The last to die at the hAnds of terrorists in afghanistan in this war. That happened when a Suicide Bomber took their lives at an airport checkpoint. Congressman michael waltz, Pete Hegseth And Dave Sears have all served in afghanistan. Theyre stAnding by as we await the president , which were moments away from waiting for an update on when that will happen. Lets check in with Peter Doocy who is live outside the White House. Hi, peter. Martha, good afternoon. Were waiting for an update on timing. Were told the president would be at 1 30. And then 2 45. A few minutes ago, they said just wait for us to call you on the overhead page system. So the president is going to come out. Were getting new idea about what the we should expect to hear from him. We should expect to hear him take credit for the success of this airlift. The Press Secretary is on Social Media right now talking about how the president is going to praise the military for airlifting 124,000 people out And that the president will come out to explain how everything he does in Foreign Policy should be seen through the prism of protecting americas national Security Interests. So we expect to hear the president look forward somewhat. If he chooses to look back, theres inconsistencies. For example, the president said two weeks ago, if there were americans left in afghanistan, the united states would stay until theyre all out. That didnt happen. Now hes saying hes going to trust the Secretary State Anthony Blinken to work with international partners to get those folkS Out. Were also now starting to hear administration officials use a word about the 100 to 200 americans that remain in afghanistan that they hesitated to use last week. That word strAnded. Listen. We have americans that get strAnded in countries all the time. We do everything we can to try to facilitate safe passive. Its irresponsible to say americans are strAnded. Theyre not. So we do expect to hear the president to come out to speak on this, the first full day in almost 20 years with no American Troops on the ground. That could happen at any time now, martha. Martha thank you. Weve seen the president be consistently late in all of these appearances the past couple weeks, sometimes hours late. Well see when this gets underway. Thanks, peter from the White House. Bringing in Congressman Michael watts. Hes the first Green Beret elected to congress. He had multiple Combat Tours in afghanistan And he joins me now. Congressman, very good to have you with us. Thanks, martha. Martha when you hear that number, listening to Jen Psaki again saying that its wrong to say that americans are strAnded in afghanistan, what do you say to that . Yeah, i say thats a bunch or garbage. What they theyre americans strAnded. Theyre hostages right now. Theres already talk of allowing the taliban access to their foreign reserves, allowing the Taliban Access To International Recognition to billions in foreign currency held overseas. In exchange for allowing the rest of these americanS Out. You know what that is called . Its called a ransom. Paying ransom to terrorists. Oh, by the way, the taliban And the Haqqani Network have been holding an american hostage, Navy Veteran Mark ferricks for the last year. Is he free to go . Hes not. They have additional demAnds. At The End of the day, this administration believes appeasement And they believe they have leverage. The taliban has leverage And we hAnded it to them in the form of hundreds of American Citizens. They have a long history of using hostages to get their way. Martha its chilling to think of what this could turn into. Weve heard a lot from Jake Sullivan about how much leverage we have, we heard it from tony blinken because the taliban is so set on becoming a national player. They want to be sure that they have appeased all the norms to allow them to do that. We had more than 100 countries that wrote a statement about this. So that will make them straighten up And fly right as well. I want to listen. The narrative has consistently changed from the White House the past few weeks about what they considered to the commitment to the people that you have been fighting so hard to get out And that job just got tougher. Ill ask about that in just a moment. Lets listen to what we heard the past few weeks. I will not conduct a Hasty Rush to exit. Well do it responsibly, deliberately And safely. Theres a home for you in the united states if you so choose And well stAnd with you just as you stood with us. If theres American Citizens left, well stay until we get them out. Any american that wants to come home, we will get you home. Martha so the argument that we already heard forming, congressman waltz, these people still there, they didnt try hard enough basically to get out And if they had done what they were supposed to do And contacted the State Department awhile ago, then they would have been able to get out. What do you say to that . First of all, the State Department And the entire administration was messaging everything will be fine. Secretary blinken was at Marthas Vineyard the Day Kabul fell. Now they have this notion that people didnt want to leave. When they have their entire extended afghan family there, we have instance after instance where The American was told they could go but the afghans werent. Who will leave their family behind . Show me these people that want to stay there, American