Intentions, working hard. but i don t think we did very well. we made a lot of mistakes that we ve made in prior efforts like vietnam and others. and i find that sad as well. we could have done better. what mistakes did we make that we had previously made? you could start with the idea that we didn t understand the problem. the complexities of the environment i think weren t appreciated. we went for what we felt would work quickly over what would have likely worked over the longer term. complexities that caused one top national security official to say privately, we didn t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking. did you ever think that almost 20 years later we would still be there? no. i don t think any of us did.
Find that sad, as well. we could have done better. what mistakes did we make that we had previously made? you could start with the idea that we didn t understand the problem. the complexities of the environment i think weren t appreciated. we went for what we felt would work quickly over what would have likely worked over the longer term. complexities that cause one top national security official to say privately quote we didn t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking. did you ever think that almost 20 years later we would still be there? i don t think any of us did. that s another place where i think we could have done better. i don t think we sat around a table ever and talked about where is this going to be in 20 years? in fact, early in the time that i was there, we were instructed not to build anything that
White house press secretary jen psaki is going to begin briefing in a second. and when she does we re going to take at least the top of the remarks. but before psaki begins we are in a period where people are taking a look back at the 20 years. and craig whitlock from the washington post got reports on this. and you have a very potent quote in that. you told the inspector general for afghanistan in 2015, quote, we were devoid of a fundamental understanding of afghanistan. we didn t know what we were doing. what are we trying to do here? we didn t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking. if the american people knew the magnitude of this dysfunction 2,400 lives lost. you called it a fundamental lack of knowledge that the u.s. had about afghanistan. did the u.s. ever really come to understand afghanistan? well, first of all, afghanistan is an enormously
Having people come into this country. he knows it who have this virus while telling people who have been vaccinated they have to mask up, their children have to mask up and so forth. he is destroying this country, in many respects from within, and the republicans act like it s another day, so they are so excited watch this guy cassidy on it was the most appalling thing i have ever seen, from louisiana and the others. they are very self-righteous, these 18 republicans about how important this is, and we ve shown we re bipartisan. you know, the democrats don t care if they re bipartisan or not. they got reconciliation. they are lined up to go, baby. this is just part of a strategy for them. they play short ball. they play long ball. well, i think our guys are in the left field stance. i don t think they have the foggiest idea what s going on, and they certainly don t have the guts to fight it. i want to ask you about this, does something within the republican party, does something need to happen? i mean, we re facing the most
Going on o down at the border. who is having people come into this country and he knows it to have this virus and they have to mask up in the children have to mask up and so forth. and he is destroying this country in many respects in the republican acts like it s incident in for another day. there s so excited predict and watch the skype cassidy, the most appalling think that i ve uever seen. from louisiana, they re very self-righteous, these 18 republicans about how important this is that we have shown we are bipartisan. the democrats appear there about 5 percent or not, they have reconciliations and lined up to go baby, this is just part of a strategy for them and they play sure ball and they play longer ball, will i think our guys from the left field the stands. i don t even think they have the foggiest idea what is going on and they certainly don t have the guts to fight it. money ask youhe about this. something within the republican party, just something need to happen.