the taliban have managed to do that. extol ors and ground have found that ethnic identity and solidarity is key to understanding taliban success. far more important than military prowess or economic aid or even good government. many people identify with the taliban. the kabul government is often associated with the outsider, with foreigners. in the book counter gore ill yu, there is a recounts of a battle in which local afghans join the taliban even though they were not aligned with the group. they simply felt they had to join the fight and fight against the outsiders. and no matter how much money and services the united states may provide, it remains the outsider. there are other reasons for taliban successes. well it is difficult to think of a single case in history in which an insurgency was defeated when it had a sanctuary across the border and the taliban has enjoyed a haven in pakistan and help from the country's military and benefited from the massive corruption unleashed by the tens of billion dollars of american

to keep sanctions on the taliban. the choice for the taliban is clear. the only path to legitimacy is through the democratic process and the peace deal that serves the interest of the afghan people. my message to the taliban is this. if you want to play a role in government and avoid international pariah status, seriously pursue a peace deal, participate in the democratic process, entry women as equal members of society. this is the only way the world will see you as legitimate. in closing, these are very difficult issues and there are no good options. but now that the president has made his decision we need to focus on the implications and chart a path forward that is in our interest. i want the committee to be deeply engaged in that process and i expect consistent and consultation and every step along the way. i recognize the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. like many others i have deep concerns about the administration's rush for the exit in afghanistan. most everyone agrees we need to seek reasonable and to the war and our troops should co

from the taliban one troop withdrawal so i think the taliban are also looking at an opportunity one that. is as such that. it would be easy for them to take over on a couple which definitely in. for. a month and victorious one time you'll find the us secretary of state antony blinken has hinted that other nato countries might follow suit and also withdraw their troops from afghanistan is now the time we need to close the book on the afghan conflict. well. definitely for some nations they're saying that they're going to be closing the book both for after the conflict will continue and you know this was actually going to be the end of the war and i think that this is something that tree or to be taken into account. and that you know foreign governments have to be clear on their intention they want to leave but the war will continue now the lincoln letter that was sent to president back in february left an opening for all of the country actually stay in for more regional force to be established in order to help afghanistan satellites and help the government of afghanistan. security while it

they bribed the taliban to be, you know, named taliban and thus get out of the afghan jails.soned for 20, 30 years. so when you clearly nailed it down, the doha agreement is not working as it was envisioned. so it needs revision, it needs review and it needs modification. but... and we are not party to it. but isn't the truth... we are not party to it. isn't the truth, mr vice president, that for very clear personal reasons, you will never be prepared to make peace with the taliban. you are a fighter. you're a protege of the northern alliance's leader, ahmad shah massoud. you've made a life confronting the taliban. they've tried to kill you. they and their associates in different militia organisations have tried to kill you on many different occasions. 0ne infamous incident in 2019, when suicide bombers went to your campaign headquarters. they killed more than 30 people. you're one of the few people to escape alive. you and the taliban are in a blood feud to the end, aren't you? as a patriot, nationalist afghan, i am ready to suppress my personal feelings and i will be a drop

the question is are taliban listening to this conclusion, and for the taliban and cease-fire, and they are going for this. ordinary afghans are asking for this, the claim to have more-- are asking for this, but the taliban are not listening. there's a huge desire for peace, and the taliban-- >> when you say a huge desire, like a clear majority of afghans want this in your view? >> i think a clear majority of afghans want a political process, want to try to hold true talks and despite the suffering and grievances and the traumatic memories from the taliban peers, and despite that people want a -- an opportunity for the taliban, to sit down and in a way that's not nonviolent. because the biggest, the big est has been born by ordinary afghans and civilians this this country. >> and i think probably to the last question, if not the penultimate. so i'll direct this to afghanistan cunningham, is this a moment for shifting priorities from counterterror to the security of afghan? i'm not sure those are contradictory aims, but anyway, these goals are not always compatible this person says, and

