, three of the four victims from from the vietnam war. it's a pervasive issue in the va and united states. we owe it to the veterans and country to see to it we find every best practice possible and implement them. what i'll do, mr. chairman, is as a one-man band individual vi, have field hearings, do the oversight around the country necessary to bring best practices to light and try to do what report is doing right now, and that's meeting with veterans, getting the answer, and traying to prepare them, which i'm grateful for you at this time. i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you, senator brun. >> mr. chairman, i appreciate your leadership, and thank you, mr. chairman sex tear, -- secretary, and all of you serving the country so ably and selflessly. i thank you for that. i reiterate the comments on the cost of war. senator isakson's happily pointing out that terrible infliction and senator test or talked about suicide in the military is due to unemployment rates,

and he is in him and discussed afghanistan. he reviewed trish troop levels in afghanistan. he talked about the need of a bilateral agreement between the u.s. and afghanistan. this is one hour and 45 minutes. [no audio] >> it would help if we aimed at finishing those sessions by about 4:00. a littleable to finish earlier or conceivably a little later. i might begin by asking at a strategic level, how successful the operation afghanistan has been it? it has achieved its initial and immediate objective of degrading the ability of international terrorism to operate from afghanistan. in the long sense degraded the capability of al qaeda in afghanistan. it is a fraction of its former presence. it is created the conditions in something approximating to our view of what a functioning civil governance means. the government is providing basic public services to its population and providing transport and infrastructure and security. there is a functioning justice system. creationerseen the from scratch of the afghan security forces where none existed before. capableand broadly organiz

camp marmal is the largest base in northern afghanistan. nato's mission here centers on training the afghan national army. >> the complexity, when we first got here i started thinking about it. it almost becomes overwhelming. >> this is the us regional garrison commander, responsible for daily operations in the north. >> there's a lot of great contractors that come up here. local nationals, third country nationals, us expats. they're really good, they work together. >> what are the contractors doing? >> everything, everything you can think of. they work in the dining facilities. they help maintain the living facilities. what it does is that it allows the soldiers to concentrate on their primary mission, rather than having extra duties. we could not do our mission without them. they do a good job for us. >> two american companies manage the military's facilities in afghanistan: the fluor corporation, and dyncorp international. these companies are called 'prime contractors,' because the us government hired them directly. >> they all work toge

past 2017 but how do long to see as involved in the afghanistan -- insurgency? >> the lesson of history it is the withdrawal of funding that prompted. >> i'm talking about resources. >> i think the commitments that have been made by the international community to fund particularly the maintenance of the ansf after 2014 and to continue to provide economic assistance are the crucial ones. so long as those commitments remain in place, so long as there is a willingness by the international community to support the afghan government they will be able to maintain. >> how long do you think? >> that will depend on what happens. >> months, years? >> if there's continued progress in afghanistan and obviously if there is reconciliation with beginnings of reconciliation i would imagine a strong willingness on the part of the international community to support that. it there is progress in developing the afghan economy, if there's continued progress in developing human rights and in particular if there is no progressive tendency in relation to women's rights after the end of

afghanistan. we will speak with anjali kamat and sam black. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. multicountry effort is in its third day searching for commercial airliner that disappeared on route from malaysia. carrying 239s people on board. suspicion of a hijacking has grown after it emerged at least two passengers were traveling on stolen passports. a team of ships and aircraft has been scaring the waters between malaysia and vietnam were the plane last made contact, as well as the strata moloch on the opposite side of the malaysian peninsula. no debris has been found so far. a large oil slick was spotted south of vietnam, but its source is yet to be confirmed. tens of thousands took art in rival pro-unity and pro-russian rallies in ukraine sunday at of a planned referendum. crimea said to vote sunday on whether to break off from ukraine and joining russia following the ouster of viktor yanukovych last month. in a s

we still don't have access to information in afghanistan. and the second problem has been the environment for safety of media workers is not that, still not good. there's still a lot of intimidation going on, particularly when cases become personal. and then those who are covered will go after the media workers and start -- [inaudible] we have had examples of in this the past. and the thursday -- the third problem has been lack of sufficient education in the area of investigative journalism among afghan media workers which is a pity because in afghanistan which corruption makes a huge problem, there's a huge need for investigative journalism. >> you know, that segways to another subject. let me ask you about this, james, and it's sort of our business in a way and also the business of mr. anzar here which is state broadcasting, you know, government broadcasting. mr. anzar's rta is moving to more of a public broadcasting model and changing the way they think about their work. i guess the question for you and i and maybe others in the room here

in between, we have afghanistan. what has happened with russia willhe ukraine, that affect their policy in the larger picture. that further increases the need for the united states to have a presence in afghanistan. since the people of afghanistan have been badly hurt through out theyry by its neighbors, have proved that the entire region in a region where sentiment is being propagated by the government, afghanistan is the only country which proves to be an ally to the united states. don't want to talk about what the president is saying. it is not a good idea to give him much importance. the more important to give to his rhetoric, the more his objectives will be realized. he is leaving. we should stay cool about it. afghanistan -- one other point i would like to make that i wanted to make earlier isut the future government even if you have disputes in the elections, everybody understands will try to disrupt, there will not be instability. any deadlock will benefit. that will benefit will be the taliban. all other gro

