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Oh, I didn't pay.
Can you pay here?
2
00:00:23,568 --> 00:00:27,819
Oh, my gosh.
It took my card.
3
00:00:31,402 --> 00:00:34,068
You might want to go back, dude.
4
00:00:34,151 --> 00:00:36,944
So today I'm getting filmed
5
00:00:37,026 --> 00:00:40,777
about my job at CIA.
6
00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:44,110
I know you-you were,
um, studying
7
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about Afghanistan and...
8
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All the wars.
9
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All the wars,
and you, um, were a spy.
10
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I worked with spies.
It's true.
11
00:01:00,610 --> 00:01:03,151
I'll never feel like
an Afghanistan expert.
12
00:01:05,318 --> 00:01:09,402
The war, it's so complex.
13
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It's almost been cyclical with
our U.S. government as well.
14
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What is the mission?
What is the goal there?
15
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♪ Soft music ♪
16
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And I got to know Afghans.
I worked with Afghans.
17
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I'm a woman, a mother.
18
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My heart hurts for these people
19
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because I just don't see
how this ends.
20
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♪♪♪
21
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After the extraordinary
sacrifice
22
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of blood and treasure,
23
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the American people are weary
24
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of the longest war
in American history.
25
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This year we will bring
America's longest war
26
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to a responsible end.
27
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I want the Afghan people
to understand...
28
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America seeks an end to this
era of war and suffering.
29
00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:06,068
We know from the history
30
00:02:06,151 --> 00:02:07,985
of military conflict
in Afghanistan,
31
00:02:08,068 --> 00:02:09,860
it's been one of initial success
32
00:02:09,944 --> 00:02:11,568
followed by long years
33
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of floundering
and ultimate failure.
34
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We're not gonna repeat
that mistake.
35
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We welcome the distinguished
interim leader
36
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of a liberated Afghanistan,
Chairman Hamid Karzai.
37
00:02:23,568 --> 00:02:25,443
Osama bin Laden publicly vowed
38
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to wage a terrorist war
39
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against America
from Afghanistan.
40
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This will be a long
ongoing struggle
41
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between freedom and fanaticism.
42
00:02:34,944 --> 00:02:36,443
Our
commitment to the people there
43
00:02:36,527 --> 00:02:39,819
would lead
to a peaceful Afghanistan
44
00:02:39,902 --> 00:02:41,443
with no more bloodbaths.
45
00:02:41,527 --> 00:02:43,860
The goal of the United States
46
00:02:43,944 --> 00:02:47,151
remains a genuinely
independent Afghanistan,
47
00:02:47,235 --> 00:02:49,610
free from external interference.
48
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Massive Soviet military forces
have invaded
49
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the small sovereign nation
of Afghanistan.
50
00:02:56,402 --> 00:03:00,860
History teaches
that aggression unopposed
51
00:03:00,944 --> 00:03:03,193
becomes a contagious disease.
52
00:03:03,276 --> 00:03:08,402
♪♪♪
53
00:03:13,235 --> 00:03:15,360
I grew up thinking Afghanistan
54
00:03:15,443 --> 00:03:17,652
was the biggest country
in the world,
55
00:03:17,735 --> 00:03:19,819
the most beautiful country
in the world,
56
00:03:19,902 --> 00:03:22,193
the most developed country
in the world,
57
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with a huge passion
for my country
58
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because it was very much
59
00:03:26,944 --> 00:03:30,151
the same, uh, thing
my father shared.
60
00:03:30,235 --> 00:03:34,151
♪♪♪
61
00:03:34,235 --> 00:03:36,860
In a very romantic way,
62
00:03:36,944 --> 00:03:39,944
my father was always talking
about the Afghanistan
63
00:03:40,026 --> 00:03:42,318
that he had experienced.
64
00:03:43,110 --> 00:03:45,819
They would go on the weekends
to restaurants.
65
00:03:45,902 --> 00:03:49,318
They would take a walk
in the park.
66
00:03:49,402 --> 00:03:54,068
But these were all those, uh,
fairy tales to us.
67
00:03:54,151 --> 00:03:57,902
Mm, we never experienced
Afghanistan that way.
68
00:03:57,985 --> 00:04:03,110
♪♪♪
69
00:04:05,985 --> 00:04:10,610
One thing in common about many
of these fights in my country
70
00:04:10,694 --> 00:04:13,026
is that, unfortunately,
71
00:04:13,110 --> 00:04:17,944
it's our soil that is
being used for various wars
72
00:04:18,026 --> 00:04:20,860
between the global powers.
73
00:04:20,944 --> 00:04:25,819
♪♪♪
74
00:04:29,610 --> 00:04:31,985
The world simply cannot stand by
75
00:04:32,068 --> 00:04:34,068
and permit the Soviet Union
76
00:04:34,151 --> 00:04:36,819
to commit this act
with impunity.
77
00:04:38,819 --> 00:04:41,652
The Soviets killed about
ten percent of the population.
78
00:04:43,068 --> 00:04:45,110
It was a genocide,
79
00:04:45,193 --> 00:04:48,485
and the military was not
doing anything about it,
80
00:04:48,568 --> 00:04:51,777
but I heard
that, uh, the agency did.
81
00:04:51,860 --> 00:04:53,902
The CIA director says,
82
00:04:53,985 --> 00:04:57,402
"I want you to go out there
and win this."
83
00:04:57,485 --> 00:04:59,985
I was the
Washington Post correspondent
84
00:05:00,068 --> 00:05:02,777
in, uh, South Asia,
so the Afghan War
85
00:05:02,860 --> 00:05:05,777
was pretty much
the biggest story on my beat.
86
00:05:05,860 --> 00:05:09,568
Pakistan had
an immediate refugee flow.
87
00:05:09,652 --> 00:05:12,860
They went to their ally,
the United States, and said,
88
00:05:12,944 --> 00:05:14,443
"We've got all these rebels
89
00:05:14,527 --> 00:05:17,527
who are coming into our country
as refugees.
90
00:05:17,610 --> 00:05:20,694
They want to liberate
their country
91
00:05:20,777 --> 00:05:22,235
from Soviet occupation.
92
00:05:22,318 --> 00:05:24,735
We, the Pakistan government,
are inclined to help them,
93
00:05:24,819 --> 00:05:26,902
but we could use
your support as well."
94
00:05:26,985 --> 00:05:29,443
And so we were told to get busy
95
00:05:29,527 --> 00:05:31,193
and try to figure out
what was happening
96
00:05:31,276 --> 00:05:33,402
with these guys
called the mujahideen.
97
00:05:34,902 --> 00:05:37,151
People knew that the CIA
98
00:05:37,235 --> 00:05:38,819
was supporting the Afghans.
99
00:05:38,902 --> 00:05:40,485
They could never know how.
100
00:05:40,568 --> 00:05:43,819
So we then decided
we would use the Pakistanis
101
00:05:43,902 --> 00:05:46,568
as our surrogates
to support the mujahideen.
102
00:05:48,485 --> 00:05:50,652
Speaking native language
103
00:05:50,735 --> 00:05:52,735
The Soviet presence
in Afghanistan
104
00:05:52,819 --> 00:05:55,443
is a major impediment
105
00:05:55,527 --> 00:05:57,318
to improved
U.S.-Soviet relations,
106
00:05:57,402 --> 00:05:59,777
and we would like to remove it.
107
00:05:59,860 --> 00:06:02,360
We were putting in
a variety of weapons systems
108
00:06:02,443 --> 00:06:04,443
into the hands
of the mujahideen.
109
00:06:04,527 --> 00:06:06,402
The United States
started to provide
110
00:06:06,485 --> 00:06:08,568
these Stinger
antiaircraft missiles
111
00:06:08,652 --> 00:06:13,110
to equip the rebels to fight
the Soviets as equals.
112
00:06:13,193 --> 00:06:15,944
They started knocking Soviet
aircraft out of the sky
113
00:06:16,026 --> 00:06:17,610
by the hundreds.
114
00:06:17,694 --> 00:06:19,360
That changed the war,
115
00:06:19,443 --> 00:06:21,902
and it showed that the
U.S. government was serious
116
00:06:22,026 --> 00:06:24,610
about not just inflicting
some damage on the Soviets
117
00:06:24,694 --> 00:06:28,193
but actually getting them
to leave Afghanistan,
118
00:06:28,276 --> 00:06:29,735
which is what they did.
119
00:06:29,819 --> 00:06:32,694
And as soon as
Boris Gromov rode on that tank
120
00:06:32,777 --> 00:06:34,902
out to the middle
of Friendship Bridge
121
00:06:34,985 --> 00:06:36,860
from Afghanistan,
122
00:06:36,944 --> 00:06:41,151
I hit send on a cable
that was typed out using Xs
123
00:06:41,235 --> 00:06:44,360
to make a big, "We won."
124
00:06:44,443 --> 00:06:45,985
♪♪♪
125
00:06:46,068 --> 00:06:47,860
I wrote an article
and put the name on it,
126
00:06:47,944 --> 00:06:49,360
"Graveyard of Empires."
127
00:06:49,443 --> 00:06:53,110
My point was, it's very easy
getting in there,
128
00:06:53,193 --> 00:06:57,443
but getting out
is immensely difficult,
129
00:06:57,527 --> 00:07:01,026
and winning is...
130
00:07:01,110 --> 00:07:02,860
very, very questionable.
131
00:07:02,985 --> 00:07:04,276
Whatever winning means,
132
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,026
you usually don't get it
in Afghanistan.
133
00:07:07,110 --> 00:07:12,026
♪♪♪
134
00:07:15,985 --> 00:07:19,318
Kabul has changed a lot
in the last several years.
135
00:07:19,402 --> 00:07:20,735
It used to be that you could
136
00:07:20,819 --> 00:07:22,002
kind of walk around the streets
137
00:07:22,026 --> 00:07:23,568
and pick up a cab
138
00:07:23,652 --> 00:07:26,610
and go to a restaurant,
have a nice meal.
139
00:07:26,694 --> 00:07:29,026
If you're a foreigner,
that's basically all gone.
140
00:07:29,110 --> 00:07:31,694
♪♪♪
141
00:07:31,777 --> 00:07:34,193
The Taliban have done
a campaign of attacking
142
00:07:34,276 --> 00:07:37,610
anywhere Westerners gather,
and we're in an armored car
143
00:07:37,694 --> 00:07:40,777
because it's regarded
as too dangerous now,
144
00:07:40,860 --> 00:07:43,568
which is a pity because Kabul
is an amazingly beautiful
145
00:07:43,652 --> 00:07:45,610
and vibrant city.
146
00:07:45,694 --> 00:07:48,610
The city is now brimming
with up to six million people,
147
00:07:48,694 --> 00:07:50,503
and it's a very different Kabul
than the one I remember
148
00:07:50,527 --> 00:07:53,235
under the Taliban
or during the Civil War.
149
00:07:53,318 --> 00:07:58,402
♪♪♪
150
00:08:01,443 --> 00:08:03,044
The United States ended
its official presence
151
00:08:03,068 --> 00:08:04,819
in Afghanistan today,
two weeks before
152
00:08:04,902 --> 00:08:07,527
Soviet troops are scheduled
to complete their pullout.
153
00:08:07,610 --> 00:08:09,193
Our State Department
correspondent
154
00:08:09,276 --> 00:08:11,110
Bill Plante reports.
155
00:08:11,985 --> 00:08:14,485
A marine guard hauled
down the stars and stripes
156
00:08:14,568 --> 00:08:16,318
at the U.S. embassy in Kabul
157
00:08:16,402 --> 00:08:17,902
as the remaining handful
of diplomats
158
00:08:17,985 --> 00:08:19,777
prepared to get out
of Afghanistan
159
00:08:19,860 --> 00:08:21,568
as soon as weather permits.
160
00:08:21,652 --> 00:08:23,527
The U.S. joins
other Western nations
161
00:08:23,610 --> 00:08:25,068
which have temporarily
pulled out,
162
00:08:25,151 --> 00:08:27,485
fearing chaos
after Soviet troops
163
00:08:27,568 --> 00:08:29,610
end their ten-year occupation.
164
00:08:36,985 --> 00:08:40,235
I first got
into, uh, Afghanistan
165
00:08:40,318 --> 00:08:42,318
by crossing the-the frontier
166
00:08:42,402 --> 00:08:45,193
between Pakistan and Afghanistan
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00:08:45,276 --> 00:08:49,235
with a group of mujahideen
in mid-1989,
168
00:08:49,318 --> 00:08:52,902
just as the Soviet Union
had, uh, withdrawn.
169
00:08:52,985 --> 00:08:55,652
♪♪♪
170
00:08:55,735 --> 00:08:58,652
I was working
with an aid agency,
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00:08:58,735 --> 00:09:00,985
trying to help
both with refugees in Pakistan
172
00:09:01,068 --> 00:09:03,985
and inside Afghanistan.
173
00:09:04,068 --> 00:09:08,360
People were readying
themselves for the fight
174
00:09:08,443 --> 00:09:13,068
over who would claim Afghanistan
175
00:09:13,151 --> 00:09:16,193
now that the-the Soviets
had got out.
176
00:09:16,276 --> 00:09:20,860
♪♪♪
177
00:09:22,527 --> 00:09:25,777
America made a fatal mistake.
178
00:09:25,860 --> 00:09:29,610
The Afghan thing was almost
totally forgotten.
179
00:09:29,694 --> 00:09:33,360
The result was that
an Afghanistan
180
00:09:33,443 --> 00:09:38,026
so overloaded with ordnance
and awash with money
181
00:09:38,110 --> 00:09:40,443
slipped into its own devices.
182
00:09:41,777 --> 00:09:43,610
From a war
correspondent's perspective,
183
00:09:43,694 --> 00:09:45,014
by the time
I was traveling around
184
00:09:45,068 --> 00:09:46,228
in the war in the early '90s,
185
00:09:46,276 --> 00:09:48,151
it had become a nasty civil war.
186
00:09:50,568 --> 00:09:51,735
The thing I remember most
187
00:09:51,819 --> 00:09:53,694
was how lonely it was.
188
00:09:54,777 --> 00:09:57,735
Kabul was like a ghost city.
189
00:09:57,819 --> 00:10:00,819
You could stand
in a major intersection,
190
00:10:00,902 --> 00:10:04,735
which now has endless
clogged traffic jams,
191
00:10:04,819 --> 00:10:08,151
and see no one and hear nothing
but bicycle spokes
192
00:10:08,235 --> 00:10:10,360
and horse carriage bells.
193
00:10:10,443 --> 00:10:12,652
It was very haunting.
194
00:10:12,735 --> 00:10:14,902
Yelling in native language
195
00:10:14,985 --> 00:10:17,193
There was rape.
There was robbery.
196
00:10:17,276 --> 00:10:21,527
Buildings were rocketed
and shot all the time.
197
00:10:21,610 --> 00:10:23,777
People were terrified.
198
00:10:24,902 --> 00:10:27,985
Out of the fight,
street by street in Kabul,
199
00:10:28,068 --> 00:10:31,819
replicated in the sort of
districts of the country,
200
00:10:31,902 --> 00:10:33,944
we got the Taliban movement.
201
00:10:35,527 --> 00:10:38,485
I can recall the precise moment
202
00:10:38,568 --> 00:10:41,652
in which I learnt
of the Taliban movement.
203
00:10:41,735 --> 00:10:44,944
I was at a garden party,
and a posh Englishman
204
00:10:45,026 --> 00:10:49,443
told me about this supposedly
Islamic student movement
205
00:10:49,527 --> 00:10:53,026
which had just taken over a
swath of territory in Kandahar
206
00:10:53,110 --> 00:10:57,527
and was chasing after these
money-grubbing, gun-wielding,
207
00:10:57,610 --> 00:11:00,735
you know, commanders left over
from the mujahideen,
208
00:11:00,819 --> 00:11:03,235
hanging them up
from trees and posts
209
00:11:03,318 --> 00:11:06,777
and stuffing money
in their mouths,
210
00:11:06,860 --> 00:11:07,985
and he told me,
211
00:11:08,068 --> 00:11:10,443
"Michael, this looks
like the next big thing,"
212
00:11:10,527 --> 00:11:12,777
um, and he was right.
213
00:11:12,860 --> 00:11:14,860
The Taliban advertised
themselves
214
00:11:14,944 --> 00:11:17,860
as a kind of purifying force,
a cleansing force
215
00:11:17,944 --> 00:11:21,151
that would reunify Afghanistan
under the banner of Islam.
216
00:11:23,235 --> 00:11:27,151
That was very
attractive to the Pakistanis.
217
00:11:27,235 --> 00:11:29,652
They didn't want Afghanistan
to be a threat,
218
00:11:29,735 --> 00:11:32,443
and so the Pakistani government
219
00:11:32,527 --> 00:11:34,151
threw their weight militarily
220
00:11:34,235 --> 00:11:37,527
and financially
behind the Taliban,
221
00:11:37,610 --> 00:11:39,485
and by early 1996,
222
00:11:39,568 --> 00:11:42,360
they controlled three-fourths
of Afghanistan.
