remaining so keeping some troops there it's all about how much he's going to get paid it's all about mr karzai isn't it. well he's. certainly no no virtuous figure when it comes to straightforward government in our sense of the word that there has been a major corruption problem and it's something that the karzai leadership has done nothing about as far as i can tell so. no we are leaving the the military is going to come out with the exception of a few thousand troops if those arrangements can be worked out and the. has the government or has the structure of afghan society changed because of our intervention during this past decade i think we have done some useful things in supporting the rights of women. it's people ask will is that really america's business to intervene in that in that sphere well that's that's an issue that we've stood proudly by over the over the decades. yeah but richard i mean it's afghanistan on the whole on the whole on the whole a better place after all of this or is it more or less the same if not worse in a way. well one mistake we made was not listening to. the so

mr. karzai and his cronies and still meet the challenges that my colleague spoke about earlier this evening. we're making choices here. we can build our infrastructure, we can pay for the unemployment insurance, we can educate our children. for those long-term unemployed that need a re-education, need to have that job skill, we can do it. and when we do it this economy will grow. the taxes will flow into the governments of the united states, including the federal government, the deficits will shrink, but you leave that long-term unemployment, as high as it is today, and we have put an anchor out the back of the great economic ship of the united states and we will not be able to move forward in a way hat addresses this issue, this fundamental, moral issue of america. are we providing enough for those who have too little? today we're not. but we can. and joining me tonight are two of my colleagues. from the east coast, paul tonko. you and i have spent many hours here on the floor discussing these issues. and joining me, our new colleague from the state of , mr. horsford. i'd like you to start

mr. karzai. is he with us? not with us?resident had every right to question what was the strategy at the time. it wasn't about the troops, it was about the mission going forward. that's what the president was elected to do. >> he had other military advisers in the room. >> he has the right to question. he should. if bob gates said he never questioned the military generals, i would be critical of that. he absolutely should. the problem is when they say when he's engaging american troops in a mission he doesn't believe in, or a strategy he didn't believe would be successful. as i said, i'm for winning the war in afghanistan, but if i thought the president thought we never could, i would be critical that he sent 20,000 troops to do what we couldn't do. we see what's happening in iraq today. >> i think first up, as you know, i had a son who served in iraq, and as a parent, i want the leaders -- the first priority, when they send our men and women over there, it's keeping them healthy and their well-being. but there's a bigger,

mr. karzai for your opinions but we don't care what you think. when there is new president in office we look forward to signing the agreement with him, keeping in mind just about all the major candidates for president in afghanistan said they would sign the agreement and urged karzai to sign it. what we need to do is take the artificial time pressure off. stop making karzai so important. wait until his successor takes office and then sign the deal with that successor. i think there is very good reason that successor will want to sign the deal with us. jenna: let's talk about a little bit about our approach to afghanistan in general. it is interesting in the article you compared and contrasted the way not only our country but the soviet union addressed afghanistan. one of the quotes that you used is this quote from a then candidate, barack obama. and what he was saying about afghanistan. let me just play that quote for us quickly and then i will get your reaction to it. >> above all i will send a clear message, we will not repeat the mistakes of t

mr. karzai. there's great deal of disappointment in afghanistan with his leadership and with the corruption around him with his failure to achieve the goals of security that he promised the people of afghanistan. he has not been anywhere shape or form the type of leader that we hoped he would become. no nelson mandela. he has been a real drag on the capacity of the united states to achieve its goals and while he's been the elected leader of that country, as far as i'm concerned, the sooner he goes, the better and contenders running for president are frankly fed up with him as well. i think that everyone is looking forward to his departure there. host: would you know there's a stand out currently for those running for president? guest: i really don't know yet enough which one will emerge. as twitter said, tribal equities and tribal leader will determine in some respects which candidate emerges rather than the people themselves. host: here's maria from new jersey independent line. caller: i like yo

it's unlikely president hamid karzai will sign a long-term security agreement, and after it was revealed that former u.s. defense secretary robert gates' book claims mr. obama, quote, can't stand karzai, the afghan president has now authorized the release of 72 taliban fighters from bagram prison. >> we were in touch through our amnesty in kabul, and others in afghanistan on this matter. >> republicans have hit the president for not having substantive talks with karzai since last summer. >> i do think it's concerning that the president has not engaged personally more often on an issue of such magnitude. >> as for the last time the president spoke to commander dunford, the commander on the ground -- >> i think i have answered the question. thank you. >> pressure is building on the president because supporters of new sanctions against iran are getting close to a veto-proof majority, in part because it's hard for the president to accuse lawmakers of wanting war when he himself is keeping the military option on the table. >> thank you. fierce clashes are being reported between iraqi special forces and al qaeda-linked militants who have taken control of p

mr. sedney let's stipulate that hamid karzai is being intransigent or stubborn or at least won't do whatthe u.s. wants right now. is this a break? a real break? >> no, i don't think it's a break. what it is a series of mistakes, including lots of mistakes on our side, as we almost seem to have empowered karzai in the last couple of months when he was more and more a lame duck. >> how did we do that sm. >> by setting deadlines which were never nervous, which we never meant. first we said october then we said november then we said december, and a couple of weeks ago we said a couple of weeks. none of those deadlines really had any basis in fact and they resulted in karzai strengthening his hand and playing to a domestic audience that may not exist which he thinks does, that pushes towards confrontation rather than progress. >> is he realigning himself as far as you can tell from this with the tampa bay in this? >> i think if there is a break if there is an announcement which i would think would not be wise on our part that we had decided to go for zero option. >> what does that mean, a zer