i think the taliban have elements that want to move on. they want to be part of the country, i think they given up taking it over. there are some pretty hard core folks. so what i would advise the biden administration as you continue to work with the u.n. and others to end the war, that you reinforce to the taliban that their conditions that matter to us, that an international peacekeeping force will be present. because the world is at risk here. look what happened in the opera house or the movie theater, i can't remember, i think the music hall in paris? that came because we left iraq. they formed safe haven in syria, and they came after the french people. so i would like the world to know, our nato allies, that you're at risk as much as we are. here's what's so sad, i've been called by three major allies in the last month urging me to urge president biden to stay the course, because they would. there is no desire by nato to leave. we're talking about -- we're up to 140,000 at one time, i think. now down to less than five. so i'm hoping t

forces and not succumb to the taliban?n clearly feels that it is in a winning streak. it claims 70% of the country. the problem is that has never been a military solution in afghanistan. the real challenge is there is at the moment no political will by either side to come to the kind of solution that wouldead to power-sharing or an end to a long-standing civil war. katty: you were speaking to u.s. forces and to central command while you were there in afghanistan, robin, what is their take on this withdrawal timetable? robin: well, the u.s.-taliban agreement always called for u.s. withdrawal as of may 1. military commanders told me that they believed may 1 meant may 1, and after that the taliban would feel that if the u.s. were still there, they had the right to attack american forces, nato forces and contractors who were supporting the afghan military. so there is a sense that since there is no political will, it is the only option, to withdraw. there is a real sense within the military that they invested a lot in the way

and the taliban agreed to in february 2020, under president trump, so long as the taliban talked peacented al qaeda from having a safe haven in afghanistan. >> yang: violence has been unrelenting. nearly 2,000 afghans were killed in the first three months of the year. some war-weary afghans still think u.s. troops are leaving with promises unfulfilled. >> ( translated ): the americans have not fulfilled their responsibility to afghanistan. their responsibility is to ensure a strong government, the rule of law, and democracy in afghanistan. >> yang: one issue of major concern: what happens to progress made for women and girls, who've flourished since escang the taliban's austere interpretation of islam. but today on capitol hill, senate majority leader chuck schumer praised biden's decision. >> it's time to bring our troops home. america does not need to fight forever wars. >> yang: minority ader mitch mcconell said it could lead to increased violence in afghanistan. >> apparently we are to help our adversaries ring in the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by gift wrapping the country and

itself against the taliban. u.s. and coalition forces stayed in that country for two decades trying to make that happen, fighting the taliban directly, yes, but also trying to stand up and support an afghan government and afghan security forces to fight and resist the taliban themselves. but look at this at a human level. look back at what happened to david rohde and his two afghan colleagues back in 2008 and 2009. they were kidnapped while on their way to interview a taliban commander. that taliban commander had been interviewed by other western journalists in the past, but for whatever reason he decided he would double cross them and kidnap them instead of giving them their interview, and what david rohde was able to piece together from captivity, what he would later write about for the times is the fact that only for the first week that he was kidnapped, only for the first week that the taliban was holding him and his colleagues, only for the first week were they in afghanistan. after just one week they took

the taliban. as this sensible leaders of got in a stand. to get them out of power, to punish them for giving the al-qaeda terrorists move a haven. a client a launch the 9/11 attacks against us, in the u.s. invasion push the taliban out of power in afghanistan. to punish them for the actions of al-qaeda. and to prevent them from harboring al-qaeda again. or any other transnational terrorist entity that could threaten the united states again in the same way in the future. i say it that bluntly because that is explicitly in the authorization for the use of military force that congress passed after 9/11, that has been used as a justification for the ongoing u.s. were there ever since. for the two decades. but it's to posing the taliban, taking them out of power, was step one, step two was never all that clear. the overall idea, was to keep the taliban, from returning to power, by standing up a different afghan government that could govern the country and hold the taliban obey, that could defend itself