Citizens under taliban rule . Theyre trying to minimize the And-counting'>Number And Counting American Citizens, not counting Green Card holders. Counting the citizens but not their family And shrugging shoulders And saying its a few hundred. Its disgraceful. I have instance after instance of messages from americans saying im right outside the gate. The taliban are shooting at me. They threw boiling water on an infant. They told a mother they would shoot here in front of her children if she didnt turn back around. Some cases they mid it through but couldnt get ahold of anybody inside the airport. Theyre stuck there. Veterans And congressional offices are still in contact with them. Theyre trying to smuggle them out, were having to step up And lead where this administration has failed. You have sent us a lot of the images that youre talking about, texts to you we dont want to show them to expose any of these people. But basically theyre talking about the taliban beating the S Out of people, firing our their heads, disbursing the crowd, making everyone run. What i keep going back to, whether or not the families would be allowed in with them, i think about the southern border, congressman. I think about the debate back during the president ial election when Andidate-biden'>CAndidate Biden at that point said if youre a refugee, if youre in a desperate position in south And central america, you should come. Thats what america is all about. So now you have we werent along side any of those individuals fighting a war to the southern border. Now youre talking about people in the trenches with us, wearing american uniforms, risking their lives but theyre not they dont merit the kind of desperate Situation Relief that he offers to those people . How does that work . Explain that to me. I would love to hear them explain that. How are we wide open on the southern border And really we get a Shoulder Shrug from the administration. When it comes to afghans willing to take a Anding'>Bullet StAnding next to us for freedom against extremism, we get this Foot Dragging And this kind of halfassed effort to get them out. Veterans on their own time And dime have had to step in this void. Theyre still over there right now. The networks are still activated for these people that have been Left Behind. Its unconscionable, shameful, itS Outrageous. Where is the left on this for the women, the journalists, the Civil Society leaders, the minorities . Homosexuals . Everybody that will be guaranteed is persecuted right now, but yet we hear a big Fat Silence from the left on all of these people that theyre pounding the table for when it comes to our southern border. Martha i think of Andria-ocasiocortez'>AlexAndria Ocasiocortez And the Vice President , by the way, crying at the southern border. At the fence. I dont understAnd it. Either these things matter to you or they dont matter to you. Its really striking that theres feels like theres a lot of hypocrisy in the way this is being treated And obviously a big rush to get out. A lot of people want to see this War End And we dont want to lose anybody else over there, we dont want that, but we want to see some consistency And leadership. Martha, the war has not ended. They just extended it. Future american soldiers will have to go back to deal with this with a far worse situation with no bases no, allies And a Terrorist Army armed to the teeth. Thats what has me so mad. Congressman michael waltz, i know youve been burning the cAndle at both ends. All of these texts going back And forth, we received them, too, about warnings coming in, about what the taliban is doing to people now that were out. So were going to just keep trying to do the best that we can by these people And these individuals. Thanks, congressman. Thanks, martha. You bet. Martha so we have these haunting imageS Out of afghanistan of taliban fighters showing off their new weapons, their new gear, new helmets, new Night Vision goggles, new helicopters, new armored vehicles. They have a lot of stuff theyre impressed with And excited to try it on And march around with it And send videos back to rub it in the face of anybody of this country And claim themselves victors. So theyre doing all that as they walk around. There they are in the cockpit. Trey yingst is in Doha Qatar with the Victory Laps that continues today. Trey . Martha, good afternoon. The taliban now has control of not only american weapons but the entire country of afghanistan with that comes the protection of the afghan people. That will be a major challenge for this organization that does not have the traditional government structures. The United Nations is estimating 500,000 afghans in the coming weeks could flee on foot. You have the u. N. Refugee agency basically saying theyre concerned about And-water'>Food And Water for the afghan people as the focus will shift from the headlines And these people will still suffer under taliban rule. Now, despite these challenges, the u. N. Says theyre committed to committing operations inside taliban controlled afghanistan. This comes as the World Health Organization says it delivered its first batch of medical supplies to the country since the taliban took over. International bodies will have to work with the taliban to facilitate the flow of aid. We have to look at external issues. The taliban claiming few independence in afghanistan. Overnight, Gun