host: our guest is carter malkasian.e served as a sport -- special assistant to rogers of dunford from 2015 to 2019. thank you for joining us, particularly as we had technical issues with you earlier this week thank you for coming back. >> -- guest: thank you for having me. host: let's look at the book, you try to encapsulate afghanistan as a history. guest: i felt so many years of war -- i started writing in 2015 -- i thought it would be good to have a full discussion of what happened. there are many great books about afghanistan, all cover a section or a piece of it. is we continue to look back on it and get new information, new histories are going to be written. host: taking a look at the scope of it, is there a running theme as far as what you have seen in putting this history together which could explain what we are seeing today? there are a few -- guest: there are a few running themes but one that pertains to what you're talking about now is the idea of resistance to occupation. why were the taliban able to defeat

host: our guest, carter malkasian, has written the book. for those who want to ask questions, and the central and eastern time zones, 202-748-8000 . if you live in the mountain and pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 . if you are an afghanistan war veteran and you were to get your perspective, 202-748-8002. you can text us at 202-748-8003 and post on our social media sites. earlier this week, president biden gave an interview with abc and one of the things he was asked about with the taliban is what their future holds within afghanistan. >> what happens now in afghanistan? do you believe have changed? pres. biden: no. i think they're going through an accident shook crisis about do they want to be recognized by international communities as being a budget meant government -- a legitimate government. i'm not sure they do. they also care about whether they have food to eat, whether they have any income that can make money and run an economy. they care about whether or not they can hold together a society then fact say they care so much about. i am

host: carter malkasian joins us now, a former u.s.olitical officer in afghanistan and author of the recent book, the american war in afghanistan. what years were you in afghanistan? describe the job you are doing when you are in country. guest: i was first in afghanistan for a bit in 2007 and 2008. i was in there again in helmand province hear from 2009 to 2011. after that, i was there in 2013-2014 as a senior advisor to general dunford. later on, when i was the advisor of the joint chiefs of staff, i went there in 2018 and 2019 to help the general on the ground and supervise some representation. so that is kind of a general overview of my time in afghanistan. host: been there plenty of times, stepping back to the larger picture, 20 years, more than $1 trillion spent. at the peak, well over 100,000 coalition troops. at least on paper. a strong afghan government. what went wrong in afghanistan? why didn't we win? guest: it was probably the kind of situation where winning was never going to be easy, and perhaps was not simply not in the

host: our guest is carter malkasian.served as a sport -- special assistant to rogers of dunford from 2015 to 2019. thank you for joining us, particularly as we had technical issues with you earlier this week thank you for coming back. >> -- guest: thank you for having me. host: let's look at the book, you try to encapsulate afghanistan as a history. guest: i felt so many years of war -- i started writing in 2015 -- i thought it would be good to have a full discussion of what happened. there are many great books about afghanistan, all cover a section or a piece of it. is we continue to look back on it and get new information, new histories are going to be written. host: taking a look at the scope of it, is there a running theme as far as what you have seen in putting this history together which could explain what we are seeing today? there are a few -- guest: there are a few running themes but one that pertains to what you're talking about now is the idea of resistance to occupation. why were the taliban able to defeat th

host: our guest is carter malkasian.served as a sport -- special assistant to rogers of dunford from 2015 to 2019.

coming up on washington journal, we discussed the history of america's war in afghanistan with carter malkasian, a former state department political servant in afghanistan. we talk about the largest permanent increase in s.n.a.p. food benefits in the program's history with heather taylor of bread for the world. ♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, august 18, 2021. the end -- evacuation effort from kabul continues as the taliban solidifies its grip on afghanistan. in washington, the finger-pointing over who owns the loss in afghanistan has only increased. who is most responsible for the outcome in afghanistan after 20 years of u.s. intervention? here is how we split our phone lines. republicans can call in at (202) 748-8000. democrats can call this morning at (202) 748-8001

. >> coming up that i on c-span, carter malkasian discusses the history of america's war in afghanistan in the country's future. then, kristin clark testifies on the 1965 voting rights act before a house judiciary subcommittee. later, john kirby and hank taylor briefed on the u.s. evacuation efforts and -- in afghanistan for u.s. citizens and afghans who are applying for a special immigrant visa or siv. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including media,. >> mediacom is ready, and we never slow down. schools and businesses went virtual and be powered into reality, because we are built to keep you ahead. >> mediacom supports c-span as a public service, along with these other providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. continues. host: he served as a sport -- spl assistant to rogers of dunford from 2015 to

i'm joined now by carter malkasian, former us military adviser and author of the american war in afghanistan in afghanistan: a history. thank you so much forjoining us. the british prime minister because the taliban victory in the chronicle of an event foretold. is he right? in a sense he is. people knew going into afghanistan there is danger getting stuck in a quagmire. people understood in the united states, leaders understood that the soviets had failed there. so we knew this and nevertheless we could not find a way out and trapped in afghanistan probably because of terrorists that threats we were worried about and then partly because we wanted to help the country so much. definitely right this was a chronicle of defeat. ., ,. , ., , , , defeat. you described as the best brief us adviser _ defeat. you described as the best brief us adviser in _ defeat. you described as the best brief us adviser in afghanistan i defeat. you described as the best brief us adviser in afghanistan of| brief us adviser in afghanistan of the last few years. did you see this coming? the last few years. did you se

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