mr. obama briefly exchanged greetings with afghan president hamid karzai at last month's memorial service for nelson mandela. >> how could the two leaders not talk in month? >> they have had discussions in the past. there's not a lot of mystery about our views on this document. >> allies of the president, meanwhile, are raising questions about a curious passage near the end of the book where gates writes the president ended a meeting about iran by warning if anyone was writing memoirs, he had not made a final decision about the matter. gates writing, goat, i was offended by his suspicion that any of us would ever write about such sensitive matters. of course, gates ended up writing about a whole series of sensitive matters, which one top official told me is ironic, to say the least. they're expressing shock because officials say since gates ran the cia, he has always been known for discretion, but he's clearly decided to speak out and speak out loudly. >> ed henry live on the north lawn, thank you. >>> reaction from the troops who fought in rairaq and afghanista on the words of their boss

i am mr team that took me to watch the mosque out with me read to her. afghanistan's president karzai has ordered an inquiry into the u s air strike which killed eight civilians seven of them children. the nine ring targeting a residential area north of kabul despite the governance means for american forces to stop hitting villages local journalists aren't my inner demon reports from kabul for our tea. i then told obama to kimball marlins and that in afghanistan. i had to have been a loss of civilian casualties while the women was the was killed and seven children. that along with one civilian use in god are called in to the statements by that time it was at his office said they have asked to make is to give an exhibitionist of september bombings. this opinion yet this game. it has actually gets linked draws between and the balmy on provence in the west where it has that i've to do for the faa's last few weeks it has be in that the board has me actually see above for the pas few weeks that has torn at my angel for his announcement and fighting between the forces and un forces and once

the president doesn't trust his commander, can't stand hamid karzai, doesn't consider the war to be his. for him, it's all about getting out. mr. gates continued, president obama was skeptical if not outright convinced that his own strategy in afghanistan would fail. we have all the angles covered tonight. fox news senior political analyst begins our coverage. this is extraordinary, and charles kraut hammthammer said tonight, he believes of all the problems and incidents. this is number one. >> well, perhaps, megyn, certainly this is damning criticism of the president and his foreign policy, and of the behavior of those around him. it is not quite so rough on the previous president, president bush with whom secretary gates said he had more in common and whom he served long after most of the main foreign policy decisions had been made. and it is also extremely hard if not hardest of all on congress. so nobody comes out of this very well, and i might add, that i'm not sure secretary gates comes out of this all that well either. if he thought these things and felt them as strongly as he said he did, one wonders why he stayed as l

karzai of afghanistan. remember in the book it said that the president ordered troops to afghanistan despite believing that the mission would work out. also mr. gates said that the president simply could not stand karzai. here's a quote from the book. the president doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. for him it is all about getting out. yesterday jay carney was asked about karzai, rather lengthy exchange between jay carney and ed henry but it is worth it. listen to this. you stressed the president's commitment to the mission in afghanistan. they spoke to president karzai. they claim president obama has not spoken to president karzai since june or july. how is it that the two leaders -- if he's committed to the mission, how could the two leaders as you're negotiating a status of forces agreement, how could the two leaders not talk in months? >> when did we go to south africa? i was physically in the presence of both presidents when president karzai and president obama changed greetings. >> they had a substantive discussion about -- >> the president and president karzai have had discussions in the past.

karzai's government $3 billion. tell you why we we can spend $3 billion. mr. horsford, and we'll do the quick minutes here. mr. horsford: i want to accentuate. the need for infrastructure, in my home state of nevada, as you indicate, the lifeline of our primary industry, the gaming and ourmdr tourism industry is for people to get to our state to be able to enjoy our entertainment. we have legislation before this congress that would do just that, by helping to build a new interstate between phoenix and las vegas, the two major metropolitan communities in the intermountain west that don't have a major interstate between them that would help create a corridor between canada and mexico and provide trade and commerce that would grow our economy. those are the types of investments that we desperately need as well as an investment in our veterans. a third of my population in the 4th congressional district of nevada are veterans, people who have served our country with ties tinching shon and honor and have come back home and cannot find work and that's why we need to re-authorize the veterans employment and training a

mrs. harman? there can't leave a force without a status of forces agreement. by ink it will be signed karzai or his successor and i think the administration will a force of some size, small force, there. problem doesn't fix the of afghanistan. the government of afghanistan as to show more responsibility for the whole country. and the government of pakistan, impressive early start, has there, a sponsibility close neighbor of afghanistan, doing more to quell the cells, ce of terrorist terror organizations inside of pakistan. similarly in iraq. aliki has to organ all of iraq -- has to govern all of iraq. so we do have a responsibility and be ct our values helpful in the middle east. i don't think we should retreat. our narrative is not where it needs to be. responsibility to governmentall of our power, soft, smart and hard, terror cells there that might have the capability to attack ur interests or our homeland. this committee has done a good job of staying focused on it. pleased you asked me to participate on the panel. would urge one more time that on a bipartisan basis you attack show the re