afghanistan was a disaster. >> afghanistan -- >> war in afghanistan wrong? >> war in afghanistan against the taliban, yes, against the taliban, yes, against al qaeda, no. we don't have enough money in this country to pay people who are unemployed unemployment benefits, according to the republican party, yet we have -- we can continue to send tens of thousands of more troops in afghanistan when we see what's happening to those troops when they come back, the incredible -- >> that's pathetic. >> that's pathetic? >> you're talking about the veterans as victims. that's what you said, we see these troop when is they come back. the troops are proud. president of the united states sent them there. the president of the united states sent them there and now he is running a huge risk of undercutting all they achieved. >> bill, my sister-in-law served in iraq and afghanistan, she left her small children to do so, but the fact that our soldiers served honorably wherever they are sent does not mean wherever they are sent is wise in the national interest. the cost to the

troop levels in afghanistan. newsroom with brooke baldwin newsroom with brooke baldwin starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> shall 45 minutes from now, president barack obama is expected to lay out his vision for u.s. military forces in afghanistan. and we will be hearing a number that a lot of people have actually been waiting to hear. the number is 9,800. that is the number of troops who stay in afghanistan, by the end of the year, which means more than 22,000 americans will be coming home. under the president's plan, just two years later, by the next presidential election, the only american soldiers in afghanistan could be a pretty modest force protecting the embassy and capital of kabul. jim acosta joins me now. jim, we've heard a lot of numbers, in the recent two years. when i hear 9,800, that is new. >> reporter: that is absolutely new, brooke. when you consider that the president is going to be at west point tomorrow talking about his foreign policy for the next two and a half years o

that's afghanistan.hat's brad paisley, a country western singer, entertaining the troops at bagram air base. the president brought him there. we are expecting the president to speak to the troops. this was a surprise visit, at least to us. so, we are following that and will, in fact, be carrying the president's remarks. right now, i want to turn to our other big story, that is california. a tragedy in the wee hours of saturday morning when a gunman who was also armed with a knife, went on a killing rampage, basically, killing six people, sending more than a dozen to the hospital. i want to bring in our correspondent, pam brown, because pam, i know that you have some sources talking to you about the family of the young man who went on a rampage, who then apparently killed himself, shot himself is in the head after a car crash. what can you tell us about them? >> yeah, that's right, candy. i have been speaking with a close family friend by the name of simon astaire. and he gave us unique insight into ellio

going forward, i think there are a number of political players this afghanistan who believe -- in afghanistan who believe that there should be serious decentralization, and there are a number of scholars and thinkers about this, there's a debate around what would be a better setup. and, barney, i'd be interested to know what you think. just speculating, let's say that two of the main contenders for the presidency are abdullah abdullah, and afghani. my hunch is afghani would be interested in maintaining a strongly centralized state and abdullah abdullah would be more interested in the possibility of decentralization. i think -- and we can talk about more why that would be the case. but it's not clear to me that the path is fixed in one or the other. some people believe that there would have to be a constitutional amendment around this, other people say, no, there's room for maneuver here. but i think it is a central question for the next government about the extent to which decisions get made more in the provinces. the possibility, for example, might district governors be elected? might govern

should have focused on pakistan instead of afghanistan. willem marx discusses the conflict in and the borders between pakistan and afghanistan and iran an area called baluchistan. this is an hour. [applause] zvi good evening everyone and thank you for coming. we are going to look at a beautiful picture but it's part of the place that i know well and i have reported from as well. make a sign if you can't hear me. i am going to tell you about "the wrong enemy" which is my book. america in afghanistan 2001 to 2014. it's the story of the war. i avert ported there for over 10 years from afghanistan and also in pakistan. i wanted to write a book for two real reasons. the title tells part of it. it's a quote from richard holbrooke who is america's special envoy to afghanistan and pakistan as you know before he died in the last few years. he once said to the british foreign secretary in fact maybe we are fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong country and it was when they were grappling with the problem of the taliban and afghanistan. the obama admi

we're are fighting them all over afghanistan. not used, underused or in this case built and has been torn down. >> who built it? >> u.s. contractors or afghan contractors or whatever. it was poorly designed for the system. they had no pump down there so the system will fall apart. the garbage will go in there and not come out. >> do we know who wanted the incinerators? >> congress said you have to use them. apparently someone procured these things off the shelf. they built them. most of have been torn down or have been torn down because we are building down the basis for the afghans. this is an example of millions of dollars of taxpayer money being wasted. >> what is the most successful thing you have seen built over there with the $103 billion? >> ironically the best built building is the one you showed in camp whether neck. i have not seen a better building than that. the problem is it will not be used and will probably be torn down but other than that of terrifically built building. it is hard to say what has been the best use

