0:02 the United States and NATO began a
0:04 phased withdrawal from Afghanistan in
0:06 2011 with the name of removing all
0:09 combat troops by 2014 a goal that was
0:12 not met during the Obama presidency
0:13 president Trump announced that all
0:15 American troops were coming home from
0:16 Afghanistan but never carried through
0:19 with a plan to do so instead having
0:21 troop levels and signing a peace deal
0:23 with the Taliban for American troops to
0:26 leave by February of 2020 under his
0:28 successor after Trump's deal was signed
0:30 Afghan troops made a agreements with the
0:33 Taliban to lay down their arms and allow
0:35 the Taliban to take over President Biden
0:38 announced on April 6 2021 that American
0:39 troops would honor Trump's peace deal
0:41 with the Taliban and pledge to leave
0:45 Afghanistan by September 11th 2021 so a
0:48 significant anniversary there the
0:51 20-year war in Afghanistan had cost
0:53 2,488 American fatalities and more than
0:57 20,000 injuries and the world watched as
0:59 Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 5th
1:01 15th which the Press compared to the
1:05 fall of Saigon in South Vietnam in 1975
1:07 which of course we covered under Ford's
1:10 presidency amidst the chaos the US
1:12 airlifted more than 124,000 people
1:15 including 6,000 American citizens out of
1:17 Afghanistan in the six weeks before it
1:20 fell in 2012 Obama won re-election by
1:22 defeating Republican Mitt Romney the
1:24 former Governor of Massachusetts who had
1:26 a tough campaign because he was running
1:29 against Obama and ObamaCare even though
1:33 bom mcare was the plan he had passed as
1:35 a conservative version of a healthcare
1:38 plan in Massachusetts as Governor when
1:40 Justice Antonin Scalia passed away
1:42 before Obama made a selection GOP Senate
1:43 Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
1:45 announced he would stall any replacement
1:48 to the court until after the 2016
1:50 election Republicans argue that the
1:53 vacancy should not be filled until a new
1:55 president was in place but in February
1:58 of 1988 during an election year the
2:00 Democratic controlled Senate had
2:01 confirmed Republican President Reagan's
2:03 nomination of Anthony Kennedy to the
2:06 court and Obama appointed Garland long
2:09 before the 2016 election but Republicans
2:11 had grown less reverent of historical
2:13 political Norms before the nomination
2:17 rep Republican senator hatch said Obama
2:19 could easily name Meritt Garland who is
2:21 a fine man he probably won't do that
2:22 because the appointment is about the
2:24 election so I'm pretty sure he'll name
2:26 someone the liberal Democratic base
2:30 wants but when Obama nominated Garland
2:32 Senator hatch supported denying Garland
2:35 a hearing Republican leadership went
2:37 further than just waiting for the 2016
2:39 election Senators Ted Cruz of Texas John
2:42 McCain of Arizona and Mitch McConnell of
2:44 Kentucky said that if Democrat Hillary
2:47 Clinton won the presidency in 2016 and
2:50 Republicans retained the Senate that
2:51 they would keep the vacancy on the court
2:54 open indefinitely only filling it when a
2:57 Republican president was in office
2:59 Republicans refused to hold hearings on
3:01 88 District Court nominees and 17 quar
3:04 of appeal nominees holding those
3:06 positions open until president Trump's
3:08 presidency began and allowing
3:10 Republicans to in essence pack the
3:13 courts when Trump won the presidency he
3:15 nominated conservative Neil Gorsuch who
3:18 was confirmed in 65 days Justice Kennedy
3:20 retired so Trump nominated conservative
3:22 Brett Kavanaugh whose confirmation
3:24 hearings bore a striking resemblance to
3:26 Clarence Thomas's due to the testimony
3:29 of accusations of sexual assault though
3:31 he was confirmed as well and then in
3:34 October 2020 about 1 month before the
3:37 election Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away
3:39 and McConnell Advanced Judge Amy Coney
3:41 Barrett through a confirmation process
3:44 and put her on the court just weeks
3:46 before the November election and when
3:49 many had already cast their
3:51 ballots now a central part of Obama's
3:53 foreign policy Legacy was the 2015
3:56 Iranian nuclear deal Iran had met with
3:59 negotiators from the p5+1 that is the
4:00 permanent members of the United Nations
4:03 security Council the United States the
4:07 UK Russia France and China plus Germany
4:10 hence the plus one Iran agreed to give
4:12 up its nuclear weapons program in
4:13 exchange for these nations removing
4:16 severe economic s sanctions they had
4:19 placed on Iran Iran had to give up 97%
4:21 of its uranium and only have uranium
4:24 enriched up to
4:26 3.67% which is a fancy way of saying
4:28 they couldn't use it in a weapon so
4:30 watch the next clip about the Iran
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