it's also a very important message for the taliban to hear. as i think you know, i just came from, we consulted the with all native allies. the message i heard from them was strong and clear, they are proud of what we have done together over the past 20 years equally committed to continuing partnership with afghanistan. for all of us, it's been a long journey to this moment. there's a great deal of work and planning to do in the months ahead to ensure the withdrawal is responsible, deliberate and safe but that work is going to be matched by support for afghanistan, economically diplomatically, politically. i do want to say as we proceed, we will remember extraordinary courage, strength sacrifice of our troops with certain afghanistan for the past two decades. at its height, the international security system force had troops from 50 nato countries and partner nations. today resolute support, troops from about 35 allies and partners. the service members risk their lives, thousands gave their lives and we have succeeded in achieving what we have

russia china and pakistan met with the taliban in doha and this is happening as the u.s. begins a gradual drawdown if it's remaining troops in afghanistan some of the generators here in doha with more on the talks. this is the biggest concern that all parties have who are engaged in these talks that the violence is going to increase in of going to stand in less than 48 hours when the deadline expires as per the agreement between the taliban and the united states that all foreign forces will leave the united states has indicated with its new administration that the u.s. forces are going to be withdrawing gradually that they would draw will begin from a the 1st but it will not be completed at that time which has been a longstanding demand of the taliban and to discuss that special representatives and on boys from russia china the united states as well as pakistan attended this meeting with the taliban where all of these issues were discussed the taliban insisting that they need to see their prisoners being released a few 100 of them still remain in prisons they need to be d

that's an opportunity for taliban if they're willing to take it. to sit down and really generally engage in discussions for the differences in a way that's nonviolent. because the biggest cost has been borne by many afghans. and by civilians in this country. >> getting to the last question, so all direct this to ambassador cunningham. is this a moment for shifting priorities from counter-terrorism to the security of afghans, i'm not sure those contradictory names. but anyway, the schools are not always compatible and in the past, defeating terror has taken precedent since over domestic instability, would you think about that? >> i agree with you. it's not one or the other, they go together and as i said before, actually most of the work on counter-terrorism right now, has been done by the afghans with foreign assistance. including american assistance but they are a partner and counter-terrorism in all afghan territory. and that's a very important asset to have. this is an islamic state that's working with us to counter violent islamic terrorism. an

this was not taliban controlled territory where this is not the taliban heartland. as as a result of u.s. involvet the taliban became strong in the province and was brought in kind of to help the local insurgency fight the americans. so in some ways it really is, there are places that have not seen the taliban presence at all pre-2001 pre-2001 that now are governed by the taliban. there are also decreasingly but still some pockets south of the pech in areas that are governed by the islamic state which is the group that didn't exist before american involvement. there's quite a great deal of bitterness about americans come with good intentions but not fulfilling the promises and in some cases leaving things worse than they started. >> well, colbert has led to the deaths of half a million americans, and so it certainly caused us to look at national security in a different light -- covid. how much of a threat to terrorist groups in afghanistan really pose to the u.s.? >> it's a really difficult question to answer and i think the long and short of it is at the united sta

the taliban wanted to present us with a positive image.t the trip we were accompanied by them at all times. residents we spoke to support the group saying they brought security but later, we were told about villages being slapped for shavg their beards or having stereos smashed for listening to music. >> the taliban has criticized the u.s. were not withdrawing its troops by a may 1 deadline agreed last year. it said washington broke its word and in principle taliban fighters could take what they called countermeasures. here is one defense analyst who says the real threat taliban poses will only emerge after foreign rces leave. >> the aims of the afghan government stated they have the desire and intent to make a political sentiment factions of the taliban. i don't believe the taliban have the inclination or intent to reciprocate the political nature of that message. i believe it is only going to be a matter of months, certainly by next year without the u.s. and british and nato presence to support the african governments with the taliban wi

but it's hard the taliban is in control over much of the country. and women are already seeing many of their hard won rights rolled back. their almost weekly attacks on afghan forces and civilians alike. this is no peace. despite this donald trump promised all u.s. forces would be out by may the 1st this year. president biden also wants troops home but in coordination with nato allies we still have thousands of personnel there. wired ministration strongly supports the diplomatic prague process is underway and to bring an end to this war that is closing out 20 years. although he won't meet trumps may deadline september is the new date. a month that will mark 20 years of a costly war with little victory to tool called. a new deadline a poignant day to stick a closer look now with the early lity fi agent list in kabul afghanistan and it was terry schultz who is in brussels covering nato h.q. i want to give you the 1st word ali not exactly a surprise this is a decision given that previous u.s. administrations also set deadlines to pull out troops still