the future of afghanistan must be decided by afghans.what the united states can do, what we will do, is he is cower our interests and help give the afghans a chance, an opportunity to seek a long overdue and hard-earned peace. america will always keep our commitments to friends and partners who step up, and we will never waiver in our determination to deny al qaeda the safe haven they had before 9/11. that commitment is embodied by the men and women in and out of uniform who serve in afghanistan today and what served in the past. and in their eyes, i see the characters that sustains american security and our leadership abroad. these are mostly young people who did not hesitate to volunteer in a time of war. and as many of them begin to transition to civilian life, we will keep the promise we make to them and all veterans and make sure they he get the care and benefits that they have earned and deserve. this the/11 generation is part of an unbroken line. of heros who give up the comfort of the familiar to serve a half a world away. to pro

government spends in afghanistan by any agency. i am not in the department of defense, department of state, but any u.s. government agency that spends money over there, which is about 100 $3 billion via spent so far enough to understand. lex what does it mean by reconstruction gap go-- >> what does it mean by reconstruction? >> reconstruction is defined broadly. schools roads paying the salaries of the law ,nforcement am of the army fighting the equipment, seating them. lex why did you do that? why did you come out of private practice? calls, youe house usually return the call and listen, and they asked if i could help out. they needed someone to take over the reins. it was a challenge. i was happy at the law firm but was interested in a challenge, and this has been challenging the past two years. i have an interest in national security issues and i have done oversight. going back to 1978i have been involved in law enforcement. so a natural for me. >> what job did you have in this town, i know you have been here for a long time, ga

corruption in afghanistan is the reality. the part that exist in our administration represents a small portion, its bribery and it's our fault. the biggest part of corruption in our country does not belong to us. it's been imposed on us in order to weaken our government. the scandal surrounding bank -- afghanistan is regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt nation. >> how is it possible million euros is about a billion dollars? how is it possible that money can find its way into the hands of those afghans? >> most of that money went to i believe 19 or 20 individuals in the corporation. there have been public statements made by our government and other governments that the afghan ministries didn't aggressively enough pursue the kabul bank dollars. how could it happen? there are crooks everywhere. most of that money was afghan money. these were the poor people of afghanistan put their money into this bank and it got stolen. now the impact is still being felt because as that clip eluded to, international organization

he is in afghanistan. he has just landed at baghram air force base for a visit with the troops there, with their commanders. we are also told that country music star brad paisley is traveling with the president, that he is there to perform a surprise concert for the troops in just a couple of minutes. on board air force one, susan rice as we new york the president's national security adviser. i want to bring in barbara sarasota, who is, of course, our pentagon correspondent. barbara, tell me what you know about this trip. we will get back to barbara in just a second. i can tell you a little bit more about what i know is that the presidents tend to use this time to talk to commanders, to get their sense of how things are going on the ground. this comes at a particularly tough time for the military, simply because there have been so many stories about the scandal at the veterans administration. so, certainly, this always tends to be a visit that bucks up the troops. certainly, the president -- i believe this

you may want to go back to afghanistan sometime. can you describe a bit the relationship of the government of the two governors both to be narcotics economy and to the counter narcotics efforts that were spearheaded especially by the united states. there are a number of other government officials. a decade ago there were the high province's number two and three actually. and so, one of the -- one of the central performance possibilities for them, one of the things that they could deliver both to president karzai and more importantly to the donor community with the cultivation of the poppy so there's a number of researchers that have done work on this, the person i learned the most from his david mansfield. a sort of the incredible complexity of what it means to think about the narcotics into the counternarcotics. >> about is which it becomes extracted from and another important fact is they are highly visible and photogenic. i have a photograph of myself which at that time in 2004 was number two just in the glorious field of purple