Fire was head in the capitol as the group celebrated as what theyre declaring victory. Images from this Morning Show taliban fighters in the Air Field walking next to u. S. Equipment. Its tough to tell foreign fighters from Afghan Forces on the ground in afghanistan. Now you can see all of those weaponry, the uniforms, all of this Left Behind, equipment in the hAnds of the taliban. Theyre now using it not only to control the country but to instill fear in the minds of the afghan people. One piece of positive news, the taliban does indicate that they want to open up that Air Field again to civilian traffic, this could be an opening for americans that are still trapped inside afghanistan to get out. Thanks, trey. So joining me now, Pete Hegseth, served as an Infantry Captain in the national guard. Hes sitting down with afghan War Veterans this sunday on his show. Thats going to be interesting And probably an emotional conversation. Already joining me, Dave Sears who served in afghanistan during his 20 years of active military service. Hes the author of smarter, not harder. Day And pete, thanks. Good to have you with us today. Were still waiting for the president. Dave, start with you. What do you hope to hear from the commAnderinchief, what we assume is moments away. What do i hope i hear . I hope he admits to mistakes that were made, take some Account Ability And gives us an idea what well do to get the rest of these americanS Out And the afghans that helped us. What do i think i hear . None of that im going to hear a Blame Game. I think im going to hear how wonderful they were for running the titanic into an iceberg And coming along with life preservers. Im really disgusted at this. Martha pete, we have heard that it was the generals that wanted to close down the bagram air base. I think back to the comments that may made, the chairman hoff the joint chiefs of staff. They said we dont need necessarily bagram in order to carry out the tasks at the head of us And we dont have enough personnel to maintain the embassy in bagram. So i saw that as the underlying message there to me was we havent been given enough people to do more than what were doing. So were doing the best with the people that the commAnderinchief has allowed to us use in this mission what do you say . Thats on them. The one person that has been held accountable is lieutenant Colonel Schiller who said why would we make a decision . Either decisions like that were made at the pentagon And the wrong decisions And those leaders should be held accountable or decisions were not made at the pentagon And made at the White House And the pentagon didnt fight back. Someone at the pentagon should be held responsible. Theres an amazing fact that came out a couple days ago. Not a single general of the wars of And-afghanistan'>Iraq And Afghanistan has been relieved of tactical And strategic incompetence. Look at these wars. We have a problem with generalship, with leadership, accountability. We know as small unit leaders as something went wrong for us, heads would roll. I dont expect Joe Biden to have any contrition. He stood in front of the families. He wanted to talk about his own son, his own experience. Were an american Family Grieving for a disaster. I dont think ill hear any contrition but we should. We should hear accountability, too. Martha day, were going to hair of royce mccollum. Pete just brought it up. Listening to these parents say that they felt like he wanted to talk more about his son their than son. Its very disturbing. Its not the way that people expect to be comforted to be told, you know, me too. You know . Ive been there too. Thats not to take away anything from the loss he suffered. But this is the loss at this moment. Youre right. Its a complete callousness of the elite ideolog. Hes not showing any leadership at all. I dont like to bash either side. But the fact is that the leadership the leader of our nation, of the free world, just the empathy that he shows And the sensitivity is nonexistent. Its not there. That is such poor leadership from the top down. You Cant Help but think And know that the people that he puts in position under him are going to be similar to him. They have the same theyre reflecting the same callousness, lack of empathy, lack of understAnding, lack of leadership. As pete said, throughout the pentagon. Its astounding. Martha one more question here. The Wall Street Journal Piece Ant mohammed And the striking image of three u. S. Senators, And-carey'>Hagel And Carey And biden whose chopper had to lAnd the chopner a bad snowstorm in afghanistan. This young man, mohammed, 36 years old at the time, drove up there in the snowstorm to save them. Now hes releasing this photo And saying its my turn. Really, i need you to help me get out of here. He was in over 100 firefights. He was willing to go as a volunteer to be a quick Reaction Force in the middle of the snowstorm. Helped Grab Senator Joe Biden. Arm my veterans saying if you can help one afghan choose mohammed. Theres pictures, moments that are emblematic. An interpreter that helped them senator Joe Biden, cant get out of afghanistan because of what Anderinchief-biden'>CommAnderinchief Biden is doing. You mentioned the callousness. How about being two hours late to let The American people know And a day late. He should have done it yesterday. Martha gentlemen, thank you for your service. Thanks for being here today. Were all waiting for the president to come out And speak. The u. S. Exit of afghanistan leaves the taliban in control. Thats how this ended. The question is what is next . We know how close they are to alquaida. We see what isis doing. 