Inspector general sopko, welcome to the Foreign Affairs committee. Forward to learning the lessons of afghanistan, but also getting some input to what we should do in the future. Afghanistanes in over the last six years have 10. Aged roughly we mourn those deaths and take them seriously. Compared to the other ,onflicts we are engaged in compared to the training deaths we suffer in our military, we cannot have the exhaustion of 10 years ago blind us to what is the operation now, and what is its cost. I know the chairman has an opening statement, but i will ,ecognize the Ranking Member then i will recognize our witness for his opening statement, and hopefully by then we will hear the chairmans statement. Thank you mr. Chairman pro tem, United States has been in afghanistan for almost 19 years, the longest war in the history of the United States. We sacrificed much on the battlefield, but we achieved a great deal. We decimated al qaeda and greatly weakened their global network. As a resul
Efforts in afghanistan. We will come to order. All members will have five days to submit statements to the record. Notice, we are here today to examine the lessons from americas war in afghanistan. , welcome general sopko to the Foreign Affairs committee. I look forward to learning the lessons of afghanistan, but also getting some input to what we should do in the future. Learning the lessons of afghanistan, but also getting some input to what we should do in the future. Afghanistanes in over the last six years have 10. Aged roughly we mourn those deaths and take them seriously. Compared to the other ,onflicts we are engaged in compared to the training deaths we suffer in our military, we cannot have the exhaustion of 10 years ago blind us to what is the operation now, and what is its cost. I know the chairman has an opening statement, but i will ,ecognize the Ranking Member then i will recognize our witness for his opening statement, and hopefully by then we will hear the chairmans st
Perhaps we shouldnt have. I think the days of occupying nations and reconstruction with the hope that jeffersonian democracy is going to plant seeds and roots, it may have been naive. Its a very primitive country, afghanistan. Ive been there many times. So my question, as i advise the president on syria, a residual force to protect the homeland, i dont think we can afford to stay in these countries forever and occupy them forever. I think the most important thing we can do is to have a residual force of some sort to take out terrorist threats to the homeland in a counterterrorism mission. Maybe we lost sight of what our mission was in the first place, and so i guess and i know youre not here to report on policy, per se, but id like your comments on dha, and to that end, what programs have been most effective at counterterrorism in that mission . Congressman, i think thats an excellent question, and i can bring you up to the line to policy. And i leave the policy for you. You have to re
What is next for him in the company . Text regulation, legal and legislative hurdles continue, especially for overseas apps. We will hear on how much more needs to be done. Action,arket specifically in the tech sector. The nasdaq closed above 9000. It has returned more than 35 this year and is on track for its best year since 2013. One of the best performers has been apple. It is one of the best performers in the s p 500 on a point basis. On as outperformed percentage basis. Another high, another day, another record at tesla, 430 a share. Tesla and elon musk have defied the shorts. We will have more on the record coming up. First, i want to look at the 2019 story of uber. The company went public in the spring, but has faced legal hurdles. Some battles were over its International Expansion plans, with london stripping the company of its license. Another issue, whether drivers are employees or contract workers. This week, we covered the man who cofounded the company, Travis Kalanick, and
Only. You can rule. Would say. For years private armies have provided services to governments around the world they are often secretive that operate in the shadows. Blackwater now known as academy is one of the most well known private army it has provided troops and other services to the u. S. Government in different conflicts including the war in iraq but its not always clear how these private armies are formed where they operate or even what their missions consist of so we travel to south africa to find out more even barlow is chairman of specialized tasks training equipment and Protection International a private army that according to barlow has operated throughout africa and beyond he was also behind another Similar Company that shut down in 1980 called executive outcomes and while many argue private armies are mercenaries doing the jobs government dont want to do follow insists his operations are legitimate and follow International Law but who make sure these armies are indeed fol