advisor on pakistan and afghanistan is also at the event. this is an hour and 40 minutes. >> it is a pleasure to be back here at columbia particularly in this room where i might mention 17 years ago in january of 1997 i chaired a meeting by the then dean who is president of cairo now, a meeting where he had a delegation with the taliban who came into the united states. this is a delegation that came to new york about 3-4 months after taking control of kabul. i might mention the people who were there the delegation was led by the person who was later their foreign minister and i saw him in kabul. he is a reconciled member. and he is currently a member of the afghan high peace counsel in kabul and another one who was the minister of refuge's and was assassinated after returning from a meeting in dubia strike to start a peace meeting. and their interrupter for the event is likely to be in the next cabinet. so this is a historic room. i met you first at the international association service meeting in san francisco. let me start by referring to

afghanistan. >> wendell, thank you for keeping us up to date. wendell mentioned the commander in chief is making that surprise trip to thank the troops with no bilateral security agreement with afghanistan in place. and we're told a meeting with the current afghan president hamid karzai does not appear to be on the agenda. fox news analyst joins us live now. i want your reaction to the surprise trip and sort of the state of where things stand in afghanistan right now. >> reporter: well, i think it's very important that the president go and rally behind the troops. they fought long and hard in the afghan and iraq wars. they're coming home to disappointment to say the least special with the health care issues. it's important the president really show the flag. i think that's a good thing he's done. i also think he's not going to meet with hamid karzai and that's a good thing. why? we are tired of supporting leaders who don't like us in countries that don't matter. and afghanistan under the corrupt l

afghanistan or elsewhere. i've done two tours there in 2011 and 2012 and most recently in 2013 and 2014. i've been back here in the u.s. for about 10 days now so my observations may be a bit dated given the change that occurs. they are also informed by interactions of over 40 plus international stakeholders and also donated our side influence within the ministry of interior and i afghan leaders within the ministry and within the provinces for the provincial chiefs of police. they are also based on my observations of police performance in such recent issues as the loya jirga, the god of the islamic festival, but never used the celebration and those inviting international leaders into the kabul area and of course the presidential elections. as has been mentioned, nato and isaf originally focused on force generation. and what a tremendous effort occurred there. in less than three years besides that the police force went from 67,002 what is really over 200,000 personnel right now. they are the largest of the afgha

essentially the top man in afghanistan. the story came out because it was in a release put out by two of to the white house press pool and released after several checks to thousands of journalists on that email list, i was one of them. he we are back with our panel. steve, how big a deal is this? >> well, taps very big deal, but i'm not sure why you need an investigation there are two questions here. who did it and why didn't the press office catch it before it was sent out to journalists? it's a very basic investigation. why don't we have answers of this by now? it's been 24 hours. look, it's a very big deal. when you out the name of a station chief. the cia. and this from the crowd that said, initially, i mean, remember, this was the crowd that came in and they were going to usher in a new era of competence in government. instead what i expect is a careless mistake. but you can't have careless mistakes on matters of this importance. i think it will continue to complicate or add to the complications of the relationship bet

troops in afghanistan. nearly 10,000 military personnel will stay on after the formal drawdown at the end of the year. live to patty coulhane from the white house. what is is president obama going to say and why are troops staying on in afghanistan? >> reporter: the president is going to say they can't risk losing the gains the troops have made, so hard fought over the past 13 years now of combat. so what's the plan afterwards? remember, he keeps saying that 2014, the war officials ends, which doesn't really seem to square with saying we leave 10,000 armed u.s. troops in the country. what he's saying is the troops are training afghan forces and at the same time they're going to be conducting combat missions to counter terrorism combat missions. for the public he wants to send out the message the war will end in 2014. what does the troop presence look like? in 2015 there will be 9,800 troops and the following year he cuts it to half to 2900 and those troops will be confined to kabul and the air because. by 2

in afghanistan. the obama administration was trying to work out what to do. the insurgency had gotten so difficult in afghanistan said they had to order a surge of troops so the foreign troops went to 120,000 in afghanistan and they were losing the war. it was a very critical moment and the surge had its place, it had to be done. they were fighting the wrong enemy. the source of the problem and when you fight a war, you have to go to the source, was the first in pakistan. and american intervention within months in pakistan's tribal areas. in some of these areas, we are looking at. the taliban as well who has gone through the 19th. in afghanistan in the early years after 9/11, started to hear this from all the afghans on the bomb site. i went over to pakistan and started reporting there and found taliban hiding out and they started regrouping, started getting more confident, started moving around and i spent a lot of time in an area the we will tell you about that we know so well. it was a great contr