one thing seems clear as western armies gradually pull out of afghanistan. a massive opium industry is flourishing in their wake. and in their absence. no one will make any real attempts to suppress it the consequences will be felt worldwide. as opium and supplies continued to rise flaunt it is now day three of the trial of german soccer heavyweights when the time as he was accused of tax evasion i mean the president offered to pay millions in back taxes and hope that with shots from the sentence against him but that is looking increasingly unlikely. even the best game plan wouldn't elderly earnest now. he's accused of pulling over twenty seven million year old almost eight times what he was originally charged with. the court could deliver a verdict as early as thursday. just getting the kids and you can eat the court has announced that its international admissions of evidence to proceed with the pricing on defense and that it isn't on the robin to it as for canoeing. but second cut be not long until the final whistle blows for miami next president. despite

military involvement in afghanistan. talked about his book. >> them that -- the next 20 minutes, give you an overview of two things relative to afghanistan and the first is what is the nature of the war. the second is what is the strategy. the nature of the war i base on i have about ten years now on battlefields and my iraq in afghanistan. as barbara said generals are cayenne secretaries of defense and presidents may have rolls, but they better keep their egos and the control. tolstoy and is but war and peace really had it right. what actually happens as much more to do with the tenacity of those the fighting and it does with the pronouncements from on high. i'll try to show you why. i would like to just bring you through very quickly of, how the strategy is imbedded in it. old pro. and just about to go back to my tent trip, ten trips of the last four years the army platoons, the marine platoon the special forces and associated afghan units if iraq -- at the top of afghanistan do. unfortunate we have been pushed out of

military aircraft in afghanistan.owing uncertainty, the general testified this week before the senate armed services committee on his concern on how the enemy will view a withdrawal. >> they would view it as a great victory, where they could withdraw an then have the space in which to conduct operations against the west once again. >> my next guest sa member of the u.s. army special forces, trained to focus on that part of the world, afghanistan. he's been deployed to the region eight times in the past 11 years. he's among only a few in the u.s. military that has seen every aspect of the war from 2002 to the present. he's also the author of a remarkable book called "lions of kandahar." please welcome major rusty bradley. major, thanks for being here. let me just start, if you're going to get out of afghanistan completely, talk about the timing. is this a victory for the enemy, for terrorism, for al-qaeda, for us to just say, we're done? >> absolutely. i think most people won't realize what the enemies of this country

we have made moving to afghanistan, a number of commitments to afghanistan affairs conferences, on the security side and implement assistance. -- in development assistance. given the polling numbers in the american public, just how exhausted the americans are with providing financial assistance to afghanistan, what do you think that the political appetite is in the senate, but generally, in the congress for maintaining a commitment post-2014? how do you think that is going to play out, and how do you think the case can be made that the commitments are met? >> i hope we can make the case in similar ways i did today and in other ways as well which is to articulate what our interests are, why it is important that women have a measure of security than they have before and have opportunities. that if we do that, you substantially reduce the likelihood that not only will afghanistan be a place of tremendous instability or insecurity, but you are reducing the likelihood of violence and terrorism even beyond afghanistan. it will not be as fertile a ground for terrorists and for entities that w

in afghanistan. have you made a rough estimate of the $102 billion that has gone for reconstruction if you know roughly how much was actually spent inside of afghanistan and how much left the country either you because of afghans or because of the way we have the contracting organized for such work? >> we have not done that study. and that would be a difficult study. we're just trying to find out how much money we spent and where we spent it in afghanistan. i'd love to do that. i think that's worthwhile. but we just don't have that percentage. i've heard that criticism. it's a criticism i hear all the time. we're concerned about that, but i just heard criticism from provincial government about the kandahar food zone. and again, we haven't verified it, but that was his complaint. all the money is being spent on the kandahar food zone, but it's being spent in kabul or spent in northern virginia. it's not being spent where it needs to be done. but again, we haven't verified those concerns. >> well yor,

what is your overall assessment of obama's handling of the war in afghanistan? >> well, i think it has been rather confused. he came in, if you remember, the first nine months of his presidency. he had a very their review of the afghan program. and as a result of that he signed the to the counterinsurgency strategy devised by general patraeus and crystal and the american army. but within months of having signed up to that the changes mind. and one of the -- this is where i find it rather difficult. if his heart was not in the afghan mission at the start then why sign up to the counterinsurgency? and so my concern now, what is going to happen when combat operations if wind down by the end of this year? and i can see a lot of trouble ahead. >> david as wrong with the heritage foundation. you got chuckles from the audience when needed compared what he wrote his book to the record. more approach churchill. i forget how you phrase it exactly. could you give us a better sense of how his history was written and how it differs from what actually happened? >> well, for e