>> i do think the taliban has a choice to make at this time. they can be pragmatic or a permanent pariah. it appears to me they want certain things like including international recognition and legitimacy and lifting of un sanctions. the ability for the leaders to travel freely and none of this will happen if the taliban were deep in their already violent conflict to fulfill the obligations of whatever peace settlement is reached. i do think obviously they have a key role to play and they can make the choice. but they have to recognize the fact they cannot go on like this either. i do think, and often asked if i'm an optimist or pessimist. i'm an optimist two worries a lot. i am worried that various parts of this will happen, but now i prefer to look at this as a way for us to change the dynamics as many have talked about, but we have to be prepared and it really does make a difference in the way the afghan government now begins to look at the political issues how to deal with the internal problems afghanistan has had in terms of the issues of c

regional security challenges and peace talks with the taliban. posted by the atlantic council, this is one hour. >> good morning to all listeners in the united states, good afternoon. good evening to afghanistan, thank you all for joining us thanks also to those watching on c-span. i'm president and ceo of the atlantic council. it's an honor to open today's conversation jointly hosted by the atlantic council center and rockefeller brothers fund. afghanistan faces a stark reality of the united states prepares to withdraw its troops from the countries after two decades on the ground in the september 11, now postponed the conference, underscore the urgent need for robust sustained coordinated international action in afghanistan and before afghanistan and with the security political and humanitarian consequences of the withdrawal are interest has proven to be a leading voice of afghanistan for months, high-level experts, officials and scholars from the united states afghanistan and europe coming together to study advanced solutions for the future of

troops leave the country and their civil war or if the taliban takes power on is enough that no woman will be able to study your work. also coming up the shady side of the what should be liquor brand that's long been a favorite of china's communist party elite. after they came to power i think turned the factory into a state owned enterprise. so you could provide them with. you about i'm going to get procreated the factory. and the owner who refused to hand over reason because miss was executed. once of our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with a deadline to end the longest war in u.s. history today u.s. president joe biden started the official count down for all u.s. forces to leave afghanistan the deadline september 11th 2021 the 20th anniversary of the 911 terror attacks in the u.s. which were planned in afghanistan the date which triggered the u.s. and its nato allies to attack and overthrow the taliban the goal at that time was to ensure that afghanistan would never again be a launching pad for terror today preside

in the afghan society that there is a bilateral agreement between the taliban and the u.s. not even with nato. and for sure not with the afghan government or the afghan civil society in this file actually agreement the set and date but not an end state and the problem is there is no really functioning i'm doing peace negotiations and they feel abandoned. because they the thing that after 20 years is not even a real framework for at peace process between the afghan government and the taliban civil society and for sure not even for women to have a strong seat with 50 percent of the seats and to suit courts negotiation table ok and so if we resort of make an appeal directly then as it were to the taliban what does afghanistan looms if women are forced into secondary positions in the country . well for sure is as i mentioned on the professions that women are working and we haven't even talked about women as teachers or doctors or part of the. the police or army offices they do they would lose all these professional women they would lose of course my job the education i'm a new

troops leave the country and there's a civil war or if the taliban takes tell our audience enough not woman to be able to study our work. also coming up the shady side of the what sheree liquor brand that's long been a favorite of china's communist party elite. after they came to power they turned the factory into a state owned enterprise so it could provide them with. robots i'm going it's procreated the factory. and the owner who refused to hand over reason because nys was executed. but to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with a deadline to end the longest war in u.s. history today u.s. president joe biden started the official count down for all u.s. forces to leave afghanistan the deadline september 11th 2021 the 20th anniversary of the 911 terror attacks in the u.s. which were planned in afghanistan the date which triggered the u.s. and its nato allies to attack an overthrow the taliban the goal at that time was to ensure that afghanistan would never again be a launching pad for terror today president biden said

