let's remember that the afghanistan project or the afghanistan mission is notjust an american mission. america is the big elephant in the ram, but europeans have a lot at stake. they have spent billions of dollars in afghanistan. the japanese, countries in asia, in europe, in other places, have all invested in afghanistan. and i think if, let's say, the americans stop supporting certain aspects of what is called nation—building, maybe others were picked up. and this is where i think american diplomacy can come in and help put a more comrades of strategy in place, beyond the american strategy. we have touched on the role of russia and iran in this. how unstable is the region at the moment, and if america was to withdraw at all, what sort of opening would russia and iran have? until a couple of years ago, in that pa rt until a couple of years ago, in that part of the world, the taliban and their affiliates, and before that al qaeda while it was at the zenith of its power, were seen as the spoilers and destabilises and the bad guys. for the past two or three years we have seen the rise

troops currently deployed in afghanistan. in tonight's primetime address, the president is expected to announce plans to send another 4,000 troops to the country. after a lengthy policy review within his administration over how to move forward in the nation's longest running war, the plans were finalized with the president's top advisors at camp david over the weekend. >>> we want to take you back live to arlington, virginia where the president is preparing to make his remarks. this is joint base meyer henderson hall. >> let's listen in now to president trump. >> secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general doneford, secretary shanahan and colonel duggan. most especially, thank you to the men and women of fort meyer and all at home and abroad. we send our thoughts and prayers with the families of sailors who were lost at sea, and thank all those in the search and recovery efforts. i am here tonight to lay out our path to afghanistan and south asia. but before i provide the details of our new strategy, i want

we're there in afghanistan. we got in afghanistan. colonel, once you go in, i don't know how you get out because you run the risk you will see more terrorist events? >> you cover business, it is full of risk. iraq was utterly different. that was a tragedy. iraq was con velezing. iraq is strategic prize. obama did a horrible thing leaving. afghanistan is no strategic value what he sorry. our only concern should be terrorism. trish: talking to ben collins, who has been advising this president on afghanistan, his point it is absolutely strategic. where it sits is prime territory. you can't allow the terrorists to fester there because that is too risky in and of itself, colonel. >> what i would focus on is killing terrorists. afghanistan is of a concern to the chinese and russians and indians but everybody always said, you know, if we leave, we've got to go back. going back every 10 or 15 years and whacking them and leaving again is a lot cheaper than staying an trying to rebuild afghanistan in our image. trish: he said he is not doing th

you know we're well over year 15 in afghanistan. this is not something the president planning to do some sort of other project. he wants to do this part of the war. under u.s. military ethics can the u.s. government go in with the protection of u.s. soldiers and extract the wealth of another country. >> we can we've done it before. there is no reason why we can't do it again. but the real question is what difference does that make in terms of achieving war objectives? if at the end of the day what we really want to do is to have a central government in kabul that can actually control afghanistan, the taliban is not a factor anymore. the people in afghanistan can defend themselves, the afghan army is at top condition. if that's what we are looking to do, then none of of the things that he said are actually going to contribute to that. including even to the point of building a -- a big wall an impen trabl wall between afghanistan and pakistan on the other, the real problem is actually inside pakistan and it includes a corrupt governme

they are not mercenaries and not a private army operating in afghanistan, the are under the afghanistan chain of command and anduntable under the ucmj there to support the afghan military, what the u.s. army should be doing but for the last 16 years have yet organized that way. host: our guest is erik prince. nancy, democrat line, new hampshire. caller: thank you for taking my call. as an older person, i am much older than erik prince, i am curious, you do not seem to operate under any laws. military,e afghan there was no central military or government in afghanistan before, there was always tribes. you are men were arrested for open fire in the square in iraq when civilians were killed. how did you get access to all of our treasury money to build your own mercenary army in afghanistan? i am appalled we would consider hiring mercenaries on behalf of the american government. we will never be done with terrorists as long as you continue to occupy afghanistan. it is unbelievable, 16 years later that we are pouring all this money in dick cheney lied through his teeth and you are a good frie