troops in afghanistan beyond 2014. the president said the troop levels would be reduced to a normal embassy presents by the end of 2016. that is shortly before he leaves office. his remarks from the rose garden or 10 minutes -- are 10 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. as you know, this weekend i traveled to afghanistan to thank our men and women in uniform and our deployed civilians. on behalf of a grateful nation for the extraordinary sacrifices they make on behalf of our security. i was also able to meet with our commanding general and ambassador to review the progress that we made. and today i'd like to update the american people on the way forward in afghanistan and how this year we will bring america's longest war to a responsible end. the united states did not seek this fight. we went into afghanistan out of necessity after our nation was attacked by al qaeda on september 11, 2001. we went to war against al qaeda and its extremist allies with the strong support of the american people and their representative

troop levels in afghanistan.sroom with brooke baldwin newsroom with brooke baldwin starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> shall 45 minutes from now, president barack obama is expected to lay out his vision for u.s. military forces in afghanistan. and we will be hearing a number that a lot of people have actually been waiting to hear. the number is 9,800. that is the number of troops who stay in afghanistan, by the end of the year, which means more than 22,000 americans will be coming home. under the president's plan, just

forces in afghanistan. nbc's peter alexander. >> we're hearing from senior officials in the last few minutes. let's run down exactly what the numbers are. we expect to hear from the president today. the combat mission will end at the end of this year. there will be main about 9800 u.s. forces in afghanistan. at the end of the next year, 2015, it will be roughly half of that number. by the end of 2006, roughly the end of the president's presidency, it will be down to roughly embassy personnel and those to staff a security office. they said in the last five minutes or so to use their language that this is a moment of momentum in afghanistan where they say the afghan security forces have been stepping forward as have the afghan people, specifically referring to the successful election there a week ago, and a runoff that will take place in on june 14th. all of this requires that the bsa, the bilateral security agreement is signs, and the two candidates in that run off are believed likely to sign it. the preside

you will never change afghanistan, no matter how much blood or money you send to afghanistan, you will never change it. i am disappointed in the rules committee. so many and every one of them, republican, democrat, i have the greatest respect for, but not to allow us to debate whether a young man or young woman from america should die or lose their legs, their arms or their mind is a disappointment and a failure of this house of representatives not to follow the constitution. i will yield my time back to the gentleman from massachusetts and thank him. mr. mcgovern: i reserve my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i rise to claim time in opposition to the point of order and in favor of the consideration of the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for 10 minutes. mr. nugent: mr. speaker, the question before the house is should the house consider h.res. 590. while it waives all points of order against consid

he just landed in afghanistan. the white house has to keep these types of things under wraps because of the president's security, of course, that being of the utmost concern. this is something we have seen this president do in the past and president george w. bush visited with troops in afghanistan. made a surprise visit. you'll recall several times. this is something that presidents do infrequently but it always has to be kept secret. >> wednesday he will be delivering the commencement address at the u.s. academy there at west point. that much we do no. thank you so much. >>> let's go to the holy land where pope francis is hoping to reignite the mideast peace process. the pope continues his mideast pilgrimage in jerusalem. in terms of the status here, how monumental is this pope's offer? do you think it's symbolic or can it be productive? >> reporter: it can certainly be productive because it will take place in neutral ground. what's more neutral than the vatican? it will be productive in the view that everything

troops in afghanistan. a short time ago he landed at bagram air field along with susan rice and the president also brought along a surprise guest, country music star brad paisley who gave a concert for some 30,000 troops there. mr. obama talked to the troops about what they have achieved in afghanistan and what the future may hold for them. >> and once afghanistan has sworn in its new president, i'm hopeful we'll sign a bilateral security agreement that let's us move forward and with that bilateral security agreement, assuming it is signed, we can plan for a limited military presence in afghanistan beyond 2014. because after all of the sack k kri fiss we have made, we want to make sure that afghanistan can never again, ever be used again to launch an attack against our country. >> and this is the president's fourth trip to afghanistan as president. >>> so this trip comes on the memorial day weekend but also comes a few days before president obama lays out his foreign policy agenda. it also comes just ahead

was doing in afghanistan. so there have always been questions among troops and officers about why bergdahl exactly left. was he leaving -- well, what the reason was behind his leaving the base. obviously, he was captured by taliban. obviously, he became a prisoner. we -- in varying different ways throughout the years it's been relayed to those of us in the media who have been paying attention to his case it might not be a good idea to report on his case, because efforts were being made to get him out. and sometimes those trying to free him, those in the u.s. government, either with the state department or the military, wereic maing efforts, and they thought that the more attention the case got, especially during sensitive times, the worse and the more difficult it could be for those trying to free him. finally it looks as though those efforts born fruit. earlier in this year, i believe in january, when there was a tape that cnn's jim shuuto and other the reported on that had been made showing berg doll, and th

