WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:12.833 --> 00:00:15.083 Oh, I didn't pay. Can you pay here? 4 00:00:15.166 --> 00:00:17.166 [laughs] 5 00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:21.125 [machine whirring] 6 00:00:23.082 --> 00:00:27.332 Oh, my gosh. It took my card. 7 00:00:27.417 --> 00:00:29.542 [laughs] 8 00:00:30.958 --> 00:00:33.625 You might want to go back, dude. 9 00:00:33.709 --> 00:00:36.500 So today I'm getting filmed 10 00:00:36.582 --> 00:00:39.290 about my job at CIA. 11 00:00:39.375 --> 00:00:43.667 I know you-you were, um, studying 12 00:00:43.750 --> 00:00:46.959 about Afghanistan and-- 13 00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:48.207 [girl] All the wars. 14 00:00:48.290 --> 00:00:52.582 All the wars, and you, um, were a spy. 15 00:00:52.667 --> 00:00:54.290 [Maddox chuckles] 16 00:00:54.375 --> 00:00:56.332 I worked with spies. It's true. 17 00:00:56.417 --> 00:01:00.082 [indistinct chatter] 18 00:01:00.165 --> 00:01:02.709 I'll never feel like an Afghanistan expert. 19 00:01:04.875 --> 00:01:07.959 The war, it's so complex. 20 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:12.082 It's almost been cyclical with our U.S. government as well. 21 00:01:12.165 --> 00:01:15.290 [turn signal clicking] 22 00:01:15.375 --> 00:01:17.625 What is the mission? What is the goal there? 23 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:18.709 [car door closes] 24 00:01:18.792 --> 00:01:19.875 ♪ soft music ♪ 25 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:24.000 And I got to know Afghans. I worked with Afghans. 26 00:01:24.082 --> 00:01:25.500 I'm a woman, a mother. 27 00:01:25.582 --> 00:01:28.582 My heart hurts for these people 28 00:01:28.667 --> 00:01:34.125 because I just don't see how this ends. 29 00:01:34.207 --> 00:01:38.417 ♪♪♪ 30 00:01:40.582 --> 00:01:42.375 After the extraordinary sacrifice 31 00:01:42.457 --> 00:01:45.332 of blood and treasure, 32 00:01:45.417 --> 00:01:48.125 the American people are weary 33 00:01:48.207 --> 00:01:50.917 of the longest war in American history. 34 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:54.375 This year we will bring America's longest war 35 00:01:54.457 --> 00:01:57.542 to a responsible end. 36 00:01:57.625 --> 00:01:59.000 I want the Afghan people to understand-- 37 00:01:59.082 --> 00:02:04.332 America seeks an end to this era of war and suffering. 38 00:02:04.457 --> 00:02:05.332 [George W. Bush] We know from the history 39 00:02:05.457 --> 00:02:07.542 of military conflict in Afghanistan, 40 00:02:07.625 --> 00:02:09.457 it's been one of initial success 41 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:11.125 followed by long years 42 00:02:11.207 --> 00:02:14.375 of floundering and ultimate failure. 43 00:02:14.457 --> 00:02:15.959 We're not gonna repeat that mistake. 44 00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:18.542 We welcome the distinguished interim leader 45 00:02:18.625 --> 00:02:21.750 of a liberated Afghanistan, Chairman Hamid Karzai. 46 00:02:21.834 --> 00:02:23.040 [applause] 47 00:02:23.125 --> 00:02:25.040 [Bill Clinton] Osama bin Laden publicly vowed 48 00:02:25.125 --> 00:02:25.834 to wage a terrorist war 49 00:02:25.917 --> 00:02:27.792 against America from Afghanistan. 50 00:02:27.875 --> 00:02:31.250 This will be a long ongoing struggle 51 00:02:31.332 --> 00:02:34.375 between freedom and fanaticism. 52 00:02:34.457 --> 00:02:35.959 [George H.W. Bush] Our commitment to the people there 53 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:39.375 would lead to a peaceful Afghanistan 54 00:02:39.457 --> 00:02:41.000 with no more bloodbaths. 55 00:02:41.082 --> 00:02:43.375 [Reagan] The goal of the United States 56 00:02:43.457 --> 00:02:45.750 remains a genuinely independent Afghanistan, 57 00:02:45.834 --> 00:02:49.207 free from external interference. 58 00:02:49.290 --> 00:02:52.375 Massive Soviet military forces have invaded 59 00:02:52.457 --> 00:02:54.834 the small sovereign nation of Afghanistan. 60 00:02:54.959 --> 00:03:00.457 History teaches that aggression unopposed 61 00:03:00.542 --> 00:03:02.750 becomes a contagious disease. 62 00:03:02.834 --> 00:03:06.959 ♪♪♪ 63 00:03:12.792 --> 00:03:14.959 I grew up thinking Afghanistan 64 00:03:15.040 --> 00:03:17.290 was the biggest country in the world, 65 00:03:17.375 --> 00:03:19.417 the most beautiful country in the world, 66 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:20.750 the most developed country in the world, 67 00:03:20.834 --> 00:03:23.917 with a huge passion for my country 68 00:03:23.959 --> 00:03:26.457 because it was very much 69 00:03:26.542 --> 00:03:29.750 the same, uh, thing my father shared. 70 00:03:29.834 --> 00:03:33.750 ♪♪♪ 71 00:03:33.792 --> 00:03:36.417 In a very romantic way, 72 00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:39.500 my father was always talking about the Afghanistan 73 00:03:39.582 --> 00:03:41.875 that he had experienced. 74 00:03:42.709 --> 00:03:45.375 They would go on the weekends to restaurants. 75 00:03:45.457 --> 00:03:47.875 They would take a walk in the park. 76 00:03:47.959 --> 00:03:53.667 But these were all those, uh, fairy tales to us. 77 00:03:53.750 --> 00:03:57.500 Mm, we never experienced Afghanistan that way. 78 00:03:57.582 --> 00:04:02.709 ♪♪♪ 79 00:04:05.582 --> 00:04:10.207 One thing in common about many of these fights in my country 80 00:04:10.290 --> 00:04:12.667 is that, unfortunately, 81 00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:17.542 it's our soil that is being used for various wars 82 00:04:17.625 --> 00:04:19.457 between the global powers. 83 00:04:19.542 --> 00:04:25.375 ♪♪♪ 84 00:04:29.165 --> 00:04:31.582 The world simply cannot stand by 85 00:04:31.667 --> 00:04:32.667 and permit the Soviet Union 86 00:04:32.750 --> 00:04:36.417 to commit this act with impunity. 87 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:38.290 [gunfire] 88 00:04:38.375 --> 00:04:41.207 The Soviets killed about ten percent of the population. 89 00:04:41.290 --> 00:04:41.792 [camera shutter clicking] 90 00:04:41.875 --> 00:04:44.709 It was a genocide, 91 00:04:44.792 --> 00:04:48.082 and the military was not doing anything about it, 92 00:04:48.165 --> 00:04:51.417 but I heard that, uh, the agency did. 93 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:53.500 [Bearden] The CIA director says, 94 00:04:53.582 --> 00:04:57.000 "I want you to go out there and win this." 95 00:04:57.082 --> 00:04:59.582 [Coll] I was the Washington Post correspondent 96 00:04:59.667 --> 00:05:02.375 in, uh, South Asia, so the Afghan War 97 00:05:02.458 --> 00:05:05.333 was pretty much the biggest story on my beat. 98 00:05:05.416 --> 00:05:08.165 Pakistan had an immediate refugee flow. 99 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:12.458 They went to their ally, the United States, and said, 100 00:05:12.541 --> 00:05:13.416 "We've got all these rebels 101 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:17.082 who are coming into our country as refugees. 102 00:05:17.165 --> 00:05:20.250 They want to liberate their country 103 00:05:20.332 --> 00:05:21.792 from Soviet occupation. 104 00:05:21.875 --> 00:05:24.290 We, the Pakistan government, are inclined to help them, 105 00:05:24.375 --> 00:05:26.457 but we could use your support as well." 106 00:05:26.542 --> 00:05:28.000 And so we were told to get busy 107 00:05:28.082 --> 00:05:30.750 and try to figure out what was happening 108 00:05:30.834 --> 00:05:33.040 with these guys called the mujahideen. 109 00:05:34.542 --> 00:05:35.792 [Sageman] People knew that the CIA 110 00:05:35.875 --> 00:05:38.457 was supporting the Afghans. 111 00:05:38.542 --> 00:05:40.125 They could never know how. 112 00:05:40.207 --> 00:05:43.375 [Schroen] So we then decided we would use the Pakistanis 113 00:05:43.457 --> 00:05:46.165 as our surrogates to support the mujahideen. 114 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:47.959 [gunfire] 115 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:50.250 [man] speaking native language 116 00:05:50.332 --> 00:05:52.290 [Reagan] The Soviet presence in Afghanistan 117 00:05:52.375 --> 00:05:54.000 is a major impediment 118 00:05:54.082 --> 00:05:55.917 to improved U.S.-Soviet relations, 119 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.332 and we would like to remove it. 120 00:05:58.417 --> 00:06:01.959 [Schroen] We were putting in a variety of weapons systems 121 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:04.000 into the hands of the mujahideen. 122 00:06:04.083 --> 00:06:04.959 The United States started to provide 123 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.165 these Stinger antiaircraft missiles 124 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:12.709 to equip the rebels to fight the Soviets as equals. 125 00:06:12.791 --> 00:06:15.541 They started knocking Soviet aircraft out of the sky 126 00:06:15.625 --> 00:06:17.207 by the hundreds. 127 00:06:17.290 --> 00:06:19.000 [Bergen] That changed the war, 128 00:06:19.082 --> 00:06:21.500 and it showed that the U.S. government was serious 129 00:06:21.582 --> 00:06:24.165 about not just inflicting some damage on the Soviets 130 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:26.750 but actually getting them to leave Afghanistan, 131 00:06:26.834 --> 00:06:29.332 which is what they did. 132 00:06:29.417 --> 00:06:32.250 [Bearden] And as soon as Boris Gromov rode on that tank 133 00:06:32.332 --> 00:06:34.500 out to the middle of Friendship Bridge 134 00:06:34.582 --> 00:06:36.457 from Afghanistan, 135 00:06:36.542 --> 00:06:40.709 I hit send on a cable that was typed out using Xs 136 00:06:40.792 --> 00:06:43.959 to make a big, "We won." 137 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:45.582 ♪♪♪ 138 00:06:45.667 --> 00:06:47.500 I wrote an article and put the name on it, 139 00:06:47.582 --> 00:06:48.959 "Graveyard of Empires." 140 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:52.667 My point was, it's very easy getting in there, 141 00:06:52.750 --> 00:06:57.040 but getting out is immensely difficult, 142 00:06:57.125 --> 00:07:00.709 and winning is... 143 00:07:00.791 --> 00:07:02.541 very, very questionable. 144 00:07:02.625 --> 00:07:03.875 Whatever winning means, 145 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:05.625 you usually don't get it in Afghanistan. 146 00:07:05.709 --> 00:07:10.583 ♪♪♪ 147 00:07:10.666 --> 00:07:14.709 [horns honking] 148 00:07:15.541 --> 00:07:18.875 Kabul has changed a lot in the last several years. 149 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:20.375 It used to be that you could 150 00:07:20.457 --> 00:07:21.542 kind of walk around the streets 151 00:07:21.625 --> 00:07:22.542 and pick up a cab 152 00:07:22.625 --> 00:07:25.207 and go to a restaurant, have a nice meal. 153 00:07:25.290 --> 00:07:27.625 If you're a foreigner, that's basically all gone. 154 00:07:27.709 --> 00:07:31.290 ♪♪♪ 155 00:07:31.375 --> 00:07:33.792 The Taliban have done a campaign of attacking 156 00:07:33.875 --> 00:07:36.207 anywhere Westerners gather, and we're in an armored car 157 00:07:36.290 --> 00:07:40.417 because it's regarded as too dangerous now, 158 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:43.250 which is a pity because Kabul is an amazingly beautiful 159 00:07:43.332 --> 00:07:45.207 and vibrant city. 160 00:07:45.290 --> 00:07:48.207 The city is now brimming with up to six million people, 161 00:07:48.290 --> 00:07:50.040 and it's a very different Kabul than the one I remember 162 00:07:50.125 --> 00:07:52.792 under the Taliban or during the Civil War. 163 00:07:52.875 --> 00:07:58.000 ♪♪♪ 164 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:02.583 The United States ended its official presence 165 00:08:02.666 --> 00:08:03.750 in Afghanistan today, two weeks before 166 00:08:03.834 --> 00:08:06.125 Soviet troops are scheduled to complete their pullout. 167 00:08:06.208 --> 00:08:07.750 Our State Department correspondent 168 00:08:07.834 --> 00:08:10.666 Bill Plante reports. 169 00:08:11.541 --> 00:08:14.083 [Plante] A marine guard hauled down the stars and stripes 170 00:08:14.165 --> 00:08:15.916 at the U.S. embassy in Kabul 171 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.500 as the remaining handful of diplomats 172 00:08:17.582 --> 00:08:19.375 prepared to get out of Afghanistan 173 00:08:19.457 --> 00:08:20.375 as soon as weather permits. 174 00:08:20.457 --> 00:08:23.125 The U.S. joins other Western nations 175 00:08:23.207 --> 00:08:24.667 which have temporarily pulled out, 176 00:08:24.750 --> 00:08:26.082 fearing chaos after Soviet troops 177 00:08:26.165 --> 00:08:28.207 end their ten-year occupation. 178 00:08:36.582 --> 00:08:39.834 I first got into, uh, Afghanistan 179 00:08:39.917 --> 00:08:40.959 by crossing the-the frontier 180 00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:44.792 between Pakistan and Afghanistan 181 00:08:44.875 --> 00:08:48.792 with a group of mujahideen in mid-1989, 182 00:08:48.875 --> 00:08:52.457 just as the Soviet Union had, uh, withdrawn. 183 00:08:52.542 --> 00:08:55.250 ♪♪♪ 184 00:08:55.332 --> 00:08:57.250 I was working with an aid agency, 185 00:08:57.332 --> 00:09:00.625 trying to help both with refugees in Pakistan 186 00:09:00.708 --> 00:09:03.582 and inside Afghanistan. 187 00:09:03.667 --> 00:09:07.917 People were readying themselves for the fight 188 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.667 over who would claim Afghanistan 189 00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:14.792 now that the-the Soviets had got out. 190 00:09:14.875 --> 00:09:19.457 ♪♪♪ 191 00:09:22.082 --> 00:09:25.332 America made a fatal mistake. 192 00:09:25.417 --> 00:09:28.166 The Afghan thing was almost totally forgotten. 193 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:32.959 The result was that an Afghanistan 194 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:37.625 so overloaded with ordnance and awash with money 195 00:09:37.709 --> 00:09:40.040 slipped into its own devices. 196 00:09:41.375 --> 00:09:43.250 [Coll] From a war correspondent's perspective, 197 00:09:43.332 --> 00:09:44.625 by the time I was traveling around 198 00:09:44.709 --> 00:09:45.792 in the war in the early '90s, 199 00:09:45.875 --> 00:09:47.792 it had become a nasty civil war. 200 00:09:49.165 --> 00:09:51.290 [Constable] The thing I remember most 201 00:09:51.375 --> 00:09:53.290 was how lonely it was. 202 00:09:54.375 --> 00:09:57.332 Kabul was like a ghost city. 203 00:09:57.417 --> 00:10:00.417 You could stand in a major intersection, 204 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:04.332 which now has endless clogged traffic jams, 205 00:10:04.417 --> 00:10:07.667 and see no one and hear nothing but bicycle spokes 206 00:10:07.750 --> 00:10:09.875 and horse carriage bells. 207 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:11.250 It was very haunting. 