in afghanistan is horrible. outside of the cities, major cities, where majority of the afghan women live, it hasn't improved much. and i have not met an afghan woman yet who trusts the taliban. so that is something -- and i -- i know you're concerned that they have a seat at the table or somebody represents them at the table so they don't get lost in this shuffle declaring victory and leaving. that's my concern. >> we've been assured that time and time again by the -- by the afghan leaders. yet, you're right. there's no place at the table. so -- but you categorized it as fragile right now. so could you talk to us about right now? and -- and what we should have done to make it less fragile? and what we can do going forward? >> you know, i don't have specific answers to that. i'll get back to you. but i -- i think -- one -- one of the critical things about that issue, and it's a delicate issue because you're talking about cultures, but one of those things is we have to focus that the problem of women, women's righ

war in afghanistan. after 18 years of war in afghanistan, this is now the united states longest running conflict that is taking the lives of 2400 of our brave men and women in uniform, and comes at the cost of hundreds of billions and unfortunately after two decades of fighting, al-qaeda and the taliban, the situation and afghanistan has continued to deteriorate, and at best is a stalemate. the government of afghanistan lacks control over half of the country and is estimated that the country has 60,000 full-time fighters, compared to 20,000 in 2014. meanwhile, isis, the afghanistan branch of the islamic state of iraq and syria today comprises between 2000 and 4000 fighters and continues to plot terrorist attacks against western democracies. today's hearing comes after the washington post last month published hundreds of documents that reveal long-standing policy impalement spy multiple administrations in afghanistan. these so called afghanistan papers were originally compiled by the special expect or gen

the leader even changed afghanistan's flag. the islamic green flag was replaced with the red flag of communism and a star, just as with soviet republics. as the jails filled, resistance grew, and the insurgency took hold in the eastern provinces bordering pakistan. by the spring of 1979, a general rebellion had spread throughout the country with religious leaders proclaiming jihad, a holy war against the communist government. the leaders were also falling out. in september 1979, the leader stopped over in moscow on the way home from a nonaligned conference. he returned to kabul officially with promises from president brezhnev of more soviet aid, unofficially with an apparent moscow agreement to help him purge amin. but amin moved first. taraki was overpowered in a and another took over. unembarrassed by the turn of events, moscow sent amin a congratulations, initially supporting their efforts to pacify the country. amin's repression, however, only fed the revolt. desertions from the afghan army only increased. the soviets sent

difficult parts of afghanistan. i'm told that women are the at these f teachers schools, which is important. according to am so government make up to 27% of government employees. before they were not allowed to work. and they serve as ministers, inuty ministers, judges, and many other positions. the united nations maternal mortality rates, they world, be second in the and they have fallen substantially. because there are so many women that are trained as mid wives and health and are nals now working to help other women. and i understand there are over public and private hospitals nd hundreds of health and subhealth centers. even if these numbers are appear to be omen an important part of the success hat is happening, certainly in education and health care. so wouldn't that alone make up investments? wouldn't that alone justify investments in the country? has know the united nations made several reports that when empowerededucated and and respected, the amount of terrorism in that country or in goes down.e so investi

>> seth: afghanistan. >> daniel: the question. >> seth: i want to talk about afghanistan, and i think anybody who has looked hiss tore cloor at the historically at the region, and you mentioned december of 1979, pakistan was impacted immediately by the soviet invasion and the refugee flows and the threat to pakistan itself when that invasion came and the u.s. worked closely with pakistan after that in support of the mujaheddin in afghanistan. the u.s. worked closely with pakistan in the days and months after 9/11 in afghanistan. there have obviously been periods of tension since then, but i think we are now at a period where there is a prospect for settlement. so what i so what i wanted to ask are two questions here. one is, how serious because this is a subject of some discussion here how serious from your perspective are the taliban about negotiations? they seem quite emboldened on the battlefield. how serious are they about negotiations? and the second issue is, what do you see as some of the key areas where additional progress needs to be made, whether it's ceasefires, the afghan