war and take the world to war against afghanistan in response and at that time afghanistan was the worst place in the world for a child to be born and expect to survive to her first birthday it was the worst place for a woman to give birth and survive sixteen years later sixteen years of u.s. military occupation u.s. military engagement intervention whatever you want to call it it is still according to all the stats the worst place in the world for a child to be born and survive to her first birthday it's slightly less than the bottom of the lists on women dying in childbirth because a few west african countries have really collapsed in recent years short of that afghanistan is right in there but for children it's as bad as it ever was this last six months of the trump administration's war in afghanistan there has been a sixty seven percent rise in the number of civilian casualties most of them children according to the un that sixty percent sixty seven percent more than last year at the same time which was more than the year before every year that the un has been collecting data on the

stories of afghanistan you know you remember when the afghan war began this version of the afghanistan war of course there have been earlier ones in the eighty's the u.s. was fighting the soviet union in afghanistan. in the ninety's there was a terrible civil war in afghanistan and this war began in two thousand and one right after nine eleven when george bush said that the response of the u.s. to this horrific crime would be to treat it as an act of war and take the world to war against afghanistan in response and at that time afghanistan was the worst place in the world for a child to be born and expect to survive to her first birthday it was the worst place for a woman to give birth and survive sixteen years later sixteen years of u.s. military occupation u.s. military engagement intervention whatever you want to call it it is still according to all the stats the worst place in the world for a child to be born and survive to her first birthday it's slightly less than the bottom of the lists on women dying in childbirth because a few west african countries have really collapsed in re

country and afghanistan. country and afghanistan. we are minutes away from thahaha i'll never find a safe used car. country and afghanistan. we are minutes away from thahaha start at the new carfax.com show me minivans with no reported accidents. boom. love it. [struggles] show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. it's a highly contagious disease that can be really serious... especially for my precious new grandchild. it's whooping cough. every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. >> this is fox business coverage of president trump's address to the nation, here is neil cavuto. neil: we're seconds away from hearing the commander in chief, second major address if you think about it. last one in january. this time he is going to make the argument we need more troops in afghanistan, up to 4,000 more. this, of course, heeding advice of all his top generals, saying this is the way to go about it. we have

troops would draw down in afghanistan. instead president trump will use a conditions based approach. if that sounds familiar, that's because it's going back to the way that george w. bush talked about the wars that he started. george w. bush when he was president saying i'm not going to give you a date when we're going to end the war or leave iraq. when they stand up, we'll stand down. it was a conditioned based approach to tend of that war. that war, of course, did not end while burge w. bush was president and it does not ended today. but that is what president trump is talking about going back to. he also said a couple of times that he wants to use all elements of u.s. power, not just the military power in terms of moving forward in afghanistan. it should be noted i think when he says that the other elements of u.s. pow thaer are brought to bear in a situation like afghanistan include the state department which is understaffed and underpowered to an extent that has never been true in decades. also crucially in june the s

troops to afghanistan. that is in line with the tweets and commentary we saw from candidate trump during the campaign. and from citizen trump four years before that, with the president, as we expected to announce an increase in troops in afghanistan, it looks as though a hawkish argument won. but the president faces a challenge tonight in convincing his supporters that increasing engagement in afghanistan is the right move, considering he spent so long arguing for full withdrawal. >> athena jones, appreciate that. a second ago, in fact, the president expands the footprint in afghanistan, it will be a blow to the foreign policy that steve bannon supported. he's back at breitbart news. and the publication is taking aim at its former west wing opponents. take a look at some of the headlines. what is the goal in afghanistan? washington does not know. h.r. mcmaster endorsed book that advocates koran kissing. there's word that he's ready to go after some of the people he butted heads with, jared kushner and ivank

afghanistan's a country. at least thousands of years old we have been around as a formidable country. we have shown our our our our our strength in our mental. already in iran creating to add to the soviet union included to the to to to to britain three times included and americans should recognize that as where our poverty is should not be seen as a request by the americans and they should allow afghanistan to be a place of cooperation here i would ask the russia the russia the same thing that their intention should focus on returning afghanistan to a competence of environment and to a movement to peace well the present this is part of a larger problem of conflict resolution is the fact that it's seen as a competitive felt from to gain or lose influence rather than solve problems you've seen so many futile talks what makes you believe want to stay in your believe in it in the. south fullness of any negotiations especially given that those countries that are involved in those negotiations they haven't resolve

