in afghanistan we see al-qaeda's vision for the world. the united states respects the people of afghanistan, but we condemn the taliban regime. by sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists, the taliban regime is committing murder. they will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate. - [narrator] us troops have been in afghanistan for more than 15 years, making it the longest war in american history. the september 11th attacks prompted washington and nato to send forces to neutralize the al-qaeda terrorist organization and the taliban regime that sheltered them. the architect of those attacks, osama bin laden, is dead, but the taliban has rebounded. as washington and nato pivot away from afghanistan, the ability of the government and security forces to maintain stability will be tested. afghanistan, next on great decisions. - [announcer] great decisions is produced by the foreign policy association, in association with thomson reuters. funding for great decisions is provided by pricewaterhousecoopers llp. - [narra

which is an al-qaeda jihad a splinter group jai. the show is the law in the army of islam which are saudi backed jihadi s. and. which are a previously u.s. army. free syrian army group given to weapons that are allied with al-qaeda and robert fisk points out that the reason why we have such lopsided view everything comes from the. jihadist on propaganda because if any western journalist dared show those heads their heads while in the area controlled by what would happen just like any still operate they would lose their heads it could be that it it's not about another very dangerous story let's go to north korea and the games are moving along . and we had some kind of thaw. between the two koreas but certainly lowering of tensions but the president of the united states warns about stage two which would be you know what if you can put it to largest ever north korea sanctions threatens ominous phase two bluster bluff oh it's the art of the deal this is the great of course i don't know how does who knows you know i haven't read the book

al-qaeda isis springs up out of out of al qaeda and now trumpet his generals and i would even say trump i would say the generals are going to show their you know you know where i'm going there now using it as an excuse to have u.s. troops permanently based in syria and alexander occurs with a very good piece in the round about this explaining that this is really the united states is playing. see option and know what's talking about the u.s. plan c. which is actually derived from it's big masters that many people think is the person that's pushing the u.s. permanent presence in syria more out of spite than anything else so this is the situation you have a country that's not why did not invade like mark said no one no one there's no international security council resolution nothing for the u.s. to be there but there they are and they're not going to leave easily we had trump when he was speaking publicly the press conference a quote get isis and go home ok let me have the whole thing there were right there for one reason to get rid of isis and get rid of isis and go home but his generals

i wouldn't say that isis came from al-qaeda it had kind of its own roots in the you . u.s. occupation of iraq and then spread into syria the number of passes than others who were imprisoned by the by u.s. authorities tortured there and that ends and so not that that's any kind of justification for what isis became but it then spread into syria and at times they were allied with both the u.s. backed free syrian army and with al-qaeda such as when east aleppo was taken but all through this this conflict while the u.s. government was maintaining their fiction pruning isis where they wanted to and letting it go when it came up against government areas they have never fought al-qaeda in syria and fact hold they have hold that thought we're going to go to a short break and after that short prince will continue our discussion on some real news stay with us. still in the tail of the d.n.a. of a bottle assad in china six soyinka and. an estimated eighty thousand since under-age refugees are now living in greece. you know still more. to do at home when you go for getting as. many saw

are they in an affiliate of al qaeda danger this as al qaeda on what basis they didn't participate in the attacks it isn't even clear from the best scholarship that the taliban knew about the plot and obviously they were complicit. they had created a sanctuary for al qaeda and refused repeated requests to do something about al qaeda, but after the fall of the television government, what did the revising caliban posed by way of a threat across borders to the united states and its allies? this was a question that all of these reviews in the conference room on the fourth floor of the eisenhower building but never settle. they were a part of afghanistan and we are not in a position to fight the war against them, but they were not able to persuade many of the civilian decision-makers including those like the secretary defense that had a plan that made sense in terms of cost and outcomes that were likely to be achieved. at one point they got into an argument. they came back with a big paper plate with all of the statements over the years saying we are going to defeat them. okay, well i gues

