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 A Four Part Series from TTBOOK! |
THE AFGHAN QUESTION
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Program 09-05-10-A |
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Why are we in Afghanistan? To destroy the Al-Qaeda? To make sure the Taliban doesn't get back in power? Both? What is the economic impact of the war on the US economy? And, just what would victory in Afghanistan look like anyway? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the question of Afghanistan. The Obama Administration's refocusing the US military. But after years of war in Iraq, after Abu Grabib, after WMDs…does the US still have the moral authority to conduct nation building?
SEGMENT 1:
Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid is the author of "Descent into Chaos: The US and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia." Rashid acted as an advisor to Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy to the region, and tells Jim Fleming that the U.S. rushed into Afghanistan after 9/11 in search of Al-Qaeda, but was never interested in the country's real problems. He feels the Obama administration has a different attitude.
SEGMENT 2:
In 2003, Craig Mullaney led an infantry rifle platoon along the hostile border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mullaney is a Rhodes scholar, a professor at West Point, a National Security advisor to President Obama and the author of "The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education." He tells Anne Strainchamps about his combat experiences. Also, David Kilcullen is the author of "The Accidental Guerrilla: Fight Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One." He was an advisor to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and an architect of the Troop Surge in Iraq under General Petraeus. He tells Steve Paulson that the problem with traditional counter-insurgency efforts is that they don't protect local people and offers his advice on what the U.S. must do in Afghanistan.
SEGMENT 3:
Robert Greenwald supports the Obama administration but thinks they're dead wrong about Afghanistan. He's the Director of the on-going, on-line documentary called "Rethink Afghanistan." Greenwald tells Jim Fleming the sorts of questions he would put to the administration, and we also hear clips from his film.
CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 09-05-10-A.
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Books & CDs:
| Ahmed Rashid, Descent into Chaos: The US and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia (Penguin Press) | |
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Craig Mullaney, The Unforgiving Minute:
A Soldier's Education (Penguin Press) |
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| David Kilcullen, The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One (Oxford Press) |  |
Films:
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Robert Greenwald is the director of the on-going on-line documentary called “Rethink Afghanistan.” Brave New Foundation. To watch the entire documentary on-line:
http://rethinkafghanistan.com
Music:
- Fourtet’s song “And They All Looked Broken Hearted” on their CD Rounds on Domino Records.
- Fourtet’s song “Slow Jam” on their CD Rounds on Domino Records.
- Fourtet’s song “Hands” on their CD Rounds on Domino Records.
- Fourtet’s song “My Angel Rocks Back and Forth” on their CD Rounds on Domino Records.
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Distribution dates: week of 05/10/2009
- hour 1 |
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