>> what do you say to the guy one of your top advisors in the southern exposure. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, march madness. it's the southeast conference of the republican nomination fight. mississippi and alabama, the brackets are set and tip-off is tomorrow. can romney win at least one state to claim he can win in the south? can santorum become the sole romney challenger? and then there's this question. would romney even have a chance if he had to take on either of these guys one on one. speaking of march madness, a poll of likely republicans in alabama show 14% believe president obama is a fellow christian. in mississippi, the figure is 12%.

and the majority there say he's a muslim. plus it's no secret there's a gender gap in this country politically with democrats holding an edge with women. now the obama campaign is looking to seize the moment and use republican efforts to limit abortion rights and access to contraception to create an insurmountable lead in women in november. also what are we to make of the horrible rampage of the soldier in afghanistan? the calls for the u.s. to get out of there are getting louder and louder. and what did steve smith think of the movie "game change." he fesses up in the sideshow. we begin with cynthia tucker, a visiting professor. and chris cillizza is a political analyst. it's great to have you on. let me show you two new ppp polls on alabama and mississippi

showing tight races in both states that are voting tomorrow. in alabama romney leads with 31%. but right behind him, gingrich at 30%. santorum at 29%. they are really bunched. ron paul is back at 8%. in mississippi, gingrich at 33%. followed close behind by romney at 31%. santorum behind at 27%. ron paul has only 7%. how do you look at those numbers? do you believe them? >> yes. yes, i do, chris. i think it's many legislators, republican legislators in. both states have said they think it's going to be a very close race. and i think the big surprise is how well mitt romney seems to be doing in these states. he's either just barely ahead or just barely behind. and that comes as a big surprise given that he wasn't expected to fair well at all in the very deep south.

and if mitt romney pulls off a win in just one of them, even a close win, i think it would do a lot to silence those conservatives who say he cannot unite the party. at least that will be what he's saying. if he pulls off a win in one of those states tomorrow. >> chris, i'm a little more skeptical. i wonder whether you look at polling coming out of tennessee and oklahoma where romney looked like he was doing better and didn't. i think there may be an anti-mormon factor there. i'm not sure. >> first of all, let me clarify. i'm from the north, but i married into a southern family. and my texas in-laws would not take to me as describing myself as a northerner. but the governor in alabama agrees with you who is supporting mitt romney. he was prompted about the lds mormon issue, but he said it could be an issue in alabama and other states. what we know is to the extent

there is skepticism, and there clearly is skepticism within some portions of the christian faith, evangelical christians are most likely to view it with skepticism. alabama, mississippi is a home ground for those folks. lots of them conservative and religion. but i would say he's probably in the game not because of himself, but because newt gingrich is stronger in mississippi and alabama than he was in texas. romney is never going to get 50% in these states, but he gets more of a chance to split the difference. >> he wins south carolina. he won the panhandle of florida. let's look at the views of those. these are likely republican

voters in tomorrow's votes in alabama and mississippi. when it comes to evolution, one quarter of republicans believe in evolution. 26%. very strong. two-thirds believe against it. when asked about the president's religion, this is president obama's religion among alabama, 45% believe he's muslim. 41% say they don't know. similar numbers in mississippi. one in eight believe obama is a christian. 52% believe he's muslim and 36% say they don't know. let me tell you what i think. i think when people say they don't know what a guy's religion is when they tell him what it is, they aren't going to vote for this guy. how could they possibly vote for you? i take those 36% and say these guys really don't like this guy. they think he's lying about who he is in his basic believes.

