back in combat. he sidestepped the question. but listen to what he had to say. >> this is a temporary mission with a narrow focus. as with all deployments of our troops into harm's way, our commanders have the right of self-defense and any attack on them can and will be met with a forceful and an appropriate response. >> so they may not want to call it combat, but they are in a combat environment as are the u.s. pilots flying missions overhead even right now. why all this concern? there were meetings across washington over the course of the day to put all of this into place. the taliban are on the march. there is no question about it. the security situation deteriorating. and one intelligence analysis says the taliban could be capable now of potentially isolating the capital of kabal in the next 30 to 60 days. that alone makes the u.s. obviously quite concerned for the fate and security of the