let afghanistan take care of afghanistan. host: the you feel the same way with obama's management of afghanistan? host: i don't know caller: -- caller: i don't know why we couldn't have president obama for more years. host: off of twitter -- we're on track to spend 6 million -- $6 trillion. if you and see all the things he said about afghanistan, go to our c-span library and see those for yourself. let's hear from michael in florida. republican line. caller: good morning. i have to agree with staying in afghanistan. we are starting -- we started out wrong. we're fighting vietnam pete we have a -- vietnam. we have an arbitrary line. if we don't go in there and clean them outcome of this war will never end. pakistanant a war with but we need to go to those mountains could we're losing people over that area because stupid decisions are made by civilians who don't listen to the military. this has happened over again. we've got to stop fighting arbitrary lines because we lose people people we cannot win wars. you have to go in and

in afghanistan and pakistan, america's interests are clear. we must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten america. and we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us or anywhere in the world for that matter. but to prosecute this war we will learn from history. as a result of our comprehensive review, american strategy in afghanistan and south asia will change dramatically in the following ways: a core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a time- based approach to one based on conditions. i've said it many times how counterproductive it is for the united states to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin or end military options. we will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. conditions on the ground at arbitrary timetables will guide our strategy from now on. america's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. i will not say when we are going to attack but attack we wil

neil, that's the way we won afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. in when i was there in '03 we were winning the war. we have hobbled our troops by not allowing them to be on the offensive. as well as the fact that we have not dealt with pakistan adequately to hold them accountable. i talked to multiple commanders who have been over there. they were not permitted to deal with pack assistant way they wanted to. the taliban could rearm, reequip and always come back. unless you are willing to affect the real things that allow you to win. his plan regarding how he would go about winning the war. one point he made, more than any other, running out to me as one of the issues, this plan talks about controlling economic centers of gravity. we never did that. we always pretended we didn't know what was going on regarding the traders' routes and the opium and we tried to seize ground and hold it and it was complete folly. it's about setting up what you believe to be your stated objectives. being able to affect stability by working through proxies. neil: i'm w

in afghanistan tonight. and he is asking the nation to trust his leadership at a time when his competence and moral authority are in question, as well. how do you think he did tonight? >> i think he did a pretty good job overall tonight. look, i think it was difficult for him. there are people on the right, isolationist who's won't like what he had to say tonight. he said look, i thought as a candidate that maybe we just would abandon the entire enterprise in afghanistan. i think he realizes that for the u.s. after all these years, to be defeated on the battlefield by the taliban and by al qaeda is not a good idea. he doesn't want that to happen. he introduced several new ideas and he introduced a strategy. i'm not going to tell you it's the best strategy. it gives a lot more authority to his commanders in the field, on the battlefield. i think that's a good thing. i think a president shouldn't be sitting there with a map trying to figure out how to run these battles. among the things did he, for example, th

troops cannot leave afghanistan. those kind of vacuums lead to terrorist safe havens. >> the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum of terrorists including isis and al-qaeda would instantly fill just as happed before september 11. >> the mix of u.s. forces on the ground will not change in any dramatic way. the president did not announce u.s. troops would be replaced with contractors as had been discussed. what's different is the pace and scope of overall pressure on this campaign. already this year airstrikes are up 181%, 1,984 bombs have been dropped so far this year. remember just a few years ago the u.s. had 100,000 troops in afghanistan and the taliban didn't negotiate then. secretary mattis issued a statement from jordan where he's travelling calling on the chairman of the joint chiefs to implement the president's strategy. the president said it's not a blank check. right now the government of afghanistan only controls 60% of the country. >> j

those are the two things that just don't afghanistan. those are the two things thatjust don't go down well in islamabad because ultimately what pakistan once in that region is an afghanistan that is on its side ultimately when the americans leave, and so there are many that feel pakistan made the bet that at the end of it all the taliban would be the strongest force and that's why to some extent at least, although they will never admit that they're doing that, that's why there's the sense pakistan has been supporting the afghan taliban. if you say to pakistan, well, we're going to give india a bigger role in afghanistan, if you also threatening pakistan, as i say, it's not always achieved the goal is america wanted. facts very much for that. —— goals. at that start of that address on afghanistan president trump said he sent his thoughts and prayers to the families of the sailors who were injured and lost after the collision monday morning between the ussjohn mccain and an oil tanker in the strait of malacca. the us navy has ordered a