208 00:10:11.332 --> 00:10:14.542 [man] yelling in native language 209 00:10:14.625 --> 00:10:16.750 [Constable] There was rape. There was robbery. 210 00:10:16.875 --> 00:10:21.041 Buildings were rocketed and shot all the time. 211 00:10:21.166 --> 00:10:23.291 People were terrified. 212 00:10:24.417 --> 00:10:26.542 [Semple] Out of the fight, street by street in Kabul, 213 00:10:26.625 --> 00:10:31.417 replicated in the sort of districts of the country, 214 00:10:31.542 --> 00:10:32.542 we got the Taliban movement. 215 00:10:35.082 --> 00:10:38.040 I can recall the precise moment 216 00:10:38.125 --> 00:10:41.207 in which I learnt of the Taliban movement. 217 00:10:41.290 --> 00:10:44.542 I was at a garden party, and a posh Englishman 218 00:10:44.582 --> 00:10:48.959 told me about this supposedly Islamic student movement 219 00:10:49.040 --> 00:10:52.542 which had just taken over a swath of territory in Kandahar 220 00:10:52.625 --> 00:10:57.040 and was chasing after these money-grubbing, gun-wielding, 221 00:10:57.125 --> 00:11:00.250 you know, commanders left over from the mujahideen, 222 00:11:00.332 --> 00:11:02.750 hanging them up from trees and posts 223 00:11:02.833 --> 00:11:06.332 and stuffing money in their mouths, 224 00:11:06.417 --> 00:11:07.582 and he told me, 225 00:11:07.667 --> 00:11:09.041 "Michael, this looks like the next big thing," 226 00:11:09.125 --> 00:11:11.332 um, and he was right. 227 00:11:11.417 --> 00:11:14.417 [Coll] The Taliban advertised themselves 228 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:17.417 as a kind of purifying force, a cleansing force 229 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.708 that would reunify Afghanistan under the banner of Islam. 230 00:11:22.792 --> 00:11:26.708 [Schroen] That was very attractive to the Pakistanis. 231 00:11:26.792 --> 00:11:28.166 They didn't want Afghanistan to be a threat, 232 00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:30.958 and so the Pakistani government 233 00:11:31.041 --> 00:11:33.709 threw their weight militarily 234 00:11:33.792 --> 00:11:37.082 and financially behind the Taliban, 235 00:11:37.165 --> 00:11:39.040 and by early 1996, 236 00:11:39.125 --> 00:11:41.875 they controlled three-fourths of Afghanistan. 237 00:11:42.917 --> 00:11:45.082 [Coll] They often conquered without firing a shot. 238 00:11:45.165 --> 00:11:46.082 They would just ride into a town 239 00:11:46.165 --> 00:11:47.667 holding Korans in the air 240 00:11:47.750 --> 00:11:53.290 or waving the flags of, uh, their movement or of Islam, 241 00:11:53.375 --> 00:11:57.165 and whole garrisons would just, uh, change sides. 242 00:11:57.250 --> 00:11:59.792 [Constable] The gratitude began to fade 243 00:11:59.875 --> 00:12:02.166 and be replaced with something else 244 00:12:02.250 --> 00:12:05.500 when it became clear that the Taliban wanted 245 00:12:05.582 --> 00:12:09.833 to enforce an extremely restrictive version of Islam. 246 00:12:11.958 --> 00:12:14.291 I went to Afghanistan as a journalist, 247 00:12:14.375 --> 00:12:16.457 I think, five or six times, 248 00:12:16.542 --> 00:12:19.542 and that meant that you had to get a visa 249 00:12:19.625 --> 00:12:21.958 from the Taliban government, 250 00:12:22.041 --> 00:12:24.041 which meant that you were there under very limited 251 00:12:24.125 --> 00:12:27.917 and very strict conditions, and there were many conditions. 252 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.417 Number one, you had to completely cover yourself 253 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:31.750 except your face. 254 00:12:31.833 --> 00:12:34.040 Number two, you couldn't meet with women. 255 00:12:34.125 --> 00:12:36.207 Number three, you couldn't take pictures of anything. 256 00:12:36.290 --> 00:12:38.542 I had a camera, a small camera, 257 00:12:38.625 --> 00:12:40.709 hidden under my voluminous scarf, 258 00:12:40.792 --> 00:12:43.582 and we stopped at a bakery to buy some bread, 259 00:12:43.667 --> 00:12:46.250 and I saw this boy's face through the window, 260 00:12:46.332 --> 00:12:49.332 and I just ducked into the bakery, 261 00:12:49.417 --> 00:12:50.667 and I got out my camera, 262 00:12:50.750 --> 00:12:53.332 and I just took this one single picture of him, 263 00:12:53.417 --> 00:12:54.500 and then I left. 264 00:12:54.582 --> 00:12:59.457 ♪♪♪ 265 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:07.625 There was no music, no-no TV, no phone system to speak of. 266 00:13:07.708 --> 00:13:10.250 Women were locked inside their houses. 267 00:13:10.332 --> 00:13:13.542 Girls were not educated. The economy totally collapsed. 268 00:13:13.625 --> 00:13:17.875 ♪♪♪ 269 00:13:17.958 --> 00:13:21.625 The deal was, you get the right to life, 270 00:13:21.708 --> 00:13:25.417 and you give up pretty much all other rights. 271 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:29.667 ♪♪♪ 272 00:13:35.250 --> 00:13:38.250 [Rahmani] This is the pictures of all the ambassadors 273 00:13:38.332 --> 00:13:40.375 that served here. 274 00:13:40.457 --> 00:13:43.207 As you can see, there are no women. 275 00:13:43.290 --> 00:13:45.250 So here, I would come as a shock factor, 276 00:13:45.332 --> 00:13:47.500 but that's where the change happens. 277 00:13:57.582 --> 00:13:58.959 Starting '92, 278 00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:02.332 I found the country in the worst possible shape. 279 00:14:02.417 --> 00:14:07.417 There was this, uh, ambience 280 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:09.917 of darkness and fear 281 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.582 and gloom. 282 00:14:12.667 --> 00:14:15.582 ♪♪♪ 283 00:14:15.667 --> 00:14:17.500 We have to wear burkas. 284 00:14:17.582 --> 00:14:20.625 We never wore burkas in my entire life. 285 00:14:20.708 --> 00:14:23.417 I was a young teenager, and I thought, "Why? 286 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:26.207 Why should I be like this?" 287 00:14:26.291 --> 00:14:29.125 I told my family that I am going to sew 288 00:14:29.207 --> 00:14:32.000 the two big shawls that we had 289 00:14:32.082 --> 00:14:34.375 so that I will have a very big sheet, 290 00:14:34.457 --> 00:14:35.457 and I would fully cover myself, 291 00:14:35.542 --> 00:14:38.290 but I am not gonna wear a burka. 292 00:14:38.375 --> 00:14:43.000 It symbolized so much oppression to me. 293 00:14:43.082 --> 00:14:47.582 ♪♪♪ 294 00:14:50.625 --> 00:14:52.417 In 2001, 295 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:57.000 there were 900,000 students in school, 296 00:14:57.082 --> 00:14:59.040 and the number of girls? 297 00:14:59.125 --> 00:15:00.625 Zero. 298 00:15:03.125 --> 00:15:06.750 We did not want our generations to be illiterate. 299 00:15:06.833 --> 00:15:10.332 So, if somebody knew math, 300 00:15:10.417 --> 00:15:13.291 they would quietly tell 301 00:15:13.375 --> 00:15:15.917 the neighborhood, uh, boys and girls 302 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.332 that, "We will teach you math," 303 00:15:19.417 --> 00:15:21.750 but that always had to be hidden. 304 00:15:23.417 --> 00:15:26.667 [Schroen] We said, "When you guys are victorious 305 00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:28.667 and the Soviets are gone, we're finished. 306 00:15:28.750 --> 00:15:30.667 We turn the country over to you. 307 00:15:30.750 --> 00:15:31.125 We're not here forever." 308 00:15:31.207 --> 00:15:34.834 ♪♪♪ 309 00:15:34.917 --> 00:15:37.667 When that happened, we basically walked away. 310 00:15:37.750 --> 00:15:42.834 ♪♪♪ 311 00:15:43.750 --> 00:15:46.082 When the Taliban took over, most people said, 312 00:15:46.165 --> 00:15:47.375 "There's nothing we can do about it, 313 00:15:47.457 --> 00:15:48.792 so we're not gonna do anything. 314 00:15:48.875 --> 00:15:51.125 We're not even gonna worry about it." 315 00:15:51.207 --> 00:15:54.125 Our interest really was when bin Laden went there, 316 00:15:54.207 --> 00:15:57.667 rather than anything that's gonna change Afghanistan. 317 00:15:57.750 --> 00:16:02.582 ♪♪♪ 318 00:16:02.667 --> 00:16:05.500 [Saleh] I come from a rural family. 319 00:16:05.582 --> 00:16:07.125 Uh, we were one of the destitute families, 320 00:16:07.207 --> 00:16:10.041 uh, due to war, 321 00:16:10.125 --> 00:16:14.375 and, uh, when I became able enough, 322 00:16:14.457 --> 00:16:16.500 I went back to the valley, 323 00:16:16.582 --> 00:16:19.375 and I joined, uh, the forces fighting the regime. 324 00:16:19.457 --> 00:16:22.082 [woman] At the age of 19, 325 00:16:22.166 --> 00:16:23.542 he was already a seasoned war veteran 326 00:16:23.625 --> 00:16:26.792 in charge of rebuilding villages 327 00:16:26.875 --> 00:16:27.625 bombed in the fighting. 328 00:16:27.708 --> 00:16:30.166 [Saleh] Couple of years later, 329 00:16:30.250 --> 00:16:33.000 I was given intelligence assignment. 330 00:16:33.082 --> 00:16:36.375 So, since '97, I was assigned 331 00:16:36.457 --> 00:16:38.582 to handle the overall relationship 332 00:16:38.667 --> 00:16:39.834 with the, uh--with the CIA. 333 00:16:42.625 --> 00:16:45.375 The strategic aspect of the relationship 334 00:16:45.457 --> 00:16:47.959 was telling them what is terrorism, 335 00:16:48.040 --> 00:16:52.250 what is bin Laden, what is al-Qaeda, 336 00:16:52.332 --> 00:16:56.125 and what type of threat does it pose 337 00:16:56.207 --> 00:16:59.417 to U.S. interest in the wider region 338 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:02.082 and how we should, uh, cope with it. 339 00:17:02.166 --> 00:17:03.417 Of course, they were not very receptive 340 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:06.625 of our strategic analysis. 341 00:17:06.709 --> 00:17:10.666 They were showing very little interest 342 00:17:10.750 --> 00:17:13.083 to the hosts of al-Qaeda. 343 00:17:13.165 --> 00:17:16.375 They were showing very, very little interest 344 00:17:16.458 --> 00:17:18.750 to the plight of the Afghan people, 345 00:17:18.834 --> 00:17:23.333 who were suffering under that terrorist regime. 346 00:17:23.416 --> 00:17:25.791 ♪♪♪ 347 00:17:25.875 --> 00:17:26.500 [Bergen] One thing Afghans don't need a lot of help with 348 00:17:26.583 --> 00:17:29.709 is fighting, uh, and, uh-- 349 00:17:29.791 --> 00:17:31.583 but a number of Arabs, like Osama bin Laden, came, 350 00:17:31.666 --> 00:17:33.791 and they were very idealistic. 351 00:17:33.875 --> 00:17:35.250 They weren't very large in number. 352 00:17:35.333 --> 00:17:36.791 They weren't very military effective. 353 00:17:36.875 --> 00:17:39.083 They didn't have any fighting experience. 354 00:17:39.165 --> 00:17:40.125 But they got together, 355 00:17:40.208 --> 00:17:43.083 and he founded al-Qaeda over the course 356 00:17:43.165 --> 00:17:45.458 of a couple of weekends in Pakistan 357 00:17:45.541 --> 00:17:47.709 in August of 1988. 358 00:17:47.791 --> 00:17:51.791 It was a very secretive organization. 359 00:17:51.875 --> 00:17:54.416 [Coll] They really didn't have very many places to go, 360 00:17:54.500 --> 00:17:57.458 and Afghanistan was one place where bin Laden thought 361 00:17:57.541 --> 00:18:01.709 he could establish al-Qaeda's headquarters. 362 00:18:02.750 --> 00:18:05.500 [Bergen] In '96, I read a State Department report 363 00:18:05.583 --> 00:18:06.791 about bin Laden 364 00:18:06.875 --> 00:18:09.000 saying he's financing Islamic extremism. 365 00:18:09.083 --> 00:18:11.875 He's recruited all of these Arabs from around the world, 366 00:18:11.959 --> 00:18:13.500 and he could be a problem. 367 00:18:13.583 --> 00:18:14.834 So I went to my bosses at CNN. 368 00:18:14.916 --> 00:18:17.125 I said, "Let's try and interview this guy." 369 00:18:17.208 --> 00:18:18.500 You know, this is, like, the hostage video. 370 00:18:18.583 --> 00:18:22.458 Yeah. The hostage video. 371 00:18:22.541 --> 00:18:25.165 ♪♪♪ 372 00:18:25.250 --> 00:18:27.375 There we are. We look almost human. 373 00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:34.458 speaking native language 374 00:18:42.583 --> 00:18:43.875 No one really paid any attention until 1998, 375 00:18:43.959 --> 00:18:47.333 when al-Qaeda blew up two American embassies 376 00:18:47.416 --> 00:18:49.290 within nine minutes of each other. 377 00:18:49.375 --> 00:18:52.541 Two bombs exploded almost simultaneously today 378 00:18:52.625 --> 00:18:55.165 at the U.S. embassies in the East Africa nations 379 00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:56.750 of Kenya and Tanzania. 380 00:18:56.834 --> 00:18:57.875 [woman] U.S. officials say the bombings 381 00:18:57.959 --> 00:19:01.541 have all the fingerprints of Middle East terror. 382 00:19:01.625 --> 00:19:02.959 [Bergen] That is when it became clear 383 00:19:03.040 --> 00:19:04.208 that bin Laden and al-Qaeda 384 00:19:04.290 --> 00:19:05.500 was really a big deal and could-- 385 00:19:05.583 --> 00:19:08.250 not only were spouting all this anti-American rhetoric 386 00:19:08.333 --> 00:19:12.250 but trying to kill, you know, large numbers of Americans. 387 00:19:12.333 --> 00:19:14.500 [Bill Clinton] There is convincing information 388 00:19:14.583 --> 00:19:16.541 from our intelligence community 389 00:19:16.625 --> 00:19:17.625 that the bin Laden terrorist network 390 00:19:17.709 --> 00:19:21.959 was responsible for these bombings. 391 00:19:22.040 --> 00:19:23.834 [Grenier] Bin Laden was constantly moving, 392 00:19:23.916 --> 00:19:25.791 and we were using Afghan tribal networks 393 00:19:25.875 --> 00:19:28.916 to report on his travels and his whereabouts. 394 00:19:30.916 --> 00:19:32.500 Our tribal contacts came to us, 395 00:19:32.583 --> 00:19:34.791 and they said, "Look, he's in this location now. 396 00:19:34.875 --> 00:19:36.416 When he leaves, he's gonna have to go through 397 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:37.750 this particular crossroads," 398 00:19:37.834 --> 00:19:41.541 and so what they proposed was to bury 399 00:19:41.625 --> 00:19:44.750 a huge cache of explosives underneath those crossroads 400 00:19:44.834 --> 00:19:48.000 so that when his convoy came through, 401 00:19:48.083 --> 00:19:49.916 they could simply blow it up. 402 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.375 And we said, "Absolutely not." 403 00:19:53.458 --> 00:19:57.333 We were risking jail if we didn't tell them that, 404 00:19:57.416 --> 00:20:01.000 because the CIA had a so-called lethal finding 405 00:20:01.083 --> 00:20:03.416 that had been signed by President Clinton 406 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:06.040 which said that we could engage in 407 00:20:06.125 --> 00:20:07.709 "lethal activity" against bin Laden, 408 00:20:07.791 --> 00:20:13.458 but the purpose of our attack on bin Laden 409 00:20:13.541 --> 00:20:15.916 couldn't be to kill him. 410 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:19.458 We were being asked to remove this threat 411 00:20:19.541 --> 00:20:20.959 to the United States 412 00:20:21.040 --> 00:20:26.000 essentially with one hand tied behind our backs. 