role in afghanistan. congress established sigar, and they have written seven reports that touch on many of the issues covering the afghanistan papers. the major concern is the u.s. was dragged into a conflict in a country it did not fully understand. according to the afghanistan papers, in 2014, an official said "if i were to write a book, its cover would be america goes to war without knowing why it does. we went and reflexively after 9/11 about knowing what we were trying to achieve. i would like to write a book about having a plan and end game for going in." an anonymous u.s. official said, we rarely tried to understand what the disease was." a career foreign officer who was told government interviewers, "in 2015 if there was ever a notion of mission creep, it is afghanistan. we have to say good enough is why we are there 15 years later. we are trying to achieve the unachievable." these quotes help demonstrate the lack of strategy and policy goals undermined our efforts in afghanistan. we do not fully

official overseeing afghanistan's reconstruction. and to rob brands its former e.u. partners at washington's puppets to germany confirmed it caved in to trump's threat to impose tariffs on european states if they don't quit the 2015 nuclear deal. live from moscow where it's just past 2 in the morning you're watching r.t. international welcome to the program. moscow has marked the 75th anniversary of the soviet union's liberation of warsaw from nazi germany with a large display and more than 3005 top the russian capital skyline warsaw was occupied by nazi germany for 6 years 200000 soviet soldiers gave their lives to stop the brutal regime in the city and its surroundings. the city stood empty and deserted the bodies of poles tortured and executed to be seen in ditches and sewer pipes there's not a single undamaged building remaining aboard objects of historical and cultural heritage plundered. i. think. it is with great joy as i'm reporting to you that today on january the 7945 joint forces of the soviet army is 1st delusion front and the polish 1st army has successf

bamma in afghanistan we helped liberate an oppressed people. and we will continue helping them secure their country rebuild their society and educate all their children boys and girls. that i set to defeat al qaeda and tonight a chance to rebuild is within reach and we're doing a tremendous job. and as you know a big part of the job is isis certainly the biggest and we. we've got him down very low numbers now u.s. troops have been in afghanistan for 17 years making it the longest war in all of us history at this point and as the war continues and as these new revelations reveals some aspects of the war that were kept from the public it's also very apparent that most of the top officials in washington don't seem to have any exit strategy for the united states from the country. we cannot discuss this further with investigative journalist and author david swanson welcome to the program it's great to have you with us now do you expect this latest claim by the inspector general to shift washington strategy in afghanistan in any significant way. i wo

and afghanistan at the moment and how how might this change that. they're not particularly good of course but it's a somewhat different situation than it is in the case of iraq iraq the a lot of people want us to get out of there if we were to get out iraq would still be there if we pulled out of afghanistan i don't think the government of kabul would last for very long but as i say the what's the purpose of being there donald trump has been saying for years he wants to get us out of afghanistan he doesn't seem to be doing that even though in principle he's he's the commander in chief and he can give the order for them to leave and they will leave but i don't expect that to happen so i think unfortunately we're stuck they are still for the foreseeable future without anything coherent in terms of a mission i'll give them that there are mere fact of being there or broader strategic purposes you mentioned donald trump that we can't ignore the fact that the impeachment trial his own going in washington and depending on the outcome of that with looking a

isis is gone from afghanistan., i really wanted to know either they're really gone from afghanistan, or they're really here.ba this evening, sically, a guy came from inside them to take me tomorrow down there, so you're going to go with me. he's very positive, hes don't be scared, nothing will happen. but still, when i go there, i say, "okay, oh god, is is... this is end of my life. just forgi me if i did anything wrong." his team behind, and heads off before dawn with the go-between. ♪ he films the journey into the baghlan province, in thehi fos of the hindu kush mountains. he as to change cars three times, for security reasons. eventuly, he is joined by two armed isis fighters. they arrive at the rendezvous point. ♪ after an hour, figures begin to emerge from the mounta man (speing local language): najib: >> arrator: the isis commander is eager to show off the weapons his men are using, as well as their close-combat drills. man: >> narrator: he claims that many of the men here are former taliban fighters, and th in the event of a peace deal with the americans, many more taliban