troops in afghanistan. a short time ago

troops level in afghanistan. following year, half of those troops will be focused around kabul and bagram airport only. president obama is trying to wind down the united states own war. time for afghans to secure their own country. >>> by the end of this year. starting next year afghans will be in full control of policing their own countries. no longer in control of towns mountains and valleys. that will be the task of their own people. >> first gauge for us how that news was received in afghanistan. >> well, it's a different reaction here in afghanistan. people living in a country side in an area where they suffer in the war like south of afghanistan and eastern afghanistan, those people are welcoming the announcement because they think the reason of the war in afghanistan, but people here in kabul they are concerned that foreign forces would leave the achievement of 13 years, the achievement of women's rights, freedom of speech would be lost and afghan forces are not in a position to keep these achievements. re

forces in afghanistan. they have to worry about that more in some ways than they do the people in baluchistan. >> said the americans were to withdraw financially from the eye i do one enable to them act and change the policy, what were the consequence is? how vital is that isi support to everything going on today? >> it is an unstable area. i believe that pakistan changed its view supporting the taliban, would suddenly have peace in afghanistan. it is just as important. the taliban taliban is not popular. the election showed that. certainly the uprisings have been in various provinces show people are sick and tired of the taliban and they want to prosper as normal democratic life. so they really would reject it. that is why they all tell you, why are you going to the source of the problem? it is the finance, the money stopped and the support for packet and stopped for taliban. they would just collapse. of course you still can't lots of young men on them lloyd. you've got to then do a lot of post-conflict wo

he also compared leaving afghanistan like u.s. government has left iraq. >> i think it is setting a pretty low bar because iraq is pretty violent today. afghanistan will continue to be violent. we say the war willn. the war will continue. there is no end in sight. the afghan government and the afghan army will be entrenched in the cities, the taliban will remain in the countryside. neither side will be able to defeat or dislodge the other. we will see the status quo, which is war, continuing in perpetuity. >> could you explain, you resent that she recently wrote about the haqqani network. who is it and now have they grown? >> it is one of the factions that makes up the afghan insurgency. they were considered even a bigger enemy than al qaeda. they had attacked many u.s. soldiers. they have been the main target of the drone campaign and the border areas of pakistan and afghanistan. >> talk more about this. the title of the piece you did in huffington post is very interesting. "how the u.s. created the afghan war and then lost it."

there is no doubt as long as there is insurgency in afghanistan, instability in afghanistan, police will be forced to do security jumps. but however, two conditions should be established: first, all forces that are providing security, police force, should at the same time should become capable of switching to normal police jobs when the need comes. in the past what afghanistan has used a military force that is deployed across the border and doing heavy lifting but they were first going to become a police officer then they would send to the course to become a paramedic force. this is something we should see in afghanistan, too, if a person comes from the minister of defense, if we wants to be appointed as police, he has to be trained by the police officers, i think. the continued international support is required for the sustainment of the afghanistan national police. after 2014, when the bulk of the naval forces leave afghanistan, this is going to be a challenge whether the international community will make good on the promises to support and continue to fund the afghan national security

we were preparing to surge in afghanistan. our counterterrorism efforts were focused on al qaeda's core leadership. those who had carried out the 9/11 attacks. our nation was just beginning a long climb out of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. four and a half years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. we have removed our troops from iraq. we are winding down our war in afghanistan. al qaeda's leadership on the border region between pakistan and afghanistan has been decimated, and osama bin laden is no more. [ cheers and applause ] through it all we've refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of american strength, a growing economy that can provide opportunity for everybody who is willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home. in fact, by most measures america has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. those who argue otherwise, who suggest that america is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away are either misreading history or e

we were preparing to surge in afghanistan.rorism efforts were focused on al qaeda's core lead leadership, and those who carried out the 9/11 attacks, and our nation was just beginning a long climb out of the worst economic crisis since the greataeeat depression. 4 1/2 years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. we have removed our troops from iraq. weare winding down our war in afghanistan. al qaeda's leadership on the border between pakistan and afghanistan has been decimated and osama bin laden is no more. [ applause ] and through it a all we have refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of american strength, a growing economy, that can provide opportunity for everybody who is willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home. in fact, by most measures, america has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. those who argue otherwise, who suggest that america is in decline or has seen the global leadership slip away are either misreading history or engaged in partisan po