but the taliban, are they an affiliate of al qaeda? as dangerous to the united states as al qaeda? on what basis in they didn't participate in the 9/11 attacks. it's not even clear from the best scholarship that the leadership of the taliban knew about the 9/11 plot. they created sanction wear for al qaeda. they refused repeated requests to do something about al qaeda. but after the fall of the taliban government, what did the reviving taliban pose by way of a threat -- direct threat across borer to the it's or its a.l. lies? other question that all reviews in that conference room could never settle. ... >> that they had a plan that made sense in terms of the cost and outcomes to be achieved. at one point during those reviews they got into an argument that have we ever said we want to defeat the taliban? i'm not sure that we have. the next day the pentagon came back with a powerpoint of all the statements of all officials to say we will defeat the taliban. i guess we have to say something so they came out of that review to degrade the caliban and reverse the momentum that language

and whenever the al qaeda forces are losing and also on the other in another part of the border near jordan isis exists alongside the israeli border and as the. former minister of defense once said they once mistaken they lobbed a mortar into israel and they immediately apologized so the relationship between israel isis and al qaeda i think is pretty clear they want to protect these groups because they want to keep a buffer zone between themselves and syria whether this escalates is really up to the israeli regime this round they've definitely lost. i don't know why you served general in the jordanian. force you know the north pole so this whole industry and the business and the procedures involved i mean by the time the syrians pushed the button and decided to bring down the fighter jet what kind of message where they sending to the israeli government right i think the drones first of all. i disagree with the u.s. just the drone is being shut down over the israel or nearby the golan heights. i think the russian know about it doing and know about it all radar in syria are connected t

al qaeda fled over the border during the u.s.bing into pakistan, collaborated with local radicals, and then ultimately turned against the pakistani state. tens of thousands of pakistanis died in the mid--- after 2007 to about 2012. car bombs in major cities. if you're pakistani and you look at this and say, why is this happening? .e can blame isi but also, the american war spilled into this country. they did not invite the american war. they advised against it in afghanistan. hamid karzai says, take a lighter footprint. stay on your base. stop dropping so many bombs indiscriminately. we're not going to win hearts and minds that we are fighting this war. the americans go about it their way. and thousands and thousands of afghan civilians died, tens of thousands of security forces died. war is a stalemate. the cia draws of these maps every six months with a color the district's of afghanistan to say whether the government controls and or the taliban controls it were it is contested. over the course of a decade, despite the presence

coalition this week supports al qaeda by the notes of these hundred flights. tara we go to tech crunch to speak to professor robert brown the head of the iran turkey russia trilateral in istanbul that seeks to defeat british backed atrocities in the middle east and we are britain's former a man in damascus whether the us and the u.k. are using chemical attack allegations to justify breaches of the united nations charter and rock guitar legend brian may on how class privilege is a threat to humanity for years to the day queen's great just hit became the first album ever to sell fifty million copies in the u.k. but quarter numbers mustn't show the prime minister when she's giving girls lots more shouting by u.k. politicians of this week's b. and q.'s british britain's prime minister belatedly defacto backing in syria told us of more coming up in today's going underground but first to our top story the u.s. military has been defending wednesday's massacre of those fighting al-qaeda linked groups in syria saying it was protecting so-called syrian defense forces th

eight al-qaeda isis springs up out of out of al qaeda and now trump in his generals and i would even say trump i would say the generals are going to show their you know you know where i'm going there now using it as it's accused to have u.s. troops permanently based in syria and alexander recurs who are very good peace and around about this explaining that this is really the united states is playing seat option and and no one's talking about the u.s. plan c. which is actually derived from macmasters that many people think is the person that's pushing the u.s. permanent presence in syria more out of spite than anything else so this is a situation where you have a country that's not why did not invite you like mark said no no one. when there is no international security council resolution nothing for the u.s. to be there but there they are and they're not going to leave easily you know we had trump when he was speaking publicly the press conference a quote get isis and go home ok let me have the whole thing there were right there for one reason to get rid of isis and get rid of isis an

the is warning that al-qaeda is exploiting the internal conflict and spreading its influence. the united nations has a number of people facing extreme hunger in south sudan is unprecedented more than five million people that's about half the population and now in tonga dependent on eight years of conflict of lead to what the u.s. is called a manmade famine. south korea is pushing for both the u.s. and north korea to make compromises said that talks can go ahead but the white house is remaining resolute saying that any meeting must lead to pyongyang ending its nuclear program a north korean general who's visiting the south has repeatedly. expressed his country's readiness for discussions with the us kim young charles present at the met by protests in so many of them blame the general for the deaths of dozens of south korean sailors in twenty ten bride has more from one of the protests. continuing protests in seoul at the presence of general kim young child on south korean soil a man that many people here blame for the attack in twenty ten that sank a south korean warship with t

