the part of the taliban that works most closely with al-qaeda is the haqqani network. for al-qaeda has been to have a stable, uninterrupted place, where they could regroup, recruit, train, raise money, all of those sorts of support functions that are ultimately necessary to rebuild an offensive capability. and it may be that this change in afghanistan presents them with a new and better opportunity than they have elsewhere. this is notjust a safe haven. this is a partnership. the us went to war in afghanistan to drive al-qaeda and their hosts, the taliban, out. the taliban are back, and it looks like al-qaeda are, too. this footage shows osama bin laden�*s former security chief, amin al haq, returning to his homeland from pakistan. it's been verified by the un. despite repeated requests to the haqqani network for an interview, they did not agree to one. the taliban continue to insist they have no links with al-anda, and will not shelter them. but there's another terror threat that's already very real. islamic state in afghanistan, or is—k. it killed at least 182 people

they keep telling us the haqqani network is separate from the taliban and al qaeda. i mean really?'s delusional. it's a more benign form of sharia and it's really laughable if it wasn't so devastating in terms of the consequences. >> what me just ask you after our experience in afghanistan do you think there's any security component of what we tried to do that is sustainable? >> a lot of it was sustainable if we sustain their commitment to allow the afghans to maintain themem for serving it and i've e what we have accomplished based on those watching the taliban do write right for the afghan people. >> is there anything left is my question. >> in the hearts of afghans i think when they keep saying hey let's engage the taliban on the future of afghanistan we are engaging over 90% of afghans that don't want to live under taliban rule and giving them a voice. that's something the committee can do in terms of rear occasion as well. >> that i had one thing please? >> i don't want to be the skunk at the picnic though we could not prevail in afghanistan and it's not because our soldiers a

thank you have every right to be speechless but the haqqani network americans need to understand thismost dear dangerous terrorist group they have never heard of. haqqani is the worst of the worst he is like trials mason one —- manson and john gotti combined he is responsible for hundreds of americans in a special forces unit and one that i have commanded be here is what he mastered and he makes tons of money they have front companies. drug rings and on one hand the money and the muscle behind the taliban. and that was osama bin laden mentor and wrote the guidebook for international terrorism. and then with an international airport to fly anybody or any terrorist or suicide bomber anywhere he wants. the powers of the state insecurity services as interior minister. they have a central bank some governments are talk about unfreezing billions in assets and an army with american equipment. billions of dollars at his disposable one —- at his disposal. this is a nightmare i think we fully understand the ramifications. he is building a fountainhead of jihad in the middle of nuclear arms stat

like sirajuddin haqqani, now the interior minister, whose infamous haqqani network was behind suicidertment's most wanted list, with a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture. his uncle, khalil haqqani, also part of the new cabinet, has been linked to al qaeda terror operations. >> (speaking afghan language): >> narrator: even mullah baradar, the co-founder of the taliban, appears to have been sidelined by the haqqanis. neither side would talk to najibullah about the power struggle, but the rift has intensified concerns that afghanistan could erupt in factional violence. ♪ ♪ those fears are especially high among the millions of shia muslims, known as the hazara, who've long been the target of taliban attacks and have been forming their own armed militias, some supported by neighboring iran. shortly before the takeover, najibullah went to central afghanistan, where most of the hazara live. at a hazara cemetery, najibullah met a woman who said the taliban had been launching deadly attacks on their community. her grandson was killed in the fighting. >> (conversing in da

he's a known terrorist, known to have killed americans, part of the haqqani network.f the united states. we go back to, what was the biden administration thinking when they knew this was going to fail? who did they think this was going to bring in? joan of ark? they knew they were bringing in the bad guys. this is a we should put them on notice. just because you're in afghanistan right now, just because you're a member of that organization, you're on notice. if something happens to americans, you're gone. >> martha: first thing that goes to my mind, we saw trey yingst on a flight yesterday. we have people that were allies with us and worked with us for years and years. they're saying if you kill americans or you kill people that helped americans no doubt, you'll get $100,000 and a piece of land. how can we believe what we were told, which is that antony blinken, secretary of state, it's his job to get everybody out. how is that going to work? >> it's not. it's a false story. we know that for sure with the people that they have brought in there. and the thing that was

the taliban is intertwined with the haqqani network. and al-qaeda has in fact formed with the taliban. can you talk about how that agreement, and enabling terrorists, is going to be useful as a tool to hold the taliban accountable to a commitment? >> i think we should do everything in our power to keep pressure on the taliban to do what they said way we're going to do. we've heard with a said. we will watch their actions. but i think we should continue to apply pressure wherever possible, to cause them to keep al-qaeda activity in check. again, you heard us say today, that we recognize that this is the taliban. and trust is not an issue here necessarily. we hear what they are saying. we are watching what they do. >> thank you mister secretary, my time has expired. >> ms. sherrill is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, secretary austin, general milley. i have quite a few questions. so i may have to submit for the record. i think it is important to start with this and somewhat echo my republican colleagues. we continue to see the a