413 00:20:28.458 --> 00:20:30.791 [Martin] I was a fairly junior officer, 414 00:20:30.875 --> 00:20:33.458 and as al-Qaeda grew into a worldwide presence, 415 00:20:33.541 --> 00:20:35.333 we were very sensitive 416 00:20:35.416 --> 00:20:38.458 and very aware of this growing phenomenon. 417 00:20:40.040 --> 00:20:42.458 It's not like they were playing. 418 00:20:42.541 --> 00:20:45.125 The threat was real. 419 00:20:46.709 --> 00:20:49.083 And if President Clinton had taken action 420 00:20:49.165 --> 00:20:50.500 and killed Osama bin Laden, 421 00:20:50.583 --> 00:20:53.834 there wouldn't have been a 9/11. 422 00:20:53.916 --> 00:20:54.916 If there wouldn't have been a 9/11, 423 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:56.208 there wouldn't have been Afghanistan. 424 00:20:56.290 --> 00:20:57.083 If there wouldn't have been Afghanistan, 425 00:20:57.165 --> 00:20:59.834 there probably wouldn't have been Iraq. 426 00:20:59.916 --> 00:21:02.333 What would the world be like? 427 00:21:02.416 --> 00:21:07.583 ♪♪♪ 428 00:21:11.083 --> 00:21:14.040 [Maddox] It still gets to me, living in our nation's capital 429 00:21:14.125 --> 00:21:16.791 and every building has significance... 430 00:21:19.208 --> 00:21:22.125 ...especially driving by here. 431 00:21:23.458 --> 00:21:26.541 Something I'll never forget, shaped my whole life. 432 00:21:26.625 --> 00:21:31.666 ♪♪♪ 433 00:21:31.750 --> 00:21:34.625 I had finished my first week at Georgetown. 434 00:21:34.709 --> 00:21:36.875 They have a National Security Studies program there. 435 00:21:36.959 --> 00:21:40.290 I was driving around in the area, 436 00:21:40.375 --> 00:21:43.333 getting used to it after that first week, 437 00:21:43.416 --> 00:21:45.583 and then a bunch of cars stopped in front of me, 438 00:21:45.666 --> 00:21:49.541 and people got out and started screaming and pointing. 439 00:21:49.625 --> 00:21:51.875 The plane had just hit the Pentagon. 440 00:21:51.959 --> 00:21:56.709 ♪♪♪ 441 00:21:56.791 --> 00:21:58.541 When I came to D.C., I actually didn't think 442 00:21:58.625 --> 00:22:01.458 I would stay, 443 00:22:01.541 --> 00:22:03.750 but counterterrorism developed into an entire field 444 00:22:03.834 --> 00:22:07.875 after that day, and I got swept up in it. 445 00:22:07.959 --> 00:22:11.333 ♪♪♪ 446 00:22:11.416 --> 00:22:13.916 [Coll] On 9/11, it was clear who the enemy was, 447 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.750 and the Bush administration went straight into Afghanistan, 448 00:22:17.834 --> 00:22:19.250 where al-Qaeda was, 449 00:22:19.333 --> 00:22:22.458 where bin Laden was, and tried to attack them, 450 00:22:22.541 --> 00:22:24.916 both for the purpose of responding to 9/11 451 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:28.541 but also to try to disrupt any planning 452 00:22:28.625 --> 00:22:29.583 that al-Qaeda might have under way 453 00:22:29.666 --> 00:22:31.000 for a follow-on attack. 454 00:22:31.083 --> 00:22:33.750 [man] The Taliban have now made it clear 455 00:22:33.834 --> 00:22:36.458 that they will not bow to American pressure. 456 00:22:36.541 --> 00:22:39.916 At a chaotic press conference at their embassy in Islamabad, 457 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.208 they threatened holy war if attacked 458 00:22:42.290 --> 00:22:43.625 and rejected President Bush's demand 459 00:22:43.709 --> 00:22:46.666 to surrender Osama bin Laden. 460 00:22:46.750 --> 00:22:48.959 Are you willing to hand Osama bin Laden 461 00:22:49.040 --> 00:22:50.416 to the United States or not? 462 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:51.709 No, no, no, no. 463 00:22:53.458 --> 00:22:54.666 [Mohseni] Well, for the Taliban, 464 00:22:54.750 --> 00:22:56.290 there was an opportunity for them to distance, 465 00:22:56.375 --> 00:22:59.916 uh, the movement from these groups and individuals, 466 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:02.625 and we were hoping they wouldn't, 467 00:23:02.709 --> 00:23:05.125 because, uh, for us, it was an opportunity 468 00:23:05.208 --> 00:23:09.165 to actually rid Afghanistan of the Taliban. 469 00:23:09.250 --> 00:23:13.000 And as we expected, they stuck to their guns, 470 00:23:13.083 --> 00:23:18.208 and they did not in any way compromise, 471 00:23:18.290 --> 00:23:20.959 and that was the beginning of the end for them, 472 00:23:21.040 --> 00:23:22.500 at least in that period. 473 00:23:24.165 --> 00:23:26.916 [Schroen] When 9/11 happened, they called me in. 474 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:28.959 Basically, they said, "Will you take the first team in? 475 00:23:29.040 --> 00:23:31.290 We got to--we want to put a team together." 476 00:23:31.375 --> 00:23:32.458 I said, "Oh, God, 477 00:23:32.541 --> 00:23:34.416 everybody in the United States wants to do this, 478 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:36.375 and they're giving me the job, 479 00:23:36.458 --> 00:23:38.709 be the first people to hit back at bin Laden?" 480 00:23:38.791 --> 00:23:40.750 I said, "Yeah, better believe it." 481 00:23:41.959 --> 00:23:44.333 [Bernsten] When I entered, you know, I had my orders. 482 00:23:44.416 --> 00:23:46.250 I had an operational directive to execute on the ground. 483 00:23:46.333 --> 00:23:51.333 Number one, destroy the Taliban because they're in the way. 484 00:23:51.416 --> 00:23:53.959 We have to get at al-Qaeda. 485 00:23:54.040 --> 00:23:57.375 Number two, kill every member of al-Qaeda 486 00:23:57.458 --> 00:24:00.375 that you can find on the battlefield. 487 00:24:00.458 --> 00:24:04.290 Number three, find and kill bin Laden. 488 00:24:04.375 --> 00:24:09.250 ♪♪♪ 489 00:24:11.125 --> 00:24:12.666 [Schroen] Well, when we left, 490 00:24:12.750 --> 00:24:14.165 chief of Counterterrorism Center said-- 491 00:24:14.250 --> 00:24:16.834 We met him on the morning we were getting ready to leave, 492 00:24:16.916 --> 00:24:19.875 and he said, "I'm gonna give you your orders now. 493 00:24:19.959 --> 00:24:21.875 Once the Northern Alliance is ready 494 00:24:21.959 --> 00:24:24.959 and they go into Kabul, we want you and your team 495 00:24:25.040 --> 00:24:26.290 to go in with them 496 00:24:26.375 --> 00:24:28.834 and capture bin Laden and his lieutenants. 497 00:24:30.416 --> 00:24:33.083 Then what I want you to do is, when you capture those guys, 498 00:24:33.165 --> 00:24:35.791 I want you to cut their heads off, 499 00:24:35.875 --> 00:24:38.875 and the lieutenants, I want you to put their heads on pikes 500 00:24:38.959 --> 00:24:40.083 and display them and photograph them, 501 00:24:40.165 --> 00:24:43.375 and bin Laden, I want you to take his head 502 00:24:43.458 --> 00:24:46.375 and put it on dry ice in a box and ship it back, 503 00:24:46.458 --> 00:24:48.875 so I'm gonna take it to the president to see." 504 00:24:48.959 --> 00:24:50.709 So I look at the deputy. 505 00:24:50.791 --> 00:24:53.916 He looks at me, and I-I'm saying, 506 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.458 "Is this guy serious?" 507 00:24:56.541 --> 00:25:01.541 I said, "Okay, maybe we could cut off their heads. 508 00:25:01.625 --> 00:25:02.666 Maybe. I don't know." 509 00:25:02.750 --> 00:25:04.541 I said, "I doubt it, but maybe we could." 510 00:25:04.625 --> 00:25:08.541 I said, "And we can certainly make pikes out in the field. 511 00:25:08.625 --> 00:25:09.916 You know, that's not hard." 512 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.583 I said, "But where am I gonna find dry ice 513 00:25:11.666 --> 00:25:12.791 in Afghanistan?" 514 00:25:12.875 --> 00:25:17.750 ♪♪♪ 515 00:25:17.834 --> 00:25:18.959 [Coll] Vice President Cheney 516 00:25:19.040 --> 00:25:21.750 said fairly soon after the attacks, 517 00:25:21.834 --> 00:25:23.333 "We're gonna go over to the dark side." 518 00:25:23.416 --> 00:25:25.416 And, historically, when presidents have wanted 519 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:29.750 to go over to the dark side, they've asked the CIA to do it. 520 00:25:31.541 --> 00:25:32.709 [Cheney] A lot of what needs to be done here 521 00:25:32.791 --> 00:25:36.583 will have to be done quietly without any discussion, 522 00:25:36.666 --> 00:25:38.416 using sources and methods, uh, 523 00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:40.208 that are available to our intelligence agencies. 524 00:25:51.583 --> 00:25:54.416 [Gossman] The first trip I took was in 1994, 525 00:25:54.500 --> 00:25:57.000 Human Rights Watch. 526 00:25:57.083 --> 00:25:58.500 The war had continued. 527 00:25:58.583 --> 00:26:00.165 The Soviets had gone, but the war was continuing, 528 00:26:00.250 --> 00:26:02.875 which was sort of-- came to be the story 529 00:26:02.959 --> 00:26:04.290 over the many years I went to Afghanistan. 530 00:26:04.375 --> 00:26:07.583 Despite whatever political changes happened, 531 00:26:07.625 --> 00:26:10.250 the war almost had a life of its own and continued. 532 00:26:14.666 --> 00:26:19.500 The first boots on the ground after 9/11 were the CIA, 533 00:26:19.583 --> 00:26:22.750 and very quickly, they began working with 534 00:26:22.834 --> 00:26:25.875 and bolstering militia groups to work with, 535 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.040 and those groups were designed, 536 00:26:29.165 --> 00:26:30.750 recruited, and trained 537 00:26:30.834 --> 00:26:35.625 to go after leading al-Qaeda or Taliban figures. 538 00:26:37.541 --> 00:26:41.583 [Coll] The CIA was transformed as an institution by 9/11. 539 00:26:42.375 --> 00:26:45.791 Out of that came the, uh, structure 540 00:26:45.875 --> 00:26:47.583 that is now notorious... 541 00:26:47.666 --> 00:26:52.208 the black sites, the enhanced interrogation techniques, 542 00:26:52.290 --> 00:26:55.750 the waterboarding, and the rest. 543 00:26:55.834 --> 00:26:58.709 When I joined the agency in the 1980s, 544 00:26:58.791 --> 00:27:02.250 only the bad guys used those techniques on us. 545 00:27:02.333 --> 00:27:03.666 Unlike the FBI, 546 00:27:03.750 --> 00:27:08.625 the agency really did not have any skill in interrogation, 547 00:27:08.709 --> 00:27:11.500 especially hostile interrogation. 548 00:27:11.583 --> 00:27:12.333 That was something new. 549 00:27:14.709 --> 00:27:16.040 [Martin] I can honestly say 550 00:27:16.125 --> 00:27:18.000 I know what attacks were stopped. 551 00:27:18.083 --> 00:27:20.916 I know how hard the folks worked, 552 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:22.750 and I also know they weren't emotional. 553 00:27:22.834 --> 00:27:25.666 People weren't having fun waterboarding people. 554 00:27:25.750 --> 00:27:27.040 [Maddox] I would never say 555 00:27:27.125 --> 00:27:29.625 that I am in support of torture 556 00:27:29.709 --> 00:27:32.165 or anything in that regard, 557 00:27:32.250 --> 00:27:36.040 but there was definitely a push technically 558 00:27:36.125 --> 00:27:37.500 and in human intelligence 559 00:27:37.583 --> 00:27:40.250 to get as much information as possible, 560 00:27:40.333 --> 00:27:42.416 and you have to put yourself back 561 00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:45.333 in that particular time in history. 562 00:27:51.250 --> 00:27:51.959 When I think about... 563 00:27:52.040 --> 00:27:54.290 when I think about the kids 564 00:27:54.375 --> 00:27:56.208 and the-and the-and the- and the women and children 565 00:27:56.290 --> 00:27:59.040 and good Americans who are still alive 566 00:27:59.125 --> 00:28:00.000 because of what we did, you know what I say? 567 00:28:00.083 --> 00:28:03.375 I say, "Fuck history. 568 00:28:03.458 --> 00:28:04.458 Fuck history." 569 00:28:04.541 --> 00:28:09.834 As far as that program, I slept good at night. 570 00:28:09.916 --> 00:28:11.040 [Gossman] I did a briefing on it 571 00:28:11.125 --> 00:28:12.709 for all the ambassadors in Kabul, 572 00:28:12.791 --> 00:28:15.250 and I had said 573 00:28:15.333 --> 00:28:17.500 that the torture that had been described 574 00:28:17.583 --> 00:28:20.750 by people who had investigated the secret detentions, 575 00:28:20.834 --> 00:28:23.875 the salt pit, the case of people being left out, 576 00:28:23.959 --> 00:28:26.208 dying of hypothermia, and the rest of it, 577 00:28:26.290 --> 00:28:29.709 these kinds of torture and secret detentions 578 00:28:29.791 --> 00:28:31.583 had been known in the Soviet times. 579 00:28:31.666 --> 00:28:35.083 It was shocking for them to be coming up again 580 00:28:35.165 --> 00:28:36.709 in post-2001 Afghanistan. 581 00:28:37.625 --> 00:28:40.666 The Americans didn't come to the briefing, 582 00:28:40.750 --> 00:28:42.666 but they came immediately afterwards 583 00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:44.250 and wanted to see me. 584 00:28:44.333 --> 00:28:45.083 When I was approached by one of them, 585 00:28:45.165 --> 00:28:50.500 he was so angry, he was shaking. 586 00:28:50.583 --> 00:28:54.750 The very fact I dared compare those abuses 587 00:28:54.834 --> 00:28:56.000 to what had happened with the Soviets 588 00:28:56.083 --> 00:28:58.959 had infuriated him, 589 00:28:59.040 --> 00:29:01.583 and I'm just like-- that's what infuriated him, 590 00:29:01.666 --> 00:29:03.458 not the fact that they happened 591 00:29:03.541 --> 00:29:06.333 but that I had made a comparison with the Soviets. 592 00:29:07.333 --> 00:29:10.916 The way the-that war has been fought, 593 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:12.916 the counterterrorism war, 594 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:16.000 it's largely shaped where we are today. 595 00:29:16.083 --> 00:29:19.290 It was always the CIA's war. 596 00:29:19.375 --> 00:29:21.834 It was in the '80s, the '90s, and it was after 2001. 597 00:29:21.916 --> 00:29:27.666 ♪♪♪ 598 00:29:27.750 --> 00:29:29.000 [Bernsten] We enter Kabul. It's 12 November. 599 00:29:29.083 --> 00:29:31.625 I know bin Laden's fled. 600 00:29:31.709 --> 00:29:33.500 Watch bin Laden move south, 601 00:29:33.583 --> 00:29:35.333 which was down to Tora Bora, 602 00:29:35.416 --> 00:29:37.208 and then pursued right away. 603 00:29:38.208 --> 00:29:41.083 Tora Bora is a very remote mountainous part of Afghanistan 604 00:29:41.165 --> 00:29:42.791 on the border with Pakistan. 605 00:29:42.875 --> 00:29:43.959 It's an area that he knew very well. 606 00:29:44.040 --> 00:29:46.709 He'd been going through that area during the '80s, 607 00:29:46.791 --> 00:29:48.040 fighting the Soviets. 608 00:29:48.125 --> 00:29:49.458 It's an area-- he liked being there. 609 00:29:49.541 --> 00:29:52.333 He, uh--he had, like, a vacation home there, 610 00:29:52.416 --> 00:29:55.583 which wouldn't be my first choice of vacation spot. 611 00:29:55.666 --> 00:29:56.875 [Bernsten] We knew that bin Laden 612 00:29:56.959 --> 00:29:58.750 was moving with a group of about 1,000 people. 613 00:29:58.834 --> 00:30:00.583 Right away they said, "Okay, we're gonna go pursue him." 614 00:30:00.666 --> 00:30:03.834 I said, "Do it. Send them in." We go up. 615 00:30:03.916 --> 00:30:06.834 They get up on top of a promontory mountain piece, 616 00:30:06.916 --> 00:30:08.165 and then down below, 617 00:30:08.250 --> 00:30:09.125 there's bin Laden and his huge element. 