>> chris, i think we already knew that. that he they really don't like obama. they really didn't like him in 2008. obama, in many states, obama drew more white voters than john kerry had in 2004. but there were a handful of deep south states where obama did worse than john kerry among white voters. and those states included alabama and mississippi. i hate to have to say this, chris. i'm a native of alabama. alabama born and bred. but my native south remains a hot bed of ignorance and bigotry. >> chris, just to add to cynthia's point, louisiana falls into that category, which is that barack obama performed less well than john kerry, who lost

in 2004 in louisiana. which speaks to cynthia's point. >> campaign today in mississippi, rick santorum tried to declare tomorrow's race as home states for him. a jab at romney's characterization of southern states as being away games for him. obviously, it's an away game for both of them. let's watch. >> we're competing every single state. we're not just focused on one region of the country. i don't consider this an away game. this is home for me just like it is everywhere i go in this country. because we have americans who love this country and want to see, you know, a government that's put back within their bounds. they want the opportunity to be free, and be able to raise their families, and build their communities without the government in washington interfering with them. and that's why i feel like every state's been a home game for me. >> you know, cynthia, you're not as old as me. neither one of you are. but there's an old phrase on

television. this is a revolt and development when something went wrong. you have people in these two states, alabama and mississippi, that don't believe in evolution. they don't think the president is a christian. they think he's a muslim largely. they have a big three choice. you start with this, cynthia. they get to choose among two catholics and a mormon. in order to beat the guy they think is a muslim, they have to choose between cultists. >> well, chris, i happen to remember when the prejudice against catholics in the deep south was a lot stronger than it is today. so that's one area i'll have to say that i think voters have advanced a bit. there is, as the other chris said a few minutes ago, said about the against mormons, there's still quite a bit of that.

that's one of the surprises for me about how well mitt romney is fairing. but having said all that, i don't think there is a great deal of enthusiasm for the current field in mississippi or alabama anymore than there is in the rest of the country. will people vote for whoever the nominee is in november? yes. most of them will. but i think there's an enthusiasm gap here. >> and chris, just to add. look. i think it's funny. here's the dirty secret. none of these three guys are sons of the south. the son of the south was rick perry. the governor of texas. he was culturally and stylistically a fit with the south. newt gingrich, i know he represented the atlanta suburbs in congress, but newt gingrich

is not a cultural southern. rick santorum is from pennsylvania and mitt romney is from massachusetts. i can tell you pennsylvania and massachusetts, they don't understand the very unique culture that is the south. that's why you have seen lots of coverage of these guys trying to talk about how much they love grits and fit in. talking with a southern accent. the truth of the matter is none of these guys is a natural fit to the south. it's why you see lots of undecided. in the polls, you show one thing. people don't know who they want. when they are pushed, they are going to have to choose, but i'm not sure they are convinced either one of these guys is their guy. >> what would you call newt gingrich's accent? >> in order to keep my job, i won't try to speculate on air about newt gingrich's accent is. >> another odd moment by mitt romney this morning as he campaigned with jeff foxworthy. let's watch.

>> say hi to everybody. give us a big hug. i've been getting hugs from the southern girls. and i mean from 12 -- a lot more than 12. >> what do you make of that, cynthia? hugs from the southern girls. >> poor mitt romney. his attempts at humor, his attempts at being warm and fuzzy almost always fall flat. mitt needs to be himself, which is just a sort of robotic rich guy. and the people who are going to vote for him tomorrow -- >> that's warm and fuzzy, cynthia. you're really selling this. just a rich guy. >> the robotic rich guy on a bumper sticker. nothing but votes.

>> thank you cynthia tucker for that. coming up, democrats have an edge among women voters. and of course, access to contraception is under obama care. let's see that fight coming up. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first. get more whole grain than any other ingredient... just look for the white check.

pretty big news here. one week from tomorrow, republicans go to the polls in illinois. the president's home state. we have a new poll in that contest. let's check the "hardball" score board. mitt romney has a four-point lead over rick santorum. that's right at the margin of error. it's very close in a state that would have favored romney. the poll finds romney doing well in the chicago suburbs and santorum doing well everywhere else in the state. we'll be right back. why you fr in the first place. and why you still feel the same.