and back to afghanistan. president obama, i believe is coming out so i'm going to step aside. >> yes. there is the president walking out. he is going to be speaking bowe bergdahl. >> this morning i called bob and jenny bergdahl and told them after nearly five years in captivity, their son bowe is coming home. sergeant bergdahl has missed birthdays and holidays and the simple moments with family and friends which all of us take for granted. but while bowe was gone, he was never forgotten. his parents thought about him and prayed for him every single day. as did his sister skye who prayed for his safe return. he wasn't forgotten by his community in idaho or the military which rallied -- he wasn't forgotten by his country. because the united states of america does not ever leave our military men and women in uniform behind. as commander in chief i am proud of the service members who recovered sergeant bergdahl. they performed with extraordinary courage and professionalism and made their nation proud. right now o

the president of the united states has just landed in afghanistan. president obama visiting the u.s. troops there on this memorial day sunday. we were told he will not be meeting with president hamid karzai. this, of course, after the election there amid tensions and problems with the karzai administration. again, the president spending this memorial day weekend in afghanistan. this is the fourth trip that the president had made to afghanistan. he's made three as president, one as senator. the fact he's spent the last three memorial day weekends, sundays, at arlington national cemetery national cemetery. in 2012 he spoke at the vietnam veterans war memorial and spent 2010 back home in chicago, but the president, we have just learned today, in afghanistan, of course, amid the continuing v.a. scandal, the president paying tribute to those who are so honorably and bravely serving on the front lines in afghanistan. much more on this developing story of the president's visit as we continue today. >> and more on the horrific killing spree in isla vista, ca

afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protecon. and because usaa'commitment to serve current and former military members andheir families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insunce quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. but with less ergy, odiness, i had to do something. i saw mdoctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we t that can restoren the onlt vels to normalreaent in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especlly those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoidt where axirons applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or incased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctorbout all medical conditions and medications. serious side effects could include increased sk of prostate cancer, w

when you say afghanistan, i'm thinking afghanistan 1988, which is they're fighting on the side that america'sn, oddly enough, right? >> syria has now become such a melting pot of violence going in both directions. so we obviously want assad out and some of the people fighting assad -- >> they're the most dangerous ones. the people fighting on the side to get rid of assad are considered the most dangerous terror threats as far as the u.s. is concerned. >> that's right. we've now let syria go down this road of terrorism and instability that now it's too late. >> i think what we've learned from a variety of terrorist front around the world, if we are just on the defense, things will get through. we have to be on the offense. that was a lesson that president bsh experienced and that president obama has also adopted. i think we're going to have to be more effective against some of these threats. >> thank you, sir. appreciate your perspective. you can hear more, by the way, from edward snowden, the whole thing tonight on the identify nbc night live news" on an hour-long primetime special airing on

petraeus then in charge of afghanistan sent him to afghanistan to help implement the strategy. join him on an incredibly promising mission. the promise of his lifetime to capture and document what happened. americans pardon is the story of the passion for th this missiond the bond of loyalty between him and the afghan and american. it's also the story of our love born out of a common pain and experience in wartime and out of the shared desire to do something good for the afghan people. and ultimately to help the shedding of the american blood. what happened? we moved to detroit in 2012. at the time he was putting his life as well as mine and those of all of his men that his ideas would work. they faced a critical test. the day that we moved the violent protests erupted from 150 miles to the southwest. outside of the u.s. military base at the airfield. the protests were a reaction to the accidental u.s. military burning of the curv kuran. the officers were working at the ministry of interior and were shot in the back of the head by an afghan coworker. green on blue incidences th

at incredible bravery and survival during the war in afghanistan. >> you see him? >> the american soldiers there who experienced the brotherhood of war. plus, what happened when they came back? >> down low. we're good. >> the shocking reasons the return can be tougher than the war for these servicemen and women. it's their battle on the home front. >> this special edition of "nightline," "the other war," will be right back. >>> this is a special edition of "nightline." "the other war." >> good evening, and thanks for joining us. on this memorial day we honor america's servicemen and women. and tonight you're about to meet soldiers who formed a brotherhood so strong while serving in afghanistan they found nothing could replace it. a new documentary takes us inside the brutal and harrowing battles they fought so far from home. and while the fighting was tough enough, in some ways they say coming back was even tougher. here's abc's brian ross. >> reporter: what happened in this ruggedly beautiful faraway country became known as the other war. even though more than 2,3