618 00:30:09.208 --> 00:30:10.709 Our team had a SOFLAM, 619 00:30:10.791 --> 00:30:14.791 Special Operations Forces Laser Acquisition Mechanism, 620 00:30:14.875 --> 00:30:16.208 which allowed them to target 621 00:30:16.290 --> 00:30:19.000 and do 56 hours of air strikes 622 00:30:19.083 --> 00:30:22.250 and just hammer them. 623 00:30:23.750 --> 00:30:26.500 We bombed the bejesus out of the place. 624 00:30:26.583 --> 00:30:27.290 [Bernsten] We destroyed most of their gear, 625 00:30:27.375 --> 00:30:29.458 their radios, their vehicles. 626 00:30:29.541 --> 00:30:31.666 They had tanks. They had all sorts of stuff. 627 00:30:31.750 --> 00:30:33.875 They were trying to get up into position. 628 00:30:33.959 --> 00:30:36.083 We wrecked it all on the ground before they could get up there 629 00:30:36.165 --> 00:30:37.666 and killed a bunch of them. 630 00:30:37.750 --> 00:30:40.083 Bin Laden wrote his will at Tora Bora. 631 00:30:40.165 --> 00:30:42.625 He thought he was gonna die. 632 00:30:42.709 --> 00:30:44.541 He thought this was the end. 633 00:30:44.625 --> 00:30:49.040 ♪♪♪ 634 00:30:49.125 --> 00:30:50.709 But it wasn't. 635 00:30:50.791 --> 00:30:53.666 ♪♪♪ 636 00:30:53.750 --> 00:30:55.709 [Bernsten] So, after our guys go up, do the bombing, 637 00:30:55.791 --> 00:30:58.333 the initial bombing, that first four guys come out, 638 00:30:58.416 --> 00:31:00.290 and one of those guys had been a former Delta Force guy, 639 00:31:00.375 --> 00:31:03.959 have him brought right back. 640 00:31:04.040 --> 00:31:05.333 He's the one that says to me, "Gary, 641 00:31:05.416 --> 00:31:08.208 we are going to need U.S. forces." 642 00:31:08.290 --> 00:31:11.208 ♪♪♪ 643 00:31:11.290 --> 00:31:14.541 [Bergen] The CIA requested 800 Rangers, 644 00:31:14.625 --> 00:31:16.916 but that request was turned down by the U.S. Army. 645 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.290 ♪♪♪ 646 00:31:19.375 --> 00:31:22.083 What Gary Brunson was arguing for, I think, 647 00:31:22.165 --> 00:31:24.916 were very large numbers of troops, uh, 648 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:26.250 to go into the valleys, 649 00:31:26.333 --> 00:31:28.458 and, frankly, I-I thought that much of what he was advocating 650 00:31:28.541 --> 00:31:31.500 at the time was not gonna be effective. 651 00:31:31.583 --> 00:31:34.125 Gary probably had a little bit more enthusiasm than judgment. 652 00:31:34.208 --> 00:31:36.000 ♪♪♪ 653 00:31:36.083 --> 00:31:39.583 That's bullshit. 654 00:31:39.666 --> 00:31:41.750 They weren't accustomed to having to make decisions 655 00:31:41.834 --> 00:31:44.165 as rapidly as I was forcing 656 00:31:44.250 --> 00:31:46.750 because I knew the enemy was going to escape. 657 00:31:46.834 --> 00:31:48.250 I didn't have a choice. 658 00:31:48.333 --> 00:31:52.416 ♪♪♪ 659 00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:54.916 On the 16th of December, 660 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.000 bin Laden and his-his-his guys left the mountains. 661 00:31:59.083 --> 00:32:02.000 ♪♪♪ 662 00:32:02.083 --> 00:32:04.709 They just walked across into Pakistan. 663 00:32:04.791 --> 00:32:06.709 They got on motorcycles and just headed out, 664 00:32:06.791 --> 00:32:11.290 and it took us all those years later before we found him. 665 00:32:11.375 --> 00:32:15.541 ♪♪♪ 666 00:32:21.458 --> 00:32:25.040 We were building the country. 667 00:32:25.125 --> 00:32:27.666 We were training the Afghan military. 668 00:32:27.750 --> 00:32:29.791 We were paying for building of facilities 669 00:32:29.875 --> 00:32:31.500 with the U.S. military. 670 00:32:31.583 --> 00:32:33.040 We had turned it over to State Department and say, 671 00:32:33.125 --> 00:32:34.834 "Okay, now you build a new nation. 672 00:32:34.916 --> 00:32:37.791 You teach them democracy, how do they handle elections. 673 00:32:37.875 --> 00:32:40.165 Do all that stuff." 674 00:32:40.250 --> 00:32:41.709 [Rahmani] As things progressed, 675 00:32:41.791 --> 00:32:44.208 it was a dream come true, 676 00:32:44.290 --> 00:32:45.500 and it was hard to believe 677 00:32:45.583 --> 00:32:49.000 that we had got a second chance to live. 678 00:32:49.083 --> 00:32:51.834 ♪♪♪ 679 00:32:51.916 --> 00:32:55.541 That was when I really explored the country. 680 00:32:55.625 --> 00:32:57.333 That was when I started 681 00:32:57.416 --> 00:33:00.333 not only to travel to every corner of Kabul 682 00:33:00.416 --> 00:33:03.791 but also to over 15 provinces. 683 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:06.709 It was a utopia. 684 00:33:09.500 --> 00:33:11.583 [Barker] My first trip over to Afghanistan 685 00:33:11.666 --> 00:33:14.208 was in January of 2002. 686 00:33:15.416 --> 00:33:17.625 There's a reason that most of the, like, correspondents 687 00:33:17.709 --> 00:33:21.834 that came up during that time were women. 688 00:33:21.916 --> 00:33:22.709 Men had a very hard time, 689 00:33:22.791 --> 00:33:25.125 particularly in the early days, 690 00:33:25.208 --> 00:33:26.375 doing stories about women, 691 00:33:26.458 --> 00:33:28.375 and women were a fascinating story 692 00:33:28.458 --> 00:33:31.500 and an important story in Afghanistan. 693 00:33:33.250 --> 00:33:35.500 [Waldman] My first stories in Afghanistan 694 00:33:35.583 --> 00:33:36.416 were about what life had been like 695 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:39.125 for the women under the Taliban 696 00:33:39.208 --> 00:33:41.040 because they were finally able to speak freely. 697 00:33:41.125 --> 00:33:44.666 ♪♪♪ 698 00:33:44.750 --> 00:33:47.040 There were women who had been forcibly married 699 00:33:47.125 --> 00:33:49.290 to the Taliban. 700 00:33:49.375 --> 00:33:52.040 There were teachers and doctors and young women 701 00:33:52.125 --> 00:33:53.208 who had grown up 702 00:33:53.290 --> 00:33:56.625 during those five years of not being free at all. 703 00:33:57.959 --> 00:34:02.625 [Barker] As people finally had access to the outside world, 704 00:34:02.709 --> 00:34:05.750 the culture was changing before our very eyes. 705 00:34:05.834 --> 00:34:10.750 ♪♪♪ 706 00:34:13.750 --> 00:34:17.125 [Mohseni] I left Afghanistan when I was 12. 707 00:34:17.208 --> 00:34:20.750 I had not been to the country for a very long time. 708 00:34:20.833 --> 00:34:22.750 But the need to come back, uh, 709 00:34:22.833 --> 00:34:24.791 was very strong for not just me 710 00:34:24.875 --> 00:34:27.416 but for a lot of other Afghans. 711 00:34:27.500 --> 00:34:29.416 I was a banker, and my brother was a lawyer, 712 00:34:29.500 --> 00:34:31.416 and the other brother was a finance person, 713 00:34:31.500 --> 00:34:34.083 and our sister was a marketing person. 714 00:34:34.166 --> 00:34:36.875 And in 2002, 715 00:34:36.958 --> 00:34:38.916 we secured the first private license 716 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:40.833 for a radio station. 717 00:34:42.458 --> 00:34:44.250 [laughter on radio] 718 00:34:44.333 --> 00:34:45.125 [woman] speaking native language 719 00:34:45.208 --> 00:34:46.458 [laughter] 720 00:34:46.541 --> 00:34:50.791 [indistinct chatter on radio] 721 00:34:50.875 --> 00:34:52.833 ♪♪♪ 722 00:34:52.916 --> 00:34:55.666 [Mohseni] It was about music. It was about jokes. 723 00:34:55.750 --> 00:34:59.583 It was men and women just having a conversation. 724 00:34:59.666 --> 00:35:01.375 ♪♪♪ 725 00:35:01.458 --> 00:35:06.125 But it's ironic that... 726 00:35:06.208 --> 00:35:08.875 how many people are enemies of fun. 727 00:35:08.958 --> 00:35:10.291 The conservatives at the time, 728 00:35:10.375 --> 00:35:14.416 they were very suspicious. 729 00:35:14.500 --> 00:35:18.125 We're a bunch of young people in this house, basically, 730 00:35:18.208 --> 00:35:20.875 no security whatsoever, 731 00:35:20.958 --> 00:35:23.625 and people would literally knock on our doors and say, 732 00:35:23.708 --> 00:35:24.583 "We hate you guys." 733 00:35:24.666 --> 00:35:28.208 But so the radio was a success, 734 00:35:28.291 --> 00:35:30.250 and we thought the natural progression 735 00:35:30.333 --> 00:35:33.166 would be to launch a television station. 736 00:35:33.250 --> 00:35:36.250 [man] speaking native language 737 00:35:37.416 --> 00:35:40.666 speaking native language 738 00:35:43.416 --> 00:35:45.708 [Mohseni] We saw the good news on day one, 739 00:35:45.791 --> 00:35:47.875 and we came up with all sorts of programs 740 00:35:47.958 --> 00:35:49.500 that we could produce quickly. 741 00:35:49.583 --> 00:35:51.666 [applause] 742 00:35:51.750 --> 00:35:55.250 And then we started to do really big stuff, 743 00:35:55.333 --> 00:35:57.500 like the Idol format with Afghan Star. 744 00:35:57.583 --> 00:36:01.541 ♪ upbeat rock music ♪ 745 00:36:01.625 --> 00:36:05.500 singing in native language 746 00:36:05.583 --> 00:36:09.666 speaking native language 747 00:36:11.125 --> 00:36:12.375 [Mohseni] When we first launched, 748 00:36:12.458 --> 00:36:14.083 this whole idea of voting for a winner, 749 00:36:14.166 --> 00:36:17.708 they couldn't believe that we would stick to our principles 750 00:36:17.791 --> 00:36:21.458 in terms of, like, counting people's text messages. 751 00:36:22.625 --> 00:36:24.458 But what was extraordinary 752 00:36:24.541 --> 00:36:26.416 was how quickly people accepted it. 753 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:29.208 [cheers and applause] 754 00:36:29.291 --> 00:36:31.041 That's what's interesting with the media. 755 00:36:31.125 --> 00:36:33.875 We just give people sort of a glimpse of what's possible. 756 00:36:37.458 --> 00:36:39.458 [woman] This weekend in Afghanistan, 757 00:36:39.541 --> 00:36:41.708 the voice of the people was finally heard. 758 00:36:41.791 --> 00:36:44.541 [woman] Precious ballots from Afghanistan's 759 00:36:44.625 --> 00:36:46.916 only presidential election in 5,000 years 760 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:50.375 poured into counting centers around the country. 761 00:36:50.458 --> 00:36:52.375 [indistinct chatter] 762 00:36:52.458 --> 00:36:53.458 [Bergen] There hasn't been a presidential election 763 00:36:53.541 --> 00:36:56.208 in the United States since 1900 where 70 percent 764 00:36:56.291 --> 00:36:59.416 of the population able to vote voted. 765 00:36:59.500 --> 00:37:00.916 ♪ soft music ♪ 766 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:03.750 [Constable] I went to villages and schools 767 00:37:03.833 --> 00:37:05.041 where people were voting, 768 00:37:05.125 --> 00:37:09.125 and the feeling in those rooms 769 00:37:09.208 --> 00:37:12.791 was one of pride and hope 770 00:37:12.833 --> 00:37:17.750 and belief that things were getting better 771 00:37:17.791 --> 00:37:21.458 and that the system that was being created 772 00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:22.250 would help the country. 773 00:37:22.333 --> 00:37:25.875 [applause] 774 00:37:25.958 --> 00:37:29.000 [Karzai] The Afghan people, by coming out and voting, 775 00:37:29.083 --> 00:37:31.375 have given the last 776 00:37:31.500 --> 00:37:34.833 defeat to terrorism. 777 00:37:35.625 --> 00:37:36.750 [Cheney] The tyranny is gone, 778 00:37:36.791 --> 00:37:39.875 the terrorist enemy is scattered, 779 00:37:39.958 --> 00:37:42.916 and the people of Afghanistan are free. 780 00:37:44.500 --> 00:37:46.666 [Schroen] I thought, "If things keep on like this, 781 00:37:46.791 --> 00:37:50.500 we can win this in a couple of years." 782 00:37:50.625 --> 00:37:55.791 ♪♪♪ 783 00:38:04.083 --> 00:38:05.625 [McRaven] All the books you see here 784 00:38:05.708 --> 00:38:07.500 are about special operations missions, 785 00:38:07.583 --> 00:38:09.416 and they don't always go well. 786 00:38:09.500 --> 00:38:11.208 Uh, you know, when I think about Desert One, 787 00:38:11.291 --> 00:38:12.250 it didn't go well. 788 00:38:12.333 --> 00:38:13.750 When I think about a lot of these, uh, books 789 00:38:13.791 --> 00:38:14.583 that are here on World War II missions, 790 00:38:14.666 --> 00:38:16.958 they didn't go well. 791 00:38:17.041 --> 00:38:21.041 So I actually drew on a lot of the lessons 792 00:38:21.125 --> 00:38:23.625 because I wanted to make sure whatever plan 793 00:38:23.708 --> 00:38:27.541 that I constructed for the mission took into account, 794 00:38:27.625 --> 00:38:30.166 you know, the successes and why we were successful 795 00:38:30.250 --> 00:38:30.958 and-and, frankly, the failures 796 00:38:31.041 --> 00:38:33.625 and how we avoid those failures. 797 00:38:37.583 --> 00:38:39.041 I was sent overseas to run 798 00:38:39.125 --> 00:38:42.500 the Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan, 799 00:38:42.583 --> 00:38:44.208 and from a military standpoint, 800 00:38:44.291 --> 00:38:47.833 Afghanistan appeared to be kind of in a caretaker status. 801 00:38:47.958 --> 00:38:49.291 Please. 802 00:38:49.375 --> 00:38:52.875 We clearly have moved to a period of stability 803 00:38:52.958 --> 00:38:55.916 and stabilization and reconstruction. 804 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:58.916 [McRaven] So we shifted our focus in 2003 805 00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:02.083 as we began the invasion of Iraq. 806 00:39:02.166 --> 00:39:03.750 [mortar fires] 807 00:39:03.833 --> 00:39:05.125 - [man] Jesus! - [man 2] Whoo! 808 00:39:08.500 --> 00:39:13.041 [Martin] Big tanks, big toys, 809 00:39:13.125 --> 00:39:15.708 that was the new war, 810 00:39:15.791 --> 00:39:17.791 and our allies became confused at, 811 00:39:17.875 --> 00:39:19.916 what were our real objectives? 812 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:23.958 We will stay on task until we've achieved our objective, 813 00:39:24.041 --> 00:39:27.666 which is to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. 814 00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:29.333 "What? 815 00:39:29.416 --> 00:39:31.333 They haven't hurt you. Saddam hasn't hurt you. 816 00:39:31.416 --> 00:39:36.541 He doesn't like al-Qaeda. There's not al-Qaeda in Iraq." 817 00:39:36.666 --> 00:39:38.708 [man] Whoa! 818 00:39:38.791 --> 00:39:40.375 [Grenier] I was called into a meeting 819 00:39:40.458 --> 00:39:41.208 with the CIA director, 820 00:39:41.291 --> 00:39:43.291 and he told me that he wanted me 821 00:39:43.375 --> 00:39:45.166 to head up the CIA effort in Iraq. 822 00:39:45.250 --> 00:39:49.500 And the most, uh, experienced senior officers 823 00:39:49.583 --> 00:39:51.625 who were in a position, you know, to deal 824 00:39:51.708 --> 00:39:53.291 at a political level, uh, 825 00:39:53.375 --> 00:39:55.791 very quickly left, uh, the Afghan theater. 