they were protecting the farmers in this village from taliban attack. and they attested to us that the attacks had largely stopped. and in the place of those attacks had matured a commerce between the taliban forces that surrounded the village and the farmers of the village. and as we walked around this village, we made our way through fields of these beautiful, beautiful colorful flowers. and i turned to my colleague next to me, and i asked him if he had a sense as to what this crop was. and he said i think i do but let's confirm. so we asked one of the village elders what they were harvesting in these fields. poppy he told us. our u.s. military forces were protecting the poppy trade in this western province of afghanistan. in fact, protecting the ability of the taliban to come in and purchase that poppy in order to fuel the insurgency that we were fighting. our troops were literally being utilized to protect the revenue source of our enemy. and so no wonder our policy in afghanistan appears circular. in many ways it is and it has been for a very long

the taliban wanted to present us with a positive image.we were accompanied by them at all times. residents we spoke to at a local bazaar expressed support for the group, saying they brought security, but later we were told about villagers being slapped for shaving their beards, or having stereos smashed for listening to music. many, particularly in afghan cities, fear the taliban want to recreate their repressive islamic emirate of the 1990s. do you think that you did things wrong back then, and would things be different now? there's a diplomatic push for the taliban to agree to a power—sharing arrangement. so far, though, the group has shown little desire to compromise. the price of peace may well mean giving into more of their demands. secunder kermani, bbc news, balkh province. 0ur washington correspondent, gary 0'donohue, is at the white house. american troops are going home in september, what does this say about president biden�*s foreign policy? this is part of a wider pivot away from america focusing on international terrorist group

that the taliban won't take part in any further peace negotiations. after 20 years of international military engagement and billions of financial aid the u.s. and its allies set to leave behind a country that remains one of the poorest and most unstable in the world. and let's get the perspective from afghanistan on this matter i'm joined now by latif a journalist in kabul afghanistan thank you so much for joining us we heard in that report the fear among some that this troop withdrawal could potentially even lead to civil war how valid is this concern it certainly concerns a concern that's been around since 2013 but really right now a lot of the talk in the country is just sort of this is an answer you know people are expecting some kind of an answer from the united states but it's an answer that leads to more questions. it's more worry it's more uncertainty and people just kind of feel like you know is going to be 4 more months of worry for more months of wondering what's going to happen next so it's not really any kind of a solid answer it's an ans

the taliban playing very hardball. i think they believe the united states wants to walk and they've been tough in the negotiations. biden has said that diplomacy will be the center of my foreign policy and national security strategy. why aren't we putting that in play? negotiations with his conditions for a withdrawal to give our negotiators some leverage with the taliban? we have walked away from that opportunity. second thing here is we are forgetting lessons learned. ryan crocker, preeminent ambassador, said how you end a war is more important than how you started. we ended the war in iraq prematurely and we got isis as reported here very accurately. it was an absolute disaster on our part. haven't biden had a hand in that in the sense that general austin is now the secretary of defense, recommended a force of 18,000 to stay. vice president biden recommended to president obama we're going to zero. the second lesson is safe havens. the al-quaida attacked us from a safe haven in afghanistan. they did the same prior to

the agreement that the taliban signed with the u.s. in 2020 was not a peace agreement. it did--all he did was call for u.s. troops to leave the country by may 1 of this year so long as the taliban uphold commitments, none of which invve peace or reducing violence. you are looking at a situation where all that can be done at this point is for the u.s. to cut its losses and try to advance, try to help advance of peace process. let's be very clear, once u.s. troops have left -- once all u. troops have left afghanistan by september, the taliban is going to be very tempted to give up on any peace process that may still be alive and try to take advantage of the fact that all the foreign troops will be gone. it could decide to fully focus on the fight and try to win a war that it believes it has already -- it is already winning. peace is a very long way away in afghanistan, and i think afghans have a good reason to be very concerned about what could happen. i think this is the right decision for the united states, d any chance of peace coming to afghanistan does require u.s. f