al qaeda al qaeda member but that strike and the raid that have . been conducted i believe last year the target in that village in your region in. that area was under the saudi led coalition controlled so we show you how an area under the control of the saudi that as they say have al qaeda training camp so how come it that you have in that in that area and there were women and children killed in that strike how can be a child that's nine year old all twelve or six or seven be a member of al qaeda. only this track that the united states is conducting that was early on in the trump regime there u.s. servicemen was killed and was the first casualty of any water from the stream which he had been actively engaged in if you see in drone strikes numbers go up when strong trump went to the white house. the number according to like you as a newspaper would side have traveled during from the campaign and is not only a drone strike on as they say or as they call it al-qaeda or terrorist target the saudi newspaper called heart is one of the main newspaper in sa

in that strike how can be a child that's nine year old all twelve or six or seven be a member of al qaeda. only that's the fact that the united states is conducting that was early on in the trump president i really think the u.s. was where was killed and it was the first casualty of any war don't trumpets in which he had to be the actively engaging have you seen drone strikes numbers go up since donald trump into the white house. the number according to like you as a newspaper site have to double to do it in combat and is not only drone strike on as they say or as they call it. terrorist target saudi newspaper called as one of the main newspaper in saudi. have conducted an interview with this book person.

did some of their largesse get to al qaeda? probably.osions) >> shock and awe, but th time sunni insurgents were sending the bombs. the series of coordinated asts were in mainly shia areas have claimed more than 50 lives. >> an al qaeda group claimed redonsibility today and war of more attacks against iraq's government. >> saudi arabia was joining the great struggle against shi'ism. and they were successful in so far as, you know, the sectarian genie had been let out of the bottle. >> the situation in this country has done nhing but deteriorate from al qaeda, the local insurgency, the death squads buried within this government, to to iranian influence. all of it...>> ut the iranians had much greater influence. because they had an influence over theajority shia population and the new iraqi government, which was shia. ov smith: at the end of that year, the shia-lednment in baghdad cemented their power and pushed their sectarian agendang further by rusorward to execute saddam hussein. it was a decision carried out despite u.s. and arab conc

al qaeda in the arabian peninsula remains the propaganda hub. al qaeda touts usama bin laden's son as a new leader. recruiting more fighters in syria. affiliates in africa remain stronger than isis in somalia and east africa. >> responding to the revelations, deputy press secretary revealed the communications director -- >> isis fighters have nowhere to go. the u.n. is warning nations for possible influx of jihadists trying to eat influence trying to influence. >> chris: fbi informant says russia routed millions of dollars to the u.s. in an effort to buy influence with the obama administration and with bill and hillary clinton. catherine herridge explains. >> fox news confirms an fbi informant who has not gone public spent four hours once answer questions from staffers on the senate as well as house oversight and intelligence committees. their focus is an obama administration deal that allowed a russian nuclear energy agent to gain a controlling stake in uranium one. canadian-based company with mining interest in the western u.s. >> early 2010,

eight al-qaeda isis springs up out of out of al-qaeda and now trump in his generals and i want to say trump i would say the generals are going to show their you know you know where i'm going there now using it as an excuse to have u.s. troops permanently based in syria and alexander recurs who are very good peace and around about this explaining that this is really the united states is playing a c. option and at. no one's talking about the u.s. plan c. which is actually derived from macmasters that many people think is the person that's pushing the u.s. permanent presence in syria more out of spite than anything else so this is a situation where you have a country that's not why did not invade like mark said no one no one and there's no international security council resolution nothing for the u.s. to be there but there they are and they're not going to leave easily you know we had trump when he was speaking publicly at a press conference a quote get isis and go home ok let me have the whole thing there were over there for one reason to get rid of isis and get rid of isis and go home

