President Donald Trump Delivers 'Somber Speech' On Afghanistan | Morning Joe

COMMENTARY MAGAZINE AND JONATHAN LA MERE.
LAST NIGHT AS YOU KNOW PRESIDENT TRUMP UNVEILED IT WAS BILLED AS
A NEW APPROACH TO AFGHANISTAN. THE 30-MINUTE SPEECH MARKED A
MAJOR POLICY REVERSAL FOR DONALD TRUMP WHO IN THE PAST HAS URGED
THE UNITED STATES TO GET OUT OF AFGHANISTAN.
>> MY ORIGINAL INSTINCT WAS TO PULL OUT AND HISTORICALLY I LIKE
FOLLOWING MY INSTINCTS, BUT ALL MY LIFE I'VE HEARD THAT
DECISIONS ARE MUCH DIFFERENT WHEN YOU SIT BEHIND THE DESK IN
THE OVAL OFFICE, IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN YOU'RE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES. A CORE PILLAR OF OUR NEW
STRATEGY IS A SHIFT FROM A TIME-BASED APPROACH TO ONE BASED
ON CONDITIONS. I'VE SAID IT MANY TIMES HOW
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE IT IS FOR THE UNITED STATES TO ANNOUNCE IN
ADVANCE THE DATES WE INTEND TO BEGIN OR END MILITARY OPTIONS.
WE WILL NOT TALK ABOUT NUMBER OF TROOPS OR OUR PLANS FOR FURTHER
MILITARY ACTIVITIES.TIES. WE ARE A PARTNER AND A FRIEND,
BUT WE WILL NOT DICTATE TO THE AFGHAN PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE OR HOW
TO GOVERN THEIR OWN COMPLEX SOCIETY.
WE ARE NOT NATION BUILDING AGAIN.
WE ARE KILLING TERRORISTS. WE CAN NO LONGER BEING SILENT
ABOUT PAKISTAN'S SAFE HAVEN FOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, THE
TALIBAN AND OTHER GROUPS THAT POSE A THREAT TO THE REGION AND
BEYOND. IT'S TIME FOR PAKISTAN TO
DEMONSTRATE ITS COMMITMENT TO ORDER AND TO PIECE.
AND INDIA IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST DEMOCRACY AND KEY PARTNER TO THE
UNITED STATES. >> DAVID IGNATIUS, AROUND THIS
SET SINCE JANUARY 20th THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO
SAID, WELL, WE DIDN'T VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP BUT WE JUST HOPED
AT THE VERY LEAST THE MAGNITUDE OF THE OFFICE AND
RESPONSIBILITIES WOULD WEIGH ON HIM ENOUGH THAT HE WOULD
MODERATE SOME OF HIS THINKING, SOME OF HIS VIEWS, SOME OF HIS
BAD HABITS. LAST NIGHT HE ADMITTED IN ONE
WAY THE WEIGHT OF THIS OFFICE, THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE
COMMANDER IN CHIEF DID GET HIM TO CHANGE A VIEW AND THAT IS ON
AFGHANISTAN. WHEN YOU SIT BEHIND THAT DESK
AND YOU UNDERSTAND FOR THE FIRST TIME WE CAN'T WIN IN AFGHANISTAN
BUT WE SURE AS HELL CAN LOSE THERE.
>> I THINK YOU PUT IT JUST RIGHT.
IT WAS A SOMBER SPEECH. IT DIDN'T HAVE ANY HYPERBOLE.
THIS WAS STRAIGHT FORWARD AND YOU HAD A PRESIDENT WHO REALLY
HAD WANTED TO GET OUT OF A WAR HE THOUGHT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE AND
NOW AFTER WORKING WITH HIS GENERALS, WORKING WITH HIS
ADVISERS, HE HAS CONCLUDED THAT EVEN IF HE DIDN'T HAVE A PLAN TO

OF IT, HE DOES KNOW THAT WALKING AWAY IN EFFECT SURRENDERING THIS
COMMITMENT THAT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR 16 YEARS WOULD BE A MISTAKE.
HE NEEDS THE PLATFORM IN AFGHANISTAN TO CONDUCT
OPERATIONS. IN PAKISTAN IT'S THE CORE OF
WHAT HE DECIDED TO DO. IT'S TOO VALUABLE TO THE U.S. TO
GIVE UP RIGHT NOW. BUT WE'RE BACK IN THE SAME WORLD
OF PRESSURINGURING PAKISTAN, CA AND STICKS FOR PAKISTAN.