826 00:39:55.875 --> 00:39:57.625 We're worried about terrorism, and next thing, we wake up, 827 00:39:57.708 --> 00:40:00.750 and-and resources are gone. 828 00:40:00.833 --> 00:40:05.583 ♪ dramatic music ♪ 829 00:40:05.666 --> 00:40:06.875 [Kilcullen] When I was in the State Department 830 00:40:06.958 --> 00:40:08.291 Counterterrorism Bureau, 831 00:40:08.375 --> 00:40:12.000 the most important resource that was in short supply 832 00:40:12.083 --> 00:40:15.625 was policy-maker attention, 833 00:40:15.708 --> 00:40:16.625 and I said, "We actually have to focus 834 00:40:16.708 --> 00:40:19.833 on local-level governance, 835 00:40:19.916 --> 00:40:21.958 reforming the Afghan corruption system, 836 00:40:22.041 --> 00:40:24.833 and giving the Afghan military 837 00:40:24.916 --> 00:40:28.416 a series of really basic capabilities," 838 00:40:28.500 --> 00:40:32.791 because by that point, we were so sucked into the war in Iraq 839 00:40:32.875 --> 00:40:36.291 that we just didn't have the bandwidth to deal with it. 840 00:40:36.375 --> 00:40:37.958 [man] yelling in native language 841 00:40:38.041 --> 00:40:41.250 [Kilcullen] And the Taliban in Pakistan 842 00:40:41.333 --> 00:40:44.083 and their cell groups in Afghanistan 843 00:40:44.166 --> 00:40:45.833 began to exploit that. 844 00:40:45.916 --> 00:40:50.083 ♪♪♪ 845 00:40:59.250 --> 00:41:02.208 I, uh, was involved in some of the early, 846 00:41:02.291 --> 00:41:05.583 early stages of talking with the Taliban 847 00:41:05.666 --> 00:41:09.708 about how to ensure that they didn't join an insurgency. 848 00:41:09.791 --> 00:41:10.708 They actually found some way of reconciling 849 00:41:10.791 --> 00:41:13.500 with the new regime. 850 00:41:13.583 --> 00:41:14.500 I mean, it happened, like, in my sitting room 851 00:41:14.583 --> 00:41:17.041 in, you know, the house in Islamabad, um, 852 00:41:17.125 --> 00:41:18.250 you know, friendly discussions. 853 00:41:22.166 --> 00:41:25.458 [men] speaking native language 854 00:41:26.500 --> 00:41:29.208 [Semple] My ability to talk with Taliban today 855 00:41:29.291 --> 00:41:32.833 is based upon actions which I have taken every day 856 00:41:32.916 --> 00:41:36.375 since I crossed over the border in '89. 857 00:41:36.458 --> 00:41:38.291 They can check my reputation, 858 00:41:38.375 --> 00:41:40.208 work out how discreet I am, 859 00:41:40.291 --> 00:41:42.958 and reckon if I am duplicitous, 860 00:41:43.041 --> 00:41:44.500 and I'm sort of, like, doing the same 861 00:41:44.583 --> 00:41:45.375 when I'm talking with them, 862 00:41:45.458 --> 00:41:47.541 because, um, one w-one way or another, 863 00:41:47.625 --> 00:41:51.000 both sides of the relationship have got to trust each other 864 00:41:51.083 --> 00:41:52.750 to be able to-to go forward. 865 00:41:52.833 --> 00:41:55.750 ♪♪♪ 866 00:41:55.833 --> 00:41:58.083 In the wake of 9/11, 867 00:41:58.166 --> 00:42:02.375 the Taliban leadership wanted surrender terms 868 00:42:02.458 --> 00:42:05.875 to live respectably in their homes, 869 00:42:05.958 --> 00:42:08.125 recognizing the authority of the new government 870 00:42:08.208 --> 00:42:11.458 which had been imposed by the Americans. 871 00:42:12.500 --> 00:42:17.166 Those terms were available. They were torn up. 872 00:42:18.666 --> 00:42:22.333 Instead we got increasingly stories of Taliban 873 00:42:22.375 --> 00:42:24.833 who'd tried to go home to their villages in Afghanistan 874 00:42:24.916 --> 00:42:27.375 either getting arrested or giving up, 875 00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:28.625 crossing the border, 876 00:42:28.708 --> 00:42:30.333 going over to-to Pakistan 877 00:42:30.375 --> 00:42:32.166 ready for the next chapter. 878 00:42:32.208 --> 00:42:36.750 ♪♪♪ 879 00:42:36.833 --> 00:42:41.416 The Taliban start to reform the organization, uh, 880 00:42:41.500 --> 00:42:45.000 saying that, "We have been excluded from this new setup. 881 00:42:45.083 --> 00:42:46.541 We're gonna have another go." 882 00:42:46.625 --> 00:42:49.375 [man] Tonight Frontline reports 883 00:42:49.458 --> 00:42:52.625 on the return of the Taliban. 884 00:42:52.708 --> 00:42:55.625 [gunfire] 885 00:42:55.708 --> 00:43:00.083 ♪♪♪ 886 00:43:00.166 --> 00:43:01.125 There's some, uh, ICOM chatter saying 887 00:43:01.208 --> 00:43:04.833 that the Taliban are looking at us right now. 888 00:43:06.333 --> 00:43:08.666 [alarm blaring] 889 00:43:08.750 --> 00:43:11.666 ♪ somber music ♪ 890 00:43:11.750 --> 00:43:14.958 ♪♪♪ 891 00:43:15.041 --> 00:43:17.291 [man] speaking native language 892 00:43:23.666 --> 00:43:26.625 [man] speaking native language 893 00:43:27.750 --> 00:43:33.666 ♪♪♪ 894 00:43:44.333 --> 00:43:45.166 [Waldman] For Americans, 895 00:43:45.250 --> 00:43:50.000 the original story of this long war 896 00:43:50.083 --> 00:43:52.916 was we were saviors. 897 00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:56.833 ♪♪♪ 898 00:43:56.916 --> 00:44:00.333 We had gone in and done a good thing... 899 00:44:00.416 --> 00:44:05.541 and people were ecstatic to be free again. 900 00:44:07.125 --> 00:44:10.416 But the reality is, I don't think 901 00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:14.833 it was ever as clean as we wanted to believe. 902 00:44:14.916 --> 00:44:18.750 ♪♪♪ 903 00:44:18.833 --> 00:44:21.416 [Barker] The first inflection point that I noticed 904 00:44:21.500 --> 00:44:23.125 happened in May 2006 905 00:44:23.208 --> 00:44:27.041 when a U.S. military convoy crashed into a crowd of people, 906 00:44:27.125 --> 00:44:29.583 and they killed about 14 people. 907 00:44:29.666 --> 00:44:31.583 [crowd yelling] 908 00:44:31.666 --> 00:44:37.583 ♪♪♪ 909 00:44:46.250 --> 00:44:48.333 [gunfire] 910 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:55.958 speaking native language 911 00:45:00.250 --> 00:45:04.458 ♪♪♪ 912 00:45:04.541 --> 00:45:08.541 [crowd yelling] 913 00:45:08.625 --> 00:45:10.208 [Constable] People in these crowds 914 00:45:10.291 --> 00:45:14.875 were shouting angry anti-American slogans, 915 00:45:14.958 --> 00:45:16.458 and I went, "What? 916 00:45:16.541 --> 00:45:17.958 What has happened here?" 917 00:45:18.041 --> 00:45:22.250 ♪♪♪ 918 00:45:22.333 --> 00:45:24.750 That was the first time I realized 919 00:45:24.833 --> 00:45:26.500 that there was as much resentment 920 00:45:26.583 --> 00:45:28.416 against the international presence 921 00:45:28.500 --> 00:45:30.750 as there was gratitude or hope. 922 00:45:30.833 --> 00:45:36.000 ♪♪♪ 923 00:45:37.500 --> 00:45:39.583 [Barker] There was this building resentment 924 00:45:39.666 --> 00:45:41.916 that Afghans had against corruption 925 00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:44.500 and civilian casualties, 926 00:45:44.583 --> 00:45:48.083 and both of those could be tied directly back to America. 927 00:45:48.166 --> 00:45:50.083 We were pouring in so much money 928 00:45:50.166 --> 00:45:51.833 that corruption was all but inevitable 929 00:45:51.916 --> 00:45:53.375 with no checks and balances, 930 00:45:53.458 --> 00:45:55.250 and then with civilian casualties, 931 00:45:55.333 --> 00:45:57.333 let's just say any civilian casualty in general, 932 00:45:57.416 --> 00:45:59.791 the Taliban would immediately put out 933 00:45:59.875 --> 00:46:01.291 press releases locally saying, 934 00:46:01.375 --> 00:46:04.000 "This is America doing this to you." 935 00:46:05.833 --> 00:46:08.000 They'd make up things, and it was very effective. 936 00:46:08.083 --> 00:46:09.666 [crowd yelling] 937 00:46:09.750 --> 00:46:13.625 [gunfire] 938 00:46:15.291 --> 00:46:17.291 [woman] Well, today's riots showing just how fragile 939 00:46:17.375 --> 00:46:19.458 our relationship is with Afghanistan, 940 00:46:19.541 --> 00:46:21.625 a key player in the War on Terror. 941 00:46:21.708 --> 00:46:24.458 Now, is it just a small group of troublemakers at work here, 942 00:46:24.541 --> 00:46:27.625 or are the Afghan people simply ungrateful? 943 00:46:27.708 --> 00:46:30.500 ♪♪♪ 944 00:46:30.583 --> 00:46:33.375 [Constable] Afghans have this streak of defiance 945 00:46:33.458 --> 00:46:36.833 against the world because of history. 946 00:46:38.083 --> 00:46:39.833 There was the Russians and the fact 947 00:46:39.916 --> 00:46:43.458 that the Americans had abandoned Afghanistan before. 948 00:46:44.583 --> 00:46:48.333 There's always in the back of the minds of Afghans 949 00:46:48.416 --> 00:46:50.750 that-that suspicion of ulterior motives. 950 00:46:50.833 --> 00:46:54.375 ♪♪♪ 951 00:46:54.458 --> 00:46:58.041 [Saleh] United States got distracted, 952 00:46:58.125 --> 00:46:59.625 and they wanted to show 953 00:46:59.708 --> 00:47:03.291 that Afghanistan was still this good story working 954 00:47:03.375 --> 00:47:05.583 and it is rosy, 955 00:47:05.666 --> 00:47:07.500 and they were not... 956 00:47:07.583 --> 00:47:10.500 they were not listening to us, you know? 957 00:47:10.583 --> 00:47:12.791 ♪♪♪ 958 00:47:12.875 --> 00:47:14.250 [Grenier] I had great misgivings 959 00:47:14.333 --> 00:47:18.041 because I felt that the CIA 960 00:47:18.125 --> 00:47:19.541 needed to stay engaged 961 00:47:19.625 --> 00:47:22.041 with key political players inside Afghanistan, 962 00:47:22.125 --> 00:47:24.916 but I could see very quickly 963 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:28.375 that there was very little appetite, uh, for doing that. 964 00:47:28.458 --> 00:47:31.166 It's not that we didn't know Afghanistan 965 00:47:31.250 --> 00:47:32.625 was going badly after that. 966 00:47:32.708 --> 00:47:35.708 We did, but we couldn't do anything about it, 967 00:47:35.791 --> 00:47:39.208 because by the time Iraq started to go bad, 968 00:47:39.291 --> 00:47:40.416 Afghanistan was also going bad, 969 00:47:40.500 --> 00:47:42.458 and we were caught in a war in two fronts 970 00:47:42.541 --> 00:47:45.875 without the resources to deal with both. 971 00:47:45.958 --> 00:47:51.125 ♪♪♪ 972 00:47:56.833 --> 00:47:59.041 [George W. Bush] America's men and women in uniform 973 00:47:59.125 --> 00:48:02.375 took away al-Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan, 974 00:48:02.458 --> 00:48:05.625 and we will not allow them to reestablish it in Iraq. 975 00:48:05.708 --> 00:48:07.416 So I have committed more than 20,000 976 00:48:07.500 --> 00:48:09.666 additional American troops to Iraq. 977 00:48:09.750 --> 00:48:11.458 The agreement lays out a framework 978 00:48:11.541 --> 00:48:13.250 for the withdrawal of American forces in Iraq, 979 00:48:13.333 --> 00:48:16.125 a withdrawal that is possible 980 00:48:16.208 --> 00:48:18.250 because of the success of the surge. 981 00:48:18.333 --> 00:48:20.625 [man] yelling in foreign language 982 00:48:24.291 --> 00:48:27.250 [man] While Iraq has dominated the headlines, 983 00:48:27.333 --> 00:48:28.875 the less-publicized fight in Afghanistan 984 00:48:28.958 --> 00:48:31.500 has intensified. 985 00:48:32.291 --> 00:48:35.541 [Obama] My fellow citizens, our nation is at war 986 00:48:35.625 --> 00:48:39.333 against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred, 987 00:48:39.416 --> 00:48:41.791 and for those who seek to advance their aims 988 00:48:41.875 --> 00:48:45.125 by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, 989 00:48:45.208 --> 00:48:48.375 you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. 990 00:48:48.458 --> 00:48:49.708 [cheers and applause] 991 00:48:49.791 --> 00:48:51.041 For six years, Afghanistan has been denied 992 00:48:51.125 --> 00:48:54.708 the resources that it demands because of the war in Iraq. 993 00:48:54.791 --> 00:48:56.625 It is in our vital national interest 994 00:48:56.708 --> 00:49:00.458 to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. 995 00:49:00.541 --> 00:49:03.125 Well, I think that in the last year, 996 00:49:03.208 --> 00:49:04.916 we've made a lot of progress. 997 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:06.125 [Petraeus] Two thousand ten will be a year 998 00:49:06.208 --> 00:49:07.625 that will see progress 999 00:49:07.708 --> 00:49:09.708 and a reversal of Taliban momentum. 1000 00:49:09.791 --> 00:49:10.416 [woman] Well, the financial and human cost 1001 00:49:10.500 --> 00:49:12.625 of the War in Afghanistan 1002 00:49:12.708 --> 00:49:15.333 has gone up every year over the past five years, 1003 00:49:15.416 --> 00:49:16.666 more than 1,600 U.S. troops. 1004 00:49:16.750 --> 00:49:20.500 This past year in Afghanistan was the deadliest yet 1005 00:49:20.625 --> 00:49:22.250 for American troops. 1006 00:49:22.333 --> 00:49:23.833 [Petraeus] Momentum achieved by the Taliban in Afghanistan 1007 00:49:23.916 --> 00:49:29.166 since 2005 has been arrested in much of the country. 1008 00:49:29.250 --> 00:49:30.666 I wish I could tell you that this war was simple, 1009 00:49:30.750 --> 00:49:32.833 but that's not the way of counterinsurgencies. 1010 00:49:32.916 --> 00:49:36.541 They are fraught with both successes and setbacks, 1011 00:49:36.625 --> 00:49:38.708 which can exist in the same space 1012 00:49:38.791 --> 00:49:39.625 and in the same time, 1013 00:49:39.708 --> 00:49:43.666 and I believe the campaign is on track. 1014 00:49:43.750 --> 00:49:46.333 ♪♪♪ 1015 00:49:46.416 --> 00:49:48.833 [Coll] If you ask the question, "Why are we here?" 1016 00:49:48.916 --> 00:49:51.833 as President Obama did when he came into office in 2009, 1017 00:49:51.916 --> 00:49:54.041 "Why are we fighting in Afghanistan?" 1018 00:49:54.125 --> 00:49:58.291 well, his best experts gathered and advised him, 1019 00:49:58.375 --> 00:50:00.500 "Sir, we're here because al-Qaeda 1020 00:50:00.583 --> 00:50:02.750 is still a threat to the United States. 1021 00:50:02.833 --> 00:50:06.541 Bin Laden's still alive. We got to finish the job." 1022 00:50:06.625 --> 00:50:08.708 [McRaven] Every year, there was this sense 1023 00:50:08.791 --> 00:50:11.166 that if we did X, Y, and Z, 1024 00:50:11.250 --> 00:50:13.333 maybe we could finish up the war. 1025 00:50:13.416 --> 00:50:16.375 [Obama] Tonight I can report to the American people 1026 00:50:16.458 --> 00:50:18.750 and to the world that the United States 1027 00:50:18.833 --> 00:50:22.708 has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, 1028 00:50:22.791 --> 00:50:25.166 the leader of al-Qaeda. 1029 00:50:25.250 --> 00:50:26.208 [McRaven] And this will go down 1030 00:50:26.291 --> 00:50:27.666 as one of the great missions 1031 00:50:27.750 --> 00:50:30.791 in the history of the intelligence community. 1032 00:50:31.791 --> 00:50:34.208 As I was planning the mission, you had to have surprise. 1033 00:50:34.291 --> 00:50:35.916 We had surprise. You had to have speed. 1034 00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:37.250 We're coming in by helicopters. 1035 00:50:37.333 --> 00:50:38.583 And you had to have purpose, 1036 00:50:38.666 --> 00:50:41.458 and God knows these-these, uh, SEALs and soldiers had purpose. 1037 00:50:41.541 --> 00:50:42.666 They were going after the most wanted man in the world. 1038 00:50:45.500 --> 00:50:48.125 It was about who we are as Americans. 1039 00:50:48.208 --> 00:50:50.375 This man and his people had attacked New York 1040 00:50:50.458 --> 00:50:52.250 and Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., 1041 00:50:52.333 --> 00:50:54.458 and we had an obligation 1042 00:50:54.541 --> 00:50:56.125 to spend as long as it took to bring him to justice. 