223
00:11:43,402 --> 00:11:45,527
They often conquered
without firing a shot.
224
00:11:45,610 --> 00:11:47,527
They would just ride into a town
225
00:11:47,610 --> 00:11:49,151
holding Korans in the air
226
00:11:49,235 --> 00:11:53,652
or waving the flags of, uh,
their movement or of Islam,
227
00:11:53,735 --> 00:11:57,652
and whole garrisons
would just, uh, change sides.
228
00:11:57,735 --> 00:12:00,193
The gratitude began to fade
229
00:12:00,276 --> 00:12:02,610
and be replaced
with something else
230
00:12:02,694 --> 00:12:05,944
when it became clear
that the Taliban wanted
231
00:12:06,026 --> 00:12:10,276
to enforce an extremely
restrictive version of Islam.
232
00:12:12,443 --> 00:12:14,777
I went to Afghanistan
as a journalist,
233
00:12:14,860 --> 00:12:17,944
I think, five or six times,
234
00:12:18,026 --> 00:12:20,026
and that meant that you had
to get a visa
235
00:12:20,110 --> 00:12:22,402
from the Taliban government,
236
00:12:22,485 --> 00:12:24,485
which meant that you were there
under very limited
237
00:12:24,568 --> 00:12:28,360
and very strict conditions,
and there were many conditions.
238
00:12:28,443 --> 00:12:30,860
Number one, you had
to completely cover yourself
239
00:12:30,944 --> 00:12:32,193
except your face.
240
00:12:32,276 --> 00:12:34,485
Number two,
you couldn't meet with women.
241
00:12:34,568 --> 00:12:37,694
Number three, you couldn't
take pictures of anything.
242
00:12:37,777 --> 00:12:39,026
I had a camera, a small camera,
243
00:12:39,110 --> 00:12:41,151
hidden under
my voluminous scarf,
244
00:12:41,235 --> 00:12:44,068
and we stopped at a bakery
to buy some bread,
245
00:12:44,151 --> 00:12:47,735
and I saw this boy's face
through the window,
246
00:12:47,819 --> 00:12:49,819
and I just ducked
into the bakery,
247
00:12:49,902 --> 00:12:51,151
and I got out my camera,
248
00:12:51,235 --> 00:12:53,735
and I just took this
one single picture of him,
249
00:12:53,819 --> 00:12:54,944
and then I left.
250
00:12:55,026 --> 00:12:59,902
♪♪♪
251
00:13:03,694 --> 00:13:08,068
There was no music, no-no TV,
no phone system to speak of.
252
00:13:08,151 --> 00:13:10,735
Women were locked
inside their houses.
253
00:13:10,819 --> 00:13:13,944
Girls were not educated.
The economy totally collapsed.
254
00:13:14,026 --> 00:13:18,235
♪♪♪
255
00:13:18,318 --> 00:13:22,068
The deal was,
you get the right to life,
256
00:13:22,151 --> 00:13:25,902
and you give up pretty much
all other rights.
257
00:13:25,985 --> 00:13:31,110
♪♪♪
258
00:13:35,694 --> 00:13:38,735
This is the pictures
of all the ambassadors
259
00:13:38,819 --> 00:13:40,819
that served here.
260
00:13:40,902 --> 00:13:43,610
As you can see,
there are no women.
261
00:13:43,694 --> 00:13:46,694
So here, I would come
as a shock factor,
262
00:13:46,777 --> 00:13:48,944
but that's where
the change happens.
263
00:13:58,026 --> 00:13:59,402
Starting '92,
264
00:13:59,485 --> 00:14:02,819
I found the country
in the worst possible shape.
265
00:14:02,902 --> 00:14:07,860
There was this, uh, ambience
266
00:14:07,944 --> 00:14:11,360
of darkness and fear
267
00:14:11,443 --> 00:14:13,068
and gloom.
268
00:14:13,151 --> 00:14:15,985
♪♪♪
269
00:14:16,068 --> 00:14:18,944
We have to wear burkas.
270
00:14:19,026 --> 00:14:21,110
We never wore burkas
in my entire life.
271
00:14:21,193 --> 00:14:23,902
I was a young teenager,
and I thought, "Why?
272
00:14:23,985 --> 00:14:26,652
Why should I be like this?"
273
00:14:26,735 --> 00:14:29,568
I told my family
that I am going to sew
274
00:14:29,652 --> 00:14:32,485
the two big shawls that we had
275
00:14:32,568 --> 00:14:34,819
so that I will have
a very big sheet,
276
00:14:34,902 --> 00:14:36,902
and I would fully cover myself,
277
00:14:36,985 --> 00:14:39,735
but I am not gonna wear a burka.
278
00:14:39,819 --> 00:14:44,485
It symbolized
so much oppression to me.
279
00:14:44,568 --> 00:14:49,026
♪♪♪
280
00:14:51,110 --> 00:14:52,860
In 2001,
281
00:14:52,944 --> 00:14:57,485
there were 900,000 students
in school,
282
00:14:57,568 --> 00:14:59,527
and the number of girls?
283
00:14:59,610 --> 00:15:01,110
Zero.
284
00:15:03,610 --> 00:15:07,193
We did not want our
generations to be illiterate.
285
00:15:07,276 --> 00:15:10,819
So, if somebody knew math,
286
00:15:10,902 --> 00:15:13,735
they would quietly tell
287
00:15:13,819 --> 00:15:16,360
the neighborhood, uh,
boys and girls
288
00:15:16,443 --> 00:15:19,777
that, "We will teach you math,"
289
00:15:19,860 --> 00:15:22,151
but that always had
to be hidden.
290
00:15:23,777 --> 00:15:27,110
We said,
"When you guys are victorious
291
00:15:27,193 --> 00:15:29,110
and the Soviets are gone,
we're finished.
292
00:15:29,193 --> 00:15:31,151
We turn the country over to you.
293
00:15:31,235 --> 00:15:32,527
We're not here forever."
294
00:15:32,610 --> 00:15:35,276
♪♪♪
295
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,151
When that happened,
we basically walked away.
296
00:15:38,235 --> 00:15:43,276
♪♪♪
297
00:15:44,193 --> 00:15:46,568
When the Taliban took over,
most people said,
298
00:15:46,652 --> 00:15:47,920
"There's nothing
we can do about it,
299
00:15:47,944 --> 00:15:49,235
so we're not gonna do anything.
300
00:15:49,318 --> 00:15:51,568
We're not even gonna
worry about it."
301
00:15:51,652 --> 00:15:54,568
Our interest really was
when bin Laden went there,
302
00:15:54,652 --> 00:15:58,151
rather than anything that's
gonna change Afghanistan.
303
00:15:58,235 --> 00:16:03,026
♪♪♪
304
00:16:03,110 --> 00:16:05,902
I come from a rural family.
305
00:16:06,026 --> 00:16:08,610
Uh, we were one
of the destitute families,
306
00:16:08,694 --> 00:16:10,485
uh, due to war,
307
00:16:10,568 --> 00:16:14,819
and, uh, when I became
able enough,
308
00:16:14,902 --> 00:16:16,944
I went back to the valley,
309
00:16:17,026 --> 00:16:20,819
and I joined, uh, the forces
fighting the regime.
310
00:16:20,902 --> 00:16:22,568
At the age of 19,
311
00:16:22,652 --> 00:16:25,026
he was already
a seasoned war veteran
312
00:16:25,110 --> 00:16:27,276
in charge of rebuilding villages
313
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:28,902
bombed in the fighting.
314
00:16:28,985 --> 00:16:30,610
Couple of years later,
315
00:16:30,694 --> 00:16:33,443
I was given
intelligence assignment.
316
00:16:33,527 --> 00:16:36,777
So, since '97, I was assigned
317
00:16:36,860 --> 00:16:39,026
to handle
the overall relationship
318
00:16:39,110 --> 00:16:41,276
with the, uh... with the CIA.
319
00:16:43,026 --> 00:16:45,777
The strategic aspect
of the relationship
320
00:16:45,860 --> 00:16:48,443
was telling them
what is terrorism,
321
00:16:48,527 --> 00:16:52,735
what is bin Laden,
what is al-Qaeda,
322
00:16:52,819 --> 00:16:56,610
and what type of threat
does it pose
323
00:16:56,694 --> 00:16:59,860
to U.S. interest
in the wider region
324
00:16:59,944 --> 00:17:02,527
and how we should, uh, cope
with it.
325
00:17:02,610 --> 00:17:04,860
Of course, they were not
very receptive
326
00:17:04,944 --> 00:17:08,110
of our strategic analysis.
327
00:17:08,193 --> 00:17:11,151
They were showing
very little interest
328
00:17:11,235 --> 00:17:13,527
to the hosts of al-Qaeda.
329
00:17:13,610 --> 00:17:16,819
They were showing
very, very little interest
330
00:17:16,902 --> 00:17:19,235
to the plight
of the Afghan people,
331
00:17:19,318 --> 00:17:23,777
who were suffering
under that terrorist regime.
332
00:17:23,860 --> 00:17:26,151
♪♪♪
333
00:17:26,235 --> 00:17:27,836
One thing Afghans
don't need a lot of help with
334
00:17:27,860 --> 00:17:30,193
is fighting, uh, and, uh...
335
00:17:30,276 --> 00:17:33,026
But a number of Arabs,
like Osama bin Laden, came,
336
00:17:33,110 --> 00:17:34,294
and they were very idealistic.
337
00:17:34,318 --> 00:17:35,694
They weren't very large
in number.
338
00:17:35,777 --> 00:17:37,217
They weren't
very military effective.
339
00:17:37,276 --> 00:17:39,527
They didn't have
any fighting experience.
340
00:17:39,610 --> 00:17:41,068
But they got together,
341
00:17:41,151 --> 00:17:43,527
and he founded al-Qaeda
over the course
342
00:17:43,610 --> 00:17:45,902
of a couple of weekends
in Pakistan
343
00:17:45,985 --> 00:17:49,151
in August of 1988.
344
00:17:49,235 --> 00:17:52,276
It was a very secretive
organization.
345
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:54,860
They really didn't have
very many places to go,
346
00:17:54,944 --> 00:17:57,902
and Afghanistan was one place
where bin Laden thought
347
00:17:57,985 --> 00:18:02,151
he could establish
al-Qaeda's headquarters.
348
00:18:03,235 --> 00:18:05,902
In '96, I read
a State Department report
349
00:18:05,985 --> 00:18:07,193
about bin Laden
350
00:18:07,276 --> 00:18:09,402
saying he's financing
Islamic extremism.
351
00:18:09,485 --> 00:18:12,360
He's recruited all of these
Arabs from around the world,
352
00:18:12,443 --> 00:18:13,944
and he could be a problem.
353
00:18:14,026 --> 00:18:15,276
So I went to my bosses at CNN.
354
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:17,568
I said, "Let's try
and interview this guy."
355
00:18:17,652 --> 00:18:19,944
You know, this is, like,
the hostage video.
356
00:18:20,026 --> 00:18:22,902
Yeah.
The hostage video.
357
00:18:22,985 --> 00:18:25,610
♪♪♪
358
00:18:25,694 --> 00:18:27,819
There we are.
We look almost human.
359
00:18:31,985 --> 00:18:34,902
Speaking native language
360
00:18:43,068 --> 00:18:45,318
No one really paid
any attention until 1998,
361
00:18:45,402 --> 00:18:47,735
when al-Qaeda
blew up two American embassies
362
00:18:47,819 --> 00:18:49,694
within nine minutes
of each other.
363
00:18:49,777 --> 00:18:52,985
Two bombs exploded
almost simultaneously today
364
00:18:53,068 --> 00:18:55,610
at the U.S. embassies
in the East Africa nations
365
00:18:55,694 --> 00:18:57,235
of Kenya and Tanzania.
366
00:18:57,318 --> 00:18:59,360
U.S. officials
say the bombings
367
00:18:59,443 --> 00:19:01,944
have all the fingerprints
of Middle East terror.
368
00:19:02,026 --> 00:19:03,402
That is when it became clear
369
00:19:03,485 --> 00:19:04,694
that bin Laden and al-Qaeda
370
00:19:04,777 --> 00:19:06,485
was really a big deal
and could...
371
00:19:06,568 --> 00:19:08,735
Not only were spouting all
this anti-American rhetoric
372
00:19:08,819 --> 00:19:12,735
but trying to kill, you know,
large numbers of Americans.
373
00:19:12,819 --> 00:19:14,944
There is convincing information
374
00:19:15,026 --> 00:19:16,985
from our intelligence community
375
00:19:17,068 --> 00:19:19,068
that the bin Laden
terrorist network
376
00:19:19,151 --> 00:19:22,402
was responsible
for these bombings.
377
00:19:22,485 --> 00:19:24,276
Bin Laden was constantly moving,
378
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,276
and we were using
Afghan tribal networks
379
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,360
to report on his travels
and his whereabouts.
380
00:19:31,318 --> 00:19:32,944
Our tribal contacts came to us,
381
00:19:33,026 --> 00:19:35,276
and they said, "Look,
he's in this location now.
382
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:37,902
When he leaves, he's gonna
have to go through
383
00:19:37,985 --> 00:19:39,235
this particular crossroads,"
384
00:19:39,318 --> 00:19:41,985
and so what they proposed
was to bury
385
00:19:42,068 --> 00:19:45,235
a huge cache of explosives
underneath those crossroads
386
00:19:45,318 --> 00:19:48,443
so that when his convoy
came through,
387
00:19:48,527 --> 00:19:50,360
they could simply blow it up.
388
00:19:50,443 --> 00:19:53,819
And we said, "Absolutely not."
389
00:19:53,902 --> 00:19:57,819
We were risking jail
if we didn't tell them that,
390
00:19:57,902 --> 00:20:01,485
because the CIA
had a so-called lethal finding
391
00:20:01,568 --> 00:20:03,860
that had been signed
by President Clinton
392
00:20:03,944 --> 00:20:06,485
which said that
we could engage in
393
00:20:06,568 --> 00:20:09,151
"lethal activity"
against bin Laden,
394
00:20:09,235 --> 00:20:13,860
but the purpose
of our attack on bin Laden
395
00:20:13,944 --> 00:20:16,360
couldn't be to kill him.
396
00:20:16,443 --> 00:20:19,902
We were being asked
to remove this threat
397
00:20:19,985 --> 00:20:22,402
to the United States
398
00:20:22,485 --> 00:20:27,443
essentially with one hand
tied behind our backs.
399
00:20:28,944 --> 00:20:31,193
I was a fairly junior officer,
400
00:20:31,276 --> 00:20:33,944
and as al-Qaeda grew
into a worldwide presence,
401
00:20:34,026 --> 00:20:35,819
we were very sensitive
402
00:20:35,902 --> 00:20:38,944
and very aware
of this growing phenomenon.
403
00:20:40,485 --> 00:20:42,944
It's not like they were playing.
404
00:20:43,026 --> 00:20:45,610
The threat was real.
405
00:20:47,110 --> 00:20:49,527
And if President Clinton
had taken action
406
00:20:49,610 --> 00:20:51,985
and killed Osama bin Laden,
407
00:20:52,068 --> 00:20:54,235
there wouldn't have been a 9/11.
408
00:20:54,318 --> 00:20:55,419
If there wouldn't have been
a 9/11,
409
00:20:55,443 --> 00:20:56,711
there wouldn't have been
Afghanistan.
410
00:20:56,735 --> 00:20:58,294
If there wouldn't have been
Afghanistan,
411
00:20:58,318 --> 00:21:00,276
there probably
wouldn't have been Iraq.
412
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,819
What would the world be like?
413
00:21:02,902 --> 00:21:08,026
♪♪♪
414
00:21:11,527 --> 00:21:14,527
It still gets to me,
living in our nation's capital
415
00:21:14,610 --> 00:21:17,235
and every building
has significance...
416
00:21:19,652 --> 00:21:22,568
especially driving by here.
417
00:21:23,944 --> 00:21:27,026
Something I'll never forget,
shaped my whole life.
418
00:21:27,110 --> 00:21:32,068
♪♪♪
419
00:21:32,151 --> 00:21:35,026
I had finished my first week
at Georgetown.
420
00:21:35,110 --> 00:21:38,318
They have a National Security
Studies program there.
421
00:21:38,402 --> 00:21:40,777
I was driving around
in the area,
422
00:21:40,860 --> 00:21:43,777
getting used to it
after that first week,
423
00:21:43,860 --> 00:21:46,026
and then a bunch of cars
stopped in front of me,
424
00:21:46,110 --> 00:21:49,944
and people got out and started
screaming and pointing.
