karzai would not have dared whether he liked what holbrook told him or not to pick on holbrook if he hadn't got ample signals from the white house that he's expendable. before holbrook took on karzai, vice pside biden sa the very same things to karzai and walked out of a dinner, just got up in the middle of dinner and walked out. karzai would not countenance sending a similar message about vice president biden to the -- to the embassy. so partly, you know, holbrooke had a tough job of getting the afghan government to behave. the afghan government very early on understood that you can say no to holbrooke without consequences. many people phenomenon washington liked karzai and they wanted to use that against holbrook. and in reality, the point you make, it is not the job of the state department to be doing governance. that's the sort of lower level job. the state department was being pushed -- >> rose: was part of -- let me ask the question now. you can tell us what whether i'm right or wrong. is my understanding that part of richard holbrooke's responsibilities was exactly that. that'

so if richard holbrooke's ideas

and it's my last won a promise on holbrooke. there's another aspect here and it has to do with the iran policy when it comes under the discussion of the iran policy. he was quite a bit of a free lancer. and his recommendation -- he wanted to do his own initiative towards iran. and i'm taking back to i think it was sometime in 2009 to be he wants to act on his own and meet with the high iranian officials which is absolutely forbidden. but he says what if it happens to be in the right place? and i happen to talk to him, who is to stop me and say this isn't going to take us somewhere? i think somewhere it is described as typical of the guerrilla tactics and it might be that the non-holbrook side of the government is very worried that he would take some kind of initiative and someplace that they really didn't want to go but there was a certain amount of on willingness to perhaps let him out of the buildings. >> guest: they're definitely was particularly among i would say the president's domestic advisers who didn't want to do too mu

it would be typical of the guerrilla tactics and it might be the non holbrook side were very worried they would take the initiative someplace they did not want to go that there was the unwillingness. >> guest: there was that caution particularly among the president's domestic advisers who really didn't want to do too much and they wanted to run a tight ship that was goldilocks and risk and diplomacy because their objective was to ensure the reelection and to that extent, holbrooke was dangerous in that sense because he might put the united states and a place rigged it could risk diplomacy and there would have to spend political capital and the administration was also worried it was pushed the issue of the negotiations to far ahead and then end up in this circumstance there would have to defend it so this was in the day wore spending $100 billion a month coming in the end the strategy was not governed or director and by finishing the war but the larger domestic policy that do what the military ones because that is part of the responsibilities with them we don't want to do anything ris

in that sense, yes, holbrooke was dangerous in that sense. because he might actually put the united states in a place where he would have to risk diplomacy and he would have to president would have spend political capital. it wasn't just iran. the administration was worried he would push the issue of negotiations with the taliban or a political settlement too far ahead and they would end up in a circumstance where they would have to defnld it. -- defend it. i think that's the foreign policy. even though we were in a big war and spending $100 billion a month on this war, in the end, our strategy was not governed or directed by the logic of winning or finishing the war. but the logic of domestic politics. which said, you know, do what the military wants because then that's popular and possibility with them. we don't want to do anything risky where the president have to risk political capital. that's why you need to cage holbrooke or basically shoot down his idea of the political. >> host: they weren't sure they -- it's not easy to control. >> g

when you look at the balkans war in vietnam, you know, kissinger or holbrooke were in charge. the military was providing new of muscles so that they could go to initiations in paris or in dayton with the backing of the military. there was no negotiated settlement. so did general and his team in the military came to say that the savior of the war was this : strategy. not only was the savior of the war on capitol insurgency, which she was the architect of, and it is not only will will end the war, when actually can be america's global strategy in dealing with terrorism and fail saves and the pentagon, if you would, came up sort of all of america is the least and south is a policy. so you are right. the overhang. the military has an enormous amount of influence on the strategy. very early on the president succumbed to that and therefore the strategic review according to which she decided to put troops into afghanistan, first the smaller number in january 2009 and then a larger number in the fall of 2009, but essentially he ended up accepting that the solution to afghanistan was t