since 2001, afghanistan, there have been 2300 u.s. troops killed in afghanistan. that is a fraction of the overall number of deaths in the work. the estimated number of deaths with taliban, native troops, it adds up to 150,000 people. that is the best estimate we could come up with. host: craig whitlock is our guest. he is the investigative reporter hind the afghanistan papers. washington post.com is where you can read that. are an afghanistan war veteran, that line is (202) 748-8000. military, or retired (202) 748-8001. for all others, (202) 748-8002. as always, you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. a little bit of the flavor of your report, these are the things that you are reading and hearing from the inspector general. generalthe inspector wars are. six years into the war, in his interview, he said we were devoid of a fundamental understanding of afghanistan. we did not know what we were doing. what were we trying to do? we did not have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking. identified -- on identified contractor told viewers he was expected to d

tonight is taliban claims they have brought down a pentagon plane and afghanistan incident is complicating hopes for a peace deal after 19 years of war. also this our friends in the tourist police for need responsible for numerous civilian injuries the critics are skeptical about the motivations behind the move. and in a astonishing tirade hillary clinton lashes out at facebook for quote intending to wield like donald trump britain's facebook chief mark zuckerberg trump even and authoritarian platform has refused to delete political ads which democrats claim are misinformation a lot. i always thought many people like the law but that he was part of the state that he was on her side these against her. watching r t international bring you live news updates from our studio here and moscow welcome to the program the u.s. has confirmed it's investigating the incident with the pentagon plane that crashed in taliban controlled territory in afghanistan on monday the surveillance aircraft was carrying military personnel and high ranking cia officers in a statement the pentagon insists there are no

to withdraw from afghanistan. we've been told so many times by american generals that we've now burned or are there everything is going to get better in afghanistan that we've actually gone in a circle that explains a lot in the people who are in the formal and say sure oh responsible for progress in afghanistan they don't want to jeopardize their career by saying oops it's not going well in fact we're not thinking in progress i think it is definitely time for the united states to remove its troops we've been there 18 years so we have killed over 150000 afghans some of whom are taleban some of whom are you know various militia groups but the many great majority are afghan civilians who only want peace in their country something they really haven't shared and so long but certainly as a senior official start telling the truth and say it is time for the afghans themselves to take control of their own destiny. thanks for joining us here on r.t. international and to get in touch if you have anything said about any of o

president trump has de a surprise visit to afghanistan. he's announced that the peace talks with the taliban will resume in the gulf state of qatar. >> we've been wanting to make a and we're going tountilaliban, such time as we have a deal, or we have total victory. >> seems that peace negotiions are going to be on again, according to what he said. i hope ts time is going to be happen, some things, because all the people in afghanistan wants peace. if they don't make that's fine. ♪ >> newly released documents raise serious questions about whether the american people were lied to about the progress of the war in afghanistan. >> narrator: the peaks are about to resume amid revelations that u.s. officials elfor yeyes have been privco eding they've lost the war. >> for the last 18 years, according to the government reports, senior u.s. officials have been mieading the american public about the war in afghanistan.wa >> it's a war ington is struggling to finish, and donald trump says peace lies in theha s of the taliban. >> we're here to talk

he is pulling back in afghanistan and syria. he has been known to ramp up tensions with north korea, let's see how he does in the coming weeks. overall, this is a president who has not been quick to use american military power. --also host: our guest is peter bergen. previously he taught at harvard, johns hopkins university and nyu . he is a former contributing editor. our phone lines are open. is our line for -- message or tweet. bloomfield, west virginia is first up. good morning. caller: thank you. about what our future will be. i think i need to begin by saying that most people recognized that trump was sort china shop,ll in a but they also recognized the china shop was a very corrupt and self-seeking oligarchy. increasing its power at what might be considered next potential rate in terms of controlling people. and limiting democracy. expect this was part of what they feared when they set up the constitution so a particular beulated section would not able to roll the majority -- to rule the majority of the country. host: do