commitments in afghanistan and iraq. this is a sop to his base in an election year and a way to try to get folks on the left back on his side when it comes to foreign policy. martha: we'll see what he says this morning. chris, thank you very much. reporter: the head of the house armed services committee buck mckeen, one of the many critics of the plan saying quote holding this mission to an arbitrary egg timer doesn't make a lick of sense strategically. buck mckeon is with us next. >> . this is his view of the world and his view of how he sees america's view in the world. martha: a scathing editorial in the post saying you took the troops to zero in iraq and look what happened. you said we wouldn't allow the red line to be crossed in syria and look what happened. the president has a lot to answer for this morning and he will do that at the west point commencement speech. you see the cadets as they file in. bill: it's a striking sight of time we see it. martha: the white house is investigating itself after a huge blunder

he's meeting with troops on this memorial day weekend in afghanistan. country star brad paisley, as you can see now, performing for our troops. we'll have much more on the visit president of the united states to honor our troops who are serving when we come back. "hashtag love dad" when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp". our aarp tek program helps people find better ways to better connect with each other. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities >>> back on "sunday housecall" with our segment should i worry which is a segment about erg that worries us. and one of you asks, i don't have a doctor, should i worry? dr. siegel, it's a big issue for a lot of people in this country because of the way the medical system has been set up. >> this question came from eric because he's saying, doc, you always say go see your doctor. what if i don't have one? if you have insurance, you should have a primary doctor of some kind. they can establish a path to other doctors you might need. if you break your ankle, an internist can send you to the r

you may want to go back to afghanistan sometime. can you describe a bit the relationship of the government of the two governors both to be narcotics economy and to the counter narcotics efforts that were spearheaded especially by the united states. there are a number of other government officials. a decade ago there were the high province's number two and three actually. and so, one of the -- one of the central performance possibilities for them, one of the things that they could deliver both to president karzai and more importantly to the donor community with the cultivation of the poppy so there's a number of researchers that have done work on this, the person i learned the most from his david mansfield. a sort of the incredible complexity of what it means to think about the narcotics into the counternarcotics. >> about is which it becomes extracted from and another important fact is they are highly visible and photogenic. i have a photograph of myself which at that time in 2004 was number two just in the glorious field of purple

plus, exiting afghanistan.dent obama is bringing the troops home just in time for a new president. >>> and hollywood criticized again after another mass shooting. this time, it's the comedies that are being blamed. why one critic is pointing the finger at judd apatow and seth rogen. stay with us. you probably know xerox as the company that's all about printing. but did you know we also support hospitals using electronic health records for more than 30 million patients? or that our software helps over 20 million smartphone users remotely configure e-mail every month? or how about processing nearly $5 billion in electronic toll payments a year? in fact, today's xerox is working in surprising ways to help companies simplify the way work gets done and life gets lived. with xerox, you're ready for real business. we are a collection of smalls. a home saved. a hero homebound for a new opportunity. a kitchen that kick starts careers wells fargo invests in our communities a little differently. small measures that add up

the plan is to have the war in afghanistan actually over and americans gone by 2016. since the republican party has stopped talking about foreign policy, we have really not had debate about our on-going war in afghanistan. with this announcement today, president obama set up a time line in which the 2016 presidential election will be in full swing as american forces are supposed to be leaving afghanistan all together. 10 years ago that timing would have made the war in afghanistan the singular issue on which that election was conducted. with this announcement of the specific timing today, has president obama come up with a way to force both political parties once again to reckon with war? richard engel joins us in a moment. stay with us. e wrinkle cream gr. if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? this one's a keeper. rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots rapid t

or will be committed to being in afghanistan. but why is it that it's the face time that really overshadows the message how important it is for the president to be there face to face, shake hands, take pictures with? >> well, you know, nothing improves the morale of the troops than seeing the commander in chief on a holiday weekend when the troops themselves, of course, wishing they were back home with their families doing the barbecue, going to the swimming pool, but they are not. 30,000 u.s. troops out there on the line and the president taking the time to come see them. always a morale booster. he got applause in two key areas that really underscore this. he got applause when he said he was bringing the war to a responsible end. his words. because he's always talked about ending this war. but needing to have some troops stay to help train and advise afghan forces so presumably afghanistan doesn't become a akd safe haven again. he also got big round of applause talking about once the troops go home, they need jobs. you know? he

