he met with president ashra ashraf ghani. he's also making a major announcement about the future of u.s. troops in afghanistan. john is live with more. john? >> patti ann, back in may, president obama announced that the number of troops in afghanistan would be reduced. now we know those plans have changed. the u.s. military had planned to pull 1,000 troops out of afghanistan starting in the beginning of 2015, basically starting the new year, but that's been put on hold. secretary hagel says 10,800 troops will remain in the country. he made the announcement during a press conference today, as mentioned, with afghan president ashraf ghani in kabul. secretary hagel says there's been delays and this is really the reason for keeping the troops there. he says there's been delays with u.s. allies signing security pacts to send troops, more than 2,000, actually, to join nato forces already helping train and assist afghan security forces, so secretary hagel says the contingent of u.s. troops could remain in afghanistan for the first f

as a result you have ashraf ghani as president and abdullah abdullah the runner-up as the c.e.o.e government. so they have to agree on a new cabinet. they have to agree on a lot of decisions that are being made. and they each have their own circles of people around them that they have to deal with. so it's made a much more complicated government situation. and they have not been able to competition very much in the first three months. >> brown: well, that-- what have been the priorities of ghani and the government at this point? what kind of initiatives are they able to take? >> well so far ghani has tried to put a focus on cleaning up the government. notoriously corrupt government and country. he's tried to focus on going after some of the serious case the kabul bank case where there was nearly a billion dollars siphonned out of the bank by its shareholders several years ago. he reopened that case has tried to prosecute these people to send a signal that this government is going to be clean, is going to go after corruption. so he's taken some steps in those record. -- regard, bu

really, since new president ashraf ghani was inaugurated. >> thank you. jennifer glasse reporting from kabul. >> a drone trike killed nine taliban insurgents in afghanistan. the attack happened on tuesday in the district of nangar-har province. they were targetting a group including a taliban leader >>> pakistan begins three days of mourning after 140 were killed, 132 students. nawaz sharif is lifting ban on the death penalty for terrorist-related offenses and is holding talks with all sides against violence. they ordered stepping up the campaign against the taliban. scott heidler joins us from pakistan. you van looked in the school where the attack took place. what did you see? >> we were escorted by the army into the compound. we could see the wall over which the attackers were able to enter into the compound. about 20 meters from that wall is the main auditorium. the attackers went into the auditorium. that's where the maximum number of children were present, they were pinned council because they had no escape. the attackers made sure that there was at

. >> afghanistan new leaders, president ashraf ghani and abdalla abdalla are meeting foreign nations. >>> air strikes against i.s.i.l. in his country are not working, bashar al-assad says especially with turkey providings direct aid to these areas. if he thinks about sinking everyone will die. >>> al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists that have been held in egypt for 341 days. peter greste, baher mohamed and mohamed fahmy are appealing against their convictions. >>> zimbabwe's president has accused the foreign minister of wanting him to step down. allowing himself to appoint his own deputies. the 9 90-year-old appeared to be frail at the congress held every five years. >> i expected to bow to my deputy to say, i won the election, you take over. that was wide expectation foolish. and idiotic. >> let's go to haru mutassa, could he choose his wife to succeed him one day? >> well, that could happen. when journalists asked this, he said why not? am i not a zimbabwe? , with a sermon like mogabe, some could be a faction within bringing down. >> but the vice pres

that's ashraf ghani, the afghan president talking to lyse doucet. >>> the fred rico mora hospital in been described as the most dangerous mental health institution. the government promised to improve conditions, but the bbc has found little has changed. this report by chris rogers contains some shocking images. >> reporter: what goes on behind the walls of the federico hospital is a guarded secret. journalists are not allowed. we're taken first to the recreational area and it's clear just how much help is needed. lying on the ground, what appears to be heavily sedated patients. their ras rags and dirty bodies. this is guatemala's only state-run psychiatric facility. the patients range from violent mentally disturbed criminals to patients with learning disabilities, abandoned by their families. there are no care staff in sight, but guards are everywhere. in the wards, we enter a hell on earth. there are almost 70 patients on this ward, looked after by just two or three care staff. the patients crave attention. the beds are in a terrible state. and there are pools of urine on mattresse