bombardier evolove in a crash today in gaza the province afghanistan while the cause of crash is under investigation there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire dispersal were a graph to. wind in their roof or the purpose of an untold and smooshed. on the side of the. district of gas in the province of mujahideen have taken down the tactically. but the incident comes as washington bids for a peace deal with the taliban after numerous failed talks the us has been at war in afghanistan for 19 years marred by hundreds of thousands of deaths and a trillion dollars spent to apparently no benefit right garcia for pause. what did they die for these men this is the war that has no hope of winning there are no illusions in the pentagon yet the 19 years they have said the lives of their own into the afghan grind. trumps afghan strategy is simple and senseless bomb them to hell literally in 2019 the pentagon dropped more bombs on afghans than in almost any given year in the last decade there's a tactic he wants peace so he does the all present we are bringing some of our troops ba

us tonight is the taliban statement that it brought down a pentagon plane in afghanistan the incident is complicating hopes for a peace deal after 19 years of war. also this hour france bans a notorious police grenade responsible for numerous civilian injuries but critics say it's a political move ahead of the election. and hillary clinton lashes out at facebook's mark zuckerberg for quote intending to reelect donald trump keeping everyone but herself accountable for her $26000.00 u.s. presidential want to feet. i always thought and many people i know a lot but that he was part of the deep state that he was on her side ease against her. a very warm welcome to the program from all of us here at r t h q in moscow thanks for joining us this hour. the u.s. has confirmed it's investigating a pentagon plane crash in the eastern afghan pronk province of guns the on monday everyone on board the surveillance aircraft which was carrying military personnel and high ranking cia officers was killed the plane burst into flames and came down and a mountainous area the pentagon says it can't confirm

denies the taliban statement that he brought down a pentagon plane in afghanistan the incident is complicating hopes for peace after 19 years of. thanks for joining us this is r.t. international. in a matter of hours donald trump is expected to unveil what the white house calls the deal of the century his peace plan to settle the israel palestine conflict the move is a culmination of a reversal of u.s. policy on the region often in defiance of the international community russia's foreign minister has commented on the issue. of the leaks about the deal of the century are based on means it will be a totally new way to resolve the israeli palestinian conflict a way different from everything acknowledged by the international. community as a basis to tackle the issue. i'd like to see the analysis of the international mediators the so-called quartet these are russia of the us the un the european union a mechanism that's been mostly inactive in recent years so it hasn't worked to help find a universally applicable solution. let's go live to artie's middle east correspondent paula. paula that is reall

to 1st place except i would say that the mission or being an afghanistan is essentially to stay in afghanistan a footprint and a very strategic piece of ground in the middle of eurasia that. are chinese and russian interests and that's the real purpose of being there the taleban perhaps respect that we're simply out of it annoyance. i stay with us a of days coming your way in just over half an hour. what politicians do something. they put themselves on the line they did accept the reject. so when you want to be president. some want to. that's why the press was like that before 3 of them all can't be good. i'm interested always in the was in the house. i said. i actually don't think monopolies per se are the problem it's the it's monopolistic access to credit or to politicians and probably both the crony financial ism crony capitalism that's the big problem. during the great depression which i'm old enough to remember there was most of my family were unemployed. there wasn't it was bed you know much worse objective listen today but there was an expectation that things were going to get better.

conflicting reports over a plane crash in taliban territory in afghanistan as the militant group claims the aircraft belong to the us air force. and its exactly 75 years as one of the darkest chapters of humanity came to an end with deliberation by slavia forces of the auschwitz concentration camp 27th of january is now international holocaust remembrance day for the millions of jews killed during the 2nd world war. france bound the type of crowd control grenades that's in just numerous protesters though critics say it's just a political ploy designed to win votes in upcoming readers the election. a very warm welcome to you you're watching r.t. international with me karen now we start with conflicting reports that are emerging about a plane that's crashed in afghanistan's girls the province which is the taliban controlled territory the militant group claims it was an american aircraft local done this sultan phasey has more details on this. we have been still hearing conflicting reports from the ground and from the afghan officials here in the capital the 1st reporting was based on a sch

in afghanistan, we have to get out. this is something i have called veryor years, from my first campaign that i ran for congress back in 2012. i saw and recognized that there was no clear mission that served our country's national security interest. our troops should have come home long ago. conflicts thatl have been going on in afghanistan for generations. we in the united states, nor any other country -- the soviet union when in and tried some things and failed -- no other external force can go in there and try to dictate the outcome to these tribal conflicts that have been going on for a long time and are likely going to continue going on for a long time. our troops should not be there getting caught in the crossfire in those ongoing conflicts. there is corruption in the government there. there issues in afghanistan that only the afghan people -- there are issues in afghanistan that only the afghan people can work to resolve. it is not a pretty or quick or painless process. just as our country went through our own fi

