One year ago this week, the United States hastily pulled out of Afghanistan, an ignoble end to a twenty year experiment in nation building. As armed Taliban fighters swarmed into government buildings and took over the country, the world was privy to gut wrenching scenes as thousands of Afghans who served as translators, co-workers, and allies on the battlefield desperately tried, along with their families, to get on airplanes to leave the country and avoid the inevitable retribution. Few are more emotionally involved in the effort to save those Afghans than our guest Elliot Ackerman. A marine who served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning a Bronze Star for valor. In his new book, The Fifth Act: America's End In Afghanistan, he writes about his own frantic efforts along with others to line up charter flights to save his one-time Afghan colleagues. We discuss America's look back on its humiliating withdrawal and take stock of what Afghanistan has become under the harsh rule of our longtime enemies.

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