. >>> afghan president ashraf ghani and his prime minister, abdalla abdalla. the need is much more basic for many on the ground. >> pledges of support from their government or the international community means very little to these people. the men sit in the sun to stay warm because there's no wood to burn in their makeshift homes. the families have lived here around eight years. they fled the fighting in southern afghanistan. the taliban heart land. they say they get virtually no support. >> seven months ago we got a bag of flour and one can of cooking oil per family. people don't division of us jobs because we wear this turban and they think we are taliban. >> sick for days complaining of pain in her kidneys. people here say the local clinic rarely opens and when it does it doesn't have enough medicine. >> if aid money goes to government they use it themselves. they had only mud huts before now they are driving vehicles. where did they get this money from? >> southern afghanistan, there's no electricity there's no water there's no schools. and it is very obvi

it's the latest in a series of attacks, the taliban aiming to destabilize the government of ashraf ghani, and in parliament, they have called in the acting ministers, because there is no sitting cabinet right now. called in all the acting ministers to talk about the deteriating security situation, the least of way a large taliban offensive - that has been going on for several days. a lot of concern about the security situation, the latest attack, no one has claimed responsibility. the newest in a series of attacks across afghanistan. >> we'll cross back to you as the scory develops >>> a drone strike killed nine taliban surge ents in taliban, that happened on tuesday. local police say foreign troops targeted a group and sherzad province >>> pakistan started three days of mourning after a taliban attack on a school in peshawar. the prime minister nawaz sharif decided to lift a ban on dath penalties for prisoners facing terror-related charges. this comes after the attack on tuesday that killed 141 people. 132 of them from students. many aged between 13 and 15. pakistani taliban claimed res

there is what the new afghan leaders, of course the new president ashraf ghani, the new chief executive officer, effective prime minister in afghanistan dr. abdullah abdullah. this will be the first conference where you won't see the familiar figure of hamid karzai appearing at the conference. but afghans are asking, new faces is one thing. we want a new government. there's noen c cabinet yet, andy also want a new solutions to very old problems in the country. >> lyse doucet there at lancaster house. >>> the american comedian bill cosby has been urged to waive his rights under the statute of limitations so the courts can hear new allegations of sexual assault against him. three women have gone public recently with claims that he groped and assaulted them. the alleged incidents happened more than 30 years ago, and that is too long for the cases to come to trial. should just tell you alistair leithead's report does have some flash photography. >> reporter: three more women going public with their allegations against bill cosby. the celebrity lawyer gloria allred is representing them. she

people the president of iran's kurdish region ashraf ghani vowed to crush i.s.i.l. he made the comments as he went to sinjar. kurdish forces are facing resistance from the town of sinjar, and it's far from clear >>> people laid flowers in brooklyn where two police me were shot while on patrol. the gunman fled to a railway station and took his own life. the killings exposed a rift between some in the police force, and the new york mayor. bill de blasio has been criticized for not doing enough to support officers following nation-wide protests against police brutality. >> his directions data, he does a 2-day prison term in georgia from august 2011 and that's for criminalisation of a weapon, from what we ascertain now. he did stints in local gaols in fulton and other count yois ... >> reporter: the criminal record of a man who shot two police officers at point blank range. 22-year-old ismaaiyl brinsley had a history of depression. cell phone captures the scene where ismaaiyl brinsley shot himself, after shooting the officers. he shot and wounded his girlfriend in balti

returned home after being released late yesterday at the request of the new afghan president, ashraf ghani. the u.s. has freed 23 prisoners from guantanamo this year. 132 remain imprisoned there. new hostilities between israel and hamas. a rocket fired from gaza landed in israel yesterday, and israel responded by bombing what it called a "terror site" in gaza. it was the first israeli air strike in gaza since a truce went into effect in august. back in this country, the national labor relations board has filed formal complaints against mcdonald's and some of its franchise owners. the government alleges they fired or intimidated employees for taking part in union organizing and in protests demanding higher wages. the complaints will be considered by administrative law judges beginning in march. another major security breach, this time at staples. the office supply chain says hackers apparently stole the financial information of 1.2 million of its customers throughout the summer and fall. they gained access to shoppers' names, credit card numbers, card expiration dates and verification codes