1043 00:50:56.208 --> 00:50:59.958 ♪♪♪ 1044 00:51:00.041 --> 00:51:01.291 [Coll] We did get bin Laden. 1045 00:51:01.375 --> 00:51:03.833 Al-Qaeda is diminished. 1046 00:51:03.916 --> 00:51:05.333 It's scattered. It's under pressure. 1047 00:51:05.416 --> 00:51:09.041 We have been killing people with our drones 1048 00:51:09.125 --> 00:51:11.250 for a good while now, 1049 00:51:11.333 --> 00:51:13.583 so why are we still here? 1050 00:51:13.666 --> 00:51:17.791 ♪♪♪ 1051 00:51:20.208 --> 00:51:23.125 [engine whirring] 1052 00:51:23.208 --> 00:51:29.000 ♪♪♪ 1053 00:51:29.083 --> 00:51:31.833 As the war in Afghanistan went on and on, 1054 00:51:31.916 --> 00:51:35.250 the CIA then got into the secret air war business, 1055 00:51:35.333 --> 00:51:37.333 which is really what the drone campaign was. 1056 00:51:37.416 --> 00:51:38.916 It was a secret air war 1057 00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:40.791 designed to do what the United States 1058 00:51:40.875 --> 00:51:44.375 was not prepared to do through conventional means. 1059 00:51:45.791 --> 00:51:46.750 The CIA was given charge of that 1060 00:51:46.833 --> 00:51:48.791 because it wasn't going to be declared. 1061 00:51:48.875 --> 00:51:51.916 It wasn't going to be run by the Air Force 1062 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:55.000 or by the special operations groups at the Pentagon. 1063 00:51:55.083 --> 00:51:58.625 It was, uh, covert, and so that added to the sense 1064 00:51:58.708 --> 00:52:01.708 that the CIA was-- became an agency at war. 1065 00:52:03.916 --> 00:52:05.416 [Bergen] It's a new way of war. 1066 00:52:05.500 --> 00:52:06.666 The United States government wouldn't even acknowledge 1067 00:52:06.750 --> 00:52:08.041 this was really happening, 1068 00:52:08.125 --> 00:52:09.083 and-and when they did acknowledge it, 1069 00:52:09.166 --> 00:52:10.166 privately they would say, 1070 00:52:10.250 --> 00:52:10.833 "There's no civilian casualties." 1071 00:52:10.916 --> 00:52:12.333 Well, that wasn't true. 1072 00:52:12.416 --> 00:52:13.416 [man] In Afghanistan, 1073 00:52:13.500 --> 00:52:15.500 NATO is investing a U.S. air strike on Thursday 1074 00:52:15.583 --> 00:52:17.000 that may have killed a child in Helmand Province. 1075 00:52:17.083 --> 00:52:20.458 [Raddatz] Whatever the benefit of the drone strikes, 1076 00:52:20.541 --> 00:52:22.666 they have created enormous resentment 1077 00:52:22.750 --> 00:52:24.375 among some here in the region 1078 00:52:24.458 --> 00:52:28.833 who view the strikes as another sign of American arrogance. 1079 00:52:28.916 --> 00:52:31.291 [Bergen] And you can see, this is by administration, 1080 00:52:31.375 --> 00:52:32.166 so under George W. Bush, 1081 00:52:32.250 --> 00:52:33.916 there were relatively limited strikes 1082 00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:34.833 except right at the end of his second term. 1083 00:52:34.916 --> 00:52:37.666 Then under Obama, it spikes up hugely. 1084 00:52:37.750 --> 00:52:38.916 So it was really President Obama 1085 00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:41.916 who hammed it up very dramatically. 1086 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:44.875 You can see the estimated total number of casualties 1087 00:52:44.958 --> 00:52:48.291 is up to almost as high as 3,000 1088 00:52:48.375 --> 00:52:51.083 on the outer bounds. 1089 00:52:51.166 --> 00:52:52.041 Myself and my colleagues at New America 1090 00:52:52.125 --> 00:52:54.250 have been doing this for about a decade. 1091 00:52:54.333 --> 00:52:56.125 We felt that there was some data out there, 1092 00:52:56.208 --> 00:52:57.708 print media stories that we could assemble and sort of say, 1093 00:52:57.791 --> 00:52:59.458 "What's going on? Who's being killed? 1094 00:52:59.541 --> 00:53:02.125 How many strikes are there?" 1095 00:53:02.208 --> 00:53:05.875 And so we-we began to kind of collate all this. 1096 00:53:05.958 --> 00:53:09.041 [Martin] When it came to the Predator, 1097 00:53:09.125 --> 00:53:12.750 we also had our forces somewhere in the area. 1098 00:53:12.833 --> 00:53:13.875 So there would be a shot, 1099 00:53:13.958 --> 00:53:14.708 and then people were gonna move in 1100 00:53:14.791 --> 00:53:18.041 to do the sensitive site collection, 1101 00:53:18.125 --> 00:53:19.583 and then-- so, you know, it was very human 1102 00:53:19.666 --> 00:53:23.041 because you knew who were down there. 1103 00:53:23.125 --> 00:53:25.875 [Bergen] Afghanistan, I think, was the early laboratory 1104 00:53:25.958 --> 00:53:30.458 of what this more paramilitary CIA became, 1105 00:53:30.541 --> 00:53:35.000 so a drone program that went from surveillance drones 1106 00:53:35.083 --> 00:53:38.791 to actually killing people. 1107 00:53:38.875 --> 00:53:40.541 I would say, actually, the principal reason the CIA 1108 00:53:40.625 --> 00:53:42.958 is in Afghanistan is, in a way, the drone program, 1109 00:53:43.041 --> 00:53:47.791 because after 9/11, al-Qaeda didn't remain in Afghanistan. 1110 00:53:47.875 --> 00:53:49.416 They fled into Pakistan, uh, 1111 00:53:49.500 --> 00:53:51.916 and the Taliban regrouped there. 1112 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:54.583 [Martin] If I'm trying to deploy six or 12 men 1113 00:53:54.666 --> 00:53:56.000 trying to climb up a mountain 1114 00:53:56.083 --> 00:53:58.666 and get this guy when I can do this easier 1115 00:53:58.750 --> 00:54:02.541 and save our men and women's lives and-- 1116 00:54:02.625 --> 00:54:06.750 I'll go--I'll take the Predator any day, any day. 1117 00:54:06.833 --> 00:54:11.083 ♪♪♪ 1118 00:54:11.166 --> 00:54:12.833 [Constable] In the early years and really even through, 1119 00:54:12.916 --> 00:54:15.583 I would say, for the first ten years, 1120 00:54:15.666 --> 00:54:18.041 you could travel anywhere. 1121 00:54:18.125 --> 00:54:20.625 The capital was lively. The capital felt free. 1122 00:54:20.708 --> 00:54:23.458 Girls were going to school. 1123 00:54:23.541 --> 00:54:26.000 Girls were going to college. 1124 00:54:26.083 --> 00:54:28.791 It certainly felt like a place that was churning with change. 1125 00:54:28.875 --> 00:54:31.458 ♪♪♪ 1126 00:54:31.541 --> 00:54:34.208 [Musazai] My father told me about American University, 1127 00:54:34.291 --> 00:54:39.291 and he said, "It's the best university in Afghanistan." 1128 00:54:40.708 --> 00:54:45.541 He always wanted me to-to get education... 1129 00:54:46.708 --> 00:54:49.958 ...so I joined the university. 1130 00:54:51.958 --> 00:54:53.291 [Sedney] The vision for people here 1131 00:54:53.375 --> 00:54:56.500 is not a sixth-century fundamentalist Islamic state. 1132 00:54:56.583 --> 00:54:59.833 It's a 21st-century advanced country, 1133 00:54:59.916 --> 00:55:00.375 and they want to get there. 1134 00:55:00.458 --> 00:55:02.666 ♪♪♪ 1135 00:55:02.750 --> 00:55:05.250 We can play a role in that, 1136 00:55:05.333 --> 00:55:08.166 in helping them achieve their dreams. 1137 00:55:08.250 --> 00:55:10.250 My father never want me to come to this university 1138 00:55:10.333 --> 00:55:14.750 because of the risks involved with the name "American" on it, 1139 00:55:14.833 --> 00:55:16.166 and seeing the situation, 1140 00:55:16.250 --> 00:55:20.500 how badly the war is going on in Afghanistan, 1141 00:55:20.583 --> 00:55:22.750 he never wanted me to come here. 1142 00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:27.833 But I told him I have goals in my life, 1143 00:55:27.916 --> 00:55:32.291 and I've already did good in my high school, 1144 00:55:32.375 --> 00:55:33.958 and I had passion to get an education. 1145 00:55:36.625 --> 00:55:39.833 [Musazai] I was not worried about security. 1146 00:55:40.708 --> 00:55:44.333 I had heard about explosions on news, 1147 00:55:44.416 --> 00:55:48.916 but I had not experienced something like that. 1148 00:55:49.791 --> 00:55:51.916 [Constable] As the Taliban insurgency became stronger, 1149 00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:55.166 there was this growing pattern of attacks 1150 00:55:55.250 --> 00:55:56.583 that began to make everybody realize 1151 00:55:56.666 --> 00:55:58.125 that the Taliban really were back 1152 00:55:58.208 --> 00:56:00.958 and really were causing trouble and really were starting 1153 00:56:01.041 --> 00:56:05.666 to put the brakes on progress of different kinds. 1154 00:56:06.791 --> 00:56:09.041 Many evenings, I would go to my favorite bar, 1155 00:56:09.125 --> 00:56:12.208 this Lebanese café, and I used to go there 1156 00:56:12.291 --> 00:56:15.375 probably at least once a week for many, many years. 1157 00:56:16.375 --> 00:56:18.916 When you live and work in a war zone, 1158 00:56:19.000 --> 00:56:20.541 you need a place like that. 1159 00:56:20.625 --> 00:56:21.416 You need someplace you can go 1160 00:56:21.500 --> 00:56:23.625 and really feel yourself, be yourself, 1161 00:56:23.708 --> 00:56:27.875 and that's pretty much the only place I felt that way. 1162 00:56:29.458 --> 00:56:32.083 And then the Taliban attacked that café, 1163 00:56:32.166 --> 00:56:37.416 shot dead everyone in it, including the owner. 1164 00:56:37.500 --> 00:56:38.916 [woman] The scenes of this restaurant 1165 00:56:39.000 --> 00:56:40.375 are really quite incredible-- 1166 00:56:40.458 --> 00:56:42.416 people crouched on top of one-one-one another, 1167 00:56:42.500 --> 00:56:44.916 underneath tables, 1168 00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:46.750 gunned down inside there. 1169 00:56:46.833 --> 00:56:48.833 So that seems to have been what has happened. 1170 00:56:48.916 --> 00:56:51.375 Anybody who was injured seems to have been likely 1171 00:56:51.458 --> 00:56:53.333 to have been outside the restaurant, 1172 00:56:53.416 --> 00:56:55.583 potentially in cars waiting outside 1173 00:56:55.666 --> 00:56:57.583 or about to enter the restaurant. 1174 00:56:57.666 --> 00:57:00.208 Anybody inside seems unlikely to have been able 1175 00:57:00.291 --> 00:57:03.375 to escape easily from the gunmen. 1176 00:57:03.458 --> 00:57:06.625 That's the moment I sort of thought, 1177 00:57:06.708 --> 00:57:10.000 "What's left here, you know? Why are we even here?" 1178 00:57:10.083 --> 00:57:14.125 I remember feeling it. I remember thinking that. 1179 00:57:14.208 --> 00:57:19.041 ♪♪♪ 1180 00:57:22.250 --> 00:57:25.208 [Maddox] When I had a temporary assignment 1181 00:57:25.291 --> 00:57:26.750 in Afghanistan, 1182 00:57:26.833 --> 00:57:30.458 I could electrically feel the dangers around me. 1183 00:57:30.541 --> 00:57:32.291 There we go. 1184 00:57:32.375 --> 00:57:34.791 I've definitely known people that have died. 1185 00:57:34.875 --> 00:57:36.416 - You want milk? - No. 1186 00:57:36.500 --> 00:57:38.125 [Maddox, voice breaking] The night before I left, 1187 00:57:38.208 --> 00:57:39.166 I was sitting with my younger daughter, 1188 00:57:39.250 --> 00:57:44.958 and she gave me this bracelet that she made, 1189 00:57:45.041 --> 00:57:47.541 and I promised her I'd wear it every day 1190 00:57:47.625 --> 00:57:49.875 and every night that I was away, and I did. 1191 00:57:49.958 --> 00:57:53.375 [sighs] I never took it off. 1192 00:57:53.458 --> 00:57:57.916 And when I would leave the wire or go to the less safe 1193 00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:01.291 or secure and fortified areas... 1194 00:58:01.375 --> 00:58:03.458 I looked down at that bracelet, 1195 00:58:03.541 --> 00:58:06.958 and I would definitely question what I was doing. 1196 00:58:07.916 --> 00:58:09.291 "Am I a responsible mom? 1197 00:58:12.125 --> 00:58:14.666 Does my work here really make a difference 1198 00:58:14.791 --> 00:58:17.208 in this seemingly endless war?" 1199 00:58:18.583 --> 00:58:24.500 ♪♪♪ 1200 00:58:27.291 --> 00:58:31.333 I managed analytic teams that covered Afghan politics 1201 00:58:31.458 --> 00:58:33.583 and Afghan economics. 1202 00:58:33.625 --> 00:58:38.583 At that time, there was a U.S.-military narrative 1203 00:58:38.666 --> 00:58:40.625 that things were getting better in the country 1204 00:58:40.708 --> 00:58:42.916 and that the Taliban was failing, 1205 00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:46.458 and that was leading to the discussions of drawdown. 1206 00:58:46.583 --> 00:58:47.333 [Obama] Two thousand fourteen, 1207 00:58:47.416 --> 00:58:50.041 we have agreed that this is the year 1208 00:58:50.125 --> 00:58:53.875 we will conclude our combat mission in Afghanistan. 1209 00:58:55.666 --> 00:58:57.833 But things on the ground were evolving 1210 00:58:57.916 --> 00:59:00.833 and telling a little bit of a different story. 1211 00:59:00.916 --> 00:59:03.583 The 2015 takeover of Kunduz, 1212 00:59:03.666 --> 00:59:06.083 that's the first provincial capital 1213 00:59:06.166 --> 00:59:08.750 the Taliban had taken since before 2001. 1214 00:59:08.833 --> 00:59:11.208 It was a big deal. 1215 00:59:11.291 --> 00:59:12.250 [mortar fires] 1216 00:59:12.333 --> 00:59:12.875 [man] The battle for Kunduz 1217 00:59:12.958 --> 00:59:15.291 started before dawn, 1218 00:59:15.375 --> 00:59:18.083 as Afghan government troops tried in vain 1219 00:59:18.166 --> 00:59:20.875 to hold back the advance of the Taliban. 1220 00:59:20.958 --> 00:59:22.916 After the West's trillion-dollar war 1221 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:24.625 against the Taliban, 1222 00:59:24.708 --> 00:59:27.375 its fighters still pose a potent threat. 1223 00:59:27.458 --> 00:59:31.375 [Maddox] They took over the city for about two weeks. 1224 00:59:31.458 --> 00:59:33.041 They released a lot of prisoners-- 1225 00:59:33.125 --> 00:59:35.041 a lot of them were Taliban fighters-- 1226 00:59:35.125 --> 00:59:36.708 and displaced tens of thousands of people 1227 00:59:36.791 --> 00:59:40.041 in the process. 1228 00:59:40.125 --> 00:59:42.958 It was a total propaganda win for them. 1229 00:59:43.041 --> 00:59:44.708 [translator] God willing, this is our hope, 1230 00:59:44.791 --> 00:59:46.375 to build a religious school, 1231 00:59:46.458 --> 00:59:50.000 to build a bridge, a road, a sharia-based government. 1232 00:59:50.083 --> 00:59:51.333 This is why we came out, 1233 00:59:51.416 --> 00:59:53.000 and this is what we fought for-- 1234 00:59:53.083 --> 00:59:55.833 so that sharia law is enforced here. 1235 00:59:55.916 --> 00:59:57.916 Just holding the city-- that's all they needed to do 1236 00:59:58.000 --> 01:00:00.291 was just take it and hold it, show of force 1237 01:00:00.375 --> 01:00:02.916 to show their fighters and the world 1238 01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:05.333 that they were there and still capable-- 1239 01:00:05.416 --> 01:00:06.791 was quite significant. 1240 01:00:06.875 --> 01:00:09.416 ♪♪♪ 1241 01:00:09.500 --> 01:00:13.583 [Gossman] What happened in Kunduz caught people off guard 1242 01:00:13.666 --> 01:00:15.291 when the Taliban actually managed 1243 01:00:15.375 --> 01:00:17.125 to gain control of the city, 1244 01:00:17.208 --> 01:00:19.541 and I think what happened then was a kind of panic. 