the very end. so to put it mildly it is a totally tragic condition. bill: pause one moment here. the question has come up for two months now. it came up a few days ago. anthony blinken was asked this question about vietnam and comparisons and said this just the other day. this is not saigon. we went to afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission, and that mission was to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11 and we have succeeded in that mission. objective we set bringing those who attacked us to justice, making sure they couldn t attack us again from afghanistan we have succeeded in that mission. in fact, we succeeded a while ago. bill: he said this is not saigon. i don t know what you thought about when you saw this video, the c-17 rumbling down that tarmac at the airport yesterday and what came back to you? vietnam was all so different but all so familiar when watching those pictures.
remember, this is not saigon. we went to afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission. and that mission was to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11. we have succeeded in that mission. the objective we set bringing those who attacked us to justice, making sure they couldn t attack us again from afghanistan, we ve succeeded in that mission. in fact we succeeded a while ago. at the same time, remaining in afghanistan for another one, five, ten years is not in the national interest. the british were there for a long time in the 19th century. the russians were there for a long time in the 20th century. we ve been there twice as long as the russians. how that is in our national interest, i don t see. as i mentioned a moment ago i think most of our strategic competitors around the world would like nothing better than for us to remain in afghanistan for another year, five years, ten years and have those resources dedicated to being in the midst of a civil war. it is simply not in our inter
we will do everything we can to make sure that is the case. everything except use the u.s. military. president biden is intent on avoiding a saigon moment, a reference of course to the hasty and humiliating u.s. evacuation from vietnam. but with this troop surge to air lift americans out of afghanistan, aren t we already in the midst of a saigon moment? no we re not. remember, this is not saigon. we went to afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission. and that mission was to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11. we have succeeded in that mission. the objective we set bringing those who attacked us to justice, making sure they couldn t attack us again from afghanistan, we ve succeeded in that mission. in fact we succeeded a while ago. at the same time, remaining in afghanistan for another one, five, ten years is not in the national interest.