It ended with donald trump, the latest american president to deal with the longest war in our history. Proceeding along the same basic lines of his predecessors details are details on that in a moment. While i campaigned on getting out, while i called for the immediate u. S. Withdrawal before he was president , tonight he admitted the decisions are different now. Shortly after my inauguration i directed secretary of defense mattis and my National Security team to undertake a comprehensive review of all Strategic Options in afghanistan and south asia. My origin distinct was to pull out. And historically i like following my indistinct. But all my life i have heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office. In other words, when youre president of the United States. The white house billed of an address to the nation. He entered without you a applause while hail to chief played in the background. In the speech he offered no troop numbers no definition of success but promised a win. He invoked and involved india and was critical of pakistan in the part of the speech that will cause the most alarm in diplomatic circles. A core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a timebased approach to one based on conditions. I said it many times. How counterproductive it is for the United States to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin or end military options. We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. I will not say when we are going to attack. But attack we will. Another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of american power, diplomatic, economic and military. Toward a successful outcome. We will not nation building again. We are killing terrorists. The next pillar of our new strategy is to change the approach and how to deal with pakistan. We can no longer be silent about pakistans safe havens for terrorist resistings. The taliban ono and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. It is time for pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order and to peace. Another critical part of the south asia strategy for america is to further develop its Strategic Partnership with india, the Worlds Largest democracy and a key security and economic partner of the United States. Finally, my administration will ensure that you, the brave defenders of the American People will have the necessary tools and rules of engagement to make this strategy work and work effectively and work quickly. The back drop in the room tonight at ft. Mier was diedly military but the back drop across the country was different. This is a presidency in peril. A presidency under investigation. A president abandoned by many top u. S. Business leaders. And there are Big Questions tonights about what if anything this white house will be able to point out for achievements from here on out in 2017. On that note lets bring in tonights lead off panel. Retired fourstory u. S. Arm army general Barry Mccaffrey one of you are military analysts a decorated commander in vietnam with experience in government appear military throughout the world pl jeremy bash former chief of staff at the pentagon and cia and nayyera hauck with the lart Ambassador Richard who will brook. General that one quote stands out we are not going to were turning from nation building to killing terrorists. What do you playbook of that and what else did you hear . Well, you know, i actually think it was an excellent presentation given the disastrous situation were in in in afghanistan. I think you know he was thoughtful. A lot of people made much ado about the fact he read a speech. That was a victory of common sense, mattis and tillerson be h. R. Mcmaster over the bannon faction. I think conditions based made sense. I thought the new putting leverage on pakistan using indian lias a threat is a new sort of tricky option that he is going to consider. I think it was excellent. And i think you know in the coming months well have see what happens. But the bottom line is you cant create a Democratic State in afghanistan. You can have a disasters if you withdraw. I think given the situation not bad. Jeremy bash, this is indeed where the presidency gets real. This is pulling the levers of the presidency and the awesome power of the United States. It was in fact short on details. What do you make of it as strategy. Yeah i would grade it incomplete, brian. I think first of all youd be forgiven for having whiplash and deja vu at the same time. Whiplash because of a the major reversal garratt you are from the campaign proms to withdraw. Deja vu its an affirmation of what president obama did at the end of his presidency which is to abandon the time line abandon the full draw down of troops and a say stay there basically for the time being while conditions merit it. In some ways the speech was continuity. I agree with general mccaffrey we did avert the disaster of what steve bannon and others were add volking. We need to to know more information about the strategy to determine whether or not it will succeed. Nayyera, given your background you hear a speech differently at least Different Things stand out to you. What did you make of the pakistan india portion and then some . What we didnt recognize in the speech are the millions of afghan refugees living in pakistan, which is a lever that pakistan has on u. S. Forces in addition to the fact you have a network on other Terrorists Network and the taliban headquartered in pakistan its a double edged sword playing with pakistan they have the ability to flood over the borders with thousands and thousands that will destabilize the country. That has been the challenge of every dmfrgs. Its extremely porous border. Which do remember the number one trophy kilt rowe killed happened in the obama kill happened in the is Obama Administration was pakistan. Its a tricky relationship previous administrations tried to