425
00:21:50,026 --> 00:21:52,318
The plane had just hit
the Pentagon.
426
00:21:52,402 --> 00:21:57,151
♪♪♪
427
00:21:57,235 --> 00:21:58,955
When I came to D.C.,
I actually didn't think
428
00:21:59,026 --> 00:22:01,944
I would stay,
429
00:22:02,026 --> 00:22:05,235
but counterterrorism
developed into an entire field
430
00:22:05,318 --> 00:22:08,318
after that day,
and I got swept up in it.
431
00:22:08,402 --> 00:22:11,777
♪♪♪
432
00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:14,360
On 9/11, it was clear
who the enemy was,
433
00:22:14,443 --> 00:22:18,193
and the Bush administration
went straight into Afghanistan,
434
00:22:18,276 --> 00:22:19,652
where al-Qaeda was,
435
00:22:19,735 --> 00:22:22,902
where bin Laden was,
and tried to attack them,
436
00:22:22,985 --> 00:22:26,360
both for the purpose
of responding to 9/11
437
00:22:26,443 --> 00:22:28,985
but also to try to disrupt
any planning
438
00:22:29,068 --> 00:22:31,068
that al-Qaeda
might have under way
439
00:22:31,151 --> 00:22:32,485
for a follow-on attack.
440
00:22:32,568 --> 00:22:34,193
The Taliban
have now made it clear
441
00:22:34,276 --> 00:22:36,902
that they will not bow
to American pressure.
442
00:22:36,985 --> 00:22:40,360
At a chaotic press conference
at their embassy in Islamabad,
443
00:22:40,443 --> 00:22:42,652
they threatened holy war
if attacked
444
00:22:42,735 --> 00:22:45,110
and rejected
President Bush's demand
445
00:22:45,193 --> 00:22:47,151
to surrender Osama bin Laden.
446
00:22:47,235 --> 00:22:49,402
Are you willing to hand
Osama bin Laden
447
00:22:49,485 --> 00:22:50,819
to the United States or not?
448
00:22:50,902 --> 00:22:52,151
No, no, no, no.
449
00:22:53,902 --> 00:22:55,151
Well, for the Taliban,
450
00:22:55,235 --> 00:22:57,694
there was an opportunity
for them to distance,
451
00:22:57,777 --> 00:23:01,318
uh, the movement from these
groups and individuals,
452
00:23:01,402 --> 00:23:03,068
and we were hoping
they wouldn't,
453
00:23:03,151 --> 00:23:06,568
because, uh, for us,
it was an opportunity
454
00:23:06,652 --> 00:23:10,610
to actually rid Afghanistan
of the Taliban.
455
00:23:10,694 --> 00:23:14,485
And as we expected,
they stuck to their guns,
456
00:23:14,568 --> 00:23:18,652
and they did not
in any way compromise,
457
00:23:18,735 --> 00:23:21,402
and that was the beginning
of the end for them,
458
00:23:21,485 --> 00:23:22,944
at least in that period.
459
00:23:24,610 --> 00:23:27,360
When 9/11 happened,
they called me in.
460
00:23:27,443 --> 00:23:29,419
Basically, they said, "Will you
take the first team in?
461
00:23:29,443 --> 00:23:31,694
We got to... we want to put
a team together."
462
00:23:31,777 --> 00:23:32,944
I said, "Oh, God,
463
00:23:33,026 --> 00:23:34,906
everybody in the United States
wants to do this,
464
00:23:34,944 --> 00:23:36,860
and they're giving me the job,
465
00:23:36,944 --> 00:23:39,110
be the first people
to hit back at bin Laden?"
466
00:23:39,193 --> 00:23:41,151
I said, "Yeah,
better believe it."
467
00:23:42,819 --> 00:23:44,777
When I entered,
you know, I had my orders.
468
00:23:44,860 --> 00:23:47,694
I had an operational directive
to execute on the ground.
469
00:23:47,777 --> 00:23:51,777
Number one, destroy the Taliban
because they're in the way.
470
00:23:51,860 --> 00:23:54,402
We have to get at al-Qaeda.
471
00:23:54,485 --> 00:23:57,860
Number two,
kill every member of al-Qaeda
472
00:23:57,944 --> 00:24:00,819
that you can find
on the battlefield.
473
00:24:00,902 --> 00:24:04,735
Number three,
find and kill bin Laden.
474
00:24:04,819 --> 00:24:09,694
♪♪♪
475
00:24:11,610 --> 00:24:13,151
Well, when we left,
476
00:24:13,235 --> 00:24:14,670
chief of
Counterterrorism Center said...
477
00:24:14,694 --> 00:24:17,276
We met him on the morning
we were getting ready to leave,
478
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,276
and he said, "I'm gonna
give you your orders now.
479
00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:22,235
Once the Northern Alliance
is ready
480
00:24:22,318 --> 00:24:25,360
and they go into Kabul,
we want you and your team
481
00:24:25,443 --> 00:24:26,735
to go in with them
482
00:24:26,819 --> 00:24:29,276
and capture bin Laden
and his lieutenants.
483
00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:33,568
Then what I want you to do is,
when you capture those guys,
484
00:24:33,652 --> 00:24:36,235
I want you to cut
their heads off,
485
00:24:36,318 --> 00:24:39,360
and the lieutenants, I want you
to put their heads on pikes
486
00:24:39,443 --> 00:24:41,568
and display them
and photograph them,
487
00:24:41,652 --> 00:24:43,819
and bin Laden,
I want you to take his head
488
00:24:43,902 --> 00:24:46,819
and put it on dry ice
in a box and ship it back,
489
00:24:46,902 --> 00:24:49,360
so I'm gonna take it
to the president to see."
490
00:24:49,443 --> 00:24:51,193
So I look at the deputy.
491
00:24:51,276 --> 00:24:54,402
He looks at me,
and I-I'm saying,
492
00:24:54,485 --> 00:24:56,944
"Is this guy serious?"
493
00:24:57,026 --> 00:25:01,944
I said, "Okay, maybe we could
cut off their heads.
494
00:25:02,026 --> 00:25:03,110
Maybe. I don't know."
495
00:25:03,193 --> 00:25:05,944
I said, "I doubt it,
but maybe we could."
496
00:25:06,026 --> 00:25:08,985
I said, "And we can certainly
make pikes out in the field.
497
00:25:09,068 --> 00:25:10,360
You know, that's not hard."
498
00:25:10,443 --> 00:25:12,083
I said, "But where
am I gonna find dry ice
499
00:25:12,151 --> 00:25:13,276
in Afghanistan?"
500
00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:18,235
♪♪♪
501
00:25:18,318 --> 00:25:19,443
Vice President Cheney
502
00:25:19,527 --> 00:25:22,235
said fairly soon
after the attacks,
503
00:25:22,318 --> 00:25:24,777
"We're gonna go over
to the dark side."
504
00:25:24,860 --> 00:25:26,860
And, historically,
when presidents have wanted
505
00:25:26,944 --> 00:25:30,235
to go over to the dark side,
they've asked the CIA to do it.
506
00:25:32,026 --> 00:25:33,777
A lot of what needs
to be done here
507
00:25:33,860 --> 00:25:37,026
will have to be done quietly
without any discussion,
508
00:25:37,110 --> 00:25:38,860
using sources and methods, uh,
509
00:25:38,944 --> 00:25:41,652
that are available
to our intelligence agencies.
510
00:25:52,026 --> 00:25:54,860
The first trip
I took was in 1994,
511
00:25:54,944 --> 00:25:57,485
Human Rights Watch.
512
00:25:57,568 --> 00:25:58,944
The war had continued.
513
00:25:59,026 --> 00:26:00,711
The Soviets had gone,
but the war was continuing,
514
00:26:00,735 --> 00:26:03,360
which was sort of...
Came to be the story
515
00:26:03,443 --> 00:26:05,735
over the many years
I went to Afghanistan.
516
00:26:05,819 --> 00:26:08,026
Despite whatever
political changes happened,
517
00:26:08,110 --> 00:26:11,694
the war almost had a life
of its own and continued.
518
00:26:15,151 --> 00:26:19,985
The first boots on the ground
after 9/11 were the CIA,
519
00:26:20,068 --> 00:26:23,276
and very quickly,
they began working with
520
00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:26,360
and bolstering militia groups
to work with,
521
00:26:26,443 --> 00:26:29,527
and those groups were designed,
522
00:26:29,610 --> 00:26:31,235
recruited, and trained
523
00:26:31,318 --> 00:26:36,151
to go after leading al-Qaeda
or Taliban figures.
524
00:26:37,985 --> 00:26:42,110
The CIA was transformed
as an institution by 9/11.
525
00:26:42,902 --> 00:26:46,276
Out of that came
the, uh, structure
526
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:49,068
that is now notorious...
527
00:26:49,151 --> 00:26:52,694
the black sites, the enhanced
interrogation techniques,
528
00:26:52,777 --> 00:26:56,235
the waterboarding, and the rest.
529
00:26:56,318 --> 00:26:59,193
When I joined
the agency in the 1980s,
530
00:26:59,276 --> 00:27:02,735
only the bad guys
used those techniques on us.
531
00:27:02,819 --> 00:27:04,193
Unlike the FBI,
532
00:27:04,276 --> 00:27:09,068
the agency really did not have
any skill in interrogation,
533
00:27:09,151 --> 00:27:11,985
especially
hostile interrogation.
534
00:27:12,068 --> 00:27:13,860
That was something new.
535
00:27:15,193 --> 00:27:16,568
I can honestly say
536
00:27:16,652 --> 00:27:19,527
I know what attacks
were stopped.
537
00:27:19,610 --> 00:27:21,443
I know how hard
the folks worked,
538
00:27:21,527 --> 00:27:23,276
and I also know
they weren't emotional.
539
00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:26,151
People weren't having fun
waterboarding people.
540
00:27:26,235 --> 00:27:27,527
I would never say
541
00:27:27,610 --> 00:27:30,110
that I am in support of torture
542
00:27:30,193 --> 00:27:32,694
or anything in that regard,
543
00:27:32,777 --> 00:27:36,568
but there was definitely
a push technically
544
00:27:36,652 --> 00:27:38,026
and in human intelligence
545
00:27:38,110 --> 00:27:40,735
to get as much information
as possible,
546
00:27:40,819 --> 00:27:42,944
and you have
to put yourself back
547
00:27:43,026 --> 00:27:45,860
in that particular time
in history.
548
00:27:51,694 --> 00:27:53,443
When I think about...
549
00:27:53,527 --> 00:27:54,777
when I think about the kids
550
00:27:54,860 --> 00:27:57,694
and the-and the-and the-
and the women and children
551
00:27:57,777 --> 00:27:59,527
and good Americans
who are still alive
552
00:27:59,610 --> 00:28:01,485
because of what we did,
you know what I say?
553
00:28:01,568 --> 00:28:03,902
I say, "Fuck history.
554
00:28:03,985 --> 00:28:05,902
Fuck history."
555
00:28:05,985 --> 00:28:10,318
As far as that program,
I slept good at night.
556
00:28:10,402 --> 00:28:11,527
I did a briefing on it
557
00:28:11,610 --> 00:28:14,193
for all the ambassadors
in Kabul,
558
00:28:14,276 --> 00:28:15,777
and I had said
559
00:28:15,860 --> 00:28:17,985
that the torture
that had been described
560
00:28:18,068 --> 00:28:21,276
by people who had investigated
the secret detentions,
561
00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:24,360
the salt pit, the case
of people being left out,
562
00:28:24,443 --> 00:28:27,694
dying of hypothermia,
and the rest of it,
563
00:28:27,777 --> 00:28:30,151
these kinds of torture
and secret detentions
564
00:28:30,235 --> 00:28:32,026
had been known
in the Soviet times.
565
00:28:32,110 --> 00:28:35,568
It was shocking for them
to be coming up again
566
00:28:35,652 --> 00:28:38,235
in post-2001 Afghanistan.
567
00:28:39,110 --> 00:28:41,193
The Americans didn't
come to the briefing,
568
00:28:41,276 --> 00:28:43,193
but they came
immediately afterwards
569
00:28:43,276 --> 00:28:44,735
and wanted to see me.
570
00:28:44,819 --> 00:28:46,527
When I was approached
by one of them,
571
00:28:46,610 --> 00:28:50,985
he was so angry, he was shaking.
572
00:28:51,068 --> 00:28:55,193
The very fact I dared
compare those abuses
573
00:28:55,276 --> 00:28:57,485
to what had happened
with the Soviets
574
00:28:57,568 --> 00:28:59,485
had infuriated him,
575
00:28:59,568 --> 00:29:02,026
and I'm just like...
That's what infuriated him,
576
00:29:02,110 --> 00:29:03,985
not the fact that they happened
577
00:29:04,068 --> 00:29:06,819
but that I had made
a comparison with the Soviets.
578
00:29:08,860 --> 00:29:11,360
The way the-that war
has been fought,
579
00:29:11,443 --> 00:29:13,360
the counterterrorism war,
580
00:29:13,443 --> 00:29:16,443
it's largely shaped
where we are today.
581
00:29:16,527 --> 00:29:19,777
It was always the CIA's war.
582
00:29:19,860 --> 00:29:23,360
It was in the '80s, the '90s,
and it was after 2001.
583
00:29:23,443 --> 00:29:28,193
♪♪♪
584
00:29:28,276 --> 00:29:30,527
We enter Kabul.
It's 12 November.
585
00:29:30,610 --> 00:29:32,110
I know bin Laden's fled.
586
00:29:32,193 --> 00:29:33,985
Watch bin Laden move south,
587
00:29:34,068 --> 00:29:35,819
which was down to Tora Bora,
588
00:29:35,902 --> 00:29:37,735
and then pursued right away.
589
00:29:38,694 --> 00:29:41,568
Tora Bora is a very remote
mountainous part of Afghanistan
590
00:29:41,652 --> 00:29:43,235
on the border with Pakistan.
591
00:29:43,318 --> 00:29:45,110
It's an area
that he knew very well.
592
00:29:45,193 --> 00:29:47,235
He'd been going through
that area during the '80s,
593
00:29:47,318 --> 00:29:48,568
fighting the Soviets.
594
00:29:48,652 --> 00:29:50,944
It's an area...
He liked being there.
595
00:29:51,026 --> 00:29:52,860
He, uh... he had, like,
a vacation home there,
596
00:29:52,944 --> 00:29:56,068
which wouldn't be my
first choice of vacation spot.
597
00:29:56,151 --> 00:29:57,360
We knew that bin Laden
598
00:29:57,443 --> 00:29:59,243
was moving with a group
of about 1,000 people.
599
00:29:59,276 --> 00:30:01,169
Right away they said, "Okay,
we're gonna go pursue him."
600
00:30:01,193 --> 00:30:04,360
I said, "Do it. Send them in."
We go up.
601
00:30:04,443 --> 00:30:07,360
They get up on top
of a promontory mountain piece,
602
00:30:07,443 --> 00:30:08,652
and then down below,
603
00:30:08,735 --> 00:30:10,610
there's bin Laden
and his huge element.
604
00:30:10,694 --> 00:30:12,235
Our team had a SOFLAM,
605
00:30:12,318 --> 00:30:15,276
Special Operations Forces
Laser Acquisition Mechanism,
606
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:16,735
which allowed them to target
607
00:30:16,819 --> 00:30:20,527
and do 56 hours of air strikes
608
00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:22,735
and just hammer them.
609
00:30:24,276 --> 00:30:26,985
We bombed the bejesus
out of the place.
610
00:30:27,068 --> 00:30:28,777
We destroyed most of their gear,
611
00:30:28,860 --> 00:30:30,002
their radios, their vehicles.
612
00:30:30,026 --> 00:30:32,151
They had tanks.
They had all sorts of stuff.
613
00:30:32,235 --> 00:30:34,402
They were trying
to get up into position.
614
00:30:34,485 --> 00:30:36,586
We wrecked it all on the ground
before they could get up there
615
00:30:36,610 --> 00:30:38,110
and killed a bunch of them.
616
00:30:38,193 --> 00:30:40,527
Bin Laden wrote his will
at Tora Bora.
617
00:30:40,610 --> 00:30:43,110
He thought he was gonna die.
618
00:30:43,193 --> 00:30:45,068
He thought this was the end.
619
00:30:45,151 --> 00:30:49,568
♪♪♪
620
00:30:49,652 --> 00:30:51,235
But it wasn't.
621
00:30:51,318 --> 00:30:54,151
♪♪♪
622
00:30:54,235 --> 00:30:56,151
So, after our guys
go up, do the bombing,
623
00:30:56,235 --> 00:30:58,819
the initial bombing,
that first four guys come out,
624
00:30:58,902 --> 00:31:00,878
and one of those guys had been
a former Delta Force guy,
625
00:31:00,902 --> 00:31:04,485
have him brought right back.