that's nine year old all twelve or six or seven be a member of al qaeda. only the strike that the united states is conducting that was early on in the trump presidency really think a u.s. service where was killed was the first casualty of any war the trumpet stream which beat actually engage and have you seen drone strikes numbers go up since to jump into the white house. the number according to like you as a newspaper site have troubled dude in combat and is not only drone strike on as they say or as they call it. terrorist target saudi newspaper called as one of the main newspaper in saudi. have conducted an interview with this book person of the been talkin called rankin and he's book about hundred forty u.s. a strike supporting the saudi led coalition and their money government which is based in riyadh those strike those a drone strike or strikes not. what they have declared before over two hundred forty strikes on al qaeda members those strikes in support of the saudi that coalition and there are fourteen thousand yemeni civilians who have been killed

security council on al qaeda which says as isis weakens, al qaeda is still going strong.the report says al qaeda is, quote, remarkably resilient and is actually stronger than isis in several regions of the world including yemen and somalia. there are three major affiliates of al qaeda we have to pay attention to. aqap based in yemen. despite military pressure it remains the propaganda hub of the terror organization. the front remains one of the strongest and largest in al qaeda. the report says that group is recruiting more fighters in syria as other groups like isis suffer major losses in that country. and the all shab ab is strong in somalia and east africa. that affiliate has tried to make inroads this past year in kenya, ethiopia and as well as -- >> sandra: it says the threat from isis is -- evolving. >> it says as isis has lost 97% of its territory in iraq and syria this group is for the first time showing a willingness to work together with al qaeda. isis and al qaeda together and the report says this is an emerging threat. secondly without territory there is a fea

one was al-qaeda and the other was the security of pakistan's nuclear weapons. and yet in 2009 none of those challenges were actually located. pakistan's nuclear weapons were there. we were fighting -- >> carry on. >> we were finding a kind of indirect war. the rationalization was afghanistan would fall apart. and kind of an indirect way to send young men and women to war. >> here's the thing and president trump kind of summed it up with his tweet where not so long ago he hasby tsds the united states has foolishly given pakistan $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit thinking of our leaders as fools. they've given safe haven to terrorists in afghanistan with little help, no more. is he right or wrong or is there an between there? >> lots of soldiers went over to fight in afghanistan only to be attacked by militants that were coming out of pakistan. clearly supportive or at a minimum, you know, facilitated by pakistani security services. and they watched american comrades die or be wounded on the battlefield b

what if out of that chaos arises al qaeda? what if the end result of us getting involved in the civil war is they all kill each other and we end up with a civil war in which al qaeda becomes stronger? mr. graham: regular order. the presiding officer: is there an objection to the request? mr. paul: the interesting thing about it is you look at the war in yemen is that when you -- the presiding officer: is there objection to the request? mr. paul: yes, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. paul: so as you look at the war in yemen and you go back and forth and say what are the results of getting involved in the civil war, it may be that al qaeda gets stronger? if you look at what happened in syria, the neoconservatives, they went crazy and said we should go -- we should support the moderates in syria that are fighting against assad. well, it turns out the moderates in syria were al qaeda linked, isis linked jihadists. in fact, one group, the neocons said we must give weapons to, it turns out as soon as they got

a syrian rebel group that was linked to al-qaeda says it shot down a russian fighter plane in northernia this afternoon, killing the pilot. the militants said the attack was in retaliation for a russian bombing campaign. sarah corker reports. the burning wreckage of what looks like a russian fighterjet, red stars clearly visible on the wing. this footage posted online appears to show the plane being hit and bursting into flames in a rebel—held area of north—west syria. jihadist group hayat tahrir al—sham, formally linked to al-qaeda, said it had shot the plane down with a surface—to—air missile. moscow said the pilot ejected and survived the crash but was killed by rebels on the ground. the sukhoi 25 fighter was shot down near the city of saraqeb, close to a major highway in idlib province. it was back in december when the syrian government, backed by russian air power, launched a major offensive against rebel groups in idlib, the last province under rebel control. but civilians are paying a heavy price. thousands have fled. on friday, rescuers said they pulled the bodies of at least s

