they are not. but they re being told that this is a catastrophic event, an epic failure for america. it s not for a few basic reasons that i can tell you as a counterterrorism official. we collect intelligence that we could never have collected and collated 20 years ago because we have a lot of people, a lot of money, a lot of technology, and a lot of focus. we have a willingness in the congress at the white house to act on that intelligence. that is send a drone or plane in and kill people. you could not have done that 21 years ago, ever. we have partners, people like the saudis, maybe the pakistanis, believe it or not, who are more focused on this than they were 20 years ago. americans won t like this, but it s a reality. we have relationships with warlords, people who murder other people, but warlords who have the ability to collect intelligence to tell us where the foreigners are. i m not saying it s great. it s not. we re not as safe. but it s not a horror show and the media cha
a cigar in an ashtray. we raised the flag again and let me tell you two things, the mission we had was to ensure there would never be another catastrophic event. if you had told us 20 years later there would be fewer than 200 people killed in international terror events in america over the next 20 years, we would say, you re nuts. if you had asked a second and final question, the debate will have in 20 years is whether we re successful building a nation in afghanistan, and that s the debate americans will hinge their judgment on, i would say you re nuts. we did. americans, the military, the agency, the state department, the american people who funded this, we did what we were told to do. enough with people saying this was a disaster. chris, it was not. we were there to stop another 9/11. so now if we leave, the question is, are americans as safe now as they were six months ago? they are not. but they re being told that this is a catastrophic event, an epic failure for america.