of course, we have a coalition government ashraf ashraf ghani but they've not named a cabinet yet. >> thankthank you for. that's jennifer glasse joining us from kabul. >>> let's go more to the missing flight, a boeing 737 has been dispatched to look for the plane which it last lost contact. they said that the last location was at sea. here's what we know so march. the flight was headed from indonesia to singapore when it lost contact with air traffic control. it was an airbus, and it was carrying 162 people when it went missing. >>> well joining me now from jakarta very good to have you with us. first of all let me ask you what are you hearing about the missing plane? >> it was carrying only four hours worth of fuel, and it's been over four hours. and so we know that it gone down somewhere, but what we don't know is where. >> we know that they have lost contact with air traffic control. under what conditions does a plane loose contact with air traffic control? >> first, the possibility will be a fault with the aircraft where they would have to have contact with the aircraft. it's the

the president ashraf ghani took office three months ago. he and the chief executive officer failed to come to an agreement on the cabinet. afghans are worried about security as they are about political instability. >> a political analyst joins us now. thank you so much for making it on the show. jennifer was explaining the situation in afghanistan, that it is still at the moment. we have the n.a.t.o. combat mission becoming a training mission for the afghan forces. what do you think would be the priority. >> well, first of all, i would like to remind you the process started almost two years ago. saturday was certainly a ceremony in kabul. they have taken responsibility in many parts of the country, and because of the last two years. this is where the raut of casualty - afghans are taking full responsibility for the ground against the taliban. certainly, the most important factor security forces the continuation of technical support, financial support, which is important in order to keep the moral afghan forces high and support them with a n

ashraf ghani made it a point to reach out to the pakistani leaders, and he did so in the wake of terrible murders. he's done that. general campbell in afghanistan reached out to his counterpart in pakistan. there has been a lot of discussion this week, over this event. but it culminates and caps off a growing improving relationship that we had with the pakistani military. >> we talk about north korea in the next segment. what does the successful hack of sony pictures say about our vulnerability with cyber warfare and do we know it was intoa. >> i'm not in a position to confirm the source of the cyber attacks on sony pictures. i wouldn't do that. what i can tell you broadly without getting into the specifics of this case, because it's not something the pentagon is speaking to is cyber and the cyber domain is a serious concern in the defense department. we have a combat and command set up to deal with operations in that domain. we know na there are real cyber threats to this country posed by state and non-state actors over the world. to. >> rear admiral john kirby, pleasure to have you with

. >> this is an operation under the auspices of the president ashraf ghani himself, to move all the way to mt sinjar, to liberate a vast area of kurdistan, and rescue those yazidi people that are trapped on the mountain. >> kurdish forces say they gained nearly 700 square kilometres along the route. >> this opens a way for families to leave. they have to navigate through landmines planted by i.s.i.l. fighters. this is the village. about 50km from sinjar. houses and bullet-riddled walls are everywhere. evidence of the fierce fighting that took place here. kurdish forces say they are marching to i.s.i.l.'s main military base, through the city of tal afar. there's a limit, they say, to what they can achieve on their own. >> we do not want the peshmerga to be the only ones going into the area to have political ramifications. liberation of mosul requires participation of arab forces, particularly the iraqi government military. more tan than 8,000 peshmerga were involved. knowing how i.s.i.l. could change the tactics in the battlefield. the fight for sinjar could be far from over. >> on the o

members of 100 churches marched in response to the michael brown and ashraf ghani grand jury decisions. demonstrators shut down traffic which organizers say is important to help the spread of the message. in an interview that will air tomorrow night president obama spoke about what is happening and how to address race relations. it was something as deeply rooted as racism and bias in any society, you have to have vigilance. you have to recognise that it will take time. >> there has been problems with race relations in the past several decades. >> it marked 73 years. it's known as the day. the attack by the japanese forces on the u.s. pacific fleet. 400 japanese dropped bombs 8am in the morning. killing 2400 americans and wounding 2400. thousands gathered for the mem rags, including four survivors of the attack. >>> in the philippines, typhoon hagupit, known as ruby, forced 900,000 to evacuate. officials acted quickly. in a region recovering from a typhoon that killed thousands last year. scott heidler is in philippines with more. >> reporter: monday morning in the eastern philippines,

. >> reporter: in an address to the afghan nation, president ashraf ghani said that afghans were among those who were tortured, and he's calling on the state to see how many from tortured and they'll go forward in a legal manner. he said he'll wait for the former president hamid karzai to return here and then meet with senior leaders of afghanistan, senior leaders in afghanistan to decide how to take this forward. >> unfortunately, this report shows that our countrymen were also tortured, and their rights have been violated, and the exact numbers of these people are not clear. this is really painful. the report indicates some of our country men who were tortured have been totally innocent. >> reporter: he did mention that the new bilateral security agreement, one of the first things he did when he took office two months ago will mean that americans can no longer detain afghans here in afghanistan. that it opens up a new chapter, any decisions made here will be made by the afghan government. >> poland's former president has acknowledged for the first time that poland did let the c.i.a.