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why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. they want to control how we dress. they want to control how we act. they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies. yes, it is hard to believe, but even here at home, we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts to marginalize every one of us because america needs to set an example for the entire world. >> welcome back to "hardball." that's secretary of state hillary clinton. she made a rare public comment on domestic politics on saturday when she spoke at the women in world summit. a "washington post" poll out today shows voters overwhelmingly say democrats care about issues more important to women.

we looked at suburban women voters. many have flipped in just the past year from wanting republicans to control the ng the obama campaign is trying to capitalize on that rolling out a nation-wide effort today to promote the benefits to women. these fliers are samples of what they will send out to battleground states. jennifer donahue is a contributor at "washington post". and david corn is an msnbc political analyst. i have been thinking about this for years. why women tend to be more democrat than republican. it isn't just choice. it's all these multitude of concerns. women tend to be the most responsible partner in marriages for their partners, the older parents still around. they are much more concerned about the details of school. the teachers and classmates and

quality of education. the husband will have some interest. i'm not saying they are bums. but the person who is the pilot is the woman. >> if hillary clinton had delivered what we just watched her deliver in 2008, she probably would be president right now. advisors not her not to go that route. they told her to be a masculine candidate, but that hillary clinton is the one that resonates with women. that's what won obama the nomination. >> in what way? >> by not speaking to them, to the heart. that was hillary clinton speaking from her heart to women that resonates. it speaks to both sides, but it's what gets the swing voters to come out and say there's a reason for me to vote. >> i want to broaden this discussion a little bit beyond

the gender part of it. not it's not the whole story. men say they won't need social security because they won't live that long. social security is for women who live into their 80s. past 80 everything falls apart. these concerns are vivid. >> they are vivid also for the children of those people. hillary clinton didn't have the opportunity at the time. she's playing off this explosion of republican extremism that we have seen since they have come into power. some of the first bills were not about jobs. they were about redefining abortion and rape so you can limit abortion in those cases. what you have seen, state level and federal level -- >> what do you mean redefining rape? statutory? >> yes.

make it harder to get it under that exception. so they have tried to redefine rape. they have talked about transvaginal ultrasound. >> here's a woman running with her husband trying to get him elected. here she is in alabama today trying to put the focus on the economy issues. the cross gender issue a concern here. let's listen. >> i don't know if any of you are mad. i'm mad at government spending. any women out there mad about the way our children are going to be inheriting this debt? that's what i hear everywhere. women are talking about the economy. that's what i'm loving so much is hearing women talk about the economy. >> it's clear what his wife is doing. mitt romney the candidate, could use a boost among women voters. the new poll shows him tied with obama. it among women romney trails the

president by 8%. he's getting killed. >> santorum is taking the race into the social issues and cultural war. there are skill conservatives who are angry at bush for taking these issues off the table. they want this front and center. they got overconfident in 2010. and romney is trying to play to the center for romney. a lot of people are trying to move it back to the middle. >> by the way, the usual so-called men's issues of foreign policy, let's go to war, i have to have my gun, execute everybody that commits a crime. nobody wants to go to war right now that i know of. and the gun thing is where it's at. >> the gun thing -- look at what happened with the balanced budget fight a year ago. it was planned parenthood defunding. that was the issue.

the republicans came in and talked about fiscal responsibility and jobs and they ended up make the fight about planned parenthood. they have gone down that road. rick santorum took them further on contraception and the other issues. >> this is going to have such a huge impact because it's going to force to pick a running mate to the right and that's going to lose him to the gender gap and democrats are going to get that gender gap, which is what they have needed to win. >> and having ann romney come out and say, i know you care about the economy too is not good enough. she doesn't look like she's suffering. >> i think it's fair to say they like things the way they are. in a fundraiser on friday night, president obama pointed out that what he's done for women, republicans can take away in the fight. he's putting the stakes on the table. let's listen. >> change is the first bill i signed into law that says women deserve an equal day's pay for

an equal day's work. you see politicians trying to take us back to the days when care was harder to get for women. i know you're seeing that here in texas. you remember we can't let them get away with it. >> his accent is changing a bit too. that is interesting. that's a good bragging right. >> absolutely. >> let me ask you this. this equal pay is another issue. >> i teach young women in leadership. they ask how can there not be a law there's equal pay for women? there's a generation of women who are completely confused about the fact they are still 75 cents on the dollar. that's what it is. this is 2012. they are going to come out and vote and be very angry. >> this is it the tough spokesperson. peggy noonan on "meet the press." she said someone needs to step up and realize there's a war on women.