626
00:31:04,568 --> 00:31:05,878
He's the one
that says to me, "Gary,
627
00:31:05,902 --> 00:31:08,735
we are going to need
U.S. forces."
628
00:31:08,819 --> 00:31:11,652
♪♪♪
629
00:31:11,735 --> 00:31:14,985
The CIA requested 800 Rangers,
630
00:31:15,068 --> 00:31:17,402
but that request was
turned down by the U.S. Army.
631
00:31:17,485 --> 00:31:19,777
♪♪♪
632
00:31:19,860 --> 00:31:22,568
What Gary Brunson
was arguing for, I think,
633
00:31:22,652 --> 00:31:25,360
were very large numbers
of troops, uh,
634
00:31:25,443 --> 00:31:27,402
to go into the valleys,
635
00:31:27,485 --> 00:31:29,944
and, frankly, I-I thought that
much of what he was advocating
636
00:31:30,026 --> 00:31:32,026
at the time
was not gonna be effective.
637
00:31:32,110 --> 00:31:34,652
Gary probably had a little bit
more enthusiasm than judgment.
638
00:31:34,735 --> 00:31:37,527
♪♪♪
639
00:31:37,610 --> 00:31:40,068
That's bullshit.
640
00:31:40,151 --> 00:31:42,235
They weren't accustomed
to having to make decisions
641
00:31:42,318 --> 00:31:44,694
as rapidly as I was forcing
642
00:31:44,777 --> 00:31:47,276
because I knew the enemy
was going to escape.
643
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:48,777
I didn't have a choice.
644
00:31:48,860 --> 00:31:52,944
♪♪♪
645
00:31:53,026 --> 00:31:55,443
On the 16th of December,
646
00:31:55,527 --> 00:31:59,485
bin Laden and his-his-his guys
left the mountains.
647
00:31:59,568 --> 00:32:02,485
♪♪♪
648
00:32:02,568 --> 00:32:05,235
They just walked across
into Pakistan.
649
00:32:05,318 --> 00:32:08,193
They got on motorcycles
and just headed out,
650
00:32:08,276 --> 00:32:11,819
and it took us all those years
later before we found him.
651
00:32:11,902 --> 00:32:17,026
♪♪♪
652
00:32:22,944 --> 00:32:25,568
We were building the country.
653
00:32:25,652 --> 00:32:28,151
We were training
the Afghan military.
654
00:32:28,235 --> 00:32:30,318
We were paying
for building of facilities
655
00:32:30,402 --> 00:32:32,026
with the U.S. military.
656
00:32:32,110 --> 00:32:33,628
We had turned it over
to State Department and say,
657
00:32:33,652 --> 00:32:35,360
"Okay,
now you build a new nation.
658
00:32:35,443 --> 00:32:38,318
You teach them democracy,
how do they handle elections.
659
00:32:38,402 --> 00:32:40,610
Do all that stuff."
660
00:32:40,694 --> 00:32:42,151
As things progressed,
661
00:32:42,235 --> 00:32:44,694
it was a dream come true,
662
00:32:44,777 --> 00:32:46,985
and it was hard to believe
663
00:32:47,068 --> 00:32:49,527
that we had got
a second chance to live.
664
00:32:49,610 --> 00:32:52,318
♪♪♪
665
00:32:52,402 --> 00:32:56,068
That was when I really
explored the country.
666
00:32:56,151 --> 00:32:57,819
That was when I started
667
00:32:57,902 --> 00:33:01,860
not only to travel
to every corner of Kabul
668
00:33:01,944 --> 00:33:05,276
but also to over 15 provinces.
669
00:33:06,235 --> 00:33:08,193
It was a utopia.
670
00:33:09,985 --> 00:33:12,110
My first trip
over to Afghanistan
671
00:33:12,193 --> 00:33:14,694
was in January of 2002.
672
00:33:16,443 --> 00:33:19,110
There's a reason that most
of the, like, correspondents
673
00:33:19,193 --> 00:33:22,276
that came up
during that time were women.
674
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:23,860
Men had a very hard time,
675
00:33:23,944 --> 00:33:25,610
particularly in the early days,
676
00:33:25,694 --> 00:33:26,860
doing stories about women,
677
00:33:26,944 --> 00:33:28,860
and women were
a fascinating story
678
00:33:28,944 --> 00:33:31,985
and an important story
in Afghanistan.
679
00:33:33,735 --> 00:33:35,985
My first stories in Afghanistan
680
00:33:36,068 --> 00:33:37,944
were about what life
had been like
681
00:33:38,026 --> 00:33:39,610
for the women under the Taliban
682
00:33:39,694 --> 00:33:42,527
because they were finally able
to speak freely.
683
00:33:42,610 --> 00:33:45,151
♪♪♪
684
00:33:45,235 --> 00:33:47,527
There were women
who had been forcibly married
685
00:33:47,610 --> 00:33:49,819
to the Taliban.
686
00:33:49,902 --> 00:33:52,527
There were teachers
and doctors and young women
687
00:33:52,610 --> 00:33:54,276
who had grown up
688
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:57,110
during those five years
of not being free at all.
689
00:33:59,402 --> 00:34:04,110
As people finally had
access to the outside world,
690
00:34:04,193 --> 00:34:06,235
the culture was changing
before our very eyes.
691
00:34:06,318 --> 00:34:11,276
♪♪♪
692
00:34:15,235 --> 00:34:17,652
I left Afghanistan
when I was 12.
693
00:34:17,735 --> 00:34:21,235
I had not been to the country
for a very long time.
694
00:34:21,318 --> 00:34:23,235
But the need to come back, uh,
695
00:34:23,318 --> 00:34:25,318
was very strong for not just me
696
00:34:25,402 --> 00:34:27,902
but for a lot of other Afghans.
697
00:34:27,985 --> 00:34:29,902
I was a banker,
and my brother was a lawyer,
698
00:34:29,985 --> 00:34:31,902
and the other brother
was a finance person,
699
00:34:31,985 --> 00:34:35,527
and our sister
was a marketing person.
700
00:34:35,610 --> 00:34:37,360
And in 2002,
701
00:34:37,443 --> 00:34:39,443
we secured
the first private license
702
00:34:39,527 --> 00:34:41,318
for a radio station.
703
00:34:44,860 --> 00:34:46,568
Speaking native language
704
00:34:51,318 --> 00:34:54,318
♪♪♪
705
00:34:54,402 --> 00:34:56,193
It was about music.
It was about jokes.
706
00:34:56,276 --> 00:35:00,068
It was men and women
just having a conversation.
707
00:35:00,151 --> 00:35:02,902
♪♪♪
708
00:35:02,985 --> 00:35:06,610
But it's ironic that...
709
00:35:06,694 --> 00:35:09,360
how many people
are enemies of fun.
710
00:35:09,443 --> 00:35:11,777
The conservatives at the time,
711
00:35:11,860 --> 00:35:14,902
they were very suspicious.
712
00:35:14,985 --> 00:35:18,568
We're a bunch of young people
in this house, basically,
713
00:35:18,652 --> 00:35:21,360
no security whatsoever,
714
00:35:21,443 --> 00:35:24,110
and people would literally
knock on our doors and say,
715
00:35:24,193 --> 00:35:26,068
"We hate you guys."
716
00:35:26,151 --> 00:35:28,694
But so the radio was a success,
717
00:35:28,777 --> 00:35:30,735
and we thought
the natural progression
718
00:35:30,819 --> 00:35:33,694
would be to launch
a television station.
719
00:35:33,777 --> 00:35:36,735
Speaking native language
720
00:35:37,944 --> 00:35:41,193
speaking native language
721
00:35:43,902 --> 00:35:46,193
We saw the good news on day one,
722
00:35:46,276 --> 00:35:48,402
and we came up
with all sorts of programs
723
00:35:48,485 --> 00:35:49,985
that we could produce quickly.
724
00:35:53,235 --> 00:35:55,777
And then we started
to do really big stuff,
725
00:35:55,860 --> 00:35:58,985
like the Idol format
with Afghan Star.
726
00:35:59,068 --> 00:36:02,026
♪ Upbeat rock music ♪
727
00:36:02,110 --> 00:36:06,026
singing in native language
728
00:36:06,110 --> 00:36:10,110
speaking native language
729
00:36:11,610 --> 00:36:12,819
When we first launched,
730
00:36:12,902 --> 00:36:15,568
this whole idea
of voting for a winner,
731
00:36:15,652 --> 00:36:18,235
they couldn't believe that we
would stick to our principles
732
00:36:18,318 --> 00:36:21,944
in terms of, like, counting
people's text messages.
733
00:36:23,110 --> 00:36:24,985
But what was extraordinary
734
00:36:25,068 --> 00:36:27,944
was how quickly
people accepted it.
735
00:36:29,777 --> 00:36:31,568
That's what's interesting
with the media.
736
00:36:31,652 --> 00:36:35,402
We just give people sort of
a glimpse of what's possible.
737
00:36:37,985 --> 00:36:39,985
This weekend in Afghanistan,
738
00:36:40,068 --> 00:36:43,193
the voice of the people
was finally heard.
739
00:36:43,276 --> 00:36:45,026
Precious ballots
from Afghanistan's
740
00:36:45,110 --> 00:36:48,443
only presidential
election in 5,000 years
741
00:36:48,527 --> 00:36:50,819
poured into counting centers
around the country.
742
00:36:52,902 --> 00:36:54,336
There hasn't been
a presidential election
743
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:56,652
in the United States
since 1900 where 70 percent
744
00:36:56,735 --> 00:36:59,902
of the population
able to vote voted.
745
00:36:59,985 --> 00:37:02,402
♪ Soft music ♪
746
00:37:02,485 --> 00:37:04,235
I went to villages and schools
747
00:37:04,318 --> 00:37:05,527
where people were voting,
748
00:37:05,610 --> 00:37:09,610
and the feeling in those rooms
749
00:37:09,694 --> 00:37:13,235
was one of pride and hope
750
00:37:13,318 --> 00:37:18,193
and belief that things
were getting better
751
00:37:18,276 --> 00:37:21,860
and that the system
that was being created
752
00:37:21,944 --> 00:37:23,735
would help the country.
753
00:37:26,443 --> 00:37:29,485
The Afghan people,
by coming out and voting,
754
00:37:29,568 --> 00:37:32,860
have given the last
755
00:37:32,944 --> 00:37:35,318
defeat to terrorism.
756
00:37:36,068 --> 00:37:38,235
The tyranny is gone,
757
00:37:38,318 --> 00:37:40,402
the terrorist enemy
is scattered,
758
00:37:40,485 --> 00:37:43,402
and the people
of Afghanistan are free.
759
00:37:44,985 --> 00:37:48,193
I thought,
"If things keep on like this,
760
00:37:48,276 --> 00:37:51,026
we can win this
in a couple of years."
761
00:37:51,110 --> 00:37:56,235
♪♪♪
762
00:38:04,568 --> 00:38:06,068
All the books you see here
763
00:38:06,151 --> 00:38:07,944
are about
special operations missions,
764
00:38:08,026 --> 00:38:09,902
and they don't always go well.
765
00:38:09,985 --> 00:38:11,705
Uh, you know, when I think
about Desert One,
766
00:38:11,735 --> 00:38:12,735
it didn't go well.
767
00:38:12,819 --> 00:38:14,252
When I think about
a lot of these, uh, books
768
00:38:14,276 --> 00:38:16,026
that are here
on World War II missions,
769
00:38:16,110 --> 00:38:17,360
they didn't go well.
770
00:38:17,443 --> 00:38:21,527
So I actually drew
on a lot of the lessons
771
00:38:21,610 --> 00:38:24,110
because I wanted to make sure
whatever plan
772
00:38:24,193 --> 00:38:27,944
that I constructed for
the mission took into account,
773
00:38:28,026 --> 00:38:30,610
you know, the successes
and why we were successful
774
00:38:30,694 --> 00:38:32,193
and-and, frankly, the failures
775
00:38:32,276 --> 00:38:34,068
and how we avoid those failures.
776
00:38:38,026 --> 00:38:39,485
I was sent overseas to run
777
00:38:39,568 --> 00:38:42,944
the Special Operations
Task Force in Afghanistan,
778
00:38:43,026 --> 00:38:44,610
and from a military standpoint,
779
00:38:44,694 --> 00:38:48,318
Afghanistan appeared to be
kind of in a caretaker status.
780
00:38:48,402 --> 00:38:49,777
Please.
781
00:38:49,860 --> 00:38:53,360
We clearly have moved
to a period of stability
782
00:38:53,443 --> 00:38:56,318
and stabilization
and reconstruction.
783
00:38:56,402 --> 00:39:00,360
So we shifted our focus in 2003
784
00:39:00,443 --> 00:39:02,485
as we began
the invasion of Iraq.
785
00:39:04,235 --> 00:39:06,568
- Jesus!
- Whoo!
786
00:39:08,985 --> 00:39:13,485
Big tanks, big toys,
787
00:39:13,568 --> 00:39:16,151
that was the new war,
788
00:39:16,235 --> 00:39:18,235
and our allies
became confused at,
789
00:39:18,318 --> 00:39:20,402
what were our real objectives?
790
00:39:20,485 --> 00:39:24,443
We will stay on task until
we've achieved our objective,
791
00:39:24,527 --> 00:39:28,151
which is to rid Iraq
of weapons of mass destruction.
792
00:39:28,235 --> 00:39:29,777
"What?
793
00:39:29,860 --> 00:39:32,819
They haven't hurt you.
Saddam hasn't hurt you.
794
00:39:32,902 --> 00:39:36,985
He doesn't like al-Qaeda.
There's not al-Qaeda in Iraq."
795
00:39:37,068 --> 00:39:39,151
Whoa!
796
00:39:39,235 --> 00:39:40,819
I was called into a meeting
797
00:39:40,902 --> 00:39:42,318
with the CIA director,
798
00:39:42,402 --> 00:39:43,694
and he told me that he wanted me
799
00:39:43,777 --> 00:39:46,610
to head up the CIA effort
in Iraq.
800
00:39:46,694 --> 00:39:49,985
And the most, uh,
experienced senior officers
801
00:39:50,068 --> 00:39:52,110
who were in a position,
you know, to deal
802
00:39:52,193 --> 00:39:53,735
at a political level, uh,
803
00:39:53,819 --> 00:39:56,235
very quickly left, uh,
the Afghan theater.
804
00:39:56,318 --> 00:39:59,068
We're worried about terrorism,
and next thing, we wake up,
805
00:39:59,151 --> 00:40:02,193
and-and resources are gone.
806
00:40:02,276 --> 00:40:06,026
♪ Dramatic music ♪
807
00:40:06,110 --> 00:40:07,419
When I was
in the State Department
808
00:40:07,443 --> 00:40:08,735
Counterterrorism Bureau,
809
00:40:08,819 --> 00:40:12,443
the most important resource
that was in short supply
810
00:40:12,527 --> 00:40:16,068
was policy-maker attention,
811
00:40:16,151 --> 00:40:18,068
and I said,
"We actually have to focus
812
00:40:18,151 --> 00:40:20,193
on local-level governance,
813
00:40:20,276 --> 00:40:23,360
reforming the Afghan
corruption system,
814
00:40:23,443 --> 00:40:25,318
and giving the Afghan military
815
00:40:25,402 --> 00:40:29,902
a series of really basic
capabilities,"
816
00:40:29,985 --> 00:40:33,235
because by that point, we were
so sucked into the war in Iraq
817
00:40:33,318 --> 00:40:36,735
that we just didn't have
the bandwidth to deal with it.
818
00:40:36,819 --> 00:40:39,402
Yelling in native language
819
00:40:39,485 --> 00:40:41,735
And the Taliban in Pakistan
820
00:40:41,819 --> 00:40:44,568
and their cell groups
in Afghanistan
821
00:40:44,652 --> 00:40:46,318
began to exploit that.
822
00:40:46,402 --> 00:40:51,527
♪♪♪
823
00:40:59,652 --> 00:41:02,568
I, uh, was involved
in some of the early,
824
00:41:02,652 --> 00:41:06,026
early stages of talking
with the Taliban
825
00:41:06,110 --> 00:41:10,151
about how to ensure that they
didn't join an insurgency.
826
00:41:10,235 --> 00:41:12,193
They actually found
some way of reconciling
827
00:41:12,276 --> 00:41:13,944
with the new regime.
828
00:41:14,026 --> 00:41:15,711
I mean, it happened, like,
in my sitting room
829
00:41:15,735 --> 00:41:17,527
in, you know, the house
in Islamabad, um,
830
00:41:17,610 --> 00:41:19,694
you know, friendly discussions.
831
00:41:22,652 --> 00:41:25,944
Speaking native language
832
00:41:26,985 --> 00:41:29,652
My ability
to talk with Taliban today
833
00:41:29,735 --> 00:41:33,276
is based upon actions
which I have taken every day
834
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:36,819
since I crossed
over the border in '89.
