turn them back somewhat, they certainly haven t come anywhere near defeating the taliban. now the big question now is what happens next? defense secretary panetta has already predicted that all american combat troops could be out of afghanistan as early as the middle of next year. but given the current situation, with these insider attacks against u.s. troops, and the current suspension of some joint afghan/u.s. operations which are critical to any exit strategy, that timetable may be out the window. quite frankly, in afghanistan, you know, the middle of next year is pretty much forever away from now. andrea? indeed, it is. thanks so much for that update. more anti-american protests have broken out, several hundred lawyers in pakistan s capital broke into an area that houses the u.s. embassy and other foreign missions. police stopped them before they reached the u.s. embassy.
bombers. the group had been in negotiations with the afghan government regarding the peace deal. this is their first known attack in more than a year. shep: conner powell live in afghanistan. a big change in our decade-long war there that s raising questions about the exit strategy. the pentagon announced today that most u.s. and nato troops will no longer be working side by side with afghan troops. the pentagon spokesman says it s temporary. nato made the call to suspend joint operations because of those anti-american protests and because of mainly insider attacks on our coalition forces. the associated press reports the death toll from insider attacks is up more than 40% this year. today in afghanistan, a nato spokesman defended the policy shift. we just thought that it would be smartest on a temporary basis to reduce the amount of exposure of our troops in certain areas. so we think it s a smart thing to do. it s a temporary measure. we look forward to getting back
libya, the situation in afghanistan is potentially very dangerous. infiltration of the u.s. and other forces by taliban and other enemy groups is reaching the point now where we, our troops cannot work together. bret: they ended patrols. giant patrols. ended today. correct. the whole premise of the withdrawal plan for 2014 they will be trained up through joint patrolling. the exit strategy is now in trouble. yesterday in kabul, suicide bomb attack on foreigners blamed or the pretext for which was the video. obviously this is bad in general it s going on but politically the last shoe is to drop on that politically here. bret: charles, the president said on letterman that there are extremists, there will be more changes around the world. sometimes it may be dangerous. we have to remain engaged he
longer work, side by side with afghan forces and that could, according to analysts, throw a wrench in plans to train the afghans to take over the fighting. today, the white house said that the shift will not change the timeline for withdrawal. the president s policy of gradually turning over security to afghan forces, continues. that is part of a broader strategy that will result in more american troops coming home and afghans taking more and greater responsibility. shepard: british lawmakers are saying this threatens to blow a hole, in nato s exit strategy. jennifer is live at the pentagon. which joint operations are suspended? are they suspended indefinitely or until when, exactly? reporter: they are not saying until when. it is temporary. the kind of operations are where two or three afghan are working
the main reason for this. a lot of our guys have been dying lately. certainly, the main reason. three insider attacks in three days. 51 american and coalition troops murdered by afghan security forces that they had trained. i am fed up with watching our seriously good soldiers waste their lives, have their lives wasted by people who are meant to be our friends. this former british commander who now sits in the british parliament expressing the frustration that we are hearing behind the scenes at the pentagon and the basically which led to this decision to stop these joint patrols with the afghan which is is a key part of the exit strategy. shep: thanks. two americans who left prison in the nation of ganbia are on their way back to the united states. jesse jackson flew there to meet with the president there and secure their release. fox news can confirm the americans will be arriving in new york tomorrow with the reverend jackson. one of the prisoners wars a former university of