holbrooke, 2009-2011, as part of the special office, special adviser on pakistan and afghanistan. now, special adviser to the secretary of state. there always are other offices one discovers that do the same thing you do, and that's part of the problem as you lay out in the book which is fascinating. other works that you've done, sheer revival, i used in courses i've done, how conflicts in islam shape the future, forces of forchip, the rise of the new middle class and what it means for our world, and in these you tell certain great events that do come. .. >> host: i guess it's a confession in a way, but i had almost a fatal attraction to reading your book. and in part it's the kind of fatalism that if you've been around and watched, and i have observed many of the inner struggles. for me, this was the revelation, one of the revelations of your book, struggles that go on in the making of policy a few people see. most people like to see that everything is fine, the great minds, the best minds come together, the great leaders. and after careful talking and analysis come to decisions

contribution is on the time you spent as participant were you able to observe in your works with holbrooke and how he would, then had a reputation for larger than life. and with a very forceful actor on the scene, watching someone like that, and i think his influence. it reminds me that, you know, when you watch a policy is made, i don't mean to talk too much on this but it just want to start here, that the diplomatic corps, you don't have generals who are professionals, diplomats and to operate in that environment. and you like to think that the goal is conflict resolution and peace without war. how to negotiate. and it's not. there's so much in terms of personal satisfaction, the ethos of the players involved in their vision and their view is the most important. sometimes

week, valley nasser and the book "the dispenseful nation," and in it, former adviser to richard holbrooke refeels plans by the former ambassador and hillary clinton were disregarded by president obama for political republicans arguing afghanistan policy weakened america's ability to shape policy in asia and the middle east. this program is about an hour. >> host: welcome to "after words," and welcome, especially, vali nasr, a treat to see you after a long time away, great to have you here, and i have to tell you, i end joyed the book for perhaps different reasons, but i'll go through that, but i wanted to thank you very much for coming in today. vali nasr with us, dean of the school of advanced international studies at johns hopkins and the book "the dispensable nation: american foreign policy in retreat," which i have here, an iranian-american, political comem tear #* at a -- common at a timer, briefed congress, and many people, of he was born in 1960, and his family came to the united states having left iran after the revolution. he has a bachelor's, a master's degree from the fletcher

. >> you served in the state department, advised richard holbrook on afghanistan and pakistan.n your new book, you tell powerful stories about tension between the state department, pentagon on one hand and young aides in the white house. give us just a headline what you have there. >> in the context of what we're seeing, what richard holbrook would have stood for was that the president was handle syria the way president clinton handled bosnia, to empower america's diplomats to take leadership, to get the world community together, to create a diplom diplomatic path for breaking the conflict and ending it. we have a structure to make sure the president doesn't take decisive action on syria, to ensure we stay out of the conflict, the consequence is snowballi snowballing. from the beginning, including secretary clinton in alliance with general petraeus, the united states should get involved in syria earlier onto protect america's interest and prevent this becoming the horrendous conflict it has become. >> certainly is a disaster. the book is entitled "the dispensable nation" americ

well joining me is who served as senior advisor to ambassador richard holbrooke, the special representativeghanistan and pakistan. he is currently dean of the school of advanced international studies at johns hopkins university and is the author of the new book "the dispensable nation: american foreign policy in retreat". i even have a copy right here. welcome into "the war room," vali nasr. it does seem like a spectacularly good read given your experience. let's talk about syria, because that's what is at hand right now. the president has taken a long time to decide what to do here. how do you think he's handling it so far? and it is more about politics or the policy? >> it's really about defending view that he doesn't want to get engaged in the middle east he wants to reduce the importance in the middle east and focus on china. and if he were to focus on syria, he would be reversing his own policy. he has established that we are only going to get militarily involved or not involved at all. there's a lot we can do in between in terms of humanitarian assistance, and none of these have been

say about the policy but she actually faults your shop and the state department she says "neither holbrooke nor clinton produced a serious analysis of issuesikehe rruption the afghan gornmentr the pakistan military's coziness with the taliban. nor developed coherent approaches for addressing them." >> that's actually not a valid criticism. that's an operational issue at the lower level. the most important thing that the state department tried to do was to convince the white house that instead of just either choosing between the surge-- all in-- or just withdrawing everything and relying on drones-- which is all out-- there had to be a medium approach to ending the war which is focus on diplomacy give the primacy to a diplomatic solution that would engage the neighbors and also the afghan government and the taliban. put enough troops on the ground that would back up this plan. at the highest level the solution that the state department was looking for was never mart of the option the president considered for afghanistan. >> warner: but there were these arguments within your meetings which yo

