Page 982 - Leverage News Today

Alliance in the eyes of afghans and probably more widely as well. more humble and modest in terms of that leverage and influence we can have. it does not mean that it does not exist, there is an amount of leverage and influence. this is the moment when we start to rebuild and put together a strategy with our allies, with the g7, with countries in the region, to work for the betterment of the afghan people, the betterment of the afghan people, the betterment of the afghan people, the betterment o...

Agreement, which was not even an agreement. it was a going out of business sale without negotiating with our allies, the afghan government. it was the trump administration that set this time bomb off as it exploded now and reduced the amount of soldiers there from 15,000 to 1,500. of course, we have soldiers in the region. were not going to have them in afghanistan because president biden has decided its the right thing to get them out, and get as many people out as we can and have this sorry sa...

Secondly, it is the international assistance and how it would be provided to the new afghan government as well as the terms and conditions of the engagement with the upcoming afghan government. but most importantly to secure that leverage, it is very important to ensure that the afghanistan airport remains open. >> and you have been asking the international community to focus, strategize and think outside the box. what do you think is possible at this juncture? >> well, at this juncture, the imm...

The world to make clear to the taliban, the international expectations that people will continue to be able to leave the country after the military evacuation effort ends. we certainly have points of incentive and points of leverage with a future afghan government to help make sure that that happens. i can tell you again from my perspective, from the presidents perspective, this effort does not end on august 31. it will continue for as long as it takes to help get people out of afghanistan that ...

The taliban. we have economic leverage. and by the way, with the cia director having gone over there, it will be interesting to find out what the nature of his conversations were -- >> let me play this because youre responding to it. i want to play this because what the secretarys talking about is that william burns met with the taliban, mullah baradar in kabul on monday. the taliban has set a red line on delaying the withdrawal, and this is what the pentagon spokesperson john kirby was asked to...

Its hard to imagine more of a full circle event where you have a man who literally spent eight years in a pakistani prison because of the cia, the spy agency that worked with the pakistanis to arrest him, as you said, sitting -- standing next to the top director of the cia as equals, meeting and hashing out the future of afghanistan. its important to remember there were many times with which the united states had negotiated with the taliban over 20 years of war in afghanistan, but in this meetin...

>> neil: it is hurting his leverage as well, though, worrying about where the leaders will come from, climate change and global corporate tax in this country, not $5 trillion human infrastructure plan, you know, hes wounded right now and im wondering if hes able to bring the moment. >> he is wounded politically right now and we have a problem, quite frankly, a self-inflicted wound, he promised america during the campaign that we would always tell us the truth, he would level with us, good, bad, ...

So we can work to improve. >> the taliban said today the road is closed for afghans to get to the airport. so how confident are you thats not the case or that -- theres a week left before the august 31st deadline. if that road is closed what options does the u.s. have? >> its important to remember the united states retained significant leverage over the taliban. we have 90% of their assets in u.s.-controlled banks. 75% of taliban governing resources come from the international donor community. t...

I have to say i didnt feel a lot of suspense in the maneuver that the ten house democrats were trying to use as leverage against nancy pelosi. by the way, they seemed kind of reasonable about being willing to compromise. they used ultimatum language but also compromise language at the same time, so you are now moving forward. is it fair to say that the biden infrastructure bills are on track now in the house of representatives? >> well, today we moved forward three key priorities. these are prio...

The aca. they forced pelosi to dial things back. progressives made demands but they ultimately caved. its different. this dynamic exists because months ago progressives did the whipping they needed and secured the voted to convince pelosi to say the bills have to move side by side. otherwise they wont pass. despite this september 27th deadline that speaker pelosi put on the table, i spoke to several members of the progressive caucus, including some of the squad, who said they are not prepared to...