officials point to the meeting between afghan president ashraf ghani, and sharif as the ability to defeat the pakistan. >> the u.s. said it will help in any way it can to battle the taliban. pakistan has a capable military, and hasn't requested any assistance. >> jimmy mcintyre and hamad, a consule general from pakistan. - he is the consule general, sorry. let me get your rehabilitation to this event? >> well let me begin by saying this is a tragic, sad day for pakistan. in fact, it would not be wrong to say this is a sad and tragic day for mann kind. the event we have seen in pakistan yesterday have no parallel. we are in a state of shock and at a loss for words. >> why can't pakistan stop events like this? >> is is -- we have, we are doing our best. the pakistan military, air force, police, other law-enforcing agencies are moving ahead. moving into north waziristan, something which the international allies had been asking us to do over the last couple of years. this is an unfortunate tragic horrific, you no know, by-product of the assault that our military has been carrying out on the s

the associated press reports ashraf ghani will fire civilian and military heads in the most volatilevinces of his country. the pentagon and state department played down reports today of creating a possible buffer zone along turkey's border with syria to protect syrian refugees. officials said talks are continuing. meanwhile, the world food program suspended food vouchers to some 1.7 million syrian refugees. the u.n. agency said many donors have failed to come through with money. in nigeria, officials blamed the islamist boko haram group for attacks that killed at least seven people. a double bombing hit a market in the capital of borno state. and a police base in the yobe state capital was attacked with explosions and gunfire. more than 170 people have been killed in the last week. the government of hong kong showed signs today of cracking down after two months of pro- democracy protests. riot police moved aggressively against demonstrators in the most violent confrontation yet. we have a report from john sparks of independent television news, who's watching the situation from bangko

released a statement about the killing of these police officers, and made reference to the deaths of ashraf ghani and michael brown. this is how it reads in part: >>> reverend al sharpton released a statement saying: we'll continue to follow the developments >>> north korea strongly denies responsibility for the cyber attack on sony. friday, president obama said the federal bureau of investigation's evidence points to pyongyang. in a statement released north korea offered to go up and investigate unfounded rumours spread by the united states. dominik renamo is an entertainment attorney. this is an interesting situation in that the studio decided to pull the release. it's interesting because when they announced they were not going to exhibit, they said they had no plans for distribution. when the president made no comment, the response of sony was we are exploring alternative distribution channels. i think we are backchanneling. it's a collective failure to stand up to a regime making an unprecedented threat op u.s. soil. the damage inflicted in terms of a cyber attack is not press dented in our h

. >> gotcha, what is president ashraf ghani's position about the taliban. >> his position seems to be to try to bring them in the government fold, just as president karzai before him try to do. first of all the taliban don't want to be part of the government. they feel that the government is a puppet of america and the international community. second, it's not just the taliban. this is not the taliban of the 1990's where you had a leader. you have a fractionalized, divided taliban. you have different groups and different organizations vying for power. you can bring one group or convince one group to come in to the government, if you can even do that, but then there will be other groups that will fight the afghan government j. >> what are the positives of this war. i'm looking for a couple of positives. ngos are building wells for people who otherwise would not have drinking water. schools are being built women are being educated. is those some of the verifiable positives? >> you know, it has been america's longest war. it has been a long war for the afghan people as well, and the inte

afghanistan end, and the taliban is intent on creating instability for the new government under ashraf ghani >>> you're watching al jazeera - more to come on the newshour, including australia moves to reassure a nervous public that security concerns are being taken care of >>> a coast too far - we report on migrants hoping to get into britain, but unlikely to be able to >>> in sport - real madrid one win away from being crowned club champions of the world. >>> now, cuba has released a u.s. government contractor five years after he was imprisoned. alan gross was arrested in 2009 for smuggling banned communications equipment to cuba. an official says he was freed on humanitarian grounds at the request of washington. his family reported the 65-year-old's health was worsening. let's get more from alan fisher in washington. a significant development. remind us about alan gross and why he was being held. >> well, significant for alan gross and his family, and could be significant for u.s.-cuban relations. we'll explain why in a second. alan gross was in cuba working for the u.s. a.i.d., there inst

