host: let's talk about that, michael kugelman. what are your thoughts on the afghan army laying down their arms? guest: this is something many scholars will be studying for years. i think it was building 2 that point. what we have seen -- to that point. what we have seen over the years and the last few weeks was a military that was increasingly beleaguered. the u.s. combat mission formally ended in 2014, which means u.s. put the afghan forces on the front line of fighting the taliban insurgency. they were not ready for that yet. things did not improve, and in more recent years military commanders, and foot soldiers felt they were not getting -- years, military commanders and foot soldiers felt they were not getting the support they needed. you had many not getting paid on time or not getting paid at all. things got so bad in the last few months with the cases of the afghan troops not having food and water. so then, when president biden made his decision or announcement to withdraw, i think that really took a point in the military

host: let's talk about that, michael kugelman.are your thoughts on the afghan army laying down their arms? guest: this is something many scholars will be studying for years. i think it was building 2 that point. what we have seen -- to that point. what we have seen over the years and the last few weeks was a military that was increasingly beleaguered. the u.s. combat mission formally ended in 2014, which means u.s. put the afghan forces on the front line of fighting the taliban insurgency. they were not ready for that yet. things did not improve, and in more recent years military commanders, and foot soldiers felt they were not getting -- years, military commanders and foot soldiers felt they were not getting the support they needed. you had many not getting paid on time or not getting paid at all. things got so bad in the last few months with the cases of the afghan troops not having food and water. so then, when president biden made his decision or announcement to withdraw, i think that really took a point in the military and ma

michael kugelman, thank you very much. was whether we wanted to save our people — and japanese as well — and win the war or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly- caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life — no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: an olympic sprinter from belarus who was ordered home is granted a humanitarian visa by poland, after taking refuge at its embassy in tokyo. 26 gold medals up for grabs on day 11 o

well, earlier i spoke to michael kugelman, who's deputy director of the asia program and senior associateafghan forces were strong enough to repel the taliban attack. unfortunately it will be very difficult. the fact that us air power is about to be removed from the battlefield equation with the withdrawal coming, that means that the afghan air force is going to have to step up and be providing a very important role security helping ground forces and trying to push taliban fighters out of cities. for many years, one of the many reasons why the taliban has not been able to seize cities is that afghan forces have been able to depend on assistance from nato air power to push them out but now it is going to be a lot different and i do fear that it, we could see a few major cities in afghanistan fall in the coming weeks and the coming months and this is a game changer. for the taliban to be entering cities is a game changer because for many years has been a puddles, in rural areas, but the afghan government maintains control of the cities but we are starting to see that stalemate could be shat

michael kugelman is the senior associate for south asia at the wilson center.ghanistan. ideally, he would have been able to negotiate some sort of peace deal or ceasefire before he had called for their withdrawal. but that would not happen. the taliban has insisted for quite some time that all us troops had to leave and after they would leave, that would be when they would be ready to discuss other issues. the other thing to consider here is that even though presdient biden i decided to delay the withdrawal and he would eventually had to withdrawal and this is someone who has long opposed to military presence in afghanistan for a very long time. so if he had kept the troops in the country he had been prolonging the inevitable which would have brought some relief to afghanistan and the afghan people but any type of extension or keep troops in afghanistan before the withdrawal deadline, this would not have lasted very long so we would have been in this spot no matter what. would have been in this spot no matter what-— would have been in this spot no matter what.

michael kugelman is the senior associate for south asia at the wilson center. and hejoins me now.drawal date from his predecessor, could he, should he have made changes to it to delay the us withdrawal? well, ideall he delay the us withdrawal? well, ideally he would _ delay the us withdrawal? well, ideally he would have _ delay the us withdrawal? well, ideally he would have been - delay the us withdrawal? in ideally he would have been able to negotiate some type of peace deal or some type of ceasefire before he had called for the withdrawal. but that was not going to happen. the taliban had insisted for quite some time that all us troops had to leave and then after us troops left, that is when it would be ready to discuss other issues. the other thing to consider here is even if president biden had decided to delay the withdrawal, and there would have been good reason to do that, he would have eventually had to withdraw, this is someone opposed to a long—term military presence in afghanistan, for a very long time and so if he had kept troops in the country, he essentially would ha

host: we are joined by michael kugelman, the asia program deputy director at the asia center.e focus on afghanistan, asia, and pakistan for the organization. let's begin with the attack at the airport and what does it