835
00:41:36,902 --> 00:41:38,735
They can check my reputation,
836
00:41:38,819 --> 00:41:40,652
work out how discreet I am,
837
00:41:40,735 --> 00:41:43,360
and reckon if I am duplicitous,
838
00:41:43,443 --> 00:41:44,944
and I'm sort of, like,
doing the same
839
00:41:45,026 --> 00:41:46,443
when I'm talking with them,
840
00:41:46,527 --> 00:41:48,985
because, um,
one w-one way or another,
841
00:41:49,068 --> 00:41:51,485
both sides of the relationship
have got to trust each other
842
00:41:51,568 --> 00:41:53,193
to be able to-to go forward.
843
00:41:53,276 --> 00:41:56,193
♪♪♪
844
00:41:56,276 --> 00:41:58,527
In the wake of 9/11,
845
00:41:58,610 --> 00:42:02,819
the Taliban leadership
wanted surrender terms
846
00:42:02,902 --> 00:42:06,318
to live respectably
in their homes,
847
00:42:06,402 --> 00:42:09,568
recognizing the authority
of the new government
848
00:42:09,652 --> 00:42:11,902
which had been imposed
by the Americans.
849
00:42:13,819 --> 00:42:17,652
Those terms were available.
They were torn up.
850
00:42:19,193 --> 00:42:22,819
Instead we got increasingly
stories of Taliban
851
00:42:22,902 --> 00:42:25,318
who'd tried to go home to
their villages in Afghanistan
852
00:42:25,402 --> 00:42:27,819
either getting arrested
or giving up,
853
00:42:27,902 --> 00:42:29,110
crossing the border,
854
00:42:29,193 --> 00:42:30,777
going over to-to Pakistan
855
00:42:30,860 --> 00:42:32,652
ready for the next chapter.
856
00:42:32,735 --> 00:42:37,193
♪♪♪
857
00:42:37,276 --> 00:42:41,902
The Taliban start to reform
the organization, uh,
858
00:42:41,985 --> 00:42:45,527
saying that, "We have been
excluded from this new setup.
859
00:42:45,610 --> 00:42:47,026
We're gonna have
another go."
860
00:42:47,110 --> 00:42:49,860
Tonight Frontline reports
861
00:42:49,944 --> 00:42:53,110
on the return of the Taliban.
862
00:42:56,235 --> 00:43:00,610
♪♪♪
863
00:43:00,694 --> 00:43:02,568
There's some, uh,
ICOM chatter saying
864
00:43:02,652 --> 00:43:05,276
that the Taliban
are looking at us right now.
865
00:43:09,193 --> 00:43:12,193
♪ Somber music ♪
866
00:43:12,276 --> 00:43:15,485
♪♪♪
867
00:43:15,568 --> 00:43:18,819
speaking native language
868
00:43:24,151 --> 00:43:27,151
speaking native language
869
00:43:29,276 --> 00:43:34,151
♪♪♪
870
00:43:44,819 --> 00:43:46,568
For Americans,
871
00:43:46,652 --> 00:43:50,443
the original story
of this long war
872
00:43:50,527 --> 00:43:53,360
was we were saviors.
873
00:43:53,443 --> 00:43:57,360
♪♪♪
874
00:43:57,443 --> 00:44:01,819
We had gone in
and done a good thing...
875
00:44:01,902 --> 00:44:06,026
and people were ecstatic
to be free again.
876
00:44:07,610 --> 00:44:10,944
But the reality is,
I don't think
877
00:44:11,026 --> 00:44:15,318
it was ever as clean
as we wanted to believe.
878
00:44:15,402 --> 00:44:19,276
♪♪♪
879
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:21,902
The first inflection
point that I noticed
880
00:44:21,985 --> 00:44:23,610
happened in May 2006
881
00:44:23,694 --> 00:44:27,568
when a U.S. military convoy
crashed into a crowd of people,
882
00:44:27,652 --> 00:44:30,068
and they killed about 14 people.
883
00:44:33,151 --> 00:44:38,068
♪♪♪
884
00:44:53,527 --> 00:44:56,443
Speaking native language
885
00:45:00,735 --> 00:45:04,985
♪♪♪
886
00:45:09,151 --> 00:45:10,735
People in these crowds
887
00:45:10,819 --> 00:45:15,318
were shouting
angry anti-American slogans,
888
00:45:15,402 --> 00:45:16,985
and I went, "What?
889
00:45:17,068 --> 00:45:18,485
What has happened here?"
890
00:45:18,568 --> 00:45:22,777
♪♪♪
891
00:45:22,860 --> 00:45:25,235
That was the first time
I realized
892
00:45:25,318 --> 00:45:26,985
that there was
as much resentment
893
00:45:27,068 --> 00:45:28,902
against
the international presence
894
00:45:28,985 --> 00:45:31,276
as there was gratitude or hope.
895
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:36,485
♪♪♪
896
00:45:37,985 --> 00:45:40,068
There was
this building resentment
897
00:45:40,151 --> 00:45:43,443
that Afghans had
against corruption
898
00:45:43,527 --> 00:45:45,026
and civilian casualties,
899
00:45:45,110 --> 00:45:48,568
and both of those could be
tied directly back to America.
900
00:45:48,652 --> 00:45:50,610
We were pouring in so much money
901
00:45:50,694 --> 00:45:52,276
that corruption
was all but inevitable
902
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:53,860
with no checks and balances,
903
00:45:53,944 --> 00:45:55,694
and then
with civilian casualties,
904
00:45:55,777 --> 00:45:58,819
let's just say any
civilian casualty in general,
905
00:45:58,902 --> 00:46:00,336
the Taliban
would immediately put out
906
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:01,735
press releases locally saying,
907
00:46:01,819 --> 00:46:04,485
"This is America
doing this to you."
908
00:46:06,318 --> 00:46:08,527
They'd make up things,
and it was very effective.
909
00:46:15,777 --> 00:46:17,777
Well, today's riots
showing just how fragile
910
00:46:17,860 --> 00:46:19,985
our relationship is
with Afghanistan,
911
00:46:20,068 --> 00:46:22,068
a key player
in the War on Terror.
912
00:46:22,151 --> 00:46:24,944
Now, is it just a small group
of troublemakers at work here,
913
00:46:25,026 --> 00:46:28,151
or are the Afghan people
simply ungrateful?
914
00:46:28,235 --> 00:46:32,026
♪♪♪
915
00:46:32,110 --> 00:46:34,902
Afghans have
this streak of defiance
916
00:46:34,985 --> 00:46:37,318
against the world
because of history.
917
00:46:38,527 --> 00:46:40,276
There was the Russians
and the fact
918
00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:43,944
that the Americans had
abandoned Afghanistan before.
919
00:46:46,026 --> 00:46:48,777
There's always in the back
of the minds of Afghans
920
00:46:48,860 --> 00:46:52,235
that-that suspicion
of ulterior motives.
921
00:46:52,318 --> 00:46:55,902
♪♪♪
922
00:46:55,985 --> 00:46:58,568
United States got distracted,
923
00:46:58,652 --> 00:47:00,110
and they wanted to show
924
00:47:00,193 --> 00:47:03,777
that Afghanistan was still
this good story working
925
00:47:03,860 --> 00:47:06,068
and it is rosy,
926
00:47:06,151 --> 00:47:08,026
and they were not...
927
00:47:08,110 --> 00:47:10,985
they were not listening
to us, you know?
928
00:47:11,068 --> 00:47:13,276
♪♪♪
929
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,735
I had great misgivings
930
00:47:15,819 --> 00:47:18,527
because I felt that the CIA
931
00:47:18,610 --> 00:47:20,026
needed to stay engaged
932
00:47:20,110 --> 00:47:23,527
with key political players
inside Afghanistan,
933
00:47:23,610 --> 00:47:25,402
but I could see very quickly
934
00:47:25,485 --> 00:47:29,902
that there was very little
appetite, uh, for doing that.
935
00:47:29,985 --> 00:47:31,652
It's not that we didn't know
Afghanistan
936
00:47:31,735 --> 00:47:34,110
was going badly after that.
937
00:47:34,193 --> 00:47:36,193
We did, but we couldn't
do anything about it,
938
00:47:36,276 --> 00:47:39,694
because by the time
Iraq started to go bad,
939
00:47:39,777 --> 00:47:40,961
Afghanistan was also going bad,
940
00:47:40,985 --> 00:47:43,985
and we were caught in a war
in two fronts
941
00:47:44,068 --> 00:47:46,402
without the resources
to deal with both.
942
00:47:46,485 --> 00:47:51,610
♪♪♪
943
00:47:57,276 --> 00:47:59,485
America's
men and women in uniform
944
00:47:59,568 --> 00:48:02,819
took away al-Qaeda's safe haven
in Afghanistan,
945
00:48:02,902 --> 00:48:06,151
and we will not allow them
to reestablish it in Iraq.
946
00:48:06,235 --> 00:48:07,902
So I have committed
more than 20,000
947
00:48:07,985 --> 00:48:10,151
additional American troops
to Iraq.
948
00:48:10,235 --> 00:48:11,985
The agreement
lays out a framework
949
00:48:12,068 --> 00:48:14,735
for the withdrawal
of American forces in Iraq,
950
00:48:14,819 --> 00:48:16,652
a withdrawal that is possible
951
00:48:16,735 --> 00:48:18,777
because of the success
of the surge.
952
00:48:18,860 --> 00:48:22,110
Yelling in foreign language
953
00:48:24,777 --> 00:48:27,777
While Iraq has dominated
the headlines,
954
00:48:27,860 --> 00:48:30,360
the less-publicized fight
in Afghanistan
955
00:48:30,443 --> 00:48:32,068
has intensified.
956
00:48:32,777 --> 00:48:36,026
My fellow citizens,
our nation is at war
957
00:48:36,110 --> 00:48:39,819
against a far-reaching network
of violence and hatred,
958
00:48:39,902 --> 00:48:42,276
and for those who seek
to advance their aims
959
00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:45,568
by inducing terror
and slaughtering innocents,
960
00:48:45,652 --> 00:48:48,860
you cannot outlast us,
and we will defeat you.
961
00:48:50,276 --> 00:48:52,276
For six years,
Afghanistan has been denied
962
00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:55,235
the resources that it demands
because of the war in Iraq.
963
00:48:55,318 --> 00:48:58,151
It is in our vital
national interest
964
00:48:58,235 --> 00:49:01,985
to send an additional 30,000
U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
965
00:49:02,068 --> 00:49:03,610
Well, I think
that in the last year,
966
00:49:03,694 --> 00:49:05,402
we've made a lot of progress.
967
00:49:05,485 --> 00:49:06,711
Two thousand ten will be a year
968
00:49:06,735 --> 00:49:08,110
that will see progress
969
00:49:08,193 --> 00:49:10,193
and a reversal
of Taliban momentum.
970
00:49:10,276 --> 00:49:11,819
Well, the financial
and human cost
971
00:49:11,902 --> 00:49:13,110
of the War in Afghanistan
972
00:49:13,193 --> 00:49:15,819
has gone up every year
over the past five years,
973
00:49:15,902 --> 00:49:18,193
more than 1,600 U.S. troops.
974
00:49:18,276 --> 00:49:21,026
This past year in Afghanistan
was the deadliest yet
975
00:49:21,110 --> 00:49:22,735
for American troops.
976
00:49:22,819 --> 00:49:25,276
Momentum achieved
by the Taliban in Afghanistan
977
00:49:25,360 --> 00:49:29,694
since 2005 has been arrested
in much of the country.
978
00:49:29,777 --> 00:49:32,193
I wish I could tell you
that this war was simple,
979
00:49:32,276 --> 00:49:34,318
but that's not the way
of counterinsurgencies.
980
00:49:34,402 --> 00:49:37,026
They are fraught with both
successes and setbacks,
981
00:49:37,110 --> 00:49:39,235
which can exist
in the same space
982
00:49:39,318 --> 00:49:40,944
and in the same time,
983
00:49:41,026 --> 00:49:44,151
and I believe
the campaign is on track.
984
00:49:44,235 --> 00:49:46,777
♪♪♪
985
00:49:46,860 --> 00:49:49,360
If you ask the
question, "Why are we here?"
986
00:49:49,443 --> 00:49:52,360
as President Obama did when
he came into office in 2009,
987
00:49:52,443 --> 00:49:54,568
"Why are we fighting
in Afghanistan?"
988
00:49:54,652 --> 00:49:58,777
well, his best experts
gathered and advised him,
989
00:49:58,860 --> 00:50:00,985
"Sir, we're here
because al-Qaeda
990
00:50:01,068 --> 00:50:03,193
is still a threat
to the United States.
991
00:50:03,276 --> 00:50:07,026
Bin Laden's still alive.
We got to finish the job."
992
00:50:07,110 --> 00:50:09,235
Every year, there was this sense
993
00:50:09,318 --> 00:50:11,652
that if we did X, Y, and Z,
994
00:50:11,735 --> 00:50:13,819
maybe we could finish up
the war.
995
00:50:13,902 --> 00:50:16,860
Tonight I can report
to the American people
996
00:50:16,944 --> 00:50:19,235
and to the world
that the United States
997
00:50:19,318 --> 00:50:23,151
has conducted an operation
that killed Osama bin Laden,
998
00:50:23,235 --> 00:50:25,652
the leader of al-Qaeda.
999
00:50:25,735 --> 00:50:26,735
And this will go down
1000
00:50:26,777 --> 00:50:28,151
as one of the great missions
1001
00:50:28,235 --> 00:50:31,360
in the history
of the intelligence community.
1002
00:50:32,276 --> 00:50:34,735
As I was planning the mission,
you had to have surprise.
1003
00:50:34,819 --> 00:50:36,443
We had surprise.
You had to have speed.
1004
00:50:36,527 --> 00:50:37,767
We're coming in by helicopters.
1005
00:50:37,819 --> 00:50:39,527
And you had to have purpose,
1006
00:50:39,610 --> 00:50:42,044
and God knows these-these, uh,
SEALs and soldiers had purpose.
1007
00:50:42,068 --> 00:50:44,228
They were going after the most
wanted man in the world.
1008
00:50:45,944 --> 00:50:48,610
It was about
who we are as Americans.
1009
00:50:48,694 --> 00:50:50,819
This man and his people
had attacked New York
1010
00:50:50,902 --> 00:50:52,777
and Pennsylvania
and Washington, D.C.,
1011
00:50:52,860 --> 00:50:54,985
and we had an obligation
1012
00:50:55,068 --> 00:50:57,652
to spend as long as it took
to bring him to justice.
1013
00:50:57,735 --> 00:51:00,485
♪♪♪
1014
00:51:00,568 --> 00:51:02,819
We did get bin Laden.
1015
00:51:02,902 --> 00:51:04,318
Al-Qaeda is diminished.
1016
00:51:04,402 --> 00:51:05,860
It's scattered.
It's under pressure.
1017
00:51:05,944 --> 00:51:09,527
We have been killing people
with our drones
1018
00:51:09,610 --> 00:51:11,777
for a good while now,
1019
00:51:11,860 --> 00:51:14,068
so why are we still here?
1020
00:51:14,151 --> 00:51:19,276
♪♪♪
1021
00:51:24,735 --> 00:51:29,485
♪♪♪
1022
00:51:29,568 --> 00:51:33,318
As the war in Afghanistan
went on and on,
1023
00:51:33,402 --> 00:51:35,735
the CIA then got into
the secret air war business,
1024
00:51:35,819 --> 00:51:37,860
which is really what
the drone campaign was.
1025
00:51:37,944 --> 00:51:39,402
It was a secret air war
1026
00:51:39,485 --> 00:51:42,235
designed to do
what the United States
1027
00:51:42,318 --> 00:51:44,860
was not prepared to do
through conventional means.
1028
00:51:46,318 --> 00:51:48,235
The CIA was given charge of that
1029
00:51:48,318 --> 00:51:50,276
because it wasn't
going to be declared.
1030
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:52,402
It wasn't going to be run
by the Air Force
1031
00:51:52,485 --> 00:51:55,485
or by the special operations
groups at the Pentagon.
1032
00:51:55,568 --> 00:52:00,110
It was, uh, covert,
and so that added to the sense
1033
00:52:00,193 --> 00:52:03,193
that the CIA was...
Became an agency at war.
1034
00:52:04,443 --> 00:52:05,902
It's a new way of war.
1035
00:52:05,985 --> 00:52:07,211
The United States government
wouldn't even acknowledge
1036
00:52:07,235 --> 00:52:08,527
this was really happening,
1037
00:52:08,610 --> 00:52:09,628
and-and when they did
acknowledge it,
1038
00:52:09,652 --> 00:52:10,652
privately they would say,
1039
00:52:10,735 --> 00:52:11,878
"There's
no civilian casualties."
