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We can't keep doing the same thing for another -- how much longer? 16 years in 20 years? we've been there too long already. we've been there an entire military officer's career. you could be two years old on 9-11 and entering the military right now. >> an unnamed white house adviser told npr that they're thinking in terms of the occupation of the korean peninsula. that's been 60 years. >> what we get wrong, the afghans view the foreign military presence as an irritant. they'll fight against the notion of foreign troops on their soil. that's why i tried to give the president an option of locali...

Broader political engagement with pakistan, india, and others. so, you know, i think we ought to applaud that he's avoided a disastrous move, and this sounds like common sense coming out of mattis, tillerson, h.r. and others. i think it was a pretty good show last night. but pretty conventional as well? >> oh, yeah. look, you know, by the way, putting advisers at battalion level is a very risky business. i used to tell people i was wounded twice as a battalion level adviser in vietnam so, we're going to have a very thin screen of u.s. troops out there on the ground bringing in airpower, mede...

Using some military terms a battalion level and that. i understand why the administration does not want to talk about tactical moves. but strategy. don't the american people deserve to know approximately how many more of their sons and daughters will be going back to afghanistan in a war that's lasted nearly 16 years? >> i don't want to speak for secretary mattis, but there will be visibility to troop levels once the decision has been made. i think what the president has conveyed, and i agree whole heartedly with him, is that we are not going to signal ahead what our plans are. we're not going...

Geopp america before they e emergency. >> reporter: it matters how those additional troops, whether or not it's north or south of 4,000, are deployed. a bit of a hint from vice president pence in the interview with the "today" show. he said he'll be deployed at the battalion level. that gives you a sense you'll have forward deployed u.s. troops working alongside with afghans and importantly, and this is something they've asked for here at the pentagon, to be able to call in air strikes, have much more close air support. obviously, air strikes have ticked up in afghanistan, they're dramatically...

Argument? >> no. i think it's ridiculous. look, at the end of the day there is a problem in afghanistan, we're trying to create a centralized federal government and group of warring tribes essentially the pashtun against the rest of them. there isn't going to be a win in afghanistan. the question is do we sit in there and try to prevent it from going down the tubes and become a terrorist haven or do we withdraw? and i think you know, to be blunt, no political system has been willing to step forward and make a dramatic move in either direction. right now it is looking very serious on the ground...