i i think afghanistan is a p pat greater crime.e. and it saddens me greatly that here we arere in the midst of te impeachment issue now with the iranan crisis a also having corrupupted, it saddenens me gry that the afghanistan papers have disappeared as an issue of any paparticular public ininterest. i think that is s a failure on e part of the media not to o have stuck with that and pursue the afghanistan papers revelations were deeply. before werofessor, conclude, i want to turn to your book, which explains in part how we got to where we are, especially the u.s. role in the middle east, the broader middle east. the book is called "the age of illusions: how america squandered its cold war victory." you begin the book with an epigraph from james baldwin's "notes of a native son," which reads -- "in america, though, life seems to move faster than anywhere else on the globe and each generation is promised more than it will get -- which creates, in each generation, a furious, bewildered rage, the rage of people who cannot find solid gro

to mark -- afghanistan? andt: i was there in 2008 2009, general mccarron was there and you saw an increase in american forces after he was replaced. was a learning experience. i am proud to have served my country. of thefter the death general, you released a statement saying the u.s. should use this to extricate itself from middle east entanglements. what does that look like? where should we be leaving? guest: the two for most places are syria and afghanistan. afghanistan is the case in which the president and his team have been working to find a way to extricate ourselves out of that quagmire. the fact is, we should be proud of what we did in afghanistan for america's safety. we have three main goals when we to treat al qaeda as a terrorist organization that could hit america after 9/11. we needed to punish the taliban for their state sponsorship of al qaeda. and we needed to kill or capture osama bin laden. we have achieved those goals. but the war aims expanded and it became more about creating a central

official overseeing afghanistan's reconstruction. to run bronze it's for my e.u. partners washington's puppets also germany confirmed it cave into into trumps the right to impose tariffs on european states if they don't quit the 25th the nuclear deal. a very warm welcome to you watching our c.n.n. national with me nicky aaron it's great to have you with us. well moscow is marking the 75th anniversary of the union's liberation of warsaw from nazi germany in all more than 3000 fireworks will light up the russian capital skyline as you can see from these live pictures it's happening right now also there will be cannon are coming out of $24.00 shots fired by cullen from the war era the capsule of poland was liberated during for pozner operation the battle for warsaw lasted 3 days from january the 48 to 70 in 1945 the soviet red army helps by the polish army drove the nazi occupiers out the city. as we just said it's exactly 75 years since warsaw was liberated by soviet and polish forces the capital was occupied by nazi germany for years thousands were deported to deat

confirms it's investigating the crash of one of his military planes in afghanistan get on that story after this break. seemed wrong but. just don't call. me. yet to stamp out. the consequence of. engagement equals betrayal. when something you find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground . showing becomes a passive mechanism right so they buy back their own stock with cheap money from the fed. it goes through the company ostensibly to help the company but it's not it's it's disenfranchising the company and then on the other side of the executives who are getting that money from the fed directly into their pocket they use the company as a pastor mechanism so what happens is it leads to incredible malinvestment so boeing now is no longer a viable company. and . the u.k. has given the green light to the involvement of chinese tech john twa way in the building of britain's new 5 g. network despite increased pressure from the us against the let's go live to london now i'm not correspondent who's across the story big decision it would seem this for the u.k. a so what det

afghanistan and that they currently don't suspect it was shot down. a u.s. bombardier 11 crash today in gaza the province afghanistan while the cause of crash is under investigation there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire well 2 senior correspondent mark gassy have joined me to studio with more details on this now mark thanks for coming in what else does the u.s. have to say about this well the tradition they have a practice where the pentagon keeps quiet about potential casualties for a period of 24 hour. hours after whatever happened happened in this case the 11 a one of 4 surveillance communications and craft that the united states has these aircraft are always in the sky in afghanistan they're called white fire in the sky they make sure that the troops on the ground can talk to each other provide them with communication one of them crashed it was the taliban that came out and said that we shot down this plane and claim that they killed lots of american servicemen the united states is as you mentioned of that there's no indicati