1245 01:00:19.625 --> 01:00:23.708 The psychological blow and the PR repercussions 1246 01:00:23.791 --> 01:00:26.541 of having lost a very important northern city 1247 01:00:26.625 --> 01:00:28.166 were enormous, 1248 01:00:28.250 --> 01:00:29.666 and so then there was a kind of 1249 01:00:29.750 --> 01:00:33.291 real scrambling to-to regain control, 1250 01:00:33.375 --> 01:00:38.166 and the American military made a really horrific error. 1251 01:00:38.250 --> 01:00:39.708 [man] Breaking news overnight-- 1252 01:00:39.791 --> 01:00:43.166 U.S. warplanes may have killed nine local staffers 1253 01:00:43.250 --> 01:00:46.500 at a medical clinic run by Doctors Without Borders. 1254 01:00:46.583 --> 01:00:48.458 The attack was in the provincial city of Kunduz. 1255 01:00:48.541 --> 01:00:52.916 The U.S. apparently was trying to dislodge Taliban insurgents 1256 01:00:53.000 --> 01:00:54.750 who had seized the city on Monday. 1257 01:00:54.833 --> 01:00:58.875 [Gossman] An American gunship targeted the hospital 1258 01:00:58.958 --> 01:01:02.583 and circled it and hit it repeatedly. 1259 01:01:03.708 --> 01:01:07.291 What's concerning, maybe, about how it unfolded 1260 01:01:07.375 --> 01:01:10.958 was that the Afghan forces operating there 1261 01:01:11.041 --> 01:01:14.333 had raided the hospital some point previously, 1262 01:01:14.416 --> 01:01:16.833 looking for wounded Taliban, 1263 01:01:16.916 --> 01:01:19.625 and were apparently quite unhappy with the fact 1264 01:01:19.708 --> 01:01:23.708 that MSF treated wounded Taliban in the facility, 1265 01:01:23.791 --> 01:01:27.166 whereas MSF, like any medical-care provider, 1266 01:01:27.250 --> 01:01:28.750 say that they treat anyone, 1267 01:01:28.833 --> 01:01:31.791 regardless of political affiliation. 1268 01:01:31.875 --> 01:01:33.083 [man] Our staff have reported 1269 01:01:33.166 --> 01:01:35.333 that there were no armed combatants 1270 01:01:35.416 --> 01:01:38.041 or active fighting in 1271 01:01:38.125 --> 01:01:41.500 or from the compound prior to the air strike. 1272 01:01:41.583 --> 01:01:43.166 [translator] Doctors were about to take me 1273 01:01:43.250 --> 01:01:45.833 to an operating theater when the bomb hit. 1274 01:01:45.916 --> 01:01:47.208 There were flames all around me. 1275 01:01:47.291 --> 01:01:51.125 I saw patients and doctors burn to death. 1276 01:01:51.208 --> 01:01:56.083 ♪♪♪ 1277 01:01:56.166 --> 01:01:57.916 [Gossman] Forty-three people died, 1278 01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:02.541 quite a number of them staff and patients... 1279 01:02:02.625 --> 01:02:05.166 including patients on the operating table at the time, 1280 01:02:05.250 --> 01:02:06.041 including children. 1281 01:02:06.125 --> 01:02:08.500 I mean, it was just horrific. 1282 01:02:08.583 --> 01:02:10.875 ♪♪♪ 1283 01:02:10.958 --> 01:02:12.333 And some of these forces that have carried out 1284 01:02:12.416 --> 01:02:13.791 these raids on medical facilities 1285 01:02:13.875 --> 01:02:16.083 are the ones we identified as being backed by, 1286 01:02:16.166 --> 01:02:20.750 trained, recruited by the American CIA. 1287 01:02:20.833 --> 01:02:23.250 ♪♪♪ 1288 01:02:23.333 --> 01:02:27.125 That hospital bombing after the siege of Kunduz 1289 01:02:27.208 --> 01:02:29.875 was pretty devastating. 1290 01:02:29.958 --> 01:02:32.875 A lot of innocent civilians were killed, 1291 01:02:32.958 --> 01:02:35.875 and war is war, and you can always say that, 1292 01:02:35.958 --> 01:02:38.083 but when innocent lives are lost, 1293 01:02:38.166 --> 01:02:41.000 it really does make it difficult to continue the work. 1294 01:02:43.291 --> 01:02:45.625 I saw a lot of horrific images, 1295 01:02:45.708 --> 01:02:47.583 and it's hard to deal with that 1296 01:02:47.666 --> 01:02:49.250 and learn how to process that, 1297 01:02:49.333 --> 01:02:55.000 but I learned and found a way to... 1298 01:02:55.083 --> 01:02:57.416 store those images 1299 01:02:57.500 --> 01:03:00.541 and those experiences in my heart without it destroying me. 1300 01:03:04.041 --> 01:03:07.166 You wake up in the morning, and you brush it off, 1301 01:03:07.250 --> 01:03:12.166 and there's always an emergency and something pressing 1302 01:03:12.250 --> 01:03:13.708 that's happening, and you don't have time 1303 01:03:13.791 --> 01:03:15.291 to necessarily process during the day, 1304 01:03:15.375 --> 01:03:19.791 so you just...you just go 150 miles per hour. 1305 01:03:19.875 --> 01:03:22.750 You go until you crash again. 1306 01:03:29.458 --> 01:03:31.958 [Sedney] It was seven o'clock at night 1307 01:03:32.041 --> 01:03:33.333 when the most number of students and faculty 1308 01:03:33.416 --> 01:03:36.375 and staff were here, and it was just 1309 01:03:36.458 --> 01:03:39.916 when people were going to their last class of the day. 1310 01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:43.458 The attackers loose off a couple of volleys. 1311 01:03:43.541 --> 01:03:45.958 One of them goes this way 1312 01:03:46.041 --> 01:03:48.416 and heads towards our escape route. 1313 01:03:48.500 --> 01:03:51.583 Another one goes in here to our main classroom building. 1314 01:03:51.666 --> 01:03:54.000 At that time, this-these doors were open. 1315 01:03:54.083 --> 01:03:56.416 We didn't have the-the heavy doors we have on them now. 1316 01:03:57.833 --> 01:04:01.541 It was, uh, the month of August 1317 01:04:01.625 --> 01:04:03.458 in 2016, 1318 01:04:03.541 --> 01:04:06.041 and I was expecting 1319 01:04:06.125 --> 01:04:08.833 that it's my last semester. 1320 01:04:10.083 --> 01:04:11.666 I was done with my classes, 1321 01:04:11.750 --> 01:04:13.458 and I went to offer the evening prayer, 1322 01:04:13.541 --> 01:04:18.166 and we were about to leave the mosque. 1323 01:04:18.250 --> 01:04:21.541 I heard some people shouting. 1324 01:04:21.625 --> 01:04:23.166 My friend immediately closed the door, 1325 01:04:23.250 --> 01:04:25.416 and she said-- she-she calls me Bresh-- 1326 01:04:25.500 --> 01:04:28.833 and she said, "Bresh, why is there gunshots?" 1327 01:04:28.916 --> 01:04:30.708 As she said that... 1328 01:04:30.791 --> 01:04:34.166 ♪♪♪ 1329 01:04:34.250 --> 01:04:37.000 ...the explosion happened, 1330 01:04:37.083 --> 01:04:40.000 and everything went dark. 1331 01:04:40.083 --> 01:04:40.833 [Qasemi] I saw myself on the ground 1332 01:04:40.916 --> 01:04:43.000 after a couple of minutes there, 1333 01:04:43.083 --> 01:04:45.750 and I realized that there was a huge, 1334 01:04:45.833 --> 01:04:47.625 um, hole in the back of my head. 1335 01:04:50.291 --> 01:04:53.791 American University campus in Kabul, Afghanistan, 1336 01:04:53.875 --> 01:04:55.333 is under attack as we speak. 1337 01:04:55.416 --> 01:04:58.375 At least one university guard is now dead. 1338 01:04:58.458 --> 01:05:01.208 Officials say that dozens of students and staff 1339 01:05:01.291 --> 01:05:05.000 are still trapped inside, their fate unknown. 1340 01:05:05.083 --> 01:05:07.416 [Musazai] Everybody was crying and screaming. 1341 01:05:07.500 --> 01:05:12.250 The terrorists said, "Don't scream," you know? 1342 01:05:12.333 --> 01:05:15.708 And then they started shooting. 1343 01:05:15.791 --> 01:05:17.875 ♪♪♪ 1344 01:05:17.958 --> 01:05:22.250 I felt that somebody's standing behind me, 1345 01:05:22.333 --> 01:05:25.583 and when I looked at him, he shot me, 1346 01:05:25.666 --> 01:05:28.416 and I pretended to be dead 1347 01:05:28.500 --> 01:05:32.666 because I thought this is the only way to... 1348 01:05:32.750 --> 01:05:34.375 to save myself. 1349 01:05:34.458 --> 01:05:38.541 ♪♪♪ 1350 01:05:44.208 --> 01:05:46.458 [Qasemi] I was bleeding so badly. 1351 01:05:46.541 --> 01:05:48.375 I was trying to remember what's happening 1352 01:05:48.458 --> 01:05:50.291 at the university, 1353 01:05:50.375 --> 01:05:53.666 and I remember what my father told me. 1354 01:05:53.750 --> 01:05:56.041 He said I can't come here, 1355 01:05:56.125 --> 01:06:00.750 and I regretted, um, to have not accepted what he told me. 1356 01:06:00.833 --> 01:06:04.875 ♪♪♪ 1357 01:06:04.958 --> 01:06:09.750 I thought, um, "It's a-it's a dream." 1358 01:06:09.833 --> 01:06:11.125 I wanted to wake up, 1359 01:06:11.208 --> 01:06:12.083 but then I realized it's not a dream. 1360 01:06:12.166 --> 01:06:14.916 It's reality. 1361 01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:16.958 [indistinct chatter] 1362 01:06:17.041 --> 01:06:21.500 ♪♪♪ 1363 01:06:21.583 --> 01:06:24.458 This university has educated more than 100 1364 01:06:24.541 --> 01:06:27.750 top government officials, young people. 1365 01:06:27.833 --> 01:06:29.541 Afghanistan is a very young country, 1366 01:06:29.625 --> 01:06:31.958 where 75 percent of its population 1367 01:06:32.041 --> 01:06:35.000 is below the age of 25, 1368 01:06:35.083 --> 01:06:38.291 so the attack against the American University 1369 01:06:38.375 --> 01:06:39.833 is an attack against Afghanistan's future. 1370 01:06:39.916 --> 01:06:45.875 ♪♪♪ 1371 01:06:46.916 --> 01:06:50.333 We're numb to so many things in Afghanistan. 1372 01:06:50.416 --> 01:06:53.750 I mean, someone described PTSD to me, 1373 01:06:53.833 --> 01:06:57.166 and I think that as Afghans-as Afghans, 1374 01:06:57.250 --> 01:06:57.875 we collectively suffer from it. 1375 01:06:57.958 --> 01:07:03.875 ♪♪♪ 1376 01:07:03.958 --> 01:07:05.000 [siren wailing] 1377 01:07:05.083 --> 01:07:08.791 [man] Unsafe now are Afghanistan's journalists. 1378 01:07:08.875 --> 01:07:13.708 A bus carrying TOLO TV employees was the target. 1379 01:07:16.416 --> 01:07:20.166 [Mohseni] We have lost 13 colleagues in three years, 1380 01:07:20.250 --> 01:07:21.500 and they were kids that we employed, 1381 01:07:21.583 --> 01:07:25.083 and they were members of our family. 1382 01:07:25.166 --> 01:07:26.583 ♪♪♪ 1383 01:07:26.666 --> 01:07:30.125 It's not just a question of these young kids 1384 01:07:30.208 --> 01:07:31.375 leaving us far too early. 1385 01:07:31.458 --> 01:07:33.416 It's also their families. 1386 01:07:33.500 --> 01:07:35.708 Sometimes they were the breadwinners 1387 01:07:35.791 --> 01:07:37.500 of an entire clan. 1388 01:07:37.583 --> 01:07:39.375 ♪♪♪ 1389 01:07:39.458 --> 01:07:43.541 It brings home how serious, 1390 01:07:43.625 --> 01:07:45.708 you know, what we do is and... 1391 01:07:45.791 --> 01:07:47.583 and how dangerous it is, and, you know, 1392 01:07:47.666 --> 01:07:51.666 we've created this culture of telling the truth, 1393 01:07:51.750 --> 01:07:53.666 of pushing boundaries, 1394 01:07:53.750 --> 01:07:55.375 so there's an element of guilt 1395 01:07:55.458 --> 01:07:58.208 that we have exposed these people. 1396 01:07:58.291 --> 01:07:59.291 [man] The Taliban said it meant 1397 01:07:59.375 --> 01:08:00.875 to target the journalists, 1398 01:08:00.958 --> 01:08:04.250 that the channel had accused their fighters of raping women 1399 01:08:04.333 --> 01:08:07.666 when they briefly seized the city of Kunduz last year. 1400 01:08:09.333 --> 01:08:11.916 You think it through, and then you think, you seriously think, 1401 01:08:12.000 --> 01:08:14.791 "Do we need to do this? Is it that important? 1402 01:08:14.875 --> 01:08:16.207 If we can save a life, 1403 01:08:16.291 --> 01:08:18.750 is it worth having a news outlet?" 1404 01:08:18.833 --> 01:08:21.082 ♪♪♪ 1405 01:08:21.166 --> 01:08:22.582 For the Taliban, 1406 01:08:22.667 --> 01:08:25.917 their ideology is so important for them, 1407 01:08:26.000 --> 01:08:28.332 and the values that we push, 1408 01:08:28.417 --> 01:08:29.833 whether it's women's rights and so forth, 1409 01:08:29.917 --> 01:08:32.500 goes very much against what they believe in. 1410 01:08:33.417 --> 01:08:35.542 But also, I think that we represent the new Afghanistan 1411 01:08:35.625 --> 01:08:39.417 because the country has moved on, 1412 01:08:39.500 --> 01:08:42.667 and for them, it's difficult to accept that. 1413 01:08:51.917 --> 01:08:56.958 [Semple] I take some hope from the fact that now Afghans 1414 01:08:57.041 --> 01:08:59.125 on both sides of the conflict, 1415 01:08:59.207 --> 01:09:00.792 they're incredibly tired of this war. 1416 01:09:00.875 --> 01:09:03.875 They're not baying for blood. They want to see an end to it. 1417 01:09:03.958 --> 01:09:06.207 With people I trust amongst the Taliban, 1418 01:09:06.291 --> 01:09:08.625 we're involved in a collective effort to make sense 1419 01:09:08.708 --> 01:09:09.958 about what's going on inside their own movement, 1420 01:09:10.041 --> 01:09:13.917 about what's going on in Kabul and amongst the-the-- 1421 01:09:14.000 --> 01:09:15.082 you know, the non-Taliban Afghans, 1422 01:09:15.166 --> 01:09:19.166 and making sense of what the United States is doing. 1423 01:09:19.250 --> 01:09:22.207 speaking native language 1424 01:09:23.667 --> 01:09:26.457 United States had a very difficult time, 1425 01:09:26.542 --> 01:09:30.332 almost from the beginning of the Afghan War, 1426 01:09:30.417 --> 01:09:31.582 deciding whether the Taliban 1427 01:09:31.667 --> 01:09:34.917 was an enemy of the United States. 1428 01:09:35.000 --> 01:09:37.250 Are they a threat to the United States? 1429 01:09:37.332 --> 01:09:40.291 Well, they're a threat to our ally in Afghanistan, 1430 01:09:40.375 --> 01:09:45.207 but no Taliban, uh, has declared an intention 1431 01:09:45.291 --> 01:09:46.833 to strike the United States, 1432 01:09:46.917 --> 01:09:49.625 certainly not in an official way. 1433 01:09:49.708 --> 01:09:51.457 In fact, they say the opposite-- 1434 01:09:51.542 --> 01:09:52.332 "We're only fighting you 1435 01:09:52.417 --> 01:09:53.958 because you're here in our country. 1436 01:09:54.041 --> 01:09:56.125 If you get out of our country, we'll leave you alone." 1437 01:09:56.207 --> 01:09:57.917 [Schroen] Right now the Taliban, 1438 01:09:58.000 --> 01:10:01.166 they don't like ISIS any more than we do, 1439 01:10:01.250 --> 01:10:03.708 so there's a war going on there 1440 01:10:03.792 --> 01:10:06.332 while the Taliban still blow up people in-in Kabul 1441 01:10:06.417 --> 01:10:08.500 and around the country. 1442 01:10:08.582 --> 01:10:09.750 [Martin] I do think, at this point, 1443 01:10:09.833 --> 01:10:13.625 the Taliban may have learned their lesson 1444 01:10:13.708 --> 01:10:16.542 about harboring al-Qaeda. 1445 01:10:16.625 --> 01:10:18.041 Now, why they're after Americans now? 1446 01:10:18.125 --> 01:10:19.207 Because they're in Afghanistan. 1447 01:10:19.291 --> 01:10:20.542 We're there. 1448 01:10:20.625 --> 01:10:24.708 And for the Taliban and for- for Afghanistan in general, 1449 01:10:24.792 --> 01:10:28.582 the way to communicate is, you hurt them till they leave. 1450 01:10:28.667 --> 01:10:32.375 They did it to the Russians, you know, 1451 01:10:32.457 --> 01:10:34.958 and-and they're doing it to us. 1452 01:10:35.041 --> 01:10:36.833 [man] An American soldier is dead tonight 1453 01:10:36.917 --> 01:10:38.417 after a Taliban car bomb exploded 1454 01:10:38.500 --> 01:10:40.207 in Kabul, Afghanistan. 