it can only be overcome by reconciliation, and that is the process that president ashraf ghani laid out as the path in the future. >> any reconciliation seems a long way off. the country relies on foreign aid and there's no cabinet, three months after the new president took office. n.a.t.o. says the mission is a success, but there are concerns the gains of the past months could be reversed. >> kurdish fighters have been trying to drive away i.s.i.l. fighters from kobane. the kurds have been advancing in recent weeks. coalition forces hit i.s.i.l. targets and iraq near sinjar and mosul. the iraqi army is making gains against i.s.i.l. retaking strategic downs and heavy fighting. some areas of i.s.i.l. fighters are cleared. we have this report. >> reporter: these shia militia fighters are celebrating after taking over the iraqi towns. they are supporting the iraqi military's advance against fighters belonging to the islamic state of iraq and levant. dozens were reportedly killed and injured on both sides. the pro-government militia say they are in control of both towns. >> this is a town o

ashraf ghani said they will not surrender to terrorism >>> voters in japan have given shinzo abe another term in office. the lack of voter turn out showed a lack of enthuse yax for his economic and policies. >> reporter: japan's voters did was the pollsters and the prime minister predicted they would. giving the government another term in office. for those voting for shash -- shinzo abe, there was a lack of zeal. >> the opposition was weak, we had no choice, even if you wished others could challenge. >> opponents were fatalistic. >> it's an legz designed to be won. so it's strategic, as a citizen, it makes me wonder why now. >> the polls suggest a majority of japanese voters are confused by the need for the election, two years into the government's term in office. there's little enthusiasm, more a sense of a duty being reluctantly performed. each those voting for chin zo ashy. after the country slipped into recession, it was known ag abby nomics. it succeeded in bucking japan into inflation through stimulus and funny printing. the third statement, structural reform is stuck in low gear.

ashraf ghani is preparing to investigate the actions at the center, and stressed in 2015 the u.s. will no longer have rights to hold detainees in afghanistan >>> supporters of the c.i.a. have been out in force defending its methods. this is not the first time the agency has been under fire. tom ackerman has that story. >> troughifies on display -- trough fizz on display highlight some of the its that they have. >> are you willing to make a world of difference. be a part of the c.i.a. . >> president harry truman created the c.i.a. in 1947 to act as his intelligence gathering service, but failed to predict the soviets would build a soviet bomb, and miss north korea's invasion of the south. the agency recovered by developing the first spy satellites. as the cold war grew, it acquired new roles, including the overthrow of elected governments in guantanamo and iran. >> i would report that we helped them return to power in 1953. iran received about 25 years of reasonably good leadership. >> the agency spectacularly failed in covert operations like the attempted 1961 invasion of cuba. th

afghanistan's new president, ashraf ghani, who took office in september, has also backed an expanded military role. this comes as 2014 marked the deadliest in afghanistan since 2001. according to the united nations, nearly 3,200 afghan civilians were killed in the intensifying war with the taliban -- a 20% rise from 2013. the national army and police have also suffered record losses this year, with more than 4,600 killed. for more, we're joined now by two guests. kathy kelly is co-coordinator of voices for creative nonviolence, a campaign to end u.s. military and economic warfare. she returned from kabul last month and is soon heading to prison over drone protest in missouri. she recently wrote an article headlined, "obama extends war in afghanistan: the implications for u.s. democracy aren't reassuring." and matt aikins is a journalist based in kabul and joins us now from halifax, nova scotia in canada. aikins is currently a schell fellow at the nation institute. his recent report for rolling stone magazine is titled "afghanistan: the making of a narco state." welcome both to democr

