Complete video at:
http://fora.tv/2009/03/23/Afghanistan_The_New_IraqFreelance Afghan-American journalist Fariba Nawa expands on how Afghan citizens view American intervention in Afghanistan. She says many support US presence, though some "actually prefer the Taliban to what they have right now because they did secure the country."
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Are U.S. efforts in Afghanistan doomed for failure, or is there the potential for success? Experts reveal what may lie ahead.
Will the Afghanistan war become a repeat of the crisis in Iraq? Obama has already pledged to send more troops into Afghanistan and is now in the midst of hearing from military commanders and advisors about how best to proceed. You'll be paying for the war; wouldn't you like to know why?
Listen to an insightful discussion with experts on Afghan politics, society and culture and the implications of U.S. foreign policies. -- Commonwealth Club of California
Fariba Nawa, an award-winning Afghan-American journalist, has made her selected work available on this site. She covers a range of issues and specializes in immigrant and Muslim communities in the United States and abroad. She is a correspondent based in the San Francisco Bay Area but frequently travels to the Middle East and South Asia. She lived and reported from Afghanistan from 2002 to 2007, witness to the US-led war against the Taliban and al Qaeda. She has a master's in Middle Eastern studies and journalism and speaks Persian and Arabic. This collection of news articles, essays, radio reports and academic work include coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan, Muslim women's struggles and some pieces from her earlier reports on crime and criminal justice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has appeared in the Sunday Times of London, Newsday, Mother Jones, The Village Voice, The Christian Science Monitor and other publications. She also reports for radio, including National Public Radio (NPR). Her essays have been published in two books, March to War and Women for Afghan Women. She's a speaker on Middle East and South Asian issues and has participated in talks at the World Affairs Council, major universities and has been interviewed by major television and radio networks. She is currently in the Bay Area working on a project about reconstruction and the drug trade in Afghanistan.
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Edit to add: The key phrase here is "secure the country". This is what's needed to be done so that reconstruction can safely be stepped up...