1040
00:52:11,902 --> 00:52:12,735
Well, that wasn't true.
1041
00:52:12,819 --> 00:52:14,402
In Afghanistan,
1042
00:52:14,485 --> 00:52:16,044
NATO is investing
a U.S. air strike on Thursday
1043
00:52:16,068 --> 00:52:18,485
that may have killed a child
in Helmand Province.
1044
00:52:18,568 --> 00:52:20,944
Whatever the
benefit of the drone strikes,
1045
00:52:21,026 --> 00:52:23,151
they have created
enormous resentment
1046
00:52:23,235 --> 00:52:24,860
among some here in the region
1047
00:52:24,944 --> 00:52:29,360
who view the strikes as another
sign of American arrogance.
1048
00:52:29,443 --> 00:52:31,777
And you can see,
this is by administration,
1049
00:52:31,860 --> 00:52:33,235
so under George W. Bush,
1050
00:52:33,318 --> 00:52:34,503
there were
relatively limited strikes
1051
00:52:34,527 --> 00:52:36,276
except right at the end
of his second term.
1052
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:38,110
Then under Obama,
it spikes up hugely.
1053
00:52:38,193 --> 00:52:39,473
So it was really President Obama
1054
00:52:39,527 --> 00:52:42,443
who hammed it up
very dramatically.
1055
00:52:42,527 --> 00:52:45,402
You can see the estimated
total number of casualties
1056
00:52:45,485 --> 00:52:48,777
is up to almost as high as 3,000
1057
00:52:48,860 --> 00:52:51,527
on the outer bounds.
1058
00:52:51,610 --> 00:52:53,276
Myself and my colleagues
at New America
1059
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:54,795
have been doing this
for about a decade.
1060
00:52:54,819 --> 00:52:56,610
We felt that there was
some data out there,
1061
00:52:56,694 --> 00:52:59,193
print media stories that we
could assemble and sort of say,
1062
00:52:59,276 --> 00:53:00,985
"What's going on?
Who's being killed?
1063
00:53:01,068 --> 00:53:02,610
How many strikes are there?"
1064
00:53:02,694 --> 00:53:06,402
And so we-we began
to kind of collate all this.
1065
00:53:06,485 --> 00:53:09,568
When it came to the Predator,
1066
00:53:09,652 --> 00:53:13,276
we also had our forces
somewhere in the area.
1067
00:53:13,360 --> 00:53:14,360
So there would be a shot,
1068
00:53:14,443 --> 00:53:15,985
and then people
were gonna move in
1069
00:53:16,068 --> 00:53:18,527
to do the sensitive site
collection,
1070
00:53:18,610 --> 00:53:21,068
and then...
So, you know, it was very human
1071
00:53:21,151 --> 00:53:23,527
because you knew
who were down there.
1072
00:53:23,610 --> 00:53:27,360
Afghanistan, I think,
was the early laboratory
1073
00:53:27,443 --> 00:53:30,944
of what this more
paramilitary CIA became,
1074
00:53:31,026 --> 00:53:35,443
so a drone program that went
from surveillance drones
1075
00:53:35,527 --> 00:53:39,276
to actually killing people.
1076
00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:41,086
I would say, actually,
the principal reason the CIA
1077
00:53:41,110 --> 00:53:44,485
is in Afghanistan is,
in a way, the drone program,
1078
00:53:44,568 --> 00:53:48,276
because after 9/11, al-Qaeda
didn't remain in Afghanistan.
1079
00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:49,860
They fled into Pakistan, uh,
1080
00:53:49,944 --> 00:53:52,443
and the Taliban regrouped there.
1081
00:53:52,527 --> 00:53:55,068
If I'm trying
to deploy six or 12 men
1082
00:53:55,151 --> 00:53:56,527
trying to climb up a mountain
1083
00:53:56,610 --> 00:53:59,193
and get this guy
when I can do this easier
1084
00:53:59,276 --> 00:54:03,026
and save our men
and women's lives and...
1085
00:54:03,110 --> 00:54:07,235
I'll go... I'll take the Predator
any day, any day.
1086
00:54:07,318 --> 00:54:11,568
♪♪♪
1087
00:54:11,652 --> 00:54:14,276
In the early years
and really even through,
1088
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:16,026
I would say,
for the first ten years,
1089
00:54:16,110 --> 00:54:18,485
you could travel anywhere.
1090
00:54:18,568 --> 00:54:22,151
The capital was lively.
The capital felt free.
1091
00:54:22,235 --> 00:54:23,985
Girls were going to school.
1092
00:54:24,068 --> 00:54:26,527
Girls were going to college.
1093
00:54:26,610 --> 00:54:29,276
It certainly felt like a place
that was churning with change.
1094
00:54:29,360 --> 00:54:31,985
♪♪♪
1095
00:54:32,068 --> 00:54:35,735
My father told me
about American University,
1096
00:54:35,819 --> 00:54:39,819
and he said, "It's the best
university in Afghanistan."
1097
00:54:41,193 --> 00:54:46,026
He always wanted me
to-to get education...
1098
00:54:47,193 --> 00:54:51,485
so I joined the university.
1099
00:54:52,443 --> 00:54:53,777
The vision for people here
1100
00:54:53,860 --> 00:54:56,944
is not a sixth-century
fundamentalist Islamic state.
1101
00:54:57,026 --> 00:55:00,276
It's a 21st-century
advanced country,
1102
00:55:00,360 --> 00:55:01,902
and they want to get there.
1103
00:55:01,985 --> 00:55:04,193
♪♪♪
1104
00:55:04,276 --> 00:55:05,777
We can play a role in that,
1105
00:55:05,860 --> 00:55:08,610
in helping them
achieve their dreams.
1106
00:55:08,694 --> 00:55:11,735
My father never want me
to come to this university
1107
00:55:11,819 --> 00:55:15,276
because of the risks involved
with the name "American" on it,
1108
00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:16,694
and seeing the situation,
1109
00:55:16,777 --> 00:55:20,985
how badly the war is going on
in Afghanistan,
1110
00:55:21,068 --> 00:55:23,235
he never wanted me to come here.
1111
00:55:25,485 --> 00:55:28,360
But I told him
I have goals in my life,
1112
00:55:28,443 --> 00:55:32,777
and I've already did good
in my high school,
1113
00:55:32,860 --> 00:55:35,443
and I had passion
to get an education.
1114
00:55:37,110 --> 00:55:40,276
I was not worried
about security.
1115
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:44,819
I had heard
about explosions on news,
1116
00:55:44,902 --> 00:55:49,443
but I had not experienced
something like that.
1117
00:55:50,318 --> 00:55:52,402
As the Taliban
insurgency became stronger,
1118
00:55:52,485 --> 00:55:55,652
there was this growing
pattern of attacks
1119
00:55:55,735 --> 00:55:58,110
that began to make
everybody realize
1120
00:55:58,193 --> 00:55:59,652
that the Taliban
really were back
1121
00:55:59,735 --> 00:56:02,443
and really were causing trouble
and really were starting
1122
00:56:02,527 --> 00:56:06,151
to put the brakes
on progress of different kinds.
1123
00:56:07,652 --> 00:56:09,485
Many evenings,
I would go to my favorite bar,
1124
00:56:09,568 --> 00:56:12,652
this Lebanese café,
and I used to go there
1125
00:56:12,735 --> 00:56:15,902
probably at least once a week
for many, many years.
1126
00:56:17,527 --> 00:56:19,402
When you live
and work in a war zone,
1127
00:56:19,485 --> 00:56:20,985
you need a place like that.
1128
00:56:21,068 --> 00:56:22,318
You need someplace you can go
1129
00:56:22,402 --> 00:56:24,110
and really feel yourself,
be yourself,
1130
00:56:24,193 --> 00:56:28,360
and that's pretty much
the only place I felt that way.
1131
00:56:29,944 --> 00:56:33,610
And then the Taliban
attacked that café,
1132
00:56:33,694 --> 00:56:37,860
shot dead everyone in it,
including the owner.
1133
00:56:37,944 --> 00:56:39,443
The scenes of this restaurant
1134
00:56:39,527 --> 00:56:40,860
are really quite incredible...
1135
00:56:40,944 --> 00:56:43,902
People crouched
on top of one-one-one another,
1136
00:56:43,985 --> 00:56:45,443
underneath tables,
1137
00:56:45,527 --> 00:56:47,235
gunned down inside there.
1138
00:56:47,318 --> 00:56:49,318
So that seems to have been
what has happened.
1139
00:56:49,402 --> 00:56:51,860
Anybody who was injured
seems to have been likely
1140
00:56:51,944 --> 00:56:53,819
to have been outside
the restaurant,
1141
00:56:53,902 --> 00:56:56,110
potentially in cars
waiting outside
1142
00:56:56,193 --> 00:56:58,068
or about to enter
the restaurant.
1143
00:56:58,151 --> 00:57:00,652
Anybody inside seems unlikely
to have been able
1144
00:57:00,735 --> 00:57:03,860
to escape easily
from the gunmen.
1145
00:57:03,944 --> 00:57:07,068
That's the moment
I sort of thought,
1146
00:57:07,151 --> 00:57:10,485
"What's left here, you know?
Why are we even here?"
1147
00:57:10,568 --> 00:57:14,610
I remember feeling it.
I remember thinking that.
1148
00:57:14,694 --> 00:57:19,527
♪♪♪
1149
00:57:23,735 --> 00:57:25,735
When I had
a temporary assignment
1150
00:57:25,819 --> 00:57:27,235
in Afghanistan,
1151
00:57:27,318 --> 00:57:30,944
I could electrically feel
the dangers around me.
1152
00:57:31,026 --> 00:57:32,777
There we go.
1153
00:57:32,860 --> 00:57:35,318
I've definitely known
people that have died.
1154
00:57:35,402 --> 00:57:36,902
- You want milk?
- No.
1155
00:57:36,985 --> 00:57:38,652
The night before I left,
1156
00:57:38,735 --> 00:57:40,652
I was sitting
with my younger daughter,
1157
00:57:40,735 --> 00:57:45,402
and she gave me this bracelet
that she made,
1158
00:57:45,485 --> 00:57:48,068
and I promised her
I'd wear it every day
1159
00:57:48,151 --> 00:57:51,402
and every night
that I was away, and I did.
1160
00:57:51,485 --> 00:57:53,902
I never took it off.
1161
00:57:53,985 --> 00:57:58,443
And when I would leave the wire
or go to the less safe
1162
00:57:58,527 --> 00:58:01,777
or secure and fortified areas...
1163
00:58:01,860 --> 00:58:03,944
I looked down at that bracelet,
1164
00:58:04,026 --> 00:58:07,443
and I would definitely question
what I was doing.
1165
00:58:08,402 --> 00:58:10,777
"Am I a responsible mom?
1166
00:58:12,652 --> 00:58:16,235
Does my work here
really make a difference
1167
00:58:16,318 --> 00:58:18,694
in this seemingly endless war?"
1168
00:58:20,151 --> 00:58:25,026
♪♪♪
1169
00:58:27,777 --> 00:58:31,819
I managed analytic teams
that covered Afghan politics
1170
00:58:31,902 --> 00:58:34,068
and Afghan economics.
1171
00:58:34,151 --> 00:58:39,151
At that time, there was
a U.S.-military narrative
1172
00:58:39,235 --> 00:58:41,151
that things were getting better
in the country
1173
00:58:41,235 --> 00:58:43,443
and that the Taliban
was failing,
1174
00:58:43,527 --> 00:58:46,985
and that was leading to
the discussions of drawdown.
1175
00:58:47,068 --> 00:58:48,610
Two thousand fourteen,
1176
00:58:48,694 --> 00:58:50,610
we have agreed
that this is the year
1177
00:58:50,694 --> 00:58:54,402
we will conclude our
combat mission in Afghanistan.
1178
00:58:56,235 --> 00:58:58,360
But things on the ground
were evolving
1179
00:58:58,443 --> 00:59:01,360
and telling a little bit
of a different story.
1180
00:59:01,443 --> 00:59:04,110
The 2015 takeover of Kunduz,
1181
00:59:04,193 --> 00:59:06,610
that's the first
provincial capital
1182
00:59:06,694 --> 00:59:10,235
the Taliban had taken
since before 2001.
1183
00:59:10,318 --> 00:59:11,777
It was a big deal.
1184
00:59:12,902 --> 00:59:14,318
The battle for Kunduz
1185
00:59:14,402 --> 00:59:15,819
started before dawn,
1186
00:59:15,902 --> 00:59:18,652
as Afghan government troops
tried in vain
1187
00:59:18,735 --> 00:59:21,443
to hold back the advance
of the Taliban.
1188
00:59:21,527 --> 00:59:23,485
After the West's
trillion-dollar war
1189
00:59:23,568 --> 00:59:25,193
against the Taliban,
1190
00:59:25,276 --> 00:59:28,902
its fighters still pose
a potent threat.
1191
00:59:28,985 --> 00:59:31,902
They took over
the city for about two weeks.
1192
00:59:31,985 --> 00:59:33,568
They released
a lot of prisoners...
1193
00:59:33,652 --> 00:59:35,610
A lot of them
were Taliban fighters...
1194
00:59:35,694 --> 00:59:38,235
And displaced
tens of thousands of people
1195
00:59:38,318 --> 00:59:40,568
in the process.
1196
00:59:40,652 --> 00:59:43,527
It was a total propaganda win
for them.
1197
00:59:43,610 --> 00:59:45,276
God willing, this is our hope,
1198
00:59:45,360 --> 00:59:46,860
to build a religious school,
1199
00:59:46,944 --> 00:59:50,527
to build a bridge, a road,
a sharia-based government.
1200
00:59:50,610 --> 00:59:51,860
This is why we came out,
1201
00:59:51,944 --> 00:59:53,568
and this is what we fought for...
1202
00:59:53,652 --> 00:59:56,402
So that sharia law
is enforced here.
1203
00:59:56,485 --> 00:59:58,503
Just holding the city...
That's all they needed to do
1204
00:59:58,527 --> 01:00:00,819
was just take it and hold it,
show of force
1205
01:00:00,902 --> 01:00:03,402
to show their fighters
and the world
1206
01:00:03,485 --> 01:00:05,860
that they were there
and still capable...
1207
01:00:05,944 --> 01:00:07,360
Was quite significant.
1208
01:00:07,443 --> 01:00:10,902
♪♪♪
1209
01:00:10,985 --> 01:00:14,110
What happened in
Kunduz caught people off guard
1210
01:00:14,193 --> 01:00:15,819
when the Taliban
actually managed
1211
01:00:15,902 --> 01:00:17,694
to gain control of the city,
1212
01:00:17,777 --> 01:00:20,068
and I think what happened then
was a kind of panic.
1213
01:00:20,151 --> 01:00:24,235
The psychological blow
and the PR repercussions
1214
01:00:24,318 --> 01:00:27,068
of having lost
a very important northern city
1215
01:00:27,151 --> 01:00:28,694
were enormous,
1216
01:00:28,777 --> 01:00:30,193
and so then there was a kind of
1217
01:00:30,276 --> 01:00:33,819
real scrambling
to-to regain control,
1218
01:00:33,902 --> 01:00:38,735
and the American military
made a really horrific error.
1219
01:00:38,819 --> 01:00:40,276
Breaking news overnight...
1220
01:00:40,360 --> 01:00:43,735
U.S. warplanes may have
killed nine local staffers
1221
01:00:43,819 --> 01:00:47,068
at a medical clinic
run by Doctors Without Borders.
1222
01:00:47,151 --> 01:00:50,026
The attack was in
the provincial city of Kunduz.
1223
01:00:50,110 --> 01:00:53,443
The U.S. apparently was trying
to dislodge Taliban insurgents
1224
01:00:53,527 --> 01:00:55,276
who had seized the city
on Monday.
1225
01:00:55,360 --> 01:00:59,443
An American gunship
targeted the hospital
1226
01:00:59,527 --> 01:01:03,110
and circled it
and hit it repeatedly.
1227
01:01:04,819 --> 01:01:07,819
What's concerning, maybe,
about how it unfolded
1228
01:01:07,902 --> 01:01:11,443
was that the Afghan forces
operating there
1229
01:01:11,527 --> 01:01:14,860
had raided the hospital
some point previously,
1230
01:01:14,944 --> 01:01:17,360
looking for wounded Taliban,
1231
01:01:17,443 --> 01:01:20,151
and were apparently
quite unhappy with the fact
1232
01:01:20,235 --> 01:01:24,276
that MSF treated wounded
Taliban in the facility,
1233
01:01:24,360 --> 01:01:27,735
whereas MSF,
like any medical-care provider,
1234
01:01:27,819 --> 01:01:29,318
say that they treat anyone,
1235
01:01:29,402 --> 01:01:32,318
regardless
of political affiliation.
