Afghanistan Special

As a supplement for our 29 January show featuring Debra Frey discussing her experiences in Afghanistan, we offer our listeners/readers the following resources:

Recommended Audio: Bill Moyers Journal for 19 December 2008 - An Interview with Sarah Chayes
When Sarah Chayes left her job as an NPR reporter to help rebuild Afghanistan, she did so because she believed that Afghanistan had the potential to be a stable, lawful country. Seven years later, as the incoming Obama Administration looks to change course in Afghanistan and send in 20,000 more troops, Chayes joins Bill Moyers on THE JOURNAL to explain what she thinks U.S. policy should be in the region. Individuals can watch the show via stream video or download the podcast.

Sarah Chayes' Afghanistan Policy Action Plan (PDF download)
Chayes writes "Afghanistan, the “good war,” is on the brink of being lost. But the failure of the US and international effort there is not a foregone conclusion. A thoughtful, wideranging shift in strategy can still avert Afghanistan’s likely fate as an irrevocable – and dangerous – failed state. Such a shift ought to include the following components."

Gates Predicts "Slog" in Afghanistan
Ann Scott Tyson reports for the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday signaled sharply lower expectations for the war in Afghanistan, warning the conflict will be "a long slog" and that U.S. and allied military forces, even at higher levels, can achieve limited goals. "

Recommended Audio: CounterSpin for 23 January 2009
"Major Push is Needed to Save Afghanistan, General Says" was the headline on a recent major daily story. Our guest says reporters need to be asking questions about the U.S. military campaign that go beyond how many more troops and when to send them. Ann Jones has worked in Afghanistan and is author of the book Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan. We'll hear from her on what's missing from the media debate.

The Afghan Scam: The Untoild Story of Why the U.S. Is Bound to Fail in Afghanistan
Ann Jones writes for Tomdispatch: "The first of 20,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops are scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan next month to re-win the war George W. Bush neglected to finish in his eagerness to start another one. However, "winning" the military campaign against the Taliban is the lesser half of the story."

Failing Afghanistan
Ann Jones writes for The American Empire Project: "The morning after the U.S. hit Iraq with Shock and Awe, I went out to the street in Kabul—the Street of Martyrs, as it happened—to face Sharif, my driver. He was in a deep, sorrowful rage. 'Already you forget Afghanistan,' he said. 'Just like before.'"

Not the Same as Being Equal: Women in Afghanistan
Ann Jones writes for Tomdispatch.com: "Born in Afghanistan but raised in the United States, like many in the worldwide Afghan Diaspora, Manizha Naderi is devoted to helping her homeland. For years she worked with Women for Afghan Women, a New York based organization serving Afghan women wherever they may be. Last fall, she returned to Kabul, the capital, to try to create a Family Guidance Center. Its goal was to rescue women -- and their families -- from homemade violence. It's tough work. After three decades of almost constant warfare, most citizens are programmed to answer the slightest challenge with violence. In Afghanistan it's the default response. "

'Accidents' Will Happen: Excusing Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan
Peter Hart writes for Extra!: "When they’re discussed at all by corporate media, civilian deaths in Afghanistan are often presented as a tactical or public relations problem for U.S. military and political officials, or labeled as “accidental” or “errant.” The civilian deaths are not accidents, however; they are the predictable result of a deliberate decision to protect American troops by putting Afghan noncombatants at risk."