this. the stage was set ten years ago for the drama that s playing out today with the helicopters overflying kabul. why do i say that? because ten years ago we brought to justice osama bin laden and decimated al qaeda. of course it was al qaeda that took us to afghanistan 20 years ago w. the addressing of that vital national interest, i would argue the only vital national interest in afghanistan ten years ago the last ten years featured staying on to try to get the afghans space to development for themselves government stability and benefits for the people. what we have seen over the last ten years since the bin laden killing is too much squabbling and bickering among parties, failure to deliver the process. too slow a process. and a diplomatic stalemate in the opening to talk to the
ask you, if you were in the president s ear, perhaps you are, what would you suggest that he do today? first and foremost, exactly what they are doing. right? the white house team, the d.o.j. team, state department team is focused on the immediate task, which is bringing to safety all the americans who are in and around kabul. just behind them should be as many of the afghans who worked closely with us over these decades. bring them out as well. set aside the bureaucracy of the special immigration visa program. get the afghans the safety, and then we can sort out the paperwork. i think the immediate task is clear. it s my understanding that s exactly where they are focused. thank you ambassador douglas lawsuit, former ambassador of nato. appreciate your time. also the chair of international and defense practices at bgr group. how is this resonating with veterans who fought in afghanistan? joining us now, former members
airport. the embassy is now advising all u.s. citizens to shelter in place. nbc news also this afternoon just confirming afghan president asgraf ghani has fled the country. that s another sign that the fall of kabul and the collapse of the government is imminent. let s bring in a retired admiral, former nato commander. now msnbc chief national security and diplomacy analyst. thank you for joining us. the administration has been saying in s many different ways this is a contingency they planned for. does it appear they planned for this? i think it is fair to say that the pentagon is full of plans. and certainly as a military, and when i commanded this mission for four years, 2009 to 2013 as supreme allied commander in nato, yeah, we had plans for the worst case.
coming back. is that enough? kabul, which seems to be the last bastion of pseudosafety is about the size of los angeles, right in not only in population, but also in area here. the airport sits right in the middle of it. is this going to work? the number of troops that are out, and the timing itself? you know, i don t know if it is going to work, to be completely honest. but if the taliban were smart they obviously would not attack the american troops because you know they are trying to get american lives out of afghanistan. if there is anything that s going to prompt america or the nato allies to get back into the fight, it s to take the fight to the americans. so my hope is that as the taliban come into kabul that they will leave freedom of movement for the americans and the american troops to get to the remaining americans in kabul and get them out safely. and then hopefully there will be a lasting presence to help with the afghani interpreters and
both houses are spread across the country right now. they are on recess. this second briefing that mccarthy asked for, he told his members about it right after the first meeting. there was consternation from republican members who didn t get to ask a question on that call. mccarthy, we should note did get to ask questions on that call. in his questions and remarks from others is a coalescing around an early message that this moment that we are seeing right now in kabul is the equivalent of the saigon moment from pulling out of the vietnam war. there are others on the democratic side who are foregoing that lane of politicking instead saying they would just like to hear biden address the country. and others saying now is not the time for politics at all. i want you to take a listen to congressman jason crow who served in the afghanistan war. listen to what he says is happening right now. we have a mission right now. there are thousands of people, our friends, our comrades, who are ther