turn on his repeated pledge to quit afghanistan now is vowing to expand the military operation with no plans yet for withdrawal. four suspects in last week's barcelona terrorist attacks appearing course it's revealed that an even bigger assault was being planned to go to the town where the terrorist cell was based. good evening and welcome my name is neil harvey you are watching r.t. international we'll start with breaking news for you because the united nations has expressed concern over reports of dozens of civilians being killed in coalition air strikes in the last twenty four hours in the syrian city of rock are serious news agency claimed seventy eight people were killed there on tuesday and earlier the u.n. has already condemned the deaths of forty civilians reportedly killed by coalition airstrikes in iraq on sunday. humanitarian colleagues tell us they're deeply concerned by unconfirmed reports of a high number of civilians killed by air strike in iraq a city over the last twenty four hours in recent days and weeks scores of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in i

simp regarding afghanistan. people have a hard time staying difference , the between good leadership and bad leadership. telling ership, not your enemy when you're going to leave and we know in the past had people telling the enemy when you're going to leave and they just wait for you. if is a big difference and people want to, you know, really mean, we havety, i good leadership right now. don't wantll, people to talk about afghanistan, all they want to do is give prop dpanda, all i'll say about that. host: from twitter, several comments saying regarding the speech, only good news, we won't se a private army, aside from that ambiguity. hat role will allies play in afghanistan and also a viewer saying the afghans don't nderstand democracy, we are wasting our time nation building, terror control is the cause. members reaction from of congress last night over the speech in afghanistan, both on twitter. house speaker paul ryan commenting on the afghan a town hall on cnn, here is what he had to say. i'm pleased with

questions in afghanistan. russian or other neighbors didn't well i know that they have begun to do something. it's a bit late it's quite late but we supported we need. the concerned voice we need questions to be raised with the someone to ask questions and to do something well you know as we say in russia better late than never but this latest efforts on on the part of russia to get more involved in the diplomatic talks surrounding afghanistan do receive certain pushback from the united states and the u.s. state department specifically said that this recent consultations organized by moscow seemed to be a unilateral russian attempt to assert influence in the region despite the fact that there were senior officials from a dozen countries present do you think the americans still fill in tie told to afghanistan as their sort of privileged zone of influence well they may feel that way but that's wrong nobody should feel intitled to a privileged position of afghanistan afghanistan as a country. at least thousands o

what do his supporters make of the afghanistan u—turn?|j what do his supporters make of the afghanistan u-turn? i think mr trump has received some new information. i am has received some new information. i a m relu cta ntly has received some new information. i am reluctantly going to follow his lead. he has been listening and knows exactly what he needs to do, fiow. knows exactly what he needs to do, now. that is why i am for his decision. i'd like what i am seeing in afghanistan, but i go to reserve judgement until i see the fruits that are going to come out of it. but the fruits right now are that we are wasting money, and we are training terrorists over there. although donald trump has tried to dress this speech up as a significant shift in policy, the most striking thing about it is the sense of continuity with the vile white house. and one other thing: now this major policy announcement has come, this is donald trump is's war in afghanistan, not iraq obama's, not the generals‘ war in afghanistan, not iraq obama's, not the generals'

troops in afghanistan. he later served as an assistant to the joint chiefs of staff and on the national security council in the obama administration. so, first, there's this premise of the question on why or why we're not winning the war in afghanistan, and you write in a recent op-ed, it's not necessarily ours to win. explain that. >> yes, well, the war in afghanistan is actually part of a number of wars-- five, to be exact. and three of them predate american involvement in the country. most crucial of these is a three-century-long fight inside the postune tribe between kabuly elites and kandahary elites and then people from the rural areas of afghanistan. so that's been going on for a long time, and nothing we can do is really going to change it. >> sreenivasan: considering the amount of blood and treasure that we've spilled there so far, what has been working? >> yes, it's important to note some things have been working. limited counterterrorism strikes against key officials have been quite successful. w