HE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT NATION BUILDING FOR AFGHANISTAN BUT
INEVITABLY WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO BUILD AN ARMY, IT'S IMPLICIT.
THE REALITY CAUGHT UP AND HE CHANGED HIS PLANS.
>> AND IT'S SOMETHING OUR LEADERS WILL HAVE TO BE MORE
HONEST ABOUT. I REMEMBER IN 2004 AND 2005,
DOES SENDING TROOPS TO IRAQ, HOW BADLY DOES IT AFFECT US.
HE SAID THIS ISN'T A WAR WITH AFGHANISTAN, IT'S A WAR WITH
AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN AND WE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIGHT
THAT WAR. THE BEST WE CAN DO IS NOT LOSE
THE WAR. THAT WAS 13 YEARS AGO, 12, 13
YEARS AGO IT'S THE SAME REALITY. AND EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE LIKE ME
DON'T LIKE TO HEAR THIS AND MOST AMERICANS DON'T LIKE TO HEAR IT,
WE JUST MUST BE IN A SITUATION LIKE WE'RE IN AFTER THE KOREAN
WAR WHERE LEAVING WAS NOT AN OPTION AND PEOPLE LIKE ME
THOUGHT LEAVING WAS AN OPTION UNTIL I SAW WHAT HAPPENED WHEN
WE JUST LEFT IRAQ. >> JOE, YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON
IT. THE PRESIDENT MADE THE POINT
THAT WE'VE SEEN WITH A HASTY WITHDRAWL DOES.
AND THE RESULT OF DOING THAT WAS TO CREATE A VACUUM AND INTO THAT
VACUUM CAME ISIS. WE ALL WATCHED IT, WE ALL
LEARNED THAT SAME LESSON. I FOUND MYSELF THINKING --
WATCHING THE PRESIDENT LAST NIGHT HOW HARD IT MUST HAVE BEEN
TO TALK TO GENERAL KELLY, WHO LOST A SON IN AFGHANISTAN AND TO
TRY TO THINK HOW HE WOULD TELL GENERAL KELLY HE WAS GOING TO
FOLLOW THROUGH ON HIS PLAN TO JUST PULL OUT OF THERE.
COULD YOU LOOK JOHNSON KELLY IN THE EYE AND SAY THE SACRIFICE
YOUR SON MADE, THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE WASN'T IMPORTANT
ENOUGH TO KEEP ON THE GROUND. THERE'S VERY LITTLE ENTHUSIASM
FOR THIS POLICY TODAY BUT NOT A SINGLE PERSON THERE CAN BEAR THE
THOUGHT OF WALKING AWAY. >> MARK HALPERIN, I DON'T KNOW
THAT REALITIES ON THE GROUND ARE ANY DIFFERENT IN 2017 THAN THEY
WERE IN EARLY 2003, LET'S SAY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, AMERICA,
IF AMERICA LEAVES, THERE WILL BE A HORRIFIC VOID.
SO DONALD TRUMP HAD A WILL THE OF SIMPLISTIC SLOGANS DURING THE
CAMPAIGN, HE SAID A LOT OF THINGS THAT MADE CROWDS CHEER.
THERE'S NOTHING EASY, THERE'S NOTHING SIMPLE, THERE'S NOTHING
PAT ABOUT OUR POLICY IN AFGHANISTAN NOW.
WHAT'S THE TAKE AWAY AND WHAT'S THE POLITICAL IMPACT?
>> BITTER IRONY THAT PRETTY MUCH THE HARDEST THING IN THE
PRESIDENT'S IN BOX LEADS TO ROUGHLY THE SAME CONCLUSION.
YOU CAN'T WALK AWAY. LOOK AT THE AL BAN TO COME TO
THE NETTING TABLE. RYE TROO I TO CHANG THE
FOUNDATION OF AFGHANISTAN. >> AND DO PEOPLE THINK THE
TALIBAN IS GOING TO NEGOTIATE IN GOOD FAITH, DO PEOPLE THINK
AFGHAN'S AND YET THOSE ARE ALL PART OF THIS PRESIDENT'S PLAN.