2,000 prisoners released in the country. General Jack Keane will join me next. Well speak with the general after this. I believe do believe the taliban will have their hAnds full with isisk. They let a lot of people out of prisons. Now they can reap what they sow. Two And a quarter percent, just 2. 48 apr. Lock in this record low rate And save. Tech every customer has their own safelite story. 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A few hours after the united states officially left And the last member of our armed forces left kabul. Obviously they are emboldened at this point. Celebrating as you hear with the Gun Fire at the Kabul Airport last night. We also today remember the 13 Service Members that were killed hopefully the last to die in the afghanistan war, which is now officially over. Although theres a lot of questions about what happens now. We mourn them And remember them today as we think back over the last 20 years. National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin joins us with the very latest from the pentagon. Hi, jen. Hi, martha. As i left the pentagon last night, one of the senior leaders i ran into, we walked out together. It was notable because he said to me, well be back. Suggesting that the mission is not complete in afghanistan. Theres still 2,000 isisk on the ground now, a very real Terror Threat And now were dependent on the taliban to help get americanS Out And others that worked with the u. S. Government. The last plane carrying u. S. Troops the took off from kabul at 3 29 p. M. Eastern yesterday, a minute before midnight local time. President bidens August 31 deadline, the top general overseeing the operation admitted some americans And afghans were Left Behind. Look, theres a lot of Heart Break with this departure. We did not get everybody out that we wanted out. I think if we stayed another ten days, we wouldnt have gotten everybody out that we wanted out And still would have been people disappointed with that. Heres a bit of background on the major general, chris donahue, the Anding-general'>CommAnding General of the 82nd Airborne Division here in this ghostly photo, The Last American soldier to leave afghanistan. General donahue was working in the pentagon on 911. His fourth deployment to afghanistan. He led a Delta Force Squadron a decade ago And head of special operations forces. Secretary of state Anthony Blinken explaineded who some of these American Citizens are that are Left Behind. Theyre longtime residents of afghanistan that have american passports And who were trying to determine whether or not they whether or not they wanted to leave. Many are duelcitizen americans with deep roots And extended families in afghanistan that resided there for many years. For many, its a painful choice. Weve learned many of The Americans Left Behind are in fact babies with u. S. Passports born to afghans with Green Cards that gave birth in the u. S. Those babies were dependent on parents to get them to the airport. Many of these Green Card holders wanted to bring a dozen or more nonamerican Family Members with them And the taliban blocked them. 20 years ago, the u. S. Military defeated the taliban. Today the taliban Rule Afghanistan again. Very hard to watch from the pentagon. Very hard, im sure. So tell me i keep going back. You mentioned were close, about a minute away from the president right now. What do you think about what general mckenzie said . If we could have gave it another ten days but then another ten days after that And nobody would be satisfied. Theres thousAnds of people that they needed to get through. What became increasingly difficult especially after the Suicide Bombing at abbey gate, it was difficult to vet who was coming in to the airport safely. The taliban were tightening the Security Cordon around And it was harder for afghans to get through. So i think he was right. They took a decision. It was a very tough decision. They couldnt safely let more people on. Martha the president is coming out now. Last night the united states ended 20 years of war in afghanistan. The longest war in american history. We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. That number is more than double what most expects felt were possible. No nation, no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the united states has the capacity And the And-ability'>Will And Ability to do it, And we did it today. Extraordinary success of this mission was due to the skill, safe And courage of the united States Army And our diplomats And professionals. For weeks, they risked their lives to get American Citizens, afghans that helped us, citizens of allies And partners on board planes And out of the country, And they did it facing a crush of enormous crowds seeking to leave the country. They did it knowing isisk terrorists, sworn enemies of the taliban, were lurking in the midst of those crowds. Still the women And men of the united states military, our Diplomatter Corps did their jobs And did it well to serve others. Not in a mission of war but in a mission of mercy. 20 Service Members were wounded in the service of this mission. 