of the 1st place except i would say that the mission or being in afghanistan is essentially to stay in afghanistan a footprint and a very strategic piece of ground in the middle of eurasia that challenges both our chinese and russian interests and that's the real purpose of being there the taleban perhaps respect that we're simply write about annoyance and a bunch of out of sight of the get to check out most of us by heading to our website auntie dot com. join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics small business i'm show business i'll see that. during the great depression which old mr remember there was most of the family were working. there wasn't it was bad you know much worse objectively today but there was an expectation the things were going to get better. there was a real sense of hope. there isn't today today's america was shaped by the 10 principles of concentration of wealth and power. reduced democracy attacks. engineer elections manufacture consent and other principle holds according to. one set of rules for the ri

>> that's kind of where we are in afghanistan. except on the counterterrorism side. if they say it is over and with that endless war and who they think we are in afghanistan. >> i just want to warn you i will cut you off. >> so dude you a ca resistance? is that getting harder? do they have around in the chamber? >> you means the secretary has a harder time than his predecesso predecessor? >> to try to recruit. >> i think he seems like he's competent but he is not general madness the talent pool is not as big over time and that's a problem with any administration but this one just do the math. the likelihood you are forced out is pretty high and just the people willing to drill through that. >> and one of my colleagues and contacts said the best people continue to meet. >> so with good leadership in the united states so basically done all this incredible research with the national security council what about his leadership style? and that is socratic. and then to encapsulate and like the real estate company now. and then to be surrounded by the yes-men and with those

in iraq and my first tour in afghanistan was more of a stand—up fight. we'd go out on patrol, the company would send out guys on patrol and you would do an old —fashioned advance to contact almost. attack the enemy where they were and they would attack us where we were. it was more, what your average person might assume a war is like. 2011 was more... you're patrolling almost like police. you're there to reassure the locals and you would get ambushed almost on a frequent basis with small arms fire, the ied threat was a lot more prevalent. that is the explosive devices hidden, put on roadsides that were killing and maiming a number of your colleagues. back in the early herrick tours, deployments to afghanistan, they weren't used a great deal. they were used but as the taliban evolved their tactics because they realised they couldn't win a stand—up fight against the british and coalition forces out there, they naturally evolved to using more ieds. i'm asking you about this in some detail because, as we said, here you sit some three years after you came

denies taliban claims it brought down a pentagon plane in afghanistan the incident is complicating hopes for a peace deal after 19 years of war. also this our friend spans a notorious police grenade responsible for numerous civilian injuries the critics say it's a political move ahead of the election. and hillary clinton lashes out at facebook for quote intending to reelect donald trump all keeping everyone but herself accountable for 2016 u.s. presidential election defeat. i always thought and many people i know a lot thought that he was part of the deep state that he was on her side he's against her. you're watching our chief international coming to you live from the russian capital worth just turned 9 am welcome to the program. the u.s. has confirmed it's investigating the incident with the pentagon plane that crashed in taliban controlled territory in afghanistan on monday the surveillance aircraft was carrying military personnel and high ranking cia officers and the statement the pentagon insists there are no indications that the crash was caused by enemy fire however a taliban spok

these are the first deaths these year in afghanistan. sadly, and this is a poignant part, it's not clear what these men died for. possibly the same thing that more than 2300 american troops have died for us since the taliban was toppled in 2001. not much. it hurts to say that, but it appears to be true. the afghan war papers obtained by "the washington post" last year confirm these suspicions. our leaders have no strategy in afghanistan and our troops, this is their assessment, has been ordered to stay in the country indefinitely until afghanistan magically turns into belgium and it's not clear that'll ever happen. for more than a decade, america has lost ground that the taliban. according to the pentagon's own estimate, 40% of the money united states spends gets diverted to the taliban or the pockets of corrupt officials. billions of dollars have been blowing on things like flying burger king into the country, with the goal of spending the pentagon's budget allocation so it's not cut the following year. by the metrics bureaucrats use, t