general david petraeus has since apologized for the deaths. >> smith: karzai repeatedly complained tothat the raids were backfiring. >> (shouting) >> smith: protests were mounting, even as petraeus made efforts to reduce civilian casualties. >> (shouting, chanting) >> the accumulation of civilian casualties, mistakes-- all mistakes, to be clear-- i mean, we were very, very tough. >> smith: karzai complained repeatedly, he told you that you had to stop running night raids. >> again, i understand absolutely the pressures that karzai was under. and i sought to convey to him the challenges with which i was having to deal as the commander of u.s. and coalition forces in afghanistan. war is full of mistakes, full of incredible loss, uh, tragedy, heartbreak, hardship, uh, and, and casualties. >> smith: when i asked general petraeus about this, he says, "look, well, war is messy, these things happen." >> yeah, no, it happens, but we virtually never held anyone accountable for civilian casualties. i mean, we paid condolences, and sometimes we said, "it wasn't us." or, "sorry, it's a mistake."

general petraeus. danielle: let me fill in a couple blanks as somebody who is a few levels below that and on the ground -- david: let me fill in a couple pwhrapbgs as somebody who is a few levels below that and on the ground. i was a two-star commanding, 101st airborne division. we had a very close affinity personally then also about the 101st airborne division. we were back in washington in october of 2002. i had just returned a couple months earlier from a year in bosnia. prior to which i had been the chief of staff of 18th airborne corps, which at that time had the plan for the invasion of iraq. we always had a plan for this. after meir in bosnia, i -- after my year in bosnia, i was asked to stop on my way home. the 18th or *r airborne was in afghanistan. they read me in. i was going to be a commander going in. i was asked my assessment of the plan a couple months later after i was in command and we had been war gaming this. i said i feel that we are too light if they fight. in other words, it was 1

the only one that had a clue was general petraeus. i went back to the pentagon and told the chairman and other chiefs that we have a low-level insurgency on our hands, fourth of july weekend, and we will pull out 50% of the troops. -- after the fourth of july weekend, and we will pull out 50% of the troops last summer. -- that summer. after rows finishing my remarks, we have a briefer come in that would give us the milestones of schedules for it. i told the chairman, we have a low-level insurgency on our hands and this will grow in scale and size. the army will bear the burden of this, and we are not prepared to fight it. because we purged ourselves of the doctrine and we will be encapsulated. we are very adaptable. we changed the invasion plan dramatically and dealt with what is in front of us. i knew in time we would get it right. as for the near term, i knew it would not happen. the response to me was, i don't think you should use those terms around here. and i said, let me tell you, mr. chairman, you don't know me but this is the

at meetings inside the white house, general david petraeus was foremost among those pushing for a newstan had been that we'd never even had the right big ideas, the right overarching strategy. you just can't drone strike and delta force your way out of the problem. >> smith: petraeus advocated a strategy known in military jargon as counterinsurgency-- or coin. (distant siren blaring) >> the overriding mission of counterinsurgency has to be to secure the people. we must be partners there, good neighbors. to do that you have to, in iraq, live among the people and there you... >> smith: petraeus had championed counterinsurgency in iraq. he explained it all at a major national security conference in washington. >> what we are doing is what we call full spectrum operations. the only way to do this is to apply all of these tools, not just conventional forces, which are... >> when the united states achievedome stability in the iraq war, it was through the application of counterinsurgency doctrine led by general petraeus. >> very significant reduction in security incidents in baghdad alone. >

--dave petraeus, don't send a shoulder where you could send a buddy -- a soldier where you could send a bullet. that approach could help us and he goes to the other question. the navy has to determine what is the most effective systems that we have and how many do we need. there are some systems, i believe they would determine if not necessarily effective and we have the political will, sometimes we don't, to accept those suggestions from the navy. the other issue, which we sometimes overlook, is contested logistics. the ability to move supplies overwater is going to be a real challenge. it will be ironically -- if we have 380 ships but none of them had fuel and supplies because we did not invest. congested logistics might be one of the most important topics the navy is facing as well as their ship structure. stacie: i would argue all the services and a former senior fellow published a report that was focused on congestion -- congested loaded -- congested logistics and the posture and the equipment and how to go about doing the hard work to support distributed aberrations and making s

my question goes back to your comments about general petraeus stating that the television should at -taliban should have been at the table. as her history teacher, are we learning from history? are we doomed to repeat it? do we had the capability in our government, the experts, the information to understand nations and people and issues better? my sun had years of training before he went to afghanistan where he learned the language and a lot about the people and realized when he got there important issues had not been covered. how are we doing in educating our nations decision-makers? host: thank you for your question and your sons service. guest: thank you very much for those points about the people that served in afghanistan, many of whom i got to know and was embedded with marines in the south and the u.s. army east of afghanistan. many of them were frustrated by the mission they were sent on. they increasingly saw it as an impossible mission that was very hard for them and many of them gave their lives for what turned out to be, i do think you can say it any other way but a disast

