in the rejop were not -- region were not worth the effort or safe to defend. why was it so dangerous? >> number one, you are in low ground and surrounded 360 degrees by dominating terrain and i don't mean just a little bit. but it's completely dominating. so your capability to defend yourself is really limited. when you're leaving the base, you're under continuous observation 24 hours a day. there's no way you can leave with any operational security. >> brown, among others, made the case directly to general stanley mcchrystal, commander of all u.s. troops in afghanistan. >> and he certainly agreed that they were -- it was a tactical problem. they were costly and risky. >> but at the time, afghan president hamid karzai was running for re-election. abandoning cop keating might have been interpreted as a lack of american support. so mcchrystal kept the outpost open. >> it was incredibly frustrating. when you come to a common