al qaeda linked militants have claimed responsibility for killing a russian pilot after shooting down his fighter jet over syria's northwestern province russia's defense ministry has confirmed the incident and says it's already retaliated with a strike on rebels. so somebody from the column of smoke marks the place where the russian war plane came down its pilot was able to parachute to the ground but not to safety russia's defense ministry says he died in a fight with militants it's not clear whether the rebels tried to capture him. well you're. the one who are well out of the plane came down enough village so through the city of idlib there sure are a lot of our road rebels and locals quickly gathered around the wreckage to celebrate their victory work well how do you. make a reporter well known in the arab world was also there. how do you plan i mean i learned though i had to was just going to the people here call this kind of war plane the machine gun because of the heavy guns it carries. the ball has a difficult it attacks roads and cuts them off to stop cars from moving so you l

forces which is targeting al qaeda linked groups in yemen victoria has this report on the lookout for al qaeda these fighters belong to the united arab emirates ship one elite forces they began patrolling the streets of the al macam district in eastern yemen all monday as part of operation decisive storm an initiative by the saudi led coalition which includes the u.a.e. to clear areas considered to be al qaeda strongholds at this media briefing a minister belonging to the internationally recognized government led by president abbot rebbie mansell hardy agreed the reach of al-qaeda is spreading he also criticized the u.a.e. accusing it of trying to fragment yemen by creating what he called separate regional and tribal armies a lot of. the situation is very bad in all liberated areas particularly those in the south where there are tribal armies established and supported by the united arab emirates there are also provincial armies and there are gangs even al qaida is spreading there in large parts of the governor it has never been as present as it is right now. yemen has suffered almost

out of the plane but was then killed in fighting on the ground and she hottest group with ties to al qaeda has claimed responsibility also coming up a drive by shooting spree in italy leaves six people wounded the interior minister says it was motivated by racial hatred the twenty eight year old italian man is now in custody. and super bowl fever is taking hold in the u.s. the new england patriots and the philadelphia eagles are preparing to do battle for america's top athol prize. bans that descended on minneapolis ahead of the game for some this is close as they'll get the tickets are selling for thousands of dollars apiece. and bring. out the big. welcome to the show my name sarah harmon it's good to have you with us. al qaeda linked militants have claimed responsibility for killing a russian pilot after shooting down his fighter jet over syria's northwestern italy province russia's defense ministry has confirmed the incident and says it's already retaliated with a strike on rebels. somebody from of the north a column of smoke marks the place where the russian war plane came down its pi

al qaeda linked militants and claimed responsibility for killing a russian pilot after shooting down his fighter jet over syria's northwestern at the province russia's defense ministry is consolingly answer that and says it's already retaliated with a strike on the rebels. the somebody from at the moment the column of smoke marks the place where the russian war plane came down its pilot was able to parachute to the ground but not to safety russia's defense ministry says he died in a fight with militants it's not clear whether the rebels tried to capture him. go. along the plane was a sukhoi twenty five a single seat jet designed to attack targets on the ground. well who are well out of. their own in a village so the city of. rebels and locals quickly gathered around the wreckage to celebrate their victory learn workload needed. to make a reporter well known in the arab world was also there. how do you play little i mean a lot no one had to watch us going to the people here call this kind of war plane the machine gun because of the heavy guns of carries. the homes are difficult to get

whether it is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and their bomb making skills or whether it is al qaeda and the islamic -- it became debt what is missing in the bill that you guys put forward in your report that needs to be address yesterday from a congressional standpoint? maybe we will start there. you chair two committees, is anything not acted upon the needs to be? committee really grew out of the committee that chairman catco convened last year. as riley pointed out, the order of magnitude is so much greater than it was in -- when the soviets invaded afghanistan. a lot of times these were jihadi tourists, they went to get a picture with the ak. ,ow we have foreign fighters anywhere between 50 and 200 have american passports and they are hard-core dudes. will be ath that generational challenge. from our committee's analysis and we sort of proposed a variety of initiatives which i think are important. i had a bill called the counterterrorism information sharing improvement act which try to get at this issue of the u.s. military collecting data downrange in place like iraq and syria,

has been able to achieve in fighting terrorist groups like al qaeda in the arabian peninsula with some of the groups that want to speak has thought about has been speaking about these groups have actually played a major role in pushing al qaeda out of key areas since the war began at least ten thousand yemenis have been killed the economy crippled and millions face famine and disease the u.n. says nearly old twenty five million people need some form of humanitarian assistance with close to half the population in acute need of support as the fighting is about to end to its fourth year if you have much hope of improvement anytime soon. so moving now in many students say they are too frightened to go back to the school in the northeast of the country where on demand seized one hundred ten girls in a raid last week on monday the government admitted for the first time the goals were kidnapped classes have resumed at a school in village after the attack suspected to have been carried out by the book group. israeli forces have arrested nineteen palestinians in the occupied west bank half of t