1236
01:01:32,402 --> 01:01:33,652
Our staff have reported
1237
01:01:33,735 --> 01:01:35,819
that there were
no armed combatants
1238
01:01:35,902 --> 01:01:38,610
or active fighting in
1239
01:01:38,694 --> 01:01:42,026
or from the compound
prior to the air strike.
1240
01:01:42,110 --> 01:01:43,694
Doctors were about to take me
1241
01:01:43,777 --> 01:01:46,318
to an operating theater
when the bomb hit.
1242
01:01:46,402 --> 01:01:47,735
There were flames all around me.
1243
01:01:47,819 --> 01:01:51,652
I saw patients and doctors
burn to death.
1244
01:01:51,735 --> 01:01:56,610
♪♪♪
1245
01:01:56,694 --> 01:01:58,485
Forty-three people died,
1246
01:01:58,568 --> 01:02:03,068
quite a number of them
staff and patients...
1247
01:02:03,151 --> 01:02:05,694
including patients on the
operating table at the time,
1248
01:02:05,777 --> 01:02:06,568
including children.
1249
01:02:06,652 --> 01:02:09,026
I mean, it was just horrific.
1250
01:02:09,110 --> 01:02:11,402
♪♪♪
1251
01:02:11,485 --> 01:02:12,920
And some of these forces
that have carried out
1252
01:02:12,944 --> 01:02:14,318
these raids
on medical facilities
1253
01:02:14,402 --> 01:02:17,652
are the ones we identified
as being backed by,
1254
01:02:17,735 --> 01:02:21,318
trained, recruited
by the American CIA.
1255
01:02:21,402 --> 01:02:23,777
♪♪♪
1256
01:02:23,860 --> 01:02:27,694
That hospital bombing
after the siege of Kunduz
1257
01:02:27,777 --> 01:02:30,443
was pretty devastating.
1258
01:02:30,527 --> 01:02:33,360
A lot of innocent civilians
were killed,
1259
01:02:33,443 --> 01:02:36,360
and war is war,
and you can always say that,
1260
01:02:36,443 --> 01:02:38,610
but when innocent lives
are lost,
1261
01:02:38,694 --> 01:02:41,527
it really does make it
difficult to continue the work.
1262
01:02:43,819 --> 01:02:46,193
I saw a lot of horrific images,
1263
01:02:46,276 --> 01:02:48,151
and it's hard to deal with that
1264
01:02:48,235 --> 01:02:50,819
and learn how to process that,
1265
01:02:50,902 --> 01:02:55,568
but I learned
and found a way to...
1266
01:02:55,652 --> 01:02:57,944
store those images
1267
01:02:58,026 --> 01:03:01,068
and those experiences in my
heart without it destroying me.
1268
01:03:04,568 --> 01:03:07,735
You wake up in the morning,
and you brush it off,
1269
01:03:07,819 --> 01:03:12,735
and there's always an emergency
and something pressing
1270
01:03:12,819 --> 01:03:14,294
that's happening,
and you don't have time
1271
01:03:14,318 --> 01:03:15,798
to necessarily process
during the day,
1272
01:03:15,860 --> 01:03:20,276
so you just... you just go
150 miles per hour.
1273
01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:23,276
You go until you crash again.
1274
01:03:31,026 --> 01:03:32,485
It was seven o'clock at night
1275
01:03:32,568 --> 01:03:34,860
when the most number
of students and faculty
1276
01:03:34,944 --> 01:03:36,944
and staff were here,
and it was just
1277
01:03:37,026 --> 01:03:40,443
when people were going
to their last class of the day.
1278
01:03:40,527 --> 01:03:43,944
The attackers loose off
a couple of volleys.
1279
01:03:44,026 --> 01:03:46,485
One of them goes this way
1280
01:03:46,568 --> 01:03:48,944
and heads
towards our escape route.
1281
01:03:49,026 --> 01:03:52,110
Another one goes in here
to our main classroom building.
1282
01:03:52,193 --> 01:03:54,527
At that time,
this-these doors were open.
1283
01:03:54,610 --> 01:03:56,944
We didn't have the-the heavy
doors we have on them now.
1284
01:03:58,360 --> 01:04:02,068
It was, uh, the month of August
1285
01:04:02,151 --> 01:04:03,985
in 2016,
1286
01:04:04,068 --> 01:04:06,568
and I was expecting
1287
01:04:06,652 --> 01:04:09,402
that it's my last semester.
1288
01:04:10,652 --> 01:04:12,193
I was done with my classes,
1289
01:04:12,276 --> 01:04:14,985
and I went to offer
the evening prayer,
1290
01:04:15,068 --> 01:04:18,735
and we were about
to leave the mosque.
1291
01:04:18,819 --> 01:04:22,110
I heard some people shouting.
1292
01:04:22,193 --> 01:04:24,694
My friend immediately
closed the door,
1293
01:04:24,777 --> 01:04:26,944
and she said...
She-she calls me Bresh...
1294
01:04:27,026 --> 01:04:30,402
And she said, "Bresh,
why is there gunshots?"
1295
01:04:30,485 --> 01:04:32,276
As she said that...
1296
01:04:32,360 --> 01:04:34,694
♪♪♪
1297
01:04:34,777 --> 01:04:37,527
the explosion happened,
1298
01:04:37,610 --> 01:04:40,485
and everything went dark.
1299
01:04:40,568 --> 01:04:41,860
I saw myself on the ground
1300
01:04:41,944 --> 01:04:43,485
after a couple of minutes there,
1301
01:04:43,568 --> 01:04:46,318
and I realized
that there was a huge,
1302
01:04:46,402 --> 01:04:48,151
um, hole in the back of my head.
1303
01:04:50,819 --> 01:04:54,360
American University campus
in Kabul, Afghanistan,
1304
01:04:54,443 --> 01:04:55,860
is under attack as we speak.
1305
01:04:55,944 --> 01:04:58,902
At least one university guard
is now dead.
1306
01:04:58,985 --> 01:05:01,735
Officials say that dozens
of students and staff
1307
01:05:01,819 --> 01:05:05,527
are still trapped inside,
their fate unknown.
1308
01:05:05,610 --> 01:05:08,985
Everybody was crying
and screaming.
1309
01:05:09,068 --> 01:05:13,819
The terrorists said,
"Don't scream," you know?
1310
01:05:13,902 --> 01:05:16,276
And then they started shooting.
1311
01:05:16,360 --> 01:05:18,443
♪♪♪
1312
01:05:18,527 --> 01:05:22,777
I felt that somebody's
standing behind me,
1313
01:05:22,860 --> 01:05:26,068
and when I looked at him,
he shot me,
1314
01:05:26,151 --> 01:05:28,902
and I pretended to be dead
1315
01:05:28,985 --> 01:05:33,235
because I thought this is
the only way to...
1316
01:05:33,318 --> 01:05:34,902
to save myself.
1317
01:05:34,985 --> 01:05:40,068
♪♪♪
1318
01:05:44,777 --> 01:05:47,026
I was bleeding so badly.
1319
01:05:47,110 --> 01:05:48,902
I was trying to remember
what's happening
1320
01:05:48,985 --> 01:05:50,860
at the university,
1321
01:05:50,944 --> 01:05:54,235
and I remember
what my father told me.
1322
01:05:54,318 --> 01:05:56,568
He said I can't come here,
1323
01:05:56,652 --> 01:06:01,318
and I regretted, um, to have
not accepted what he told me.
1324
01:06:01,402 --> 01:06:05,360
♪♪♪
1325
01:06:05,443 --> 01:06:10,276
I thought, um,
"It's a-it's a dream."
1326
01:06:10,360 --> 01:06:11,652
I wanted to wake up,
1327
01:06:11,735 --> 01:06:13,610
but then I realized
it's not a dream.
1328
01:06:13,694 --> 01:06:15,443
It's reality.
1329
01:06:18,568 --> 01:06:23,068
♪♪♪
1330
01:06:23,151 --> 01:06:26,026
This university has educated
more than 100
1331
01:06:26,110 --> 01:06:28,276
top government officials,
young people.
1332
01:06:28,360 --> 01:06:30,110
Afghanistan
is a very young country,
1333
01:06:30,193 --> 01:06:32,443
where 75 percent
of its population
1334
01:06:32,527 --> 01:06:35,568
is below the age of 25,
1335
01:06:35,652 --> 01:06:38,819
so the attack against
the American University
1336
01:06:38,902 --> 01:06:41,402
is an attack
against Afghanistan's future.
1337
01:06:41,485 --> 01:06:46,360
♪♪♪
1338
01:06:48,276 --> 01:06:50,902
We're numb to so many things
in Afghanistan.
1339
01:06:50,985 --> 01:06:54,318
I mean, someone
described PTSD to me,
1340
01:06:54,402 --> 01:06:57,735
and I think
that as Afghans-as Afghans,
1341
01:06:57,819 --> 01:06:59,443
we collectively suffer from it.
1342
01:06:59,527 --> 01:07:04,443
♪♪♪
1343
01:07:06,360 --> 01:07:10,318
Unsafe now are
Afghanistan's journalists.
1344
01:07:10,402 --> 01:07:15,235
A bus carrying TOLO TV
employees was the target.
1345
01:07:16,944 --> 01:07:20,694
We have lost
13 colleagues in three years,
1346
01:07:20,777 --> 01:07:23,068
and they were kids
that we employed,
1347
01:07:23,151 --> 01:07:25,610
and they were members
of our family.
1348
01:07:25,694 --> 01:07:28,068
♪♪♪
1349
01:07:28,151 --> 01:07:30,652
It's not just a question
of these young kids
1350
01:07:30,735 --> 01:07:31,860
leaving us far too early.
1351
01:07:31,985 --> 01:07:33,985
It's also their families.
1352
01:07:34,068 --> 01:07:36,235
Sometimes they were
the breadwinners
1353
01:07:36,318 --> 01:07:38,026
of an entire clan.
1354
01:07:38,110 --> 01:07:39,902
♪♪♪
1355
01:07:39,985 --> 01:07:44,068
It brings home how serious,
1356
01:07:44,151 --> 01:07:46,235
you know, what we do is and...
1357
01:07:46,318 --> 01:07:49,151
and how dangerous it is,
and, you know,
1358
01:07:49,235 --> 01:07:52,193
we've created this culture
of telling the truth,
1359
01:07:52,276 --> 01:07:54,193
of pushing boundaries,
1360
01:07:54,276 --> 01:07:55,902
so there's an element of guilt
1361
01:07:55,985 --> 01:07:58,694
that we have exposed
these people.
1362
01:07:58,777 --> 01:07:59,860
The Taliban said it meant
1363
01:07:59,944 --> 01:08:01,402
to target the journalists,
1364
01:08:01,485 --> 01:08:04,819
that the channel had accused
their fighters of raping women
1365
01:08:04,902 --> 01:08:08,151
when they briefly seized
the city of Kunduz last year.
1366
01:08:09,819 --> 01:08:12,443
You think it through, and then
you think, you seriously think,
1367
01:08:12,527 --> 01:08:15,360
"Do we need to do this?
Is it that important?
1368
01:08:15,443 --> 01:08:16,735
If we can save a life,
1369
01:08:16,819 --> 01:08:19,276
is it worth having
a news outlet?"
1370
01:08:19,360 --> 01:08:21,610
♪♪♪
1371
01:08:21,694 --> 01:08:23,151
For the Taliban,
1372
01:08:23,235 --> 01:08:26,443
their ideology
is so important for them,
1373
01:08:26,527 --> 01:08:28,902
and the values that we push,
1374
01:08:28,985 --> 01:08:30,461
whether it's women's rights
and so forth,
1375
01:08:30,485 --> 01:08:33,068
goes very much against
what they believe in.
1376
01:08:33,985 --> 01:08:37,068
But also, I think that we
represent the new Afghanistan
1377
01:08:37,151 --> 01:08:39,944
because the country
has moved on,
1378
01:08:40,026 --> 01:08:43,193
and for them,
it's difficult to accept that.
1379
01:08:53,443 --> 01:08:57,485
I take some hope
from the fact that now Afghans
1380
01:08:57,568 --> 01:08:59,652
on both sides of the conflict,
1381
01:08:59,735 --> 01:09:01,276
they're incredibly tired
of this war.
1382
01:09:01,360 --> 01:09:04,443
They're not baying for blood.
They want to see an end to it.
1383
01:09:04,527 --> 01:09:06,777
With people I trust
amongst the Taliban,
1384
01:09:06,860 --> 01:09:09,151
we're involved in a collective
effort to make sense
1385
01:09:09,235 --> 01:09:11,485
about what's going on
inside their own movement,
1386
01:09:11,568 --> 01:09:14,443
about what's going on in Kabul
and amongst the-the...
1387
01:09:14,527 --> 01:09:16,276
You know,
the non-Taliban Afghans,
1388
01:09:16,360 --> 01:09:19,735
and making sense of what
the United States is doing.
1389
01:09:19,819 --> 01:09:22,735
Speaking native language
1390
01:09:24,193 --> 01:09:27,026
United States
had a very difficult time,
1391
01:09:27,110 --> 01:09:30,860
almost from the beginning
of the Afghan War,
1392
01:09:30,944 --> 01:09:33,110
deciding whether the Taliban
1393
01:09:33,193 --> 01:09:35,443
was an enemy
of the United States.
1394
01:09:35,527 --> 01:09:37,819
Are they a threat
to the United States?
1395
01:09:37,902 --> 01:09:40,819
Well, they're a threat
to our ally in Afghanistan,
1396
01:09:40,902 --> 01:09:45,735
but no Taliban, uh,
has declared an intention
1397
01:09:45,819 --> 01:09:47,360
to strike the United States,
1398
01:09:47,443 --> 01:09:50,151
certainly not
in an official way.
1399
01:09:50,235 --> 01:09:51,985
In fact, they say the opposite...
1400
01:09:52,068 --> 01:09:53,276
"We're only fighting you
1401
01:09:53,360 --> 01:09:54,544
because you're here
in our country.
1402
01:09:54,568 --> 01:09:56,688
If you get out of our country,
we'll leave you alone."
1403
01:09:56,735 --> 01:09:58,485
Right now the Taliban,
1404
01:09:58,568 --> 01:10:01,735
they don't like ISIS
any more than we do,
1405
01:10:01,819 --> 01:10:04,276
so there's a war going on there
1406
01:10:04,360 --> 01:10:06,902
while the Taliban still
blow up people in-in Kabul
1407
01:10:06,985 --> 01:10:09,068
and around the country.
1408
01:10:09,151 --> 01:10:11,318
I do think, at this point,
1409
01:10:11,402 --> 01:10:14,151
the Taliban may have learned
their lesson
1410
01:10:14,235 --> 01:10:17,026
about harboring al-Qaeda.
1411
01:10:17,110 --> 01:10:18,550
Now, why they're
after Americans now?
1412
01:10:18,610 --> 01:10:19,836
Because they're in Afghanistan.
1413
01:10:19,860 --> 01:10:21,527
We're there.
1414
01:10:21,610 --> 01:10:25,276
And for the Taliban and for-
for Afghanistan in general,
1415
01:10:25,360 --> 01:10:30,151
the way to communicate is,
you hurt them till they leave.
1416
01:10:30,235 --> 01:10:32,944
They did it to the Russians,
you know,
1417
01:10:33,026 --> 01:10:35,527
and-and they're doing it to us.
1418
01:10:35,610 --> 01:10:37,360
An American soldier
is dead tonight
1419
01:10:37,443 --> 01:10:38,985
after a Taliban car bomb
exploded
1420
01:10:39,068 --> 01:10:40,777
in Kabul, Afghanistan.
1421
01:10:40,860 --> 01:10:43,944
Ten civilians and
a military soldier from Romania
1422
01:10:44,026 --> 01:10:45,402
also killed in that attack,
1423
01:10:45,485 --> 01:10:49,443
which comes as the U.S.
tries to finalize a peace deal.
1424
01:10:50,193 --> 01:10:50,944
I'm really interested
1425
01:10:51,026 --> 01:10:52,276
in that whole incident,
1426
01:10:52,360 --> 01:10:55,527
partly because there was
a video someone took
1427
01:10:55,610 --> 01:10:56,735
right when it happened,
1428
01:10:56,819 --> 01:11:00,235
and there's an Afghan man who...
1429
01:11:00,318 --> 01:11:02,235
I think he sees the truck or van
1430
01:11:02,318 --> 01:11:04,110
kind of coming on
to the sidewalk,
1431
01:11:04,193 --> 01:11:07,276
and you can see he knows,
and he starts to run,
1432
01:11:07,360 --> 01:11:11,902
and then he dies
when it blows up.
1433
01:11:11,985 --> 01:11:16,402
That video went really viral,
and it was such a sad story
1434
01:11:16,485 --> 01:11:18,860
'cause it was...
