TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE


PROMO FOR HOUR ONE  5/10/2009 "The Afghan Question"
*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?

PROGRAM RUNDOWN:   "The Afghan Question"


0:00 - 14:43        SEGMENT 1: (14:44)
            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 One Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

14:44 - 15:13  LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

15:14 - 40:55       SEGMENT 2: (25:42)
            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 ofers his advice on what the U.S. must do in
            Afghanistan.
                         
            Segment Two Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

40:56 - 41:25       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

41:26 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (11:34)
            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.
                         
            Segment Three Outcue: PRI Audio Logo


For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
5-10-A.

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