>> i think one of the big problems with discourse in america is the way, forget left and right for a second. it's the way women are being spoken of. women in public life. women in politics. women in policy questions. i think somebody has to stop and notice, this sounds like a horrible misogynistic war on women. >> rush started it. >> it's going to keep ongoing because in part, 17% of congress is women. most of them are democrats. there are no republican women voices who are moderate anymore. that party is off to the right. on the democratic side, there's basically obama in charge and nobody is fighting the battle except for what he just said. peggy needs to get out there and so do the rest of women and make this war stop. >> let's see them call out the voices on the right that have

said these things. there's a lot of reluctance to do that. >> i don't think there's reluctance. rush limbaugh got slapped. >> not by republicans. that's the issue. the interesting thing -- >> who's counting? >> they are pivoting on the health care. we thought the health care was a dog for them and hurt them in the reelection. they think they can turn it to their advantage. by showing the appeal to women. in terms of mammograms, you mentioned health care for elderly, all these issues. health care to the advantage by next november. >> what universal health care allows you to do to be a divorced or -- >> you've been great. this is what i want more on this show. >> you got it. >> it's tougher to do it on your own side.

she was talking about rush. peggy, the usual salute to you. jennifer donahue and david corn, thank you. you were shielding your head from her. i mean it. it's personal here. mitt romney is trying hard to be something he's not. what else is new? he's trying to be a southerner. that's in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] we asked real people if they'd help us with an experiment

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. first up, reviews from the front lines. this past weekend marked premier of "game change." steve smith weighed in on what it was like to take it all in as an audience member. fascinating stuff. let's watch.

>> for all of us who were in the campaign, it really rang true. it gave you a little ptsd at times. there's a scene in the movie where i'm saying to senator mccain, it's almost verbatim the conversation that happened. i would rather lose by 10 points trying to win. for me, the experience on this campaign is that there are worse things than losing. i think the notion of sarah palin being president of the united states is something that frightens me frankly. >> stevie boy, he said on friday that's a fabulous quote. i saw three times now. he said "we do not do what we want, yes we are responsible for what we are." they became victims of their own decision. next mitt romney is taking hits from all sides for his

attempts at appealing to voters in the south. need a refresher? >> morning, y'all. good to be with ya. i got started right this morning with a biscuit and some cheesy grits. >> robert gibbs, a native of alabama, had a warning for romney on cbs this weekend. let's listen. >> as a southerner, i would tell him that stuff doesn't really go over well in the deep south. he might not have heard this, but if somebody says they love the sec, it's not the investigative body that looks into offshore bank accounts. it's the world's greatest college football conference. i hope he'll go with the flow if he's down there. >> time has run out for romney to up his game when it comes to southernisms. and finally, quite the

comparison. we saw hillary clinton's bold address at the women in the world conference, but it was merle streep who did the honors of introducing her. the three-time oscar winner took the opportunity to compare herself to clinton. let's watch. >> i find a lot of similarities. we both went from public high schools to distinguished women's colleges. we both called home collect from the dorm phone freshman year from those colleges saying "i'm not as smart as the other girls here." we both went on to graduate school at yale. while i was the cheerleader, she was the president of the student government. where i was the lead in all three musicals, people who know her tell me she should never be encouraged to sing. she has turned out to be the voice of her generation. i'm an actress. and she is the real deal. >> don't be too humble, merle. you're both amazing people. next the rampage in afghanistan.

