This is a CBS I on the world with John Bachelor.

Here's John Bachelor.

With my colleagues Haseena Connie, former ambassador from Pakistan of the United States,

now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Bill Rajo, also a senior fellow at the

Foundation for the Defense of Democracy Keeping Long War Journal.

It is the third year after the retreat, the abandonment, the withdrawal, the exit from Afghanistan. the these gentlemen veteran of that withdrawal crisis.

We all remember it vividly.

It was August of 2021.

It was a political decision by the Biden administration.

I'm comfortable in saying that because that is

self-admitted now. We're going in a new direction with a new spate of

candidates although everybody's involved here. the vice president now a candidate was certainly in the room when the decision was made, and the former president, Mr. Trump, participated in the prep for that withdrawal by the so-called Doha Agreement.

Gentlemen, a very good evening to you,

have seen your reflections on lessons learned in these last three years.

Good evening to you.

Good evening.

The biggest lesson is that vague hopes are not a substitute

for hard realities.

When the Trump administration signed the Doha deal, it was all vague hopes the Taliban have changed.

We were assured by Mr. Trump's special representative for Afghanistan and by his Secretary of State,

Michael Pompeo, that the Taliban have changed.

I don't know if you remember, Mr. Trump himself spoke to one of the Taliban leaders and said I spoke to

...