13 heros gave their lives. I was just at Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer. We owe them And their families a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. But we should never ever forget. In april i made a decision to end this war. As part of that decision, we set the date of August 31 for American Troops to withdraw. The assumption was that more than 300,000 afghan National Security forces that we had trained over the past two decades And equipped would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the taliban. That assumption that the afghan government would hold on for a period of time beyond Military Draw down turned out not to be accurate. But i still instructed our national Security Team to prepare for every eventuality, even that one. That is what we did. So we were ready when the afghan security forces after two decades of fighting for their country And losing thousAnds of their own, did not hold on as long as anyone expected. We were ready when they, the people of afghanistan watched their own Government Collapse And the president flee amid the corruption of malfeasance. HAnding over the country to their enemy, the taliban. Significantly increasing the risk to u. S. Personnel And our allies. As a result to safely extract American Citizens before August 31, as well as embassy personnel, allies And partners And those afghans that had worked with us And fought alongside of us for 20 years, i had authorized 6,000 troops, American Troops, to kabul to help secure the airport. As general mckenzie said, this is the way the mission was designed. It was designed to operate under severe stress And attack, And thats what it did. Since march we reached out 19 times to americans in afghanistan with multiple warnings And offers to help them leave afghanistan. All the way back as far as march. After we started the evacuation 17 days ago, we did initial And-analysis'>Outreach And Analysis And identify 5,000 americans that decided to stay in afghanistan, but now wanted to leave. Our Operation Allied rescue ended up getting more than 5,500 americanS Out. We got out thousAnds of citizens And diplomats from those countries that went into afghanistan with us to get Bin Laden. We got out locallyemployed staff of the united States Embassy And their families totalling 2,500 people. We got thousAnds of afghan translators And interpreters And others that supported the united stateS Out as well. Now we believe that about 100 to 200 americans remain in afghanistan with some intention to lead. Most of those remain are duel citizens. Longtime residents but decided to stay because of Family Roots in afghanistan. The Bottom Line, 90 of americans in afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. For those remaining americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out. Secretary State Blinken is leading the continued diplomatic efforts to ensure Safe Passage of any american or foreign national that wants to leave afghanistan. In fact, just yesterday, the united Nations Security Council passed a resolution about the clear message that the international opportunity expects to deliver moving forward, notably freedom of travel. Freedom to leave. Together were joined by over 100 countries And determined to make sure the taliban upholds those commitments. It will include on going efforts to reopen the airport as well as overlAnd routes allowing for continued departure for those that want to leave And deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of afghanistan. The taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on And-radio'>Television And Radio across afghanistan on Safe Passage for anyone wanting to leave including those that worked alongside americans. We dont take them by their word alone but by their actions. We have leverage to make sure the commitments are met. Let me be clear. Leaving August 31 is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save american lives. My predecessor, the former president , signed an agreement with the taliban to remove u. S. Troops by May 1, just months after i was inaugurated. It included no requirement that taliban work out a cooperative Governing Arrangement with the afghan government. But it did authorize the release of 5,000 prisoners last year including some of the talibans top war commAnders among those that just took control of afghanistan. By the time i came to office, the taliban was in its strongest Military Position since 2001. Controlling or contesting nearly half of the country. The previous Administrations Agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1 deadline that they had signed on to leave by, the taliban Wouldnt Attack any american forces. If we stayed, all bets were off. So we were left with a simple decision. Either followthrough on the commitment made by the last administration And leave afghanistan or say we werent leaving And commit another tens of thousAnds more troops going back to war. That was the choice, the real choice between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war. I was not extending a forever exit. The decision to end the military lift operations at Kabul Airport was based on unanimous recommendation of my civilian And military advisers. The secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff And all the service chiefs, And the commAnders in the field. Their recommendation was that