1455 01:10:40.291 --> 01:10:43.417 Ten civilians and a military soldier from Romania 1456 01:10:43.500 --> 01:10:44.875 also killed in that attack, 1457 01:10:44.958 --> 01:10:47.875 which comes as the U.S. tries to finalize a peace deal. 1458 01:10:48.625 --> 01:10:50.375 [Waldman] I'm really interested 1459 01:10:50.457 --> 01:10:51.750 in that whole incident, 1460 01:10:51.833 --> 01:10:55.082 partly because there was a video someone took 1461 01:10:55.166 --> 01:10:56.250 right when it happened, 1462 01:10:56.332 --> 01:10:59.667 and there's an Afghan man who-- 1463 01:10:59.750 --> 01:11:00.708 I think he sees the truck or van 1464 01:11:00.792 --> 01:11:03.582 kind of coming on to the sidewalk, 1465 01:11:03.667 --> 01:11:06.750 and you can see he knows, and he starts to run, 1466 01:11:06.833 --> 01:11:11.332 and then he dies when it blows up. 1467 01:11:11.417 --> 01:11:14.833 That video went really viral, and it was such a sad story 1468 01:11:14.917 --> 01:11:18.291 'cause it was-- I think he was a shopkeeper, 1469 01:11:18.375 --> 01:11:20.582 and he usually sent his assistant to do something 1470 01:11:20.667 --> 01:11:21.417 but decided that day to give his assistant a break 1471 01:11:21.500 --> 01:11:22.582 and he would go do it. 1472 01:11:22.667 --> 01:11:24.708 I can't remember the exact story, 1473 01:11:24.792 --> 01:11:28.375 but something about that moment 1474 01:11:28.457 --> 01:11:32.833 and people seeing him kind of know what's coming 1475 01:11:32.917 --> 01:11:34.082 and try to escape, 1476 01:11:34.166 --> 01:11:37.291 I think every Afghan saw themselves in that, 1477 01:11:37.375 --> 01:11:39.625 and that's why people just kept watching it 1478 01:11:39.708 --> 01:11:40.958 over and over and over, 1479 01:11:41.041 --> 01:11:43.625 but that is what life has become, you know? 1480 01:11:43.708 --> 01:11:44.833 You're just waiting 1481 01:11:44.917 --> 01:11:48.291 or hoping you can outrun whatever's coming. 1482 01:11:48.375 --> 01:11:52.958 ♪♪♪ 1483 01:11:53.041 --> 01:11:54.582 [Trump] We're like policemen. We're not fighting a war. 1484 01:11:54.667 --> 01:11:57.250 If we wanted to fight a war in Afghanistan and win it, 1485 01:11:57.332 --> 01:12:00.207 I could win that war in a week. 1486 01:12:00.291 --> 01:12:02.500 I just don't want to kill ten million people. 1487 01:12:02.582 --> 01:12:03.833 Does that make sense to you? 1488 01:12:03.917 --> 01:12:05.457 I don't want to kill ten million people. 1489 01:12:05.542 --> 01:12:07.625 I have plans on Afghanistan 1490 01:12:07.708 --> 01:12:11.082 that if I wanted to win that war, 1491 01:12:11.166 --> 01:12:14.082 Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth. 1492 01:12:14.166 --> 01:12:15.375 It would be gone. 1493 01:12:15.457 --> 01:12:18.166 It would be over in-- literally in ten days, 1494 01:12:18.250 --> 01:12:21.958 and I don't want to do-- I don't want to go that route. 1495 01:12:22.041 --> 01:12:25.375 United States does not owe us anything. 1496 01:12:25.457 --> 01:12:29.833 They can pull out any second they wish, 1497 01:12:29.917 --> 01:12:32.542 but what will be the interpretation 1498 01:12:32.667 --> 01:12:35.207 of this pullout? 1499 01:12:35.332 --> 01:12:38.082 There will be, whether you like it or not, 1500 01:12:38.207 --> 01:12:39.792 a domino effect. 1501 01:12:41.082 --> 01:12:44.375 This will be celebration for terrorists. 1502 01:12:44.500 --> 01:12:48.708 The mightiest power in the globe running away, 1503 01:12:48.792 --> 01:12:51.041 leaving the scene to who? 1504 01:12:51.166 --> 01:12:53.207 I'm not saying they must stay. 1505 01:12:53.250 --> 01:12:56.082 I mean, they-they can leave any moment they wish. 1506 01:12:56.207 --> 01:12:58.833 [Maddox] Seeing what we've seen in Afghanistan 1507 01:12:58.875 --> 01:13:02.375 and our involvement in it, being our longest-running war, 1508 01:13:02.500 --> 01:13:04.625 the theory is kind of panning out. 1509 01:13:06.708 --> 01:13:10.625 I don't see how this war can be won. 1510 01:13:11.958 --> 01:13:15.417 A bombshell series of investigative reports 1511 01:13:15.500 --> 01:13:16.750 in The Washington Post 1512 01:13:16.833 --> 01:13:17.958 exposing heartbreaking truths 1513 01:13:18.041 --> 01:13:20.792 about the U.S. war in Afghanistan, 1514 01:13:20.833 --> 01:13:23.082 which has claimed some 2,400 U.S. lives 1515 01:13:23.166 --> 01:13:26.708 and cost nearly a trillion dollars. 1516 01:13:26.792 --> 01:13:28.041 [Whitlock] The first thing we did, 1517 01:13:28.125 --> 01:13:29.582 the first story was just to show 1518 01:13:29.667 --> 01:13:31.166 that disconnect between what they were saying in public 1519 01:13:31.250 --> 01:13:32.417 and what they were saying privately, 1520 01:13:32.500 --> 01:13:33.250 but then, as you pointed out, 1521 01:13:33.332 --> 01:13:35.291 we-we focus on certain themes, 1522 01:13:35.375 --> 01:13:36.833 certain core failings of the war. 1523 01:13:36.917 --> 01:13:40.792 That's the gist of-of the series. 1524 01:13:40.833 --> 01:13:42.166 A new report claims that the American people 1525 01:13:42.250 --> 01:13:44.958 were misled about the War in Afghanistan. 1526 01:13:45.041 --> 01:13:47.833 A Washington Post investigation looked at nearly 2,000 pages 1527 01:13:47.917 --> 01:13:49.792 of internal government documents 1528 01:13:49.833 --> 01:13:51.291 and found that senior U.S. officials 1529 01:13:51.375 --> 01:13:53.750 did not tell the truth. 1530 01:13:53.833 --> 01:13:55.291 [Fallis] "Built to Fail. 1531 01:13:55.375 --> 01:13:57.792 Despite vows the U.S. wouldn't get mired in nation building, 1532 01:13:57.833 --> 01:13:59.917 it has wasted billions doing just that." 1533 01:14:01.375 --> 01:14:03.250 Uh, "Consumed by Corruption. 1534 01:14:03.332 --> 01:14:05.250 The U.S. flooded the country with money 1535 01:14:05.332 --> 01:14:07.250 and then turned a blind eye to the graft it fueled." 1536 01:14:07.332 --> 01:14:08.625 "Unguarded Nation. 1537 01:14:08.708 --> 01:14:10.792 Afghan security forces, despite years of training, 1538 01:14:10.917 --> 01:14:13.082 were dogged by incompetence and corruption." 1539 01:14:13.125 --> 01:14:18.041 And the last day, uh, "Overwhelmed by Opium. 1540 01:14:18.125 --> 01:14:19.958 The U.S. war on drugs in Afghanistan 1541 01:14:20.082 --> 01:14:22.792 has imploded at nearly every turn." 1542 01:14:22.833 --> 01:14:24.792 [Whitlock] I think the main headline is that, you know, 1543 01:14:24.917 --> 01:14:28.125 for 18 years, U.S. government, generals, 1544 01:14:28.250 --> 01:14:29.041 ambassadors, diplomats 1545 01:14:29.125 --> 01:14:31.457 were giving rosy pronouncements 1546 01:14:31.542 --> 01:14:32.792 about the War in Afghanistan, 1547 01:14:32.875 --> 01:14:35.833 even though they knew the war was not going well 1548 01:14:35.917 --> 01:14:37.207 or it was failing 1549 01:14:37.291 --> 01:14:39.500 or that they had profound doubts about the strategy. 1550 01:14:39.582 --> 01:14:41.958 So, in public, they were saying one thing 1551 01:14:42.041 --> 01:14:43.582 about how they were making progress 1552 01:14:43.667 --> 01:14:45.833 and this was a war worth fighting. 1553 01:14:45.917 --> 01:14:47.250 In private, 1554 01:14:47.332 --> 01:14:49.417 they admitted they had no idea what they were doing. 1555 01:14:49.500 --> 01:14:51.750 [man] "We didn't know what we were doing," 1556 01:14:51.833 --> 01:14:54.667 said now-retired Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, 1557 01:14:54.750 --> 01:14:58.958 who was the Afghan war czar for Presidents Bush and Obama. 1558 01:14:59.041 --> 01:15:01.457 I can't think of another war 1559 01:15:01.542 --> 01:15:04.417 where you have the generals in charge of it 1560 01:15:04.500 --> 01:15:07.625 admitting that their strategy was fatally flawed, 1561 01:15:07.708 --> 01:15:10.375 and to say that in such raw terms, 1562 01:15:10.457 --> 01:15:13.375 it's not just news, it's-it's history. 1563 01:15:13.457 --> 01:15:15.958 [man] We simply didn't know what we were doing. 1564 01:15:16.041 --> 01:15:20.000 It wasn't even mission creep. It was mission fantasy. 1565 01:15:20.082 --> 01:15:23.332 How do we ever believe in our military people in the future? 1566 01:15:23.417 --> 01:15:25.207 I mean, it's like a spouse who's been cheated on. 1567 01:15:25.291 --> 01:15:26.582 How do I ever trust you again? 1568 01:15:26.667 --> 01:15:28.250 In a country increasingly divided every day, 1569 01:15:28.332 --> 01:15:29.750 it's nice to learn that there's one issue 1570 01:15:29.833 --> 01:15:31.917 that brings America's leaders together-- 1571 01:15:32.000 --> 01:15:33.207 lying about war. 1572 01:15:33.291 --> 01:15:36.291 ♪ dramatic music ♪ 1573 01:15:36.375 --> 01:15:39.041 ♪♪♪ 1574 01:15:39.125 --> 01:15:41.207 [Whitlock] I think the American public 1575 01:15:41.291 --> 01:15:42.166 has always wanted to support the war. 1576 01:15:42.250 --> 01:15:44.166 They wanted to support the troops here. 1577 01:15:44.250 --> 01:15:46.708 This is very different from Iraq or other conflicts 1578 01:15:46.792 --> 01:15:48.250 around the world, and-- but over time, 1579 01:15:48.332 --> 01:15:51.875 it's become clear, I think, to the American people 1580 01:15:51.958 --> 01:15:53.250 that this wasn't working out as intended. 1581 01:15:53.332 --> 01:15:56.833 It took years and years much longer than they thought, 1582 01:15:56.917 --> 01:15:59.332 and they've heard three presidents talk about this. 1583 01:15:59.417 --> 01:16:01.041 And they knew it didn't add up. 1584 01:16:01.125 --> 01:16:05.708 ♪♪♪ 1585 01:16:05.792 --> 01:16:07.875 [Gossman] Building schools and protecting women's rights 1586 01:16:07.958 --> 01:16:10.708 and so on, that's not what this war is about. 1587 01:16:10.792 --> 01:16:11.750 Those have always been secondary 1588 01:16:11.833 --> 01:16:13.082 to the primary objective, 1589 01:16:13.166 --> 01:16:18.542 which has been to hunt Taliban and al-Qaeda. 1590 01:16:18.625 --> 01:16:20.291 The secret detentions, the torture, 1591 01:16:20.375 --> 01:16:25.375 ceaseless night raids, air strikes, drone attacks, 1592 01:16:25.457 --> 01:16:29.207 when I said it's a CIA war, meaning they've sort of set 1593 01:16:29.291 --> 01:16:32.750 the priorities for the war, 1594 01:16:32.833 --> 01:16:36.750 and for the Afghans, this is a never-ending war, 1595 01:16:36.833 --> 01:16:39.582 and many of them have seen nothing but. 1596 01:16:39.667 --> 01:16:44.082 ♪♪♪ 1597 01:16:44.166 --> 01:16:46.667 The U.S. and the Taliban have just signed 1598 01:16:46.750 --> 01:16:49.582 a landmark agreement that could finally lead 1599 01:16:49.667 --> 01:16:52.667 to an end of hostilities in Afghanistan. 1600 01:16:52.750 --> 01:16:56.250 After two decades of war, the U.S. and the Afghan Taliban 1601 01:16:56.332 --> 01:16:58.542 have just signed a long-awaited deal 1602 01:16:58.625 --> 01:17:00.250 aimed at paving the way to peace 1603 01:17:00.332 --> 01:17:02.542 and the departure of foreign troops. 1604 01:17:02.625 --> 01:17:03.375 [man] Not part of the deal? 1605 01:17:03.457 --> 01:17:05.250 Any commitments from the Taliban 1606 01:17:05.332 --> 01:17:07.041 to protect the civil rights of people 1607 01:17:07.125 --> 01:17:08.500 they so brutally repressed 1608 01:17:08.625 --> 01:17:11.375 when last in power, particularly women. 1609 01:17:11.457 --> 01:17:14.625 [Saleh] Afghanistan has suffered for 40 years, 1610 01:17:14.708 --> 01:17:16.291 so it's very hard to see how this country 1611 01:17:16.375 --> 01:17:17.375 is going to be able to pull together. 1612 01:17:17.457 --> 01:17:19.958 The coming days and months are going to decide 1613 01:17:20.041 --> 01:17:21.291 whether peace in Afghanistan is going to move 1614 01:17:21.375 --> 01:17:24.958 from a signed document to reality on the ground. 1615 01:17:25.041 --> 01:17:29.417 I really believe the Taliban wants to do something to show 1616 01:17:29.500 --> 01:17:32.750 that we're not all wasting time. 1617 01:17:32.833 --> 01:17:35.417 If bad things happen, we'll go back. 1618 01:17:35.500 --> 01:17:40.375 ♪♪♪ 1619 01:17:42.207 --> 01:17:43.375 [Maddox] Meeting with Afghans, you can tell 1620 01:17:43.457 --> 01:17:48.875 they've lost faith in their American counterparts 1621 01:17:48.958 --> 01:17:51.750 because of the historical flip-flopping 1622 01:17:51.833 --> 01:17:53.958 and pulling back and pushing back into areas, 1623 01:17:54.041 --> 01:17:57.250 and you can see in their eyes 1624 01:17:57.332 --> 01:18:01.667 the weariness and frustration, 1625 01:18:01.750 --> 01:18:03.166 'cause it's their country. 1626 01:18:03.250 --> 01:18:07.500 It's their families, and it's their people, 1627 01:18:07.582 --> 01:18:11.207 and we come and go... 1628 01:18:11.291 --> 01:18:13.125 and that hurts. 1629 01:18:17.500 --> 01:18:21.207 After the attack, I went to the United States. 1630 01:18:21.291 --> 01:18:25.166 My medical treatment was sponsored 1631 01:18:25.250 --> 01:18:29.500 by a hospital in Dallas. 1632 01:18:29.582 --> 01:18:33.417 I spent six months in the hospital, 1633 01:18:33.500 --> 01:18:37.792 and many people told me to stay there in the U.S., 1634 01:18:37.875 --> 01:18:40.457 but I really wanted to graduate, 1635 01:18:40.542 --> 01:18:45.250 and also, I wanted to come back to Afghanistan. 1636 01:18:45.332 --> 01:18:48.917 I don't know, but I wanted to come back. 1637 01:18:49.000 --> 01:18:50.291 [Qasemi] I don't hate those people 1638 01:18:50.375 --> 01:18:51.917 who attacked my university, 1639 01:18:52.000 --> 01:18:54.417 because one day, with the education I receive, 1640 01:18:54.500 --> 01:19:00.207 I want to bring a change that will affect their children. 1641 01:19:00.291 --> 01:19:03.457 [Musazai] Educated people are leaving the country 1642 01:19:03.542 --> 01:19:07.667 because of insecurity, but if everybody leaves, 1643 01:19:07.750 --> 01:19:10.291 who will do something for the country? 1644 01:19:10.375 --> 01:19:12.500 [applause] 1645 01:19:14.041 --> 01:19:16.291 We cannot just depend 1646 01:19:16.375 --> 01:19:21.250 on the United States for peace. 1647 01:19:21.332 --> 01:19:24.792 So I think I have the responsibility to work for it, 1648 01:19:24.875 --> 01:19:26.917 because this is the time. 1649 01:19:27.000 --> 01:19:29.250 The country is in need. 1650 01:19:30.750 --> 01:19:32.417 [Mohseni] Afghanistan is the youngest country 1651 01:19:32.500 --> 01:19:34.291 outside of Africa, median age of 18. 1652 01:19:34.375 --> 01:19:35.917 I think 60 percent of the population 1653 01:19:36.000 --> 01:19:38.457 is under the age of 20, 1654 01:19:38.542 --> 01:19:40.166 so there's certainly this appetite, 1655 01:19:40.250 --> 01:19:42.667 this capacity to embrace change. 1656 01:19:42.750 --> 01:19:44.625 [indistinct chatter] 1657 01:19:44.708 --> 01:19:47.958 ♪♪♪ 1658 01:19:48.041 --> 01:19:49.833 You know, in life, you get one shot 1659 01:19:49.917 --> 01:19:54.250 at doing something that is impactful. 1660 01:19:54.332 --> 01:19:56.542 Whether we're successful or not is another story, 1661 01:19:56.625 --> 01:19:58.792 but we-we've tried. 1662 01:19:58.875 --> 01:20:01.125 ♪♪♪ 1663 01:20:01.207 --> 01:20:02.833 buwee' ted 1664 01:20:02.917 --> 01:20:04.750 ♪♪