now the calls to get out of that country. they are getting louder and louder on both sides of the political aisle. you're hearing republicans like gingrich saying come home. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc.

i'm hampton pearson with

welcome back to "hardball." the terrible news out of afghanistan this weekend was horrific. a sergeant slipped off the base, walked more than a mile, and stalked from home to home in several afghan villages killing 16 civilians, nine of the dead were children. it's one of the worst atrocities committed so far in the afghan war. it raises all kinds of questions why this soldier did what he did. there's also the question of whether this is a game-changing moment in the war. policy will be reevaluated. the mission is set to be done the end of 2014. that's the year after next. should the timetable be moved up atia bowie joins us from kabul.

i have been watching your reporting. give us a capsule for those who haven't caught up to the story. what happened? >> reporter: well, it was a tragic incident, chris. what happened was yesterday in the early morning hours, a u.s. staff sergeant left his base in kandahar, went into nearby villages and the homes of afghan villagers who were sleeping, shooting and killing at least 16 people. nine of whom were children. we have seen the pictures. it's devastating pictures. toddlers with bullet holes in their fore heads. many of the deaths were execution style. obviously, nato has apologized for the incident. the afghans are outraged. but they are really saddened by what happened and trying to relate to the afghan villagers who were struck. it makes them angry at the americans as a whole, rather than just one individual.

>> and let me ask you. how does this add to the earlier horrific events of the kill team, the people peeing on the bodies of the taliban dead, the burning of the koran, how does it add up? >> reporter: it's not going to be good. i can tell you that right now. the afghan people are very upset. this is has been one incident after another incident. although they have been rare, it's made the media here in afghanistan and throughout the world, for that matter, when they see this happening from u.s. military service members, they blame it on americans and the american leadership, the military leadership for not having more control over these service members. and we have to point out that these are rare occurrences, but they are occurrences that have happened throughout the years and through these years, the afghan people have seen it occur and seen people getting away with it. they feel the americans and the international community for that matter don't respect their

culture, their religion, or the afghan people at all. >> so it's a matter of thinking that the american soldiers in their risking their lives for that country and our country don't respect the people they are helping. >> reporter: that's becoming the case. i should mention there are still a lot of afghans within afghanistan who respect the international mission here and want that mission to continue in afghanistan. especially when you talk to the women of afghanistan who are fearful of what will happen when the international community leaves. but an incident like the one in kandahar with the killings, and the killings of innocent men, women, and children, it makes a lot of people scratch their head and wonder why america is here. but i should also mention there are afghans who may be angry, but they also know they need the help of the international community and the americans. but they say they need the right kind of help. chris? >> that's quite a balanced report. thank you so much. now we're joined by michael o'hanlon.

thank you so much for joining us, michael, as always. how do you keep this balance? how do you keep the need to achieve a foreign policy objective after this moral setback? >> it's such a sad time, but you come back to first principles. a lot of americans doubt, especially with so many al qaeda leaders now dead, whether we need to be successful in afghanistan. but to the extent, you need some level of stability, or want some level of stability, before you depart. we have the fastest plan to get us there. we have an exit strategy. president obama is pulling out a third of our forces by september. we are, as you mentioned, getting out entirely with our main combat forces by the end of 2014. afghan forces are doing more every year.

we are executing a plan that has an exit in mind. it has an excite in view. it's still a way's off. the only reason to give up is not because there's anything better, but only if you fundamentally lost heart that it can be successful. and i think that that kind of a question comes to people today. this kind of tragic day brings that that question to mind. but there's been a substantial amount of progress in the country's south despite the tragedy being there, and in kabul and the north and west. and the afghan army is better than it was before. so it's a mixed bag, but there is headway and there's a campaign plan. >> here's the president today. he was asked about the incident by a local news affiliate. let's watch. >> what happened this weekend is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. i expressed directly to president karzai how the american people feel any time innocent civilians, especially children, are killed