afghanistan landed in the west, and the west is still deployed in afghanistan, and, no, i don't think we should be there. ask me about this afterwards. afghanistan is the country where i was once held hostage, it is the same country that sheltered bin laden, where he hatched his 9/11 die baht kl plot, and after saudi arabia and sudan exiled him, and now the entire civilian world, muslim and infidel is held hostage to that al-qaeda style. this was an eerie coincidence to me. my add adventure has, indeed, ld for more than 50 years. when my afghan husband fled just before the soviets invaded, he fled, came to america, and he knocked on my door, and i have been criticizeed about never speaking to him again, but americans and jews have a long tradition of hospitality to those in exile, to immigrants who come to our shores, so i didn't turn away from him and from his second wife and their then young children, and i recount some of our conversations that took place between 1980 and 2012 in the book, and they serve as a conversation between east and west. perhaps like so many jewish dreams it

what do anything else of positive future for afghanistan. despite these challenges the technical section of the most and has attracted over one point eight for the news dollars in private investment in housing debate in the midst of data can be done to comply with which he spoke the kent state one of them is to steal in emissions is the minister of information and technology a small but when a system in afghanistan. when the money on. but it was easy. winds nick is what the diesel him was. it is yet to open one or two children as he stood for the nation. keep your children. of course. the hint of gold luster that it was east of the nation. one weak link in the top spot on the boys before doesn't mean you don't want my money going to go to the speed of light well it was listed for the good of what. the it's not like it the agency major afghan don't use a thousand dollars the approval of intuition class of having five continuous awesome each of them will bind the truck operators to support expansion of coal by money they hope to save the minut

this is how it is tied into afghanistan.ng the expenses will be so exorbitant to try to hold sway again. if we were to look at it objectively, we would have had a force in afghanistan. gone in anddone is got hussein and gotten the heck out. >> there are good arguments to make about how difficult it is to remake a country like afghanistan. anybody who had hoped that we would be in for a long-term true commitment has been severely disappointed, not just by the fact that we have decided to move away from that i did was never as successful as they might have hoped. that is effectively over. --are debating the team between 10,000 forces in the continuing training mission that may or may not hold together. in a relatively time-limited cents or a zero option that is isly out very rapidly, which more likely to lead to a rapid acceleration of violence and instability in afghanistan. it is something that we may be able to avoid. the larger question about the u.s. role in the middle east. this is something that has been a critical aspe

kabul is a type of messages on twitter to all the chains and ashamed i discovered the head of afghanistan's crucial presidential want. no one wanted to make light of a live fish as much as forty minutes. the west wing string to have lunch was at the united nations. it's so cold. sixty two lincoln chafee to the legal rule has become. many if any men star of ancient times and was criminal in kiev on the cheek to come to the job or prosecute a jungle of the crime the center of it the goal. not seem to not smoke. the czech government is a web based apps and he can teach you to reveal in daring to suggest a plane to eating a greasy react. an enormous allspice and fourteen of the secret meeting between top tech ish officials discussing a forceful on corporations that would appeal. sassy were in town the prime minister's saddening car in conjecture and face it i must be seen as an opportunity for us. house in form and from sitting across from the tips of makeup and calls for war by ordering a missile attack in turkey. tech is publication again fear it could meet in wartime to the imminent involvem

a young afghan businessman distant afghanistan from the uk with a mission to create afghanistan's first ever rugby federation. i saw the pope american in the inerrancy and that physical activity in this the big game. i have really liked it and the me that the sun and a bit of physics is involved in this game. i say i thought that this the image it take. and for the physical game would be a part that makes fun of ghana some people off to the quiche of the situation they faced the challenge of stopping this in the complete with rugby haven't even been made oliver afghan athletes learn the look of the few sports that means is that i'd be down on the difference. there was that like five people and then then then peep bo than forty people and that in this talk about this one month down. he had and that in and. selected national team the majority of players from afghanistan is nice but the team state that even before death the duration was created to feel all that interested in what beach and watch games on tv. well take a moment to moment when the victim of the bin the minimal but not withou

some problems with property accountability in afghanistan. we know that we have 26 open investigations for missing property that include weapons and weapons systems for total of almost $590 million. these problems have been found over there and in two places we are trying to retrofit an account for the equipment. have you gotten a handle on that? >> i do. we have spent the last year and before i arrived trying to assure that this is part of lessons learned from the iraq experience as we go through the redeployment in arak. we learned a lot of lessons. i believe we are applying those lessons in afghanistan now. >> i have specific questions for the record about what has took a since the i.t. look. it is worrisome to me that they did the same thing as in our iraq, and i thought that we had turned the corner and that the . had found. i want to mention detainees. i understand the afghan government released individuals with ties to attacks to coalition forces. armedis a bsa, naval, forces, to remove individuals that are dangerous from that awful. i