has the story on the lookout for al qaeda these fighters belong to the united arab emirates ship one elite forces they began patrolling the streets of the al macam district in eastern yemen all monday as part of operation decisive storm an initiative by the saudi led coalition which includes the u.a.e. to clear areas considered to be al qaeda strongholds at this media briefing a minister belonging to the internationally recognized government led by president abbott rebbie months or hardy agreed the reach of al qaeda is spreading he also criticized the u.a.e. accusing it of trying to fragment yemen by creating what he called separate regional and tribal armies the rule of. the situation is very bad at all liberated areas particularly those in the south where there are tribal armies established and supported by the united arab emirates there are also provincial armies and there are gangs even al qaida is spreading there in large parts of the governor it has never been as present as it is right now. yemen has suffered almost three years of civil war the saudi led coalition is fighting i

one is warning that al qaeda is exploiting the internal conflict to spread its influence. now the french president i'm on your mark ross has told his turkish counterpart that a u.n. cease fire across syria must also apply to the northern a free region turkey launched an offensive against the kurdish y p g an african last month and correct considers the white b.g. a terrorist group and a monday deployed further special forces turkey earlier welcome the un resolution but said it would not affect its campaign in a free. south korea's pushing for both the u.s. and north korea to compromise so that direct talks and go ahead soon but the white house remains resolute that any meeting must lead to pyongyang ending its nuclear program a north korean general visiting south korea has repeatedly expressed his country's readiness for discussions with the u.s. kim myong charles presence has been met by protests and so many blame the general for the deaths of dozens of south korean sailors and twenty ten. the u.n. says the number of people in south sudan who don't know where their next m

you've talked a little bit about al qaeda and isis in yemen. is there still a terrorist threat that emanates from yemen? >> there is, chairman. and he think our-- fru frul-- first of all, i think our efforts the last year have been effective in addressing many of the concerns that we had with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and i think we have addressed their leadership, their media capability. their external operations capability and some of their explosives capability in the organization. >> with al qaeda, it's to understand what their long-term objectives are and they're savvy and we always have to be concerned about al qaeda. so it's absolutely vital to not take the pressure off now, but to keep the pressure on them and make sure that we complete this effort against them. ... . >> you talked about the humanitarian and everything that is going on but don't lose sight they continue to have a terrorist threat. >> i think we are good for now. thank you for being here and we will adjourn the open session and in about five minutes reconvene ups

defeating various terrorist organizations al qaeda elling tice's linked organization in syria has been if you like. by the intervention direct intervention of the united states they have forces now twice and the past week or so before we get to that i mean at least the united states even though it's been supporting. groups against its nato turkey it's not explicitly supporting to the level britain is a looser link groups like the white helmets. the white tulle much are supported by supported by both britain and the united states and fact of the there found there is a call it was a call another and the british army so the you know britain is committed to the to the white house and saw as the united states which has now pledged the renewal of financial support to the. rate as a civilian defense force what really impact is and with a lot of eyewitnesses that embedded with al-qaeda linked forces and we have we have a statement from the white helmets but at least in iraq there are no aiding extremist groups in iraq if indeed britain and the united states are doing so in syria i think u.s. u

but at one point and especially with iran and al qaeda and and yemen but is there a terrorist threat.>> i have not been addressing many of the concerns of al qaeda and the arabian peninsula to address their leadership and some of her exclusive capabilities inherent in this organization is important to understand the long-term organization we all have to be concerned then to take the pressure. >> you talked about the humanitarian and everything that is going on but don't lose sight they continue to have a terrorist threat. >> i think we are good for now. thank you for being here and we will adjourn the open session and in about five minutes reconvene upstairs. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] but the specificity from some of those so i do think that we ought to be alert for that potential russia uses some sort of mercenary force to camouflage their activities. not only in syria but other places. >> what about the hearings in the future so i am just curious if we have an update on that? >> obviously to have overall responsibility for afghanistan but general matus has