I think he was a shopkeeper,
1435
01:11:18,944 --> 01:11:21,151
and he usually sent
his assistant to do something
1436
01:11:21,235 --> 01:11:23,002
but decided that day
to give his assistant a break
1437
01:11:23,026 --> 01:11:24,151
and he would go do it.
1438
01:11:24,235 --> 01:11:26,235
I can't remember
the exact story,
1439
01:11:26,318 --> 01:11:28,902
but something about that moment
1440
01:11:28,985 --> 01:11:33,360
and people seeing him
kind of know what's coming
1441
01:11:33,443 --> 01:11:34,610
and try to escape,
1442
01:11:34,694 --> 01:11:37,819
I think every Afghan
saw themselves in that,
1443
01:11:37,902 --> 01:11:40,151
and that's why people
just kept watching it
1444
01:11:40,235 --> 01:11:41,485
over and over and over,
1445
01:11:41,568 --> 01:11:44,193
but that is what life
has become, you know?
1446
01:11:44,276 --> 01:11:45,402
You're just waiting
1447
01:11:45,485 --> 01:11:48,860
or hoping you can outrun
whatever's coming.
1448
01:11:48,944 --> 01:11:53,443
♪♪♪
1449
01:11:53,527 --> 01:11:55,169
We're like policemen.
We're not fighting a war.
1450
01:11:55,193 --> 01:11:57,777
If we wanted to fight a war
in Afghanistan and win it,
1451
01:11:57,860 --> 01:12:00,777
I could win that war in a week.
1452
01:12:00,860 --> 01:12:03,026
I just don't want to kill
ten million people.
1453
01:12:03,110 --> 01:12:04,402
Does that make sense to you?
1454
01:12:04,485 --> 01:12:06,985
I don't want to kill
ten million people.
1455
01:12:07,068 --> 01:12:09,193
I have plans on Afghanistan
1456
01:12:09,276 --> 01:12:11,610
that if I wanted
to win that war,
1457
01:12:11,694 --> 01:12:14,610
Afghanistan would be wiped
off the face of the Earth.
1458
01:12:14,694 --> 01:12:15,944
It would be gone.
1459
01:12:16,026 --> 01:12:19,652
It would be over in...
Literally in ten days,
1460
01:12:19,735 --> 01:12:22,443
and I don't want to do...
I don't want to go that route.
1461
01:12:22,527 --> 01:12:25,819
United States
does not owe us anything.
1462
01:12:25,902 --> 01:12:30,402
They can pull out
any second they wish,
1463
01:12:30,485 --> 01:12:33,110
but what will be
the interpretation
1464
01:12:33,193 --> 01:12:35,777
of this pullout?
1465
01:12:35,860 --> 01:12:38,652
There will be,
whether you like it or not,
1466
01:12:38,735 --> 01:12:40,276
a domino effect.
1467
01:12:41,610 --> 01:12:44,944
This will be celebration
for terrorists.
1468
01:12:45,026 --> 01:12:49,235
The mightiest power
in the globe running away,
1469
01:12:49,318 --> 01:12:51,610
leaving the scene to who?
1470
01:12:51,694 --> 01:12:53,735
I'm not saying they must stay.
1471
01:12:53,819 --> 01:12:57,610
I mean, they-they can leave
any moment they wish.
1472
01:12:57,694 --> 01:12:59,318
Seeing what
we've seen in Afghanistan
1473
01:12:59,402 --> 01:13:02,860
and our involvement in it,
being our longest-running war,
1474
01:13:02,944 --> 01:13:05,068
the theory is kind of
panning out.
1475
01:13:07,235 --> 01:13:11,110
I don't see
how this war can be won.
1476
01:13:13,527 --> 01:13:15,944
A bombshell series
of investigative reports
1477
01:13:16,026 --> 01:13:17,235
in The Washington Post
1478
01:13:17,318 --> 01:13:19,443
exposing heartbreaking truths
1479
01:13:19,527 --> 01:13:21,318
about the U.S. war
in Afghanistan,
1480
01:13:21,402 --> 01:13:23,610
which has claimed
some 2,400 U.S. lives
1481
01:13:23,694 --> 01:13:27,193
and cost nearly
a trillion dollars.
1482
01:13:27,276 --> 01:13:28,527
The first thing we did,
1483
01:13:28,610 --> 01:13:30,110
the first story was just to show
1484
01:13:30,193 --> 01:13:31,753
that disconnect between what
they were saying in public
1485
01:13:31,777 --> 01:13:33,002
and what they were
saying privately,
1486
01:13:33,026 --> 01:13:34,360
but then, as you pointed out,
1487
01:13:34,443 --> 01:13:35,777
we-we focus on certain themes,
1488
01:13:35,860 --> 01:13:38,360
certain core failings
of the war.
1489
01:13:38,443 --> 01:13:41,276
That's the gist
of-of the series.
1490
01:13:41,360 --> 01:13:42,711
A new report claims
that the American people
1491
01:13:42,735 --> 01:13:45,360
were misled
about the War in Afghanistan.
1492
01:13:45,443 --> 01:13:48,318
A Washington Post investigation
looked at nearly 2,000 pages
1493
01:13:48,402 --> 01:13:50,235
of internal government documents
1494
01:13:50,318 --> 01:13:51,819
and found that senior
U.S. officials
1495
01:13:51,902 --> 01:13:54,235
did not tell the truth.
1496
01:13:54,318 --> 01:13:55,735
"Built to Fail.
1497
01:13:55,819 --> 01:13:58,235
Despite vows the U.S. wouldn't
get mired in nation building,
1498
01:13:58,318 --> 01:14:00,402
it has wasted billions
doing just that."
1499
01:14:01,860 --> 01:14:03,735
Uh, "Consumed by Corruption.
1500
01:14:03,819 --> 01:14:05,735
The U.S. flooded the country
with money
1501
01:14:05,819 --> 01:14:07,795
and then turned a blind eye
to the graft it fueled."
1502
01:14:07,819 --> 01:14:09,068
"Unguarded Nation.
1503
01:14:09,151 --> 01:14:11,318
Afghan security forces,
despite years of training,
1504
01:14:11,402 --> 01:14:13,568
were dogged by incompetence
and corruption."
1505
01:14:13,652 --> 01:14:18,527
And the last day, uh,
"Overwhelmed by Opium.
1506
01:14:18,610 --> 01:14:20,485
The U.S. war on drugs
in Afghanistan
1507
01:14:20,568 --> 01:14:23,235
has imploded
at nearly every turn."
1508
01:14:23,318 --> 01:14:25,276
I think the main
headline is that, you know,
1509
01:14:25,360 --> 01:14:28,568
for 18 years,
U.S. government, generals,
1510
01:14:28,652 --> 01:14:30,485
ambassadors, diplomats
1511
01:14:30,568 --> 01:14:31,944
were giving rosy pronouncements
1512
01:14:32,026 --> 01:14:33,318
about the War in Afghanistan,
1513
01:14:33,402 --> 01:14:36,402
even though they knew the war
was not going well
1514
01:14:36,485 --> 01:14:37,777
or it was failing
1515
01:14:37,860 --> 01:14:40,068
or that they had profound
doubts about the strategy.
1516
01:14:40,151 --> 01:14:42,485
So, in public,
they were saying one thing
1517
01:14:42,568 --> 01:14:44,110
about how they were
making progress
1518
01:14:44,193 --> 01:14:46,402
and this was
a war worth fighting.
1519
01:14:46,485 --> 01:14:47,777
In private,
1520
01:14:47,860 --> 01:14:49,944
they admitted they had no idea
what they were doing.
1521
01:14:50,026 --> 01:14:52,276
"We didn't know
what we were doing,"
1522
01:14:52,360 --> 01:14:55,235
said now-retired Lieutenant
General Douglas Lute,
1523
01:14:55,318 --> 01:14:59,485
who was the Afghan war czar
for Presidents Bush and Obama.
1524
01:14:59,568 --> 01:15:01,985
I can't think of another war
1525
01:15:02,068 --> 01:15:04,944
where you have the generals
in charge of it
1526
01:15:05,026 --> 01:15:08,110
admitting that their strategy
was fatally flawed,
1527
01:15:08,193 --> 01:15:10,902
and to say that
in such raw terms,
1528
01:15:11,026 --> 01:15:13,944
it's not just news,
it's-it's history.
1529
01:15:14,026 --> 01:15:16,485
We simply didn't know
what we were doing.
1530
01:15:16,568 --> 01:15:20,568
It wasn't even mission creep.
It was mission fantasy.
1531
01:15:20,652 --> 01:15:23,860
How do we ever believe in our
military people in the future?
1532
01:15:23,944 --> 01:15:25,795
I mean, it's like a spouse
who's been cheated on.
1533
01:15:25,819 --> 01:15:27,151
How do I ever trust you again?
1534
01:15:27,235 --> 01:15:28,878
In a country increasingly
divided every day,
1535
01:15:28,902 --> 01:15:30,378
it's nice to learn
that there's one issue
1536
01:15:30,402 --> 01:15:32,485
that brings America's leaders
together...
1537
01:15:32,568 --> 01:15:33,777
Lying about war.
1538
01:15:33,860 --> 01:15:36,819
♪ Dramatic music ♪
1539
01:15:36,902 --> 01:15:40,610
♪♪♪
1540
01:15:40,694 --> 01:15:41,777
I think the American public
1541
01:15:41,860 --> 01:15:43,527
has always wanted
to support the war.
1542
01:15:43,610 --> 01:15:44,795
They wanted to support
the troops here.
1543
01:15:44,819 --> 01:15:47,193
This is very different
from Iraq or other conflicts
1544
01:15:47,276 --> 01:15:49,735
around the world, and...
But over time,
1545
01:15:49,819 --> 01:15:52,402
it's become clear, I think,
to the American people
1546
01:15:52,485 --> 01:15:54,777
that this wasn't working out
as intended.
1547
01:15:54,860 --> 01:15:57,360
It took years and years
much longer than they thought,
1548
01:15:57,443 --> 01:15:59,860
and they've heard three
presidents talk about this.
1549
01:15:59,944 --> 01:16:01,568
And they knew it didn't add up.
1550
01:16:01,652 --> 01:16:06,276
♪♪♪
1551
01:16:06,360 --> 01:16:08,360
Building schools
and protecting women's rights
1552
01:16:08,443 --> 01:16:11,235
and so on, that's not
what this war is about.
1553
01:16:11,318 --> 01:16:13,318
Those have always been secondary
1554
01:16:13,402 --> 01:16:14,610
to the primary objective,
1555
01:16:14,694 --> 01:16:19,110
which has been
to hunt Taliban and al-Qaeda.
1556
01:16:19,193 --> 01:16:21,860
The secret detentions,
the torture,
1557
01:16:21,944 --> 01:16:25,902
ceaseless night raids,
air strikes, drone attacks,
1558
01:16:25,985 --> 01:16:29,694
when I said it's a CIA war,
meaning they've sort of set
1559
01:16:29,777 --> 01:16:33,235
the priorities for the war,
1560
01:16:33,318 --> 01:16:37,318
and for the Afghans,
this is a never-ending war,
1561
01:16:37,402 --> 01:16:40,151
and many of them
have seen nothing but.
1562
01:16:40,235 --> 01:16:44,652
♪♪♪
1563
01:16:44,735 --> 01:16:47,235
The U.S. and the Taliban
have just signed
1564
01:16:47,318 --> 01:16:50,068
a landmark agreement
that could finally lead
1565
01:16:50,151 --> 01:16:53,235
to an end of hostilities
in Afghanistan.
1566
01:16:53,318 --> 01:16:56,819
After two decades of war,
the U.S. and the Afghan Taliban
1567
01:16:56,902 --> 01:16:59,068
have just signed
a long-awaited deal
1568
01:16:59,151 --> 01:17:00,735
aimed at paving the way to peace
1569
01:17:00,819 --> 01:17:03,068
and the departure
of foreign troops.
1570
01:17:03,151 --> 01:17:04,568
Not part of the deal?
1571
01:17:04,652 --> 01:17:05,836
Any commitments from the Taliban
1572
01:17:05,860 --> 01:17:07,568
to protect the civil rights
of people
1573
01:17:07,652 --> 01:17:09,068
they so brutally repressed
1574
01:17:09,151 --> 01:17:12,902
when last in power,
particularly women.
1575
01:17:12,985 --> 01:17:15,068
Afghanistan
has suffered for 40 years,
1576
01:17:15,151 --> 01:17:16,819
so it's very hard to see
how this country
1577
01:17:16,902 --> 01:17:18,860
is going to be able
to pull together.
1578
01:17:18,944 --> 01:17:20,544
The coming days and months
are going to decide
1579
01:17:20,568 --> 01:17:22,860
whether peace in Afghanistan
is going to move
1580
01:17:22,944 --> 01:17:25,485
from a signed document
to reality on the ground.
1581
01:17:25,568 --> 01:17:29,944
I really believe the Taliban
wants to do something to show
1582
01:17:30,026 --> 01:17:33,276
that we're not all wasting time.
1583
01:17:33,360 --> 01:17:35,944
If bad things happen,
we'll go back.
1584
01:17:36,026 --> 01:17:40,902
♪♪♪
1585
01:17:42,735 --> 01:17:44,944
Meeting with Afghans,
you can tell
1586
01:17:45,026 --> 01:17:49,402
they've lost faith in their
American counterparts
1587
01:17:49,485 --> 01:17:52,276
because of the historical
flip-flopping
1588
01:17:52,360 --> 01:17:55,443
and pulling back
and pushing back into areas,
1589
01:17:55,527 --> 01:17:57,735
and you can see in their eyes
1590
01:17:57,819 --> 01:18:02,193
the weariness and frustration,
1591
01:18:02,276 --> 01:18:03,694
'cause it's their country.
1592
01:18:03,777 --> 01:18:08,068
It's their families,
and it's their people,
1593
01:18:08,151 --> 01:18:11,777
and we come and go...
1594
01:18:11,860 --> 01:18:13,652
and that hurts.
1595
01:18:18,026 --> 01:18:22,735
After the attack,
I went to the United States.
1596
01:18:22,819 --> 01:18:25,694
My medical treatment
was sponsored
1597
01:18:25,777 --> 01:18:30,068
by a hospital in Dallas.
1598
01:18:30,151 --> 01:18:33,902
I spent six months
in the hospital,
1599
01:18:33,985 --> 01:18:38,276
and many people told me
to stay there in the U.S.,
1600
01:18:38,360 --> 01:18:41,985
but I really wanted to graduate,
1601
01:18:42,068 --> 01:18:45,819
and also, I wanted
to come back to Afghanistan.
1602
01:18:45,902 --> 01:18:49,485
I don't know,
but I wanted to come back.
1603
01:18:49,568 --> 01:18:50,819
I don't hate those people
1604
01:18:50,902 --> 01:18:52,485
who attacked my university,
1605
01:18:52,568 --> 01:18:55,985
because one day,
with the education I receive,
1606
01:18:56,068 --> 01:19:00,777
I want to bring a change that
will affect their children.
1607
01:19:00,860 --> 01:19:03,985
Educated people
are leaving the country
1608
01:19:04,068 --> 01:19:08,193
because of insecurity,
but if everybody leaves,
1609
01:19:08,276 --> 01:19:10,819
who will do something
for the country?
1610
01:19:15,568 --> 01:19:16,777
We cannot just depend
1611
01:19:16,860 --> 01:19:21,777
on the United States for peace.
1612
01:19:21,860 --> 01:19:25,360
So I think I have the
responsibility to work for it,
1613
01:19:25,443 --> 01:19:27,402
because this is the time.
1614
01:19:27,485 --> 01:19:29,819
The country is in need.
1615
01:19:31,318 --> 01:19:32,985
Afghanistan
is the youngest country
1616
01:19:33,068 --> 01:19:35,819
outside of Africa,
median age of 18.
1617
01:19:35,902 --> 01:19:37,485
I think 60 percent
of the population
1618
01:19:37,568 --> 01:19:38,985
is under the age of 20,
1619
01:19:39,068 --> 01:19:40,735
so there's certainly
this appetite,
1620
01:19:40,819 --> 01:19:43,193
this capacity to embrace change.
1621
01:19:46,276 --> 01:19:48,527
♪♪♪
1622
01:19:48,610 --> 01:19:50,402
You know, in life,
you get one shot
1623
01:19:50,485 --> 01:19:54,777
at doing something
that is impactful.
1624
01:19:54,860 --> 01:19:57,026
Whether we're successful or not
is another story,
1625
01:19:57,110 --> 01:19:59,318
but we-we've tried.
1626
01:19:59,402 --> 01:20:01,652
♪♪♪
1627
01:20:01,735 --> 01:20:04,360
buwee' ted
1628
01:20:04,443 --> 01:20:05,443
♪♪
123854
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