did in iraq to afghanistan. it is basically more of the same. >> we had as many as 140,000 troops in country, 100,000 americans and 40,000 nato troops and that did not work. americans have the watches, but we have the time. we have to do a sustainable, cheap, long-term strategy, that helps keep unrelenting pressure on those terrorist elements. to what toroclivity to--s, brush in -- once urge, it is a false presumption because the enemy just ducks and covers. they have the time. >> with your organization, or organizations benefit from this? if there's a chance to do some of this work, we would certainly have a go at it. folks at they white house, after i wrote in the wall street journal, to elaborate on the op-ed and ended up making a detailed analysis of what the budget would take. iey wanted a comparison, and can honestly and clearly say, this program would cost less than my plan includes everything on the budget remaining there to keep active duty some guys and this contracted these would provide mentors at th

in afghanistan and pakistan, america's interests are clear. we must stop the resurgence of safe havens that allow terrorists to threaten america. we must prevent nuclear weapons and material from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us or anywhere in the world. to prosecute this war, we will learn from history as a result of our comprehensive review. america's strategy in afghanistan and south asia will change dramatically in the following ways. of our newar strategy is a shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions. howid it many times counterproductive it is for the announce ins to advance the days we begin or end military operations. we will not announce our plans for further military activities. conditions on the ground, not guideary timetables will our strategy from now on. america's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. i will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will. another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of ame

he was in afghanistan this spring. phil rucker is the white house bureau chief with the washington post. he also has his latest piece out that details how trump came to the decision of sending more troops to afghanistan. he led u.s. troops there on two combat tours in 2002 and 2004 and finally in d.c., he served under george w. bush. hans i want to start with you. rex tillerson talking a lot about pakistan and what they're going to need to do. talking about how they're going to try to find a diplomatic situation in afghanistan. he didn't address questions from a reporter about russia rearming the taliban. >> yeah, this is something we started hearing back over the spring that russia was sending small arms, and finding their way to taliban forces. it's percolated up pretty high. we asked the secretary of defense about it, he's aware of those reports, he's come close to confirming them, for diplomatic reasons, you saw secretary tillerson not fully leaning into this idea that russia is actively supporting and arming force

war in afghanistan. the president breaking from his campaign rhetoric and that of a private citizen when he promised to pull out of afghanistan. keeping with the america first theme, saying the days of nation-build regular over. the vat gee, light on -- strategy, light on specifics by design. the president reaffirmed he does not want the enemy to know his plans. and a hasty withdrawal like the one in iraq is not an option. >> the vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for isis to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks. we cannot repeat in afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in iraq. >> the president signaled the u.s. would increase troop levels in afghanistan but offered no numbers. the president also put no end date on america's longest war. >> let's bring in retired air force colonel cedric leighton, former head of the joint chiefs. >> good to see you. >> let's start about what the speech was light on. again, by design. light on specifics. here's what president trump said abou

that is kind of what we need in the afghanistan effort. to keep -- let's -- do what we need to do to deny terrorists sanctuary, stabilize the afghan government, and figure out how to leave. that is, that is that is , america's goal. steve scully: erik prince joe is , next, charleston, south carolina. caller: good morning. let me give you a little background, erik. i used to work for the federal government and the dod. as a matter of fact i was involved in logistics and helped units areportable atc used to take over to the sands. i retired in 2007. anyway you are familiar with the a-76 circular, as a contractor. for the life of me, and don't think this wrong, i have always that the military should be an inherently government function. of course, steve, let me explain something. the government is not supposed to compete with the private sector if the private sector can do a job more efficiently and more effectively than the government. erik knows that. he is familiar with the appropriations. aside from the money thing and tactics and strateg

i'm off to kabul, afghanistan, from manchester airport. i've had an invitation from the minister of health in order to review our work with telemedicine in hospitals and the expanded throughout afghanistan in the near future. unhappy that i will be able to see my family again tomorrow. —— iam very to see my family again tomorrow. —— i am very happy. when he was born in 1983 the soviet afghan war was already in its fourth year. by the time he was five, his family decided to escape to pakistan. they subsequently spent three years in a refugee camp near peshawar. today, back at the family home in kabul, waheed and his parents reminisce about their terrifying journey on foot and on donkeys through the mountains near the past. most frightening of all was when they we re frightening of all was when they were almost killed by a russian helicopter gunships. translation: we thought that we would all be killed and this would be our last breath. all i was thinking was finding a way to save you. the plane fired a rocket which destroyed the hou