HE SAID HE'D BE A CANDIDATE OF CHANGE EXCLUING VERY
INTERESTINGLY ON THIS ISSUE AND WHILE A LOT OF THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE MAY NOT LIKE IT, YOU LOOK AT THE REACTION FROM CONGRESS,
INCLUDING FROM SOME DEMOCRATS BUT A LOT OF ESTABLISH
REPUBLICANS, THEY APPLAUD IT. AND PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE LONGER
ARC OF THE PROCESS OF PEOPLE THE PRESIDENT ON TOP ISSUES, THIS
WAS CLEARLY ONE OF THE MORE DELIBERATIVE PROCESS THE
PRESIDENT HAS BEEN TO. I'LL SAY TO CONCLUDE IT IS A
BITTER THING FROM A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WANTED CHANGE.
>> JULIE PACE INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE.
AND PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND MILITARY TACTICS AND HAVE
ACTUALLY FOUGHT IN WARS CAN BE IN THERE AND HAVE A STRNG VOICE,
CAN YOU TAKE THAT PART OF IT. BUT IT'S ALSO THE FACT THAT THE
PRESIDENT DOES LISTEN TO GENERALS.
SO HERE'S A PRESIDENT WHO DOESN'T EVEN LISTEN TO
SCIENTISTS SAYING DON'T STARE INTO THE SUN DURING A SOLAR
ECLIPSE BUT IT APPEARS TIME SPENT AT CAMP DAVID WAS WORTH
IT. THERE WAS A REASONED, THOUGHTFUL
PROCESS THIS OUR NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM WALKED THROUGH.
>> AND EVEN BEFORE THAT BIG MEETING AT CAMP DAVID LAST WEEK,
THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST DETAILED, MOST THOROUGH
PROCESSES WE'VE SEEN IN WOULD YOU GO.
AND THESE QUICKLY WERE ROD OUT QUICKLY FROM THE GENERAL KRNS TO
TRUMP IN A DETAILED PLAN, MAKE THE CASE IN A SUSTAINED WAY THAT
APPEALED TO HIS OWN INTEREST. >>.
>> AND WHAT IS THE OUTCOME HERE? >> THOSE ARE QUESTIONS THAT
SEEMS UNWINNABLE FOR TWO PRESIDENIES NOW.
HE'S TAKING THIS ON BECAUSE HIS GENERALS HAVE TOLD HIM THE
CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE DISASTROUS.
TRUMP DOES NOT WANT TO BE A PRESIDENT WHO CREATES A VACUUM,
WHO ALLOWS AFGHANISTAN TO TURN BACK INTO A LAUNCHING PAD FOR
TERROR ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES.
>> AND THAT IS AT THE END OF THE DAY, JOSH, ANY PRESIDENT THAT
FACES THIS, FACES JUST A LOT OF BAD OPTIONS.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DECISION, HE STRUGGLED OVER IT FOR SO LONG.
I THINK 2009 AND JUST STRUGGLED WITH IT.
AT SOME POINT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT VICTORY IN AFGHANISTAN
MEANS THERE WASN'T A TERROR ATTACK AGAINST THE BUILDING IN
YORK OR WASHINGTON TODAY. >> HAD IT COMES TO AFGHANISTAN
POLICY THAT, IS THE ROUTE OF ROO EVERY -- FROM AFGHANISTAN.
AND HE CAMPAIGNED ON DECIMATING CORE AL QAEDA.
BASED ON THE STRATEGY THAT INVOLVED A SURGE OF MILITARY
RESOURCES ANDND A NEW DIPLOMACY BEING EFFORT, WHICH IS KEY HERE
AND WASN'T TALKED ABOUT LAST NIGHT, THAT WAS CRITICAL TO OUR
SUCCESS IN DOING THAT. BUT THE OTHER PART THAT HE
STRUGGLED WITH WAS AT THE END OF HIS TERM, WHICH IS THIS QUESTION
THAT HE'D SET A GOAL OF ESSENTIALLY GETTING OUR TROOPS
OUT OF AFGHANISTAN BY THE END OF HIS TENURE AND HE MADE A
DECISION OVER THE COURSE OF 2015/2016 TO DO THAT.