the safest way to security the passage of the remaining americans And otherS Out of the country was not to continue with 6,000 troops on the ground in Harms Way in kabul. Wrath tore get them out through nonmilitary means. In the 17 days that we operated in kabul, after the taliban ceased power, we engaged in an Aroundtheclock Effort to provide every american the opportunity to leave. Our State Department worked 24 7, contacting And talking And in some cases walking americans in to the airport. Again, more than 5,500 americans were airlifted out. For those that remain, we will make arrangements to get them out if they so choose. As for the afghans, we And our partners have airlifted 100,000 of them. No country in history has done more to airlift out the residents of another country than we have done. We will continue to work to help more people leave the country who are at risk. Were far from done. For now, i urge all americans to join me And grateful prayer for our troops And diplomats And intelligence officers who carried out this mission of mercy in kabul And a tremendous risk with such unparalleled results. An airlift that evacuated tens of thousAnds, to a network of volunteers And veterans that help identify those needing evacuation. Guide them to the airport And provided them for their support along the way. Were going to continue to need their help. We need your help And im looking forward to meeting with you. And to everyone who is now offering or who will offer to welcome afghan allies to their homes around the world including in america, we thank you. I take responsibility for the decision. Now some say we should have started a mass evacuation sooner. Couldnt this have been done in a more orderly manner . I respectfully disagree. Imagine if we begun an evacuation in june or july, bringing thousAnds of American Troops And evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war. There still would have been a rush to the airport. A breakdown of And-control'>Confidence And Control of the government And still would have been very difficult And dangerous mission. The Bottom Line is, theres no evacuation from The End of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities And challenges And threats we faced, none. Theres those that said why should have stayed indefinitely. They ask why didnt we keep doing what we were doing . Why do we have to change anything . The fact is, everything had changed. My predecessor made a deal with the taliban. When i came into office, we faced a deadline, May 1. The taliban onslaught was coming. We faced one of two choices. Follow the agreement of the previous administration And extend it to have or extend to have more time for people to get out. Or send in thousAnds of more troops And escalate the war. To those asking for a third decade of war in afghanistan, i ask, what is the vital national interest . In my view we only have one. To make sure afghanistan can never be used a again to launch an attack on our homelAnd. Remember why we went to afghanistan in the first place. Because we were attacked by Osama Bin Laden And alquaida on september 11th, 2001. They were based in afghanistan. We delivered justice to Bin Laden on may 2, 2011. Over a decade ago. Alquaida was decimated. I respectfully suggest you ask yourself this question. Prevent attack on september 11, 2001 from gentlemen men instead of afghanistan. We would have gone to war in afghanistan . Even though the taliban controlled afghanistan in the year 2001 . I believe the honest answer is no. Thats because we had no vital interest in afghanistan other than to prevent an attack on americans homelAnd And our friends. Thats true today. We succeeded in what we set out to do in afghanistan over a decade ago. We stayed for another decade. It was time to end this war. This is a new world. The Terror Threat has metastasized across the world well beyond afghanistan. We face threats from elshabab in And-syria'>Somalia And Syria And iraq And establishing affiliates across africa And asia. The fundamental obligation of a president in any opinion is to defend And protect america. Not against threats of 2001. Against the threats of 2021 And tomorrow. That is the Guiding Principle about my decisions behind afghanistan. I do not believe that the And-security'>Safety And Security of america is in the hAnds by continuing to deploy thousAnds of American Troops And spending billions of dollars a year in afghanistan. I also know that the threat from terrorism continues in its pernicious And evil nature. But its changed. ExpAnded to other countries. Our strategy has to change, too. We all maintain the fight against terrorism in afghanistan And other countries. We just dont need to fight a Ground War to do it. We have what is called over thehorizon capabilities. Which means we can strike terrorists And targets without boots on the Ground Or View if the needed. We have shown that capacity just in the last week. We struck isisk remotely days after they murdered 13 of our Service Members. Dozens of innocent afghans. And to isisk, we are not done with you yet. As commAnderinchief, i firmly believe the best path to guard our safety And our security lies in a tough, unforgiving targeted precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago. Thats whats in our national interests. Heres a critical thing to understAnd. The world is changing. Were engaged in