i studied afghanistan in great detail. >> he stepped up efforts to fight terrorism in afghanistan. they will force it by the military presence. there are 8400 troops there. he has refused to give numbers, but officials say an addiditionl 3900 troops could be mobilized and he also threw a warning to neighboring pakistan, which has been accused of being a terrorist safe haven. pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbor terrorists. >> from now on, victory will have a clear definition. attacking our enemies, obliterating isis, crushing al qaeda, preventing the taliban from taking over afghanistan, stopping terror attacks against americans. >> the war in afghanistan have spend 15 years and three u.s. residents. the u.s. will work with the afghan government as long as there is progress. he warned support is not a blank check. join the go across and correspondent. how has the government received this stance? they will notsaid be there to nation build. the president welcomed the announcement by president trump. the strategy helps afghanistan. it addresses the sanctuaries across the

long years that we've been in afghanistan. if the president wants to dramatically change our relationship and stance towards pakistan, that potentially could be very, very consequential. we have to believe that he knows what he's doing and he has the means, the intellectual fire power and the personnel to follow it up and make sure it ends in something constructive and not in disaster. and that's next. our coverage of the president's announcement about afghanistan continues on this network with lawrence o'donnell in the next hour and then brian williams here live in "the 11th hour" and then i'll be back live for a special edition of "the rachel maddow show" at midnight. >>> a very big news night, rachel. this speech is something we've been waiting for all weekend. we expected to hear a number and we didn't hear a number. >> that's right. >> it's supposed to be the troop strength increase speech and if it was that, you have to kind of find it between the lines somewhere. >> we heard from the president tonight, an argument with

war in afghanistan. the president breaking from his campaign rhetoric when he promised to pull out of afghanistan. that was the campaign rhetoric. now keeping with the america first theme, saying the days of nati nation-building are over. the strategy is light on sprisksprisk specifics. he doesn't want other countries to know his plans and says a hasty withdrawal is not an option. >> the vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for isis to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks. we cannot repeat in afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in iraq. >> the president signaled the u.s. would increase troop levels in afghanistan but did not offer numbers. mr. trump also put no end date on america's longest war by design. so how is the president's path to victory different from his predecessors'? athena jones with more on the president's speech from arlington, virginia. >> reporter: good morning. president trump laid out a new plan for u.s. efforts in afghanistan and south asia, emphasizing

foreign policy in afghanistan and a u.s. led air strike in the isis held syrian city of leaves over seventy civilians dead and the president will soon hold a rally in phoenix arizona where he's expected to address the wall with mexico a military man sitting in for ed schultz here in washington d.c. you're watching artsy america. good evening we start tonight with reaction to the president's announcement of a strategy shift in afghanistan the president made it clear the u.s. is not nation building the administration will not set an arbitrary date to withdraw from the country the united states will however empower its generals with the authorization to carry out strikes independent of washington and the president will work with india pakistan and the entire asia pacific region to wind down america's longest running war speaker of the house paul ryan praised the president's plans my travels there i kept hearing the same thing they have the time we have the watchers meaning they will wait us out and if they believe that we have

but he apparently did say version of that about afghanistan not that long ago, we need to go into afghanistan and a lot the place, take their mineral we actually to cover our costs. that reporting from nbc news stuck out a couple weeks ago because it was bizarre and provocative. but i think that might have been what this line was about tonight. >> we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us. >> that's my first question. was that the real policy shift announced today that we're going to start doing something in afghanistan economically to defray cost of our war there to make some money out of this thing? if that is what the president's announcing, that seems new and controversial to say the least. second question, how is our relationship with our friends, the pakistanis right now? is pakistan likely to get upset by the president insulting their civilization? >> it is time for pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order, and to peace. >> pakistan is big, it's got 200 million people. it's also got more than 100 operational nucle

what about for outside afghanistan. you've got the direct contract between troops having been pulled out in more troops being added in afghanistan. i looked at the data and there are contractors out there still being paid money for work in iraq. directd there is a correlation between having troops there and the amount of spending going on. there is also other work being done in other countries were he would not necessarily be aware of it. >> right, everywhere the u.s. military is around the world and we are frankly in a lot of countries. afghanistan syria, and have a smaller presence in africa. wherever you find the was military, you're going to find contractors. the u.s. military cannot function today without a lot of support from contractors. even in they are, combat zones, you'll find contractors alongside them. julia: the government was criticized for not being clear about the strategy over afghanistan. do you think they are open enough about the breakdown of spending and where the money is being pushed? he has also

