holbrook and mcchrystal. >> holbrook and mcchrystal and all of our contracting with afghan companies. but... richard holbrooke. but there you run back into the problem of corruption and really... >> obama decreed we're going to make afghanistan a war that we're going to... that's the right war and we put a lot of resources into it that we never had. and a lot of people are kind of holding to: that it's been nine years but we never in these past nine years devoted as much to it as we have now. >> rose: tell me what the soldiers on the ground are saying. >> they're often there for relatively short periods so their view is often that things haven't changed much. they're there, they're fighting maybe individual areas like kandahar it has gotten better. they fight, they've gotten rid of the taliban, it seem mrs. peaceful but there's these i.e.d.s everywhere and you don't know what's going to happen next but there's often a lot of feeling is it really worth it. is it... what am i fighting in this desert for? >> rose: you hear that? >> you do hear that. and you hear a lot of contempt for the

. >> general stanley mcchrystal who is still very much with us but we did lose the nation's top counter insurgency guy because of some very impoll ticked comments he made to "rolling stone." >> ted sorenson, the architect of phrases like "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. " he was a marvelous man. >> sorry to see you guy, white house economic guru larry somers. the former harvard university president was the only one who acknowledged how global trade means lost american jobs gone overseas. sorry to see you go larry. okay, 15 minutes of fame, pat. >> pfc bradley manning. welcome to leavenworth, bradley. >> eleanor. >> shirley sherrod, the usda official who was fired for having -- when her remarks were taken out of context by a conservative activist. i'm flattered by her. you had a negative 15 minutes. mine is a positive 15 minutes for her, not for the scandal that followed. >> velma hart. she was the woman who respectfully but emotionally challenged president obama over his economic policies, and she famously told him that she was exhausted f

nevertheless, general mcchrystal's comments were very interesting. what did he say? basically what he did was he said he went to obama, he and his aides and presented them with the counterinsurgency plan to win in afghanistan. he said the situation is tough, but here is how we can win. he's that obama was uninterested. he didn't want to hear it. he was bored. he was disengaged. he didn't care. i said what i thought. by what the president -- let's remember obama was in the iraq war, but he was for the afghan war. that was the good work. that's what terrorism really was according to him. so you think you'd be either twin in afghanistan. in nature is a general the plan to win. now, i would suggest that one reason obama may be in different to winning is he doesn't want to win. what if obama feels in the anti-colonial framework that iraq and afghanistan toward colonial application. america is occupying those countries in the same ways, but the british occupy kenya and india. so this is not about fighting terrorism. about america as a rogue a-alpha crabbing what he can. th

but nevertheless, general mcchrystal comments were very interesting. what did he say? basically what he did was he said, he went obama can he and his aides and he presented them with a counterinsurgency plan to win in afghanistan. the situation is tough but here is how we can win. mcchrystal and his staff said obama was uninterested. he did want to hear it. he was more. he was in there was disengaged. he didn't care. that's odd, why would a president coalition and obama was against the iraq war that he was for the afghan war in the campaign. that was the good work. that's what terrorism really was, according to the. you would think he would be eager to win in afghanistan and yet here is a top general with a plan to win and obama didn't care. now, i would suggest that one reason obama may be indifferent to winning is he doesn't want to win. what if obama feels in the anti-clinton framework that iraq and afghanistan are wars of occupation to america is occupying those countries in the same way that the british occupied kenya and india. so this is not about fighting terro

there's still only 30,000 troops and general mcchrystal had been asking for 40,000 as a medium option. >> guest: yeah, but there were some 7,000 from nato. we just said another 14,000 marines -- >> host: it's not exactly its -- >> guest: but he was asking for 2013 and now they are in 2014. i just think, you know, the military kind of view and the administration view is closely aligned at this point. >> host: and that's absolutely right, and let's also interesting is the extent to which many of the arguments about afghanistan are very similar to the arguments that were being made about iraq a few years ago, because when we were in the middle of the iraq war, the critics were saying this war is incredible and we don't need to win because the real battle is in afghanistan, and now that we are in afghanistan we are hearing the war isn't winnable and indeed, that's not the central front of the war on terrorism, its pakistan, somalia, somewhere else. how do you respond to those criticisms? >> guest: on the -- i mean, there is a problem in yemen but that doesn't mean we should abandon the pa

fighting the ironic given the pushback of the time. >> host: it's still only 50,000 troops whereas mcchrystal had been asking for 40,000 as a medium option three >> guest: there was some 7,000 for nato. we just said the 14 -- >> host: it's not exactly disclosed. >> guest: he was asking 2013 and notes of 2014. i just think, you know, de -- the military kind of view of this and the administration view is closely aligned at this point. >> host: that is absolutely right. what's also interesting is the extent to which the arguments about afghanistan are similar to the arguments that were being made about iraq a few years ago because when we were in the middle of the iraq or not the critics would say that it's not winnable and we don't need to win because the real battle in afghanistan and now that we are in a afghanistan we are aware of the war is unwinnable. it's in pakistan, somalia, somewhere else. how do you respond to those criticisms? >> guest: and and there is a problem in yemen but that doesn't mean we should abandon the afghanistan pakistan is the central front for want of a better term.