nasr argues, while overlooking broader solustraons offered by his former boss, the late richard holbrooke and then secretary of state hillary clinton. vali nasr joins me now. welcome. why did you feel the need to write this book? >> i think it's important for us to have a good gauge of our foreign policy making, particularly with regard to afghanistan, which is very important foreign policy issue at the beginning of the obama administration and because i think the way we handled it has an impact on our standing in the region and our standing globally and i think we in many ways did not handle that war and the end of that war in a way they that protects our interests and i think the same set of approaches and attitudes towards foreign policy making is now governing our approach to syria, to the arab spring and also potentially more broadly in terms of the style of foreign policy that's very tactical, it's timid and cautious and too much driven by domestic political considerations and i think also still we are looking at our main form of engagement with the middle east through the prism of

now the full interview was teri holbrooke's is available for you on our website also there today medical mismanagement as a fortune thrown away very revealed that supplies of a bird flu drug worth over seventy million pounds been discarded in the u.k. due to faulty storage procedures. self-made space food all possible as nasa designs three d. printers that could allow astronauts to create some fresh and tasty meals in orbit all the details on that on our website our team. a u.s. senate committee has voted for bill to arm the syrian rebels who are trying to topple president assad's regime it's the first time in two years of the ongoing civil war that america's lawmakers have agreed to give the battling opposition lethal support however the bill still has a long way to go before it could come into force author and historian gerald horne believes washington has learned nothing from its past mistakes the pressure has really been ratcheted up in washington with regard to these rebels the israeli lobby in particular has been quite energetic and quite active with regard to lobbying for aid to t

full interview with terry holbrooke's is available for you on our web site www dot com also that medical mismanagement is a fortune is through the way it's been revealed that supplies have a birth new drug where the seventeen million pounds it's been discarded in the county to be stored procedures. self-made space food all possible as nasa designs three d. printers couldn't our astronauts to create some function nice to meals in orbit with details on that i once. the u.s. senate committee has voted for a bill to almost syrian rebels trying to topple president assad's regime it's the first time in two years of the ongoing civil war that americans don't make us have agreed to give the backing opposition lethal support for the bill it still has a long way to go before it could come into force weltering historian joe horn believes washington has learned nothing from its pos mistakes. the pressure has really been ratcheted up in washington with regard to these rebels the israeli lobby in particular has been quite energetic and quite active with regard to lobbying for aid to the rebels which i

to form a guard at the camp to holbrooke's explained why most prisoners would prefer suicide through starvation to be kept that some of the tactics i saw practice in guantanamo i just never really want to wish to relive again and then a great deal of bret takes place and then. i did make the most productive use of some years after guantanamo i tried to drown away some of those memories and that's just something that can be done to more potter and a number of other detainees i remember hearing just a few moments ago should care amir they were privileged to something we called the pre-book flyer program we're going to centrally move them every two hours be it a little move or a big move heidi it was every two hours they would be moved and they wouldn't be able to sleep this was essentially thought wear down their psyche and make them more probable to give a bit information during interrogation but what has question to me ever since when i first saw what was the but it seemed to me early all of these men were innocent that has the numbers are starting to show we've sent over six hundred

karen holbrook couldn't be here. i work in the emergency preparedness section and our section is responsible for medical surge events in the city. yesterday's exchange was really helpful in forwarding that planning ?oo ?a i'm greg jones, i'm the fourth surgeon for the marine expeditionary brigedand i'm representing the excellent sailors who were responsible for setting up and operating the shock trauma platoon. >> controls ingels, california national guard. i'm one of the airmen and soldiers, almost 21,000 strong, that answers the governor's mission. it's available to all civil providers out there and emergency responders and it is in california the substantial or the equal of many third world countries in terms of military force that can be applied to a disaster. >> i'm lynn wilder, i'm the emergency management coordinate roar at san francisco general trauma center and i'm also representing the san francisco council of emergency partnership which is the group of emergency management coordinators from each of the hos