navigate. The one that candidate get mentioned at all and hasnt been mentioned is the one with russia. The russians have a long history in afghanistan since 1980s going back to u. S. Involvement with the cia. The russians are sporting the taliban in the north. A lot of the u. S. Losses are now because the russians have come back in starting play territorial games. This regional diplomacy and regional strategy has to be something that donald trump considers. Unfortunately he has gutted the state department. He has completely disempowered tillerson anybody in the Foreign Service anybody with history and expertise in the region and the politics and dynamics. To say that afghanistan is going to be a longest diplomatic politic willing play when President Trump is considered poison around of the world a at the g20 and any dplomic tables the not shoe sure how will you meet the goals of bringing countries together supporting afghanistan. Last point if we havent created a soviet union in afghanistan for 16 years to hand over to the Security Forces not sure what the speech tells us were doing in the next couple of years that will allow the United States to bring troops home. General mccaffrey that was a poufl presentation. Your response to it. In addition if you can being back up you are comforted by the voices you hear of the generals surrounding the president in these remarks. Well i agree with what nayyera had to say i think she has it dead right. Pakistan one can argue is o isnt a nation state itself four separate nations loosely held together by the armed forces but i always thought weve overstated backants as a safe haven. The problem inside afghanistan is a lack of you know itary government. Its a pash tunes. Im not sure that if you successfully seal the border with pakistan the war starts not that the border could be healed. Im also uneasy as im sure the other two panltists are about looser and attaining victory this is not a victory situation. But, again, i do think given the bad situation were in that this is a pretty reasonable statement of objectives getting out of restrictive roe makes sense. The white house does not need to articulate 300 special forces sergeants to syria. They dont need to get involved in the taqle part. They need to sort out the politics tp but im also skeptical that we can pull this off. We can avoid disaster in the short run well see where it goes over the next two or three years. Four civilians at home playing home game restrictive roe means rules of engagement ie rules where u. S. Forces can shoot back if fired upon usually surrounding collateral or civilian damage. Jeremy bash im playing for you a snippet of the speech tonight that had a lot of people thinking back to the kind of rhetorical Campaign Candidate of donald trump and his personal acais that were embedded in in speech on foreign affairs. No one deny that is we have inherited a challenging and troubling situation in afghanistan. And south asia. But we do not have the luxury of going back in time and making different or better decisions. When i became president i was given a bad and very complex hand. But i fully knew what i was getting into. Big and intricate problems. But one way or another these problems will be solved. Im a Problem Solver terrorists who slaughter innocent people will find no glory in this life or the next. They are nothing but thugs and criminals and predators and, thats right, losers. So jeremy in the snippets we played tonight he is the guy who usually follows his indistinct, a Problem Solver delta bad hand. Unusual to hear first person references in a speech of this back drop and subject matter. Yeah and what i worry about brian there is swla overslim fli i was delta bad hand but im going to fix it. There is a problem. In afghanistan and the general and nayyera know well we are part of a 39 member he coalition. Its inconceivable tell 39 other flagss the the number and the kpongs but not tell the American People that doesnt make much sense im not sure it makes us safer. The president has erected that strawman we dont telegraph our moves in some ways we have to telegraph to friends as well as adversaries our commitment to afghanistan over the long term. Nayyera we invoked richard who will brook one of the more celebrated diplomats of his time dating back to the vietnam war. He has been gone a few years. Controversial guy, had his fans and detractors but to pick up on a point you maid about the state department, since the day of richard who will brook what has happened to the state department . The structure that would normally go to work as one of the prongs the president talked about tonight diplomatically. We no longer are able to in the United States government use all of the tools in the tool box. Naes usually the phrase. Usually you lead with diplomatic efforts in a country and have the threat of military might and support push forward the negotiations. Under richard holbrook, there had been an effort to negotiate with the taliban to find an end and peace to the war to be to have a declaration and end the fighting. The idea that we can kill our way to victory is not possible. Without that structure in place at the state department that entire team of negotiators has been disbanded you do not have ambassadors to hundreds of countries in the world right now. Hundreds. Dozens. Hundreds of people have not been given positions. Or been confirmed yet so you dont have that layer of information intel and activity that can help our military resolve the war in a diplomatic fashion. We have no standing ambassador as of yet im told to india, for example. Umhum. And thats not quite the state department that richard h of the olbrook left behind our great thanks to the leave off panel. Nayyera, jeremy, general, thank you all. After our first break, theic politics at home for the strategy and trumps moves from outside critic now to