out of power but still a significant force in afghanistan late last year the taliban and the united states were very very close to a major summit in camp david when everything fell apart at the last minute former president set a deadline for the withdrawal of the last few 1000 american troops for this may but president biden doubts that's going to happen so what's keeping us leaders from ending this forever war joining me to figure this out is stephen walt professor of international relations at harvard university and one of america's leading political scientists he coauthored the israel lobby with john mearsheimer in 2007 and most recently wrote the hell of good intentions america's foreign policy elite and the decline of u.s. primacy dr weil is terrific to have you on with us today talking about this let me just start for this is there ever going to be a time where america's generals america's strategic class think the conditions have been met to depart afghanistan you and i have been talking about this red decade and a half and it just feels like we've gone the full loop. i think

some say the taliban haven't changed, the taliban say they have changed.s than life and death. so i think there is still a chance this can work but there is also a chance it won't. let's talk about the other aspects i raised in the introduction, henry, and that this stand—off about ukraine we've seen perhaps reach its peak this week. we had troop movements involving the russians on the border they still have ukraine. joe biden responded by picking up the phone and saying, let's meet, let's talk. yes, there are sanctions and complaints about what russia has been doing, there has been a tit—for—tat expulsion of diplomats as the week comes to an end. but in the end, has america blinked first? because it looks like putin has mobilised his troops, rattled his sabre, and got a concession, a meeting, a big meeting with the president of the united states. well, he hasn't actually said yes yet, and i'm not entirely sure that he will. i think it will still depend on how things unfold over the next couple of months before he actually accepts biden's invitation. i mea

the taliban and the u.s.very close to a major summit in cap did dash cam david pigot trump set a deadline for the withdrawal of the last few thousand american troops for this may. the president doubts that is going to happen. what is keeping u.s. leaders from ending this forever war? joining me to figure this out is stephen welcome a professor of international relations at harvard university. he co-authored the israel op in 2007 and most recently wrote the hell of good intentions. it is terrific to have youon with us today talking about this. is there ever going to be a time where america's generals, strategic last think the conditions have been met to depart afghanistan? you and i have been talking about this for a ticket and i have. it just feels like we've gone the full loop. >> i think that's right. given the way they have defined the objectives, no, we are never going to reach that point. they define the objectives quite unrealistically, suggesting afghanistan not only has to be no longer a possible safe

troops leave the country and their civil war or if the taliban takes power on is enough woman to be able to study or work. also coming up the shady side of the what sheree liquor brand that's long been a favorite of china's communist party elite. after they came to power i think turned the factory into a state owned enterprise. so you could provide them with. robots i'm going to fix procreated the factory. and the owner who refused to hand of reason because nys was executed. on survivor viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with a deadline to end the longest war in u.s. history today u.s. president joe biden started the official count down for all u.s. forces to leave afghanistan the deadline september 11th 2021 the 20th anniversary of the 911 terror attacks in the u.s. which were planned in afghanistan the date which triggered the u.s. and its nato allies to attack and overthrow the taliban the goal at that time was to ensure that afghanistan would never again be a launching pad for terror today president biden said that goal

but a spokesperson for the taliban already announced that they would not take part in the next roundf so-called peace talks with afghanistan which risk turkey at the end of this months and the taliban the level of while insists is still high and of god has done it's targeting the civil population the civilians and the taliban threat to attack the troops again so this bill of caused the whole country and the troops if left it's no less sure that the taliban do take over again and that we reach the same status we had 20 years ago when nato went in ok this potential withdrawal bound also coming as nato is facing a threat much closer to home as we know that's on the russia ukraine border where moscow has been expanding its military presence in recent weeks it's drawn sharper of ukes from nato members including the u.s. just like to hear what the u.s. secretary of state has had to say on this and they get it get your reaction there after united states stands firmly behind the sovereignty of turkey for terry ukraine that it is time warner we're seeing unfortunately. russia taking a very pr