[applause] >> on friday, retired general david petraeus discussing the iraq war. the event looks at the run-up to the hostilities, the war itself, and the aftermath. life coverage hosted by the american enterprise institute begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> friday, watch the nra leadership forum live from indianapolis. it is hosted by the institute for legislative action with speeches by the nra ceond former vice president mike pence. he will hearrom 2024 presidential candidates, donald trump, and an entrepreneur. live coverage of the nra leadership forum friday at 2:00 p.m. eastern. >> fridays at 8:00 p.m. eastern, c-span brings you after words, where authors are interviewed by journalists on their latest bos. thiseek, a book which examines rising cases of fraud in the u.s., and explores motivations for committing white-collar crime. she is interviewed by the former fcc commissioner. watch after words every fda at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span . legislative work.ns monday for eastern.es back at 2:00 p.m. members willo o

keith alexander who was the director wanted to make sure that his classmate petraeus had what he needed to deal with the difficult situation in iraq. it was an opportunity to see the power of technology and imagination and using some of these technology capabilities to make a real difference on the ground in a significant way and help save lives. that was an epiphany about these capabilities for me. i was in a cyber battalion and then on cyber command. found myself in the private sector in morgan stanley and back to the government. i can't help it do a recruiting pitch. we are looking for technical experts that we are looking for people who are engaged in policy and communications and human resources and other operational risk management. we are building a different type of agency which is not a government bureaucracy is something that is much more like a public/private collaborative. building trust and adding value and being transparent and responsive is the name of the game. if people want to come join us, we provide flexibility. we have a great culture. i would say reach out to our t

effectively at autonomous vehicles that could be produced much cheaper and also in the words of david petraeus, don't send a soldier where you can send a bullet. don't send a man to ship where you can send an autonomous vehicle to do the task. so i think that approach could help us immensely. and again he goes back to one of the other questions we've had. we cut to determine the navy has to determine what's the most effective systems that we have, and how many do we need? and there are some systems that i believe it will determine if not necessarily effective and we have to have the political will and sometimes frankly we don't to accept those suggestions by the navy. the otherer issue i think whiche sometimes overlook which would be the most critical issue is contested logistics. the ability to move supplies overwater is going to be a real challenge. and it would be ironic beyond words if we had 380 ships but none of them had a fuel and none of them had supplies because we didn't invest in new type of logistical framework. in fact, i think right now congested logistics might be one of the mos

. >> general david petraeus has apologized for the deaths. >> the raids were backfiring.was anger at the government in the united states. >> the accumulation of civilian casualt's, mistakes, all mistakes to be clear, we were tough. >> karzai replaying -- complained repeatedly. >> i understand absolutely the pressures karzai was under and i sought to convey to him the challenges with which i was having to deal as the commander of u.s. and coalition forces in afghanistan. war is full of mistake scum of full of incredible loss -- mistakes, full of incredible loss, heartbreak, hardship, and casualties. amna: frontline airs at 10:00 p.m. eastern on most pbs stations and on youtube. geoff: and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i'm legally blind and yes, i'm responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand

. >> general petraeus apologized. >> karzai complaints the raids were backfiring.as was anger at karzai's government and the ited states. >> the accumulation of civilian casualties and mistakes, we were very tough. >> he complained and you had to stop running night raids. >> i asked -- i understand the pressure karzai was under and i conveyed to him the challenges i had to deal with as they coalition leader in afghanistan. war is full of mistakes and incredible loss, tragedy, heartbreak, hardship. and casualties. amna: frontline airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern on most pbs stations and on youtube. geoff: that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provid by -- >> actually you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be part of a team driving technology forward. i

was a west point instructor who who, who wrote a piece about how the current military leadership petraeus mcmaster jim mattis even have on shelves the wrong books about vietnam and they're falling two categories the bomb hanoi to the parking lot invade the north a kind of more better bigger stronger. and then the second group lewis sorley and so on the hearts and minds group. if we had just done more of that a one war in any case, way to we'd have won the war not, that this was a colonial struggle that had we still stayed there, we'd still be there, and we'd still not winning the war. thank you. okay, so i'm trying to remember the one that before i ever wrote and the book that really it to me and i think would be good is all quiet on the western front and then as a pentagon reporter i discovered through my husband that the military's favorite was once an eagle, which is a vietnam book. and i recommend that to you all because it ends up being an anti-war war book. and i tell you the the chairman of the joint chiefs commander of the marines, i can't remember all of them they said they picke

my question goes back to your comments about general petraeus stating that the television should at -ban should have been at the table. as her history teacher, are we learning from history? are we doomed to repeat it? do we had the capability in our government, the experts, the information to understand nations and people and issues better? my sun had years of training before he went to afghanistan where he learned the language and a lot about the people and realized when he got there important issues had not been covered. how are we doing in educating our nations decision-makers? host: thank you for your question and your sons service. guest: thank you very much for those points about the people that served in afghanistan, many of whom i got to know and was embedded with marines in the south and the u.s. army east of afghanistan. many of them were frustrated by the mission they were sent on. they increasingly saw it as an impossible mission that was very hard for them and many of them gave their lives for what turned out to be, i do think you can say it any other way but a disaster i