it i was nearly sec. >> general stanley mcchrystal was asked to deresigned. >> as difficult as it is i think that it is best for our national security. >> the drug on four national troops and with troop withdrawal was on schedule. >> the draw out. >> this will still be on schedule. coalesced combat left iraq august 19th and 50,000 lestate to train the irq police. >> will continue to promote prosperity through a rock on their own. pam and also with continued elections on their own, with his second presidential term, prime minister was straining to put together a workable coalition with shiites. >> there will be difficult days ahead. but i'm absolutely confident that we will proceed. in 2011. >> i am samantha hayes, reporting. >> those last u.s. troops are slated to leave in 2011. >> and the no. 3/south korean difficulty. and they are predicted to be on a leadership course, north korea could be flexing its muscles with a shift in power from father, tucson. also, the housnational-security international security is urging china to step and >> we will be right back. > live, from the bay a

inaudible] advice that he gave along with the advice of secretary gates and general petraeus and that mcchrystal offered. we arrived at the right answer and we wouldn't have gotten there as quickly or at all without their contribution. the vice president played a role in that process. more recently, biden has been in the middle of the argument about whether troops should start coming out of the afghanistan next july. he was an important place in those deliberations to merge obama to set the timetable, not a deadline, and still from what i can tell is still fighting the battle today. biden has other important contributions in the senate the cargo for in the book one of which he was a champion for the [inaudible] and in a putting more cops on the street. he's always been interested in fighting more crime and regarded as a liberal he's been a knee-jerk liberal but in any sense for instance in delaware, he was strongly against school busing because it affected the schools in the district and so he's antagonized some liberal democrats for having that position and he's not carry as i say, he's not a d

. >> host: after mcchrystal was asked for a surge of 40,000. >> guest: but there was 7,000 from nato. >> host: not exactly but close becky said 2013 now 2014. the military do is pretty closely aligned at this point*. >> host: that is absolutely right. what is also interesting is the extent of arguments of afghanistan are similar to those being made about iraq a few years ago because the critics were saying the war is not winnable because now that we are in afghanistan we hear we cannot win it and that is not the rio problem it is pakistan and somali and some are also how you respond to the criticisms? >> there is the problem in yemen that does not mean we should abandon the pack. afghanistan and pakistan is the central front in a better term. outcry was founded in pakistan in 1988 in the northwest frontier province and an area they know very well. and a subset to that you are making is because of pakistan we should be doing less in afghanistan. >> host: people say we should focus on pakistan. >> guest: we need to do both. short of an attack in manhattan, we cannot send ground forces.

it didn't hurt that that issue also featured the explosive general stanley mcchrystal interview that to his downfall. the lady gaga cover of cosmo sold about 1.7 million copies and the "vanity fair" issue with her on the cover sold nearly half a million copies. >>> something fascinating about her to watch. >> the interesting thing on that study was that taylor swift was the worst. anything she was on saw the worst numbers. a nice wholesome girl does note sell magazines. >> therapists sue bret favre over sexually suggestive text messages. favre sent them messages during his time with the jets in which he asked them if they wanted to get together, suggesting he had bad intentions. therapists say favre cost them the part-time job. the lawsuit comes days after he was fined for not being candid in another case in which a former employer accused of quarterback of sending lewd photos to a game hostess. >>> 5:56 and a lot more is coming up on today in the bay. >>> convicts need help with their farms. how a lot of prisoners are logging on to facebook and playing farmville. >> 2011 will be a g

the issue that the president and general petraeus and general mcchrystal dealt with over and over again was corruption. there is a power dispute in afghanistan. was the parliamentary vote valid? i do not know if there is a sweeping answer that the president has pushing forward in afghanistan. particularly when corruption is so pervasive. host: aamer madhani is with "the national journal." go ahead, caller. caller: the issue with jobs is that many of these corporations that have enjoyed years of corporate welfare or socialism thanks to the republican party have chosen to leave this country behind and go to china for huge profits. in the short term, that is beneficial to them -- the huge profits in china. they do not want to pay labor. they would prefer the 30 cents an hour in labor. china will eat their lunch as well. why would china wants to buy products from the u.s. when they already make those products there in that country? ultimately, a corporation will move to asia and probably africa where they can continue exploiting the cheap labor. i would like to know your comments. thank you

caller: there was the firing of general mcchrystal.ut the military realizes that if they allowed their griping comments to be recorded, they would get fired anyways. but for instance has he ever done after a republican district to harm them, the way that old fashioned political leaders would have done? there have been no consequences for the party of no as far as i can see. host: -- guest: this is the big difference between obama and clinton in the primaries. she had more experience. what we have seen with obama as president is the real evolution on how to be president. he is or does, good that time management, but not so much at communication. i run a, called the great communicator during the campaign -- ironic, as he was called the great communicator during the campaign. i think that we will see more attempts to communicate more effectively. we saw that towards the end of the year, when he had two press conferences. one of them right before christmas. we are also seeing them getting better at using the power of government. we saw tha

linkages between the technologies and the people, and here, let me give a shout out to general stanley mcchrystal and many people down range, who have figured out ways to flatten our corporate hierarchies and benefit not only just from new technology but from teamworker, and i think here, the defense sector broadly defined, not just industry, but some of operators in the field in uniform have taught a lot, and that could probably be a benefit for corporate america and others, so i have just begun to list some, and i will stop here. >> thank you. if i want to give you a chance to weigh in on some of the comments that have been made here and comments that you may want to react to. >> yes, i am enough of a sports fan that, i would like to see this hanging next to the state championship in basketball, but i would like to reinforce walters point. i wanted to buy 40 of high- school class reunion a few months ago. yes, yes, you can give the grief about how old i am now. one of the things i said is that one of the things that struck me as i saw the spirit awards, and i saw the anti-bully and posters and