talked to a former guard at the camp attorney holbrooke's explained why most prisoners would prefer suicide through starvation to being kept there. some of the some of the tactics that i saw practice in guantanamo i just never really want to wish to relive again omar kotter and a number of other detainees said they were privileged to something we called the frequent flyer program or even essentially move them every two hours whether removing them from camp delta camp echo or moving them from bravo block to charlie block be it a little move or a big move the idea was that every two hours they would be moved and they wouldn't be able to sleep this was essentially fought to wear down their psyche and make them more. probable to give up information during interrogation i think it speaks volumes about the conditions at guantanamo bob you see saying to him if suicide through starvation is prefer able to. staying alive and then going through the monotony of guantanamo distance the only reason the detainees are being force fed is that the the u.s. military or rather the powers that be are scared th

robert is calling from holbrook, illinois. what do you think about this?caller: i think we should do it. we need to raise more revenue to pay for all of the undocumented immigrants, their housing medical and schooling needs and if we're going to give amnesty to 11 to 18 million people, we need some sort of source of funding. >> bill: well, maybe you get to the right place with the wrong reasoning but i don't think you can call it amnesty. if you want to call it amnesty whatever. the fact of it is, robert, most of the people we're talking about, the 11 or 12 million they're here and have jobs and are already paying taxes. craig calling from niceville florida. hi craig. >> caller: you present this as sort of a moral issue right and wrong and we're hurting teachers and everybody cops by not spending -- >> bill: i would not call this a moral issue. but i think i support the bill. >> caller: okay. what i'm saying is if you think% that it's hurting local teachers and your local cops by not paying the sales tax there by buying local purchases, in the cases where

richard holbrooke? >> good guess! >> any other?e perfect for it. >> dr. brzezinski? >> my dad! >> they got rodman but who they wanted and reached out to was the greatest basketball player to ever live, michael jordan. the quote from the head of it, this project said jordan was not independence. >> yeah. >> good thing jordan didn't say yes. so we could be treated to some of this. >> when you said you loved kim and think he is awesome were you aware of his threats to destroy the united states and his rah jej regime to surrender the record on human rights? >> i don't understand what he is doing and couldn't condone that by saw people respect him and his family. >> aren't they forced to? >> i say no, because i think he is going to change something. he's a great guy. if you sit down and talk to him, perception. >> -- >> a great guy who puts 200,000 peep in prison camps? >> it's amazing how we do the same thing here. >> we have prison camps in the united states? >> we don't but this is all politics, right? he loves basketball! i said the

engagement with partners and something we tried to do from the very outset of our office when richard holbrooke first talked about this. leading a diplomatic campaign to bolster the military effort. we continue to convene them. a third of the numbers are from countries,-majority and has been very important in the communications messaging in afghanistan that this is not some classic civilization but something the muslim world has joined us on. it has been very helpful in terms of continuing to build the sustainability of what we seek to do after 2014. to use this network last year to mobilize $4.1 billion annually in international support through 2017 and also the international commitment of $16 billion of development assistance in afghanistan through 2015. our efforts tof match and partner on the military effort with the diplomatic one. expanding regional diplomatic efforts as well. several significant conference is over the past several years. one of which was in stable -- instanbul. for whatsponsibility will happen. when it first happened we were not sure it would be held again. it has now me

holbrooke first came was leading a diplomatic culture and the efforts. 50 other countries named similar and we have continued to convene them with the real emphasis not only on traditional partners, but a third of those from muslim-majority countries and have been very important in the communications messaging. something that the muslim world has joined us on and has also been very helpful in terms of continuing to build the sustainability after 2014. and to use this network to for the annual support and the international for development assistance to afghanistan out through 2015. significant sums that came out of our effort to match and partner on the military effort with a diplomatic one. several significant conference is the last few years, the istanbul process. it was the neighbors taking ownership of what will happen over the long term. we were not sure it would be held again. it was twice more with the deputy secretary representatives. and next year, china will host it. and obviously, what we have sought to do in terms of the integrated surges, trying to move forward on a reconcil