a serious competition with china. Were dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with russia. Were confronted with cyber attacks And nuclear proliferation. We have to shore up our competitiveness to meet the new challenges in the competition for the 21st century. We can do both, fight terrorism And take on new threats that are here now And well continue to be here in the future. Theres Nothing China or russia rather that, would want more in this competition that on the united states to be bogged down another decade in afghanistan. As we turned the page on the Foreign Policy that has guided our nation the last two decades, weve got to learn from our mistakes. To me, theres two that are paramount. First, we must set missions with clear achievable goals. Not ones well never reach. Second, we Muscle Stay clearly focused on the fundamental national Security Interest of the united states of america. This decision about afghanistan is not just about afghanistan. Its about ending an era of major Military Operations to remake other countries. We saw a mission of Counter Terrorism in afghanistan. Getting the terrorists And stopping attacks. Morph into a counter insurgency, nation building, trying to create a democratic cohesive And united afghanistan. Something that has never been done of many centuries in afghans history. Moving on from that mindset And these kind of large Scale Troop deployments will make us stronger And more effective And safer at home. For anyone who gets the wrong idea, let me say clearly, to those that wish america harm, to those that engage in terrorism against us And our allies, know this united states will never rest. We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down to The Ends of the earth And you will pay the ultimate price. Let me be clear. We will continue to support the afghan people through diplomacy, international influence And humanitarian aid. Well continue to push to preconvenience violence And instability. Well continue to speak out for the basic rights of the afghan people, especially women And girls as we speak out for women And girls all around the globe. Ive been clear that Human Rights will be the center of our Foreign Policy, but the way to do that is not through endless military deployments. But through diplomacy And rallying the rest of the world for support. My fellow americans, the war in afghanistan is now over. Im the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether And when to end this war. When i was running for president , i made a commitment to The American people that i would end this war. Today i have honored that commitment. It was time to be honest with The American people again. We no longer have a clear purpose in an openended mission in afghanistan. After 20 years of war in afghanistan, i refuse to send another generation of americans sons And daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago. After 2 Trillion spend in afghanistan, would be over 300 Million a day for 20 years in afghanistan. For two decades. Yes. The american people need to hear this. 300 Million a day for two decades. You take the number of 1 Trillion as many say. That is still 150 Million a day for two decades. What have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunities . I renews to continue a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interests of our people. Most of all, after 800,000 americans serving in afghanistan, ive traveled that whole country. Brave And honorable service. After 20,744 american service men And women injured. The loss of 2,461 american personnel, including 13 lives lost this week. I refuse to open another decade of warfare in afghanistan. Weve been a nation too long at war. Through 20 years old today, youve never known an america at peace. So when i hear that we could have, should have continued the socalled Lowgreat Effort in afghanistan, at lowrisk to our Service Members, at low cost, i dont think enough people understAnd how much we have asked of the 1 of this country that put that uniform on. Willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. Maybe its because my deceased son beau served in iraq a full year before that well, maybe its because of what i have seen over the years as senator, Vice President And president traveling these countries. A lot of our veterans And their families have gone through hell. Deployment after deployment. Months And years away from their families. Missed birthdays, anniversaries, empty chairs of holidays. Divorces, loss of limbs, brain injury, post traumatic stress. We see it in the struggles many have when they come home. We see it in the strain on their families And caregivers, see it on the strain of the families when theyre not there. We see it in the grief borne by their survivors. Cost of war they will carry with them their whole lives. We see it in the shocking And stunning statistic that should give pause to anyone that ever thinks war could be low grade or low risk or low cost. 18 veterans on average who die by suicide every single day in america, not in a Faroff Place but right here in america. Theres Nothing Lowgrade or low risk or low cost about any war. Its time to end the war in afghanistan. As we close 20 years of And-strife'>War And Strife And pain an sacrifice, its time to look at the future. To a future that honors those that served And gave what President Lincoln called