my question goes back to your comments about general petraeus stating that the television should at -liban should have been at the table. as her history teacher, are we learning from history? are we doomed to repeat it? do we had the capability in our government, the experts, the information to understand nations and people and issues better? my sun had years of training before he went to afghanistan where he learned the language and a lot about the people and realized when he got there important issues had not been covered. how are we doing in educating our nations decision-makers? host: thank you for your question and your sons service. guest: thank you very much for those points about the people that served in afghanistan, many of whom i got to know and was embedded with marines in the south and the u.s. army east of afghanistan. many of them were frustrated by the mission they were sent on. they increasingly saw it as an impossible mission that was very hard for them and many of them gave their lives for what turned out to be, i do think you can say it any other way but a disaster

it will be focused on the work itself, and on that panel we will have general david petraeus, general jack keane, and emma sky who was executive director of the jail international leadership center and hazard of the political advisor to the commanding general of the u.s. forces in iraq. so please do join us either online or in person for that event. it will be at the same time and can april 14 at aei.

was a west point instructor who who, who wrote a piece about how the current military leadership petraeus mcmaster jim mattis even have on shelves the wrong books about vietnam and they're falling two categories the bomb hanoi to the parking lot invade the north a kind of more better bigger stronger. and then the second group lewis sorley and so on the hearts and minds group. if we had just done more of that a one war in any case, way to we'd have won the war not, that this was a colonial struggle that had we still stayed there, we'd still be there, and we'd still not winning the war. thank you. okay, so i'm trying to remember the one that before i ever wrote and the book that really it to me and i think would be good is all quiet on the western front and then as a pentagon reporter i discovered through my husband that the military's favorite was once an eagle, which is a vietnam book. and i recommend that to you all because it ends up being an anti-war war book. and i tell you the the chairman of the joint chiefs commander of the marines, i can't remember all of them they said they picke

russia that takes this guy out you're doing a huge service to your whole world, former cia head david petraeusse is regime change in russia and it's very hard to read putin is holding on tight to power but just as you know from history, the unthinkable can suddenly become inevitable sometimes overnight and the search for such indicators. this is what an organization near and dear to our hearts is looking for. i am sure very, very at all levels speaks to the enemies of the people. frightened billionaires for one place, they will gladly sponsor any action. they are trying to carry out an activity that we can’t call anything other than a coup attempt, that we don’t understand that the coronazis who carry out their attacks on the territory of the russian federation rely on an extensive network of enemies of the people that operates on our territory and was introduced and was fed, including number. a significant number of western intelligence officers who worked in embassies under a diplomatic roof with what joy they met with various russian, supposedly oppositionists, and then we see how vladlen t

the former head of the cia, petraeus, puts on the southern direction of the kiev contrast.ening in american training camps in germany , great britain, poland and ukraine itself, they will be given western infantry fighting vehicles western infantry fighting vehicles in reality quite an outstanding list of weapons, and then in the end may early june there will be a hell of a strong offensive from the ukrainians, most likely in the south . probably it will be around the melitopol area and they will try to break the land line a link russia has established along the southeastern coast of ukraine connecting crimea, some politicians and military experts are predicting a strike towards the sea of ​​azov with the aim of potentially separating or not cutting the front at the same time. hooded supply routes to crimea, while others offer to strike at the russian flanks in lugansk or kherson russian troops have strengthened the defense of the crimea after the attack of unmanned boats sevastopol entrance to the harbor. now guards at least six physical barriers with night explosions in s

the former head of the cia, petraeus, puts the attack on the southern direction of the kiev counter.s happening in american training camps in germany in great britain, poland and ukraine itself, they will be given western infantry fighting vehicles western infantry fighting vehicles in reality quite an outstanding list of weapons, and then in late may early june there will be a damn strong offensive from the ukrainian side, most likely in the south probably around the melitopol area and they will try to sever the land line that russia has established along the southeast coast of ukraine connecting crimea some politicians and military experts predict a strike towards the sea of ​​\u200b\u200bazov with the goal of a potential separation or not a front dressing at the same time. bonnet supply routes to crimea, while others offer to strike at the russian flanks in luhansk or kherson, russian troops have strengthened their defenses crimea after the attack of unmanned boats of sevastopol, the entrance to the harbor. now at least six physical barriers are guarded by night explosions in seva

we'll take you now to american enterprise institute, a forum featuring retired general david petraeusake ago look at the iraq war. we'll take you to that program already in progress. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for it

it will be focused on the work itself, and on that panel we will have general david petraeus, general jack keane, and emma sky who was executive director of the jail international leadership center and hazard of the political advisor to the commanding general of the u.s. forces in iraq. so please do join us either online or in person for that event. it will be at the same time and can april 14 at aei. please join me in thanking bob and mel. [applause] [inaudible] >> just hanging on. [inaudible conversations]