>> ARE A LOT OF CONSERVATIVES THAT SAW THE WITHDRAWAL FROM
IRAQ AS A GOOD THING. CERTAINLY NOT JOHN McCAIN, NOT
LINDSEY GRAHAM, BUT AFTER A DECADE OF WAR, AND I INCLUDE
MYSELF HERE SAID, HEY, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
ARE WE GOING TO BE AN OCCUPYING FORCE IN TWO COUNTRIES FOR THE
NEXT 30 YEARS? AND A LOT OF US LEARNED A
VALUABLE LESSON AFTER IRAQ, THAT SUDDENLY, YOU KNOW, I STOPPED
SAYING WHEN I WENT OUT GIVING SPEECHES OR SPENDING $2 BILLION
A WEEK OR A MONTH IN AFGHANISTAN LET'S SPEND THAT MONEY
REBUILDING AMERICA. GUESS WHAT?
SOMETIMES WE DON'T HAVE EASY OPTIONS AND DONALD TRUMP RAN
HEAD ON INTO THAT LAST NIGHT, DIDN'T HE?
>> YEAH, HE'S NOT THE FIRST. THE LAST THREE CONSECUTIVE
PRESIDENTS HAVE TO ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER RAN ON RETRENCHMENT.
THOSE THREE PRESIDENTS ENCOUNTERED REALITIES IN THE
WHITE HOUSE THAT FORCED THEM TO ABANDON THEIR CAMPAIGN RHETORIC.
IT'S NOT EASY TO TELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT WE ARE
OBLIGATED JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND WOULDN'T CALL
THE 800 TROOPS AN OCCUPYING FORCE --
>> I WAS TALKING ABOUT WHAT I WAS THINKING BACK IN 2009 AND
2010, ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE WERE IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND
SPENDING BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND IT WENT AGAINST
ALL OF MY NATURAL INSTINCTS. BUT AGAIN, 2011, 2012 TAUGHT ME
THAT SOMETIMES THERE ARE KOREAS IN THE WORLD AND AFGHANISTAN MAY
BE OUR KOREA. WE MAY NEED TROOPS TO STABILIZE
FOR QUITE SOME TIME. >> TRUMP WAS HONEST ABOUT THE
THREAT IN PAKISTAN AND THE DOUBLE DEALING THERE.
RUSSIA IS INVESTING HEAVILY IN AFGHANISTAN AND, BUT WE HAVE A
GREAT GAIN IN AFGHAN THAT ARE WE ARE ACKNOWLEDGING WE'RE PLAYING.
>> THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE AND EASY -- THIS MORNING STEVE
BANNON IS BACK RUNNING BREITBART AND THIS MORNING BREITBART IS
HEAPING PRESENCE TALKING ABOUT TRUMP REVERSUS COURSE.
I WONDER IF THEY PICKED UP THE PHONE LAST NIGHT AND CALLED
EVERYBODY IN THE BASE TO NOTE THAT.
I DON'T THINK THEY REALLY DID. I THINK THAT'S LIKE ONE PERSON
UNHAPPY. AND IS TRUMP'S AFGHANISTAN
POLICY DIFFERENT THAN OBAMAS, SO ON AND SO FORTH.
DOES THAT RESONATE OUTSIDE OF BREITBART LEADERSHIP?
>> YOU HAVE TO ADMIRE THE GALL OF SOMEBODY WHO IS CONTENT TO
SAY THEIR OPINIONS REPRESENT THE BASE, THAT'S A LOT OF HUBRIS.
>> WHEN THEY'RE REALLY NOT REPUBLICANS, WHEN THEY'RE REALLY
NOT CONSERVATIVES. I'LL JUST SAY THAT.
>> NO, SOME OF THEM WOULD BE VERY HONEST ABOUT SAYING THEY'RE
NOT CONSERVATIVES. CONSERVATIVE HASN'T CON SERVED
VERY MUCH AT ALL. IT WAS INTERESTING THE WAY THERE
WERE SO MANY RHETORICAL FLOURISHES IN THAT SPEED.
IS THERE'S 4,000 TROOPS WE KNOW ARE GOING TO BE GOING.
WE BENEFIT FROM STABILITY AND THAT MEANS BUILDING A NATION
THAT CAN TAKE MORE THAN 15% OF THE COUNTRY AND CONTROL IT.
THAT'S NATION

President Donald Trump Delivers 'Somber Speech' On Afghanistan | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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