in the best interest of people. >> one other not related to this, there are reports that the afghan military and maybe some others who are rising up against the taliban, particularly some in the north, and i'm wondering if there's been any request for u.s. military airstrikes to start them, and if so, is that the kind of thing the u.s. military would engage in? >> i don't want to anticipate or talk about the future. as you know, no current requests for that have come in, but we continue to maintain the current capability that we've had on the ground and in the air since we began operations. >> the only thing i would add is the mission hasn't changed. the mission of the united states military in kabul is to secure that airport, keep it secure, conduct, manage and lead air operations so that we can continue to move people out. that's the focus of the military mission. >> a week ago there was a mission to support, and still to support the afghan military with air strikes. and that was supposed to