. >> secretary hagel told us that during his meeting with the afghan president, ashraf ghani, the timetable of the u.s. withdrawal came up. we're told by a senior defense official that no formal request was made to change that timetable and there are no current plans to change it but we know that u.s. forces are going to be monitoring afghan forces very closely for their ability to respond to the threat. don, tomorrow i'm going to get to sit down for a longer interview with secretary hague toll delve into more of the issues and the challenges facing the u.s. around the region. don? >> jim sciutto, thank you. >>> the family of american photojournalist luke somers tells cnn that u.s. officials did not warn them of the rescue attempt. that bid failed and al qaeda killed somers and a south african hostage as u.s. military command do commandos closed in. let's go to barbara starr. >> obviously very difficult news for the families involved. the family of luke somers saying that they didn't sign off on any rescue attempt by u.s. navy seals to rescue luke. i have to tell you, i don't know that the

a complete pullout and the tragedy real of another sad part of this is we now have a leader in ashraf ghanin afghanistan combined with abdul. the guy second runner-up that we are seeing a real reformist, really strong pro-american government there i can tell you they are nervous, in fact, pessimistic about their chances if we pull everybody out of afghanistan. and so we will see the iraq movie again and it will be tragic because again we wasted too much american blood and treasure. >> if we -- look at this area of happened in peshawar north pakistan taliban. if we stay, what can we do? i realize what happens when we leave but what happens if we stay? i think we can continue to assist the iraqi military. we can more closely as the afghans are doing right now with the pakistani government. as you know, there was no relation to be shipped between karzai and the pakistanis, we can give them the machine needed training, equipment, intelligence, special operations, particularly as small thing like medevac, greta, you don't know how important that is to soldiers to know if they are wounded they ca

with that in mind, ashraf ghani is here in london for a conference on afghanistan's future. aldridge. >> reporter: in a city on edge after a spate of almost daily attacks, a lunchtime scene that could be anywhere in the world. this restaurant in an up market district of kabul has just recently opened for business. those behind it see afghans as hungry for change, and this as an investment that's worth the risk. >> we just want to give some good food and some good place where families can enjoy and they can come along with their friends and families and can have a good time here. so we took the challenge, and we believe that we can come out with it. in this situation. >> reporter: this is one face of afghanistan as the international combat mission draws to a close, and continuing support for the country is discussed at the talks in london. but if this represents confidence in the future, the economic and security challenges in particular remain grave. that afghanistan now has a government of national unity was an important step, but only the first. and this is another face of

the new afghan president, ashraf ghani, spoke in kabul. >> the report is shocking. accepted principles, human rights, the united states constitution, and all accepted international norms, have been violated by c.i.a. agents and their contractors. >> ifill: in iran, a twitter account linked to supreme leader ayatollah khamanei said americans have been "debased and misguided" by their government. china also took the chance to shift the focus to american actions and away from accusations that beijing routinely tortures political opponents. >> ( translated ): china opposes torture. we think the u.s. should reflect and correct their actions. the u.s. should abide to international conventions and regulations. >> ifill: white house press secretary josh earnest conceded the u.s. will have to work to rebuild its moral authority. >> the release of this report is critically important step because it demonstrates a commitment to transparency, it demonstrates a commitment to accountability in terms of confessing up for falling short, and it also demonstrates a commitment to maki

he made the announcement as mentioned during a press conference with afghan president ashraf ghani in kabul. he there's been delays to send a couple thousand troops to join nato forces on the ground helping train and assist afghan security forces. so he says the contingent of u.s. troops could remain in afghanistan for the first few months next year but added that u.s. commanders have been given flexibility with the dates. that said, hagel also talked about the surge of taliban attacks in kabul over the last two weeks saying, quote, we will take appropriate measures against taliban members who directly threaten u.s. and coalition forces in afghanistan. now, u.s. military officials despite not pulling out these 1,000 troops say the plan remains to scale back to 5500 troops in afghanistan in 2016 and to pull all remaining forces out of afghanistan in 2017. back to you. >> john huddy, thank you. >> pakistan's military claims to have killed a top al qaeda operative. he served as heads of the externlg operations, the same role head by khalid sheikh mow ham he had. he was indicted for alleg

it's beyond just ashraf ghani, president ghani. it has to do now more with dealing with this change and what we don't want to do. what we don't want to do is we don't want to decrease the confidence of those people in the international community that just spent a lot of treasure on them. and, actually, when we look at the evolution of what has occurred in that region, in the central asia region of the world, we have to pay very close attention to not just how we feel today, but what that region could potentially be ten years from now. >> so, that's what we want to happen and want to have happen. the trajectory that we're on now, is there -- is that likely to be the case, that there's somehow a continued cohesiveness to what's going on in afghanistan or does it unravel? >> yeah, i think it stays -- i think for the next couple of years, we're probably going to be a bit status quo. i think that's where we're going to be. and -- and afghanistan and president ghani is going to have to step upation bit. he's trying. he's doing things to