but this morning, the strategy for afghanistan. president trump set to announce today his plans for america's longest war with more troops expected to be part of that plan. >> once you announce what the strategy is, we can get more precise on afghanistan troop levels. >> the post-bannon white house. the president's former adviser back at breitbart ready to g to war against democrats and republicans. >> steve bannon was undermining the administration and had to g. >> after all the hype and buildup, it is finally eclipse day. thousands of people with their special glasses descend on towns around the country to watch the moon cross the sun. >> it is a human experience. it is a chance for us to connect with the cosmos in a way we normally can't do. >> but before we connect with the cosmos, we begin with the president's highly anticipated primetime address tonight where he'll outline the path forward in afghanistan after 16 years of combat in the nation's longest war. the televised speech gives the president a chance for a reset after o

announcer: now the president's speech on afghanistan from last night. this is just under a half hour. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ pres. trump: thank you very much. thank you. please be seated. vice president pence, secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general dunford, deputy secretary shanahan, and colonel duggan. most especially, thank you to the men and women of fort myer and every member of the united states military at home and abroad. we send our thoughts and prayers to the families of our brave sailors who were injured and lost after a tragic collision at sea, as well as to those conducting the search and recovery efforts. i am here tonight to lay out our path forward in afghanistan and south asia. but before i provide the details of our new strategy, i want to say a few words to the service members here with us tonight, to those watching from their posts, and to all americans listening at home. since the founding of our republic, our country has produced a special class of heroes whose sel

wn afghanistan later in headlines. in syria, the local journalistsc group raqqa is being slaughtered silently reports dozens of civilians have been killed by u.s.-led b bombing and u.s. artillery fire over the last few days amid the ongoing battle to seize control of the city of raqqa from isis. the group says as many as 32 civilians were killed amid bombing in one neighborhood alone. among the victims were eight members of a family who had fled to raqqa amid earlier fighting in palmyra. a local syrian journalist with the outlet sound and picture reports -- "the city is devoid of doctors and the market is devoid of food. what food there was in our fridges has rotted because of the absence of electricity." back in the united states, confederate statues continue to fall amid massive nationwide proteststs againinst white supry and the monumentnts celebratinig the u.s. legacy of slavery and racism. the university of texas at austin has removed three statues of confederate leaders. in an n email to students, the university

troops in afghanistan. the president also is expected to ask india and pakistan to shoulder more of the load in this terror fight. the president says he will not hold pakistan more accountable for the long-standing support of the taliban. let's check in quickly with the chief white house correspondent john roberts who is on the scene there in fort meyer. good evening, john. >> good evening, looking at the way things are shaping up here, as we wait for the president, it looks like it is l going to lauh a new era of an integrated regional policy, according to the state department. rex tillerson talk with the prime minister of pakistan, as well as the foreign ministers of afghanistan and india to talk about how the countries could work together on a broader regional strategy. the troops are going to be a piece of this. you talk about pakistan, trying to bring that taliban back to the table, because the attacks with qatar and the taliban incidents work out. the president trying to change that dynamic t tonight.

policy in afghanistan secretary of defense james mattis has already announced a major decision has been made in regards to the administration administration policy rather in the country president trump is expected to speak at any moment in what many analysts are saying is the preface to a troop surge in afghanistan so joining me now to discuss all of this we have here with us michael maloof he's a former pentagon official in our correspondent simone del rosario so folks obviously we're waiting anxiously awaiting what president trump has to say about all of this he's due to come on at any moment in our earlier broadcast alone you reported that we are expecting obviously the troop surge can you talk to me about some of those numbers those are definitely the talks that are happening right now is that we will in fact see a troop surge and the reason for that is because as you mentioned secretary of defense jim mattis has already said that they expect a plan and he said he was very comfortable with the way that the strategic plan went and we know that the pentagon had asked for an additional