commander in chief. When our panel comes here next, the 11th hour just Getting Started on monday night. Back after this. These days families want to be connected 24 7. Thats why at comcast were continuing to make our services more reliable than ever. Like technology that can update itself. An advanced fibernetwork infrustructure. New, more Reliable Equipment for your home. And a new culture built around customer service. It all adds up to our most Reliable Network ever. One that keeps you connected to what matters most. When one part of america hurts, we all hurt. And when one citizen suffers an injustice we all suffer together. Loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another. Love for america requires love for all of its people. When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry and no tolerance for hate. In plain english here that was an attempt to rewind a bit what happened last week. The president tonight addressing u. S. Policy on afghanistan, a stark difference there in tone from his remarks last week on charlottesville. Lets talk about it. Our panel tonight, Phillip RuckerWhite House Bureau chief for the Washington Post out with a new piece to want. Its a hard problem inside trumps decision to send more troops to afghanistan. Michael crowley back with us as well Senior Foreign Affairs strlt correspondent for politico. Chief washington reporter for boston herold. Michael ill begin with you by quoting the always smart. Cant think of any other president in history had had who had to start a president on war and peace by vowing he opposed prejudice and bigotry. Your reaction michael. Pretty amazing. Unexpected. That marks his third ob maybe fourth bite at this apple trying to get it right. On his reaction to charlottesville, brian. And i think the larger picture here is that trump saw in as an opportunity i think to elevate himself above the chaos and controversy of the past couple of weeks in this white house, not just charlottesville but just all the mania going back to scaramuccis meltdown. Here he was giving address on war and peace, grand strategy to the American People surrounded by military personnel. So i think he and additionally i assume his staff felt like if they gave him a scripted statement in that setting and he stuck to the script they could maybe close the books, close the door on that chapter, move on to this more somewhat statesman like appearance and move forward with the presidency on a higher plan this could be the beginning of the post bannon era. Hell be tweeting first thing tomorrow morning im not saying he is changed or his presidency changed but thats what they were trying to accomplish. Phillip someone you and i both know who a veteran of more than one west wing has a theory will the about the cheap seats in his view everything but the oval office is the cheap seats when youre in the presidency when youre around the presidency. I was slightly sprised to hear the president say how different decisions look from the job he has now as opposed to to being a candidate. Take a moment, walk us through the education of donald trump, presumably from the generals around him what led up to tonights announcement. Yeah, so donald trump dating back to you know five, six seven years ago has been against this war in iraq. He wheated it was a total waste of u. S. Resources and personnel and u. S. Blood. He felt like the United States of america should withdraw from the conflict and held that view for many years including during the president ial campaign. But i arrived in the presidency as commander in chief and started to gain a different perspective in part because some of the generals around him were informing him of the complexities of the situation. He was no longer a celebrity popping off on twitter but he was actually commanding the armed forces. And general mattis the defense secretary h. R. Mcmaster the National Security advisers impressed upon him over the course of many months their view which is that it would be very dangerous o dangerous for the u. S. To withdraw completely from afghanistan and tried to present the case to him gradually that adding more troops would be helpful in stabilizing the country. Trump im told from reporting was angry about his options in afghanistan. He fumed about it. Frustrated. He felt there was no easy solution no easy victory with this war but eventually came around to siding with the generals. And can be o, kim what an amtzing turn of events where afghanistan and sending american troops into harms way is not subject enough for the speech. That because of the damage done over charlottesville and the kind of back filling that needed to be done that was inserted,. 2 i dont know if there is a question in here or not this is a speech, a message almost designed to last only 24 hours because the president is going before a political rally crowd by this time tomorrow night. And thats exactly right. And i think yeah it was some clean upgoing on you could see throughout the speech the influence of his generals, general mattis, general kelly, general mcmaster. Its also in that beginning part remember before charlottesville there was a controversial over the president s tweets about banning transgender troops, Transgender Service members from the military. And this is something that also caused a lot of consternation within the pentagon within the armed forces. So i think it was a bit of cleanup on all those fronts to get it started under this particular audience tonight. But youre right talking to people getting a quick take tonight, including republicans i expected to hear a lot more you know the president looked very president ial tonight this is a new leaf. I didnt hear that much of it look we dont know what his world view is he is guided by the people he licensed to his and gut. And his gut is tough to predict. Yes, tomorrow we have this rally in arizona whe