>> we do recognize that the members of the haqqani network are recognized terrorists, yes. >> so they are potential target for the united states military? >> potentially, yes. >> so secretary austin, the biden administration has been saying that the doha agreement is still in effect. and that they will hold the taliban to their, quote, counterterrorism commitments in the doha agreement. but that the taliban is using this agreement to protect terrorists, the taliban is intertwined with the haqqani network. and al qaeda has, in fact, sworn to the taliban. can you explain exactly how that agreement that's enabling terrorists is going to be useful as some kind of a tool to hold the taliban to any kind of a commitment? >> i think we should do everything within our power to keep pressure on the taliban, to do what they said that they were going to do, and we heard what they said. we will watch their actions. but i think we should continue to apply pressure wherever possible to cause them to keep al qaeda activity in check. and again, you have heard us say a couple times today that we recogn

haqqani network of the taliban, these are "the sopranos" of the middle east. gold, drugs, guns. the haqqani network are not our friends, they will never be our friends and now they're depending on pakistan and china to deliver them into the 21st century. i don't understand what the state department is thinking, what our intelligence is thinking and why these folks are going to be our friends tomorrow, today, into the future? how about they show us exactly the seriousness in which the taliban wants to be taken going into the future? how many american citizens are still being held by the taliban? pete: that's right. >> now we'll exchange what, professors were vasser university, gender studies? you will tell us will you treat women and girls with respect? how about show the american citizens and allies still in afghanistan respect? this is ridiculous. pete: you're right. we don't have any leverage because we never made those threats in the first place. certainly didn't follow through on that. instead we were totally beholden to the taliban. we have hostages behin

we interviewed haqqani of the haqqani network.e past at the hotel where we spoke to him at. you have to take this into account and understand the individuals are human, they have motivation, reasons why they do things and they experience emotion and you have to really dig into that emotion, let them know you are there as journalist not to help them or hurt them, put to tell the story on the ground in afghanistan and work from there. sometimes that takes hours, you set up meetings and have conversations with bad individuals, bad humans and basically say we are hear to tell the story and you tell that story in accurate fashion to viewers in way people can understand and ultimately care. >> sandra: you are giving us remarkable look at the day of the life of a reporter inside of afghanistan, trey. to perspective on the threat we face today, a month after the united states left afghanistan. >> trey: the biggest danger right now is americans left behind who could be targeted by the taliban or by groups like isis-k, u.s. allies, american

he was the taliban commander launched suicide bombings in kabul, part of the haqqani network. his office, fighting with a mother-in-law. he had to arrange making her mother law live with her husband's brother instead. stuart: that is what he is doing now? lauren: the staff under him not trained, not paid. this is how the taliban is running their country. stuart: okay. like to follow up on that one but i don't know how. what is this about the state department tweeting the pronouns we should be using? lauren: she, her, he him. the state department says on international pronounce day, we share why many people lift them on their socials. they have a link to where you can read more about it. this is the state department. one critic said, what is the pronoun for someone stuck in afghanistan? i don't think that person would care -- stuart: i don't understand. are we allowed to say his her, she, him. lauren: on social media people sometimes in their bio say, what they like to be called. so for me i would say she/her. i am a woman. i identify as a woman. stuart: right. lauren: not all

afghan units and said, this is how it will go, with the backing of pakistan, intertwined with the haqqani network and al qaeda. they told those commanders, listen, you either accommodate us when we give you the single, or we kill your -- the signal, or we kill your family. how does that sound? so that is why the afghan army collapsed, along with, as you mentioned, the withdrawal of our support and airpower, their differential advantage. the telegram's was there backing by the -- the taliban's was there backing by the isi and other groups and their willingness to terrorize. it should be unacceptable, i think, to disparage the afghans who did fight and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the freedoms we now see being taken away. >> thank you. i have nothing to add. >> i now recognize the representative from california, who chairs the subcommittee on asia and the pacific for five minutes. >> thank you. it is surprising to me. i agree, knowing that each of the witnesses has a different perspective, i think all of you present the real complexity of building a successful government in afghanistan a

total governmental control to the taliban, a known terrorist organization with leaders of haqqani terrorist networks, now within the taliban's to factual government. the taliban has deemed education irrelevant, barred women and girls from school, and work, committed horrific totalitarian tasks on interpreters, and established suicide bomber schools within the country. we also know that al-qaeda and isis k established a presence within the country, even before the u.s. withdrew, isis k claimed credit for suicide bombings, which you have mentioned, took the lives of 13 service members on august 23rd. so secretary austin, is it true that the suicide bomber who attacked the kabul airport on august 23rd was a cia prisoner at the bagram airbus from the taliban released after biden's administration left bagram in july? >> let me just say a couple of things. first, on why the president selectively or nominated me to be his secretary of defense. you would have to go back to the president and ask him specifically why he did that. but it wasn't, i'm sure, solely based upon my oversight of the evacuation of ira

servicemen and women and over 100 afghans the haqqani's, haqqani was in charge of security at the airport they are running the cobble attack network, we think of these as distinct but they have logic communication and cooperate with even isis ki think this is a deliberate effort, i do not have evidence for this but that was a deliberate effort to humiliate us on our way out and what we heard our leaders saying we are cooperated with the taliban on security that should be stomach turning to all of us we seeded our agency because we stock with a surrender agreement and guess what happens when you surrender to terrorists this is what happened. >> i agree with you that leads me too my next question you might've answered it, the thoughts of the biden administration to rely on the taliban for security, that is pretty much in mind of what you just said, any others like to comment on that? >> it's a question of mission and if the mission was to get out under extremely dire circumstances american citizens and others who help the american effort if that is the mission in your gonna have to talk to the taliban. >> was the taliban instrumenta

at least two principal members of the haqqani network which is a u.s.ignated foreign terrorist organization are in the highest positions of the taliban's new government. the minister of the interior is on the f.b.i.'s most wanted l list. his uncle, the minister of refugees is designated a terrorist by our government. together the u.s. government values the reward for their arrests at $15 million. the biden doctrine put america's most wanted back in charge of a terrorist training ground and increased the risk of attacks against our homeland. and we didn't leave the terrorists empty-handed either. in our rush for the exits, we left tens of billions of dollars worth of military weapons and gear behind, which is now in the hands of the enemy. we can expect to encounter this tactical equipment again on the battlefield, but our own equipment being used against us. here are just a few numbers. 600,000 weapons. 22,000 humvees. and more than 200 aircraft. folks, we left america's most wanted with america's best weapons. but it's not just weapons and military cap