they've had a lot of trouble going forward with afghanistan. the reluctance of hamid karzai to sign an agreement, they were looking for some good news, and this is it. >> contributor to al jazeera america. thank you so much for your time. just to recap, sgt. bowe bergdahl, almost five years he would in afghanistan, he is coming home after an agreement worked out between the united states and the premiere of qatar. >>> the state department said that an u.s. citizen carried out a suicide-bombing in syria in the province of idlib. they identified the driver as a florida native. his photo appears in an online video purporting to show the bombing. it's believed to be the first time that an american has carried out this type of attack in syria. >>> territorial claims are destabilizing the region of china. a china general said if you make chinese the enemy china will become the enemy of the u.s. >> using blunt language in dealing with china and what he sees possible destablation of the region when china is dealing with these territorial disputes. he t

out of iraq and afghanistan. did we win anything? anything to hang our hat on. >> in iraq by not leaving forces we squandered the gains we made, and i fear, we'll repeat the same in afghanistan. >> thank you very much general jack keane. >> an embarrassment for obama white house which revealed the name of cia top official in afghanistan during the president's week trip to bagram air feel, including the officer's name on a list of 15 senior american officials, who met with the president during the saturday visit. a list that was sent to white house press cor corps that conts as many as 6,000 recep yens yen. that is a federal crime but expert doubt anyone from white house would be prosecuteed over this potentially dangerous mistake. >> nigeria military now said it knows where the islamic terrorist group, boca haram is keeping the 300 schoolgirls kidnapped but officials say they will not attempt to rescue over fears it may be too dangerous. up next, reports that fellow democrats are blasting the president behind closed-doors for his lac

in the eastern part of afghanistan.ive prisoners being released from guantanamo bay, cuba. those five prisoners, members of the taliban, are all now in the custody of qatar. that is the nation that helped broker this deal between the taliban and the united states. we're getting word bowe bergdahl is in good health, he is able to walk. last word is he will be transferred to bagram airfield and then come home to the united states. we'll take a short break. u keepr lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirr

troops in afghanistan. expect that number to be a little closer to 5,000 as the president said in his words that the united states wants to keep a commitment to the people of afghanistan. >> kimberly, interesting that he made reference to the veterans and families back home, and how they'll be looked after. because there is a lot of controversy in the u.s. about this. >> reporter: indeed, there has been a lot of controversy whether the u.s. is doing enough to provide for the needs of these service men, men and women, i should point out, who when they return are finding high unemployment, finding they can't get jobs. finding that they can't get the medical treatment that they need. some of them suffering horrific injuries as a result of serving in afghanistan. getting the run around, finding that the veteran's administration who is supposed to handle their healthcare, is not serving them in a way that they have been promised when they signed up on this service. on the heels of this controversy, which has bee

we have breaking news to tell you about from afghanistan. an attack left two americans hurt in the city in the far western part of the country. the americans were in a vehicle from the u.s. consulate and there are reports they were fired upon with a rocket propelled grenade. the americans are being treated for their injuries. we will continue covering this. >>> the u.s. sending a warship and 100 marines. americans advised to leave libya immediately due to what the state department calls unpredictable and unstable security mission. they will be there to help with evacuations. >>> foreign policy is on the president's mind today. he will speak with the graduating class at west point. it will be more than another commencement address. he's set to recalibrate his foreign policy plans and detail the role the u.s. will play going forward. this is the day after the president announces the future of u.s. troops in afghanistan. thousands will remain before almost all are withdrawn by 2016. let's get more from jim at the white house. >> reporter: presi

the future of afghanistan must be decided by afghans. but what the united states can , is secure will do our interests and help give the afghans a chance, an opportunity to seek a long overdue and hard-earned peace. always keep our commitments to friends and partners who step up, and we will never waver in our determination to deny al qaeda safe haven that they had before 9/11. that commitment is embodied by the men and women in and out of uniform who serve in afghanistan today and who have served in the past. eyes, the character that sustains american security and our leadership abroad. these are mostly young people who did not hesitate to volunteer in a time of war. as many of them begin the transition to american life -- to civilian life, we will keep the promise we make to them and all veterans, to make sure that they get the care and benefits that they have earned and deserve great this 9/11 generation is part of an unbroken line of heroes who give theheir comfort to serve half a world away. to protect their families and communities