their last full measure of devotion. I give you my word with all of my heart, i believe this is the right decision, a wise decision And the best decision for america. Thank you, thank you And may god bless you all And may got protect our troops. Martha there you have it. The president is tone with his statement. A few shouted questions at The End. He chose not to answer them. He talked a lot about wanting to end this war. He says it was always his intention to get out but blamed the prior administration, the trump administration, saying that they hemmed him in to the way that he could get out And he didnt want to leave he didnt want to add more troops in order to stay And he felt that that was the only option that he had. A lot of interesting comments in here. I want to bring in general Jack Keane, Fox News strategic an And-chairman'>List And Chairman nor the institute of the study of war And Fox News contributor. Good to have you with us today. He said this was an extraordinarily successful mission with regard to the airlift. Your thoughts on that And overall, what we just heard from the president. Yeah, someone is making a strong defense of his decision make process to withdraw all troops. Quite an emotional one at that. Why dont we all feel good about this . Nobody in america i have spoken to feels good about anything. Its a national disgrace. Giving the misrepresentation of the facts, the Blame Game that continues to go on, not admitting the mistakes here, it will take a congressional commission or major congressional investigation to determine just who did what And when And hold people accountable. That is not happening here. A couple of facts. One, it is a fact that the president blew off the military advisers And his intelligence advisers about withdrawing out of afghanistan. They wanted to stay. The cia director, his cia direct or the said if the taliban takes over, the risk will be there because of the Safe Haven In Afghanistan today. Thats true today. The risk today. Out of the mouth of his cia director. As pertains to president trump, i didnt agree with him either. He said his agreement was based on conditions. The taliban had to do what. I read the Fourpage Document that the ambassador that negotiated that deal when it was a draft document. I read it in a hotel in washington d. C. Just him And me. I told him it was a surrender document. But here were the conditions. The conditions were recognize And reject reject alquaida, enter into a Partner Sharing Arrangement with the leaders in kabul. Neither one of those conditions were met despite the fact in kabul was forced to give up 5,000 prisoners. If those conditions were not met, biden looked at this And blew those conditions off. Just like he blew off the Military Advice And his intelligence advice. He then set an arbitrary date of 31 october. 31 august. What did that to . That denied the afghan security forces getting intelligence And robust Air Support to stop the major offensive which was already ongoing. Hes Blowing Off of that off. Misrepresented what took place And denigrating the afghan security forces that suffered 66,000 casualties over 20 years. 45,000 of course when we stopped Ground Combat operations. As to the evacuation itself, it was a huge mistake And that commAnder that has been identified probably on fox, major chris donahue, one of the most experienced combat commAnders weve ever had, you dont think he knows that what he wanted as a responsibility to defend the Air Field that we would have Security Checkpoints ourselveS Outside the gate, making certain it was a stAndoff from the Air Field itself . Give me a break here. Of course thats what he wanted. The president was obsessed with avoiding casualties And didnt want troopS Out there taking additional risks. Thats the feedback that i have. What did we get as a result of that . Because we outsourced the security of the Air Field And this is very tragic. We did get the casualties. We had over go 00 casualties And sadly And tragically 13 of them are our guys And gals. Im not saying that could have been avoided. But im saying if we had the security in place And we were running the checkpoints with the barriers there And everything else, i believe that that would have been far better than what our people were subjected to And the horror that they had to go through. There needs to be some accountability for what has taken place And its not going to come from this administration. Martha general mckenzie said that all we need is the airport. We dont need anything else. You dont have to take care of all of kabul to get a bigger perimeter. That should have been another option. Thanks, general. We know youll be part of the continuing coverage as we move forward. The president said it was time to end this war. That is the story. Stay tuned for continuing coverage here on fox of The End of the war in afghanistan. Neil all right. Martha just said it. I was not going to extend this forever war. The president of the united states explaining why after 20 years were out of afghanistan And our longest war is now in the rear view mirror. But growing questions that might not be the case. Growing concerns for the tens of thousAnds Left Behind as to their safety And whether anyone, anywhere is going to help them And get them out of that country. Welcome, everybody. Im neil cavuto, this is your world. Growing confusion as to the