he didn't tweet his decision on afghanistan. it didn't really leak out of the white house, and that's why you saw people like paul ryan praising the process even more so than the decision that was made. >> the president in his speech, jeremy, last night, did somebody r something rather unusual for him. he add knowledcknowledged he wa against his longtime instincts. listen to this. >> my original instinct was to pull out and historically i like following my instincts. but all of my life i've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office. >> okay. basically easy to say something when you're a candidate or a private citizen. a lot more difficult to implement that as other presidents have always learned once you're in the oval office. >> yes. it was a rare moment of reflection. albeit a scripted moment of reflection from this president. but i think that this white house is kind of trying to have it both ways on this. they're trying to say, have the president out there saying, listen, i know

this one on afghanistan. he's expected to announce a new military strategy in that country that will include a surge of 4,000 american troops. will it work and will congress and the american public buy it? douglas mcgregor is a retired colonel, john davidson joins us tonight as well. so colonel, from what you know of what the president is going to announce tonight, do you think it's sufficient to meet whatever goal we have in afghanistan? >> no. i think we're going to watch donald trump transform in real time on television into barack obama. he's going to essentially do what barack obama did several years ago, capitulate to what the generals want and what the washington establishment prefers, which is to continue the long war. this time instead of 40,000 troops, it's 4,000. you can send 600,000 and would change nothing on the ground in afghanistan. >> so john, this doesn't sound like something that the president during the campaign would have been for. do you sense that his view afghanistan has changed a lot

and afghanistan knows it. afghanistan has been fighting with each other time.long, long and those guys ain't going to don't cause they really care. i mean, they go out, they get care.they don't even they are going to keep fighting everything and how are you going to have a good if you just, they just keep doing it? host: mike, i will leave it there. mr. ambassador, as an afghan, how do you respond to his there?ts that afghan people don't care. guest: hurt. deeply hurt by that comment. sorry to say, this is not a human way of thinking about people. have families everyday, we mourn the death of our people killed across the country. we're fight thanksgiving war to not only the afghans have stability, but stability across the world. the afghan people's dream is no american than an dream. it is peace and stability, we just want to live at peace. visited dent, when he the united states in 2015, -- has said that escaped us and that is what we be able to live an ordinary life, we want to be walk on the streets without

so when we look at afghanistan in this context india is afghanistan's friend and afghanistan is india's friend we have cultural ties with afghanistan. we have economic ties with afghanistan as well so we are connected through cooperation afghanistan faces a multitude of problems at this point and india contributes to its economic development and helps build government institutions for example would build a parliament building for them they were building the dams for them whether it's developing capabilities or labor resources india will accompany afghanistan on this path where india is resolute we have decided to act as good friends to afghanistan . but we believe that afghanistan itself should be the one to solve its problems afghanistan has to be the one to find the solution and implement it are gone only then would that be a lasting solution and we need to help afghanistan all of us are gone the whole of the international community has to help on afghanistan. despite their ages old territory china india's largest trading partner according to recent polls. very wary of such having and

not afghanistan. that's probably where we should have gone. >> i think you have to stay in afghanistan far while because you're right next to pakistan which has nuclear weapons. nuclear weapons changes the game. my original instinct was to pull out, and historically, i like following my i thinstincts. >> last night's decision to stay in afghanistan was consistent with son-in-law of the things donald trump said on the campaign trail. mika has the morning off. but with us the associated editor of commentary magazine, noah rothman. we have a cornucopia of people today. >> we're getting the podcast together. >> and they're going to sing a duet. also with us former white house press secretary to president obama josh earnest, white house reporter for the a.p. jonathan lamire, mark hall paren, david ignatius and let's bring in columnist for the new york times brett stevens and foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchel. now that we've done the line up, we have three minutes to continue this. each of you ha

has about 8,000 troops in afghanistan right now. do you think another 4,000 will make much of a difference? >> it's hard to imagine it will. i do know that more troops -- an ev -- than america has ever been concerned about. >> i have to take a break. we'll resume our special coverage after this. the season. on the agile mkc. and the versatile midsize lincoln mkx. or go where summer takes you in the exhilarating mkz. hurry in it's the final days of the lincoln summer invitation sales event. ending september 5th. right now, get zero percent apr plus 1,000 dollars summer savings on the lincoln mkx, mkc and mkz. 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico. goin' up the country. later, gary' i have a motorcycle! wonderful. ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. it's our back to school beeone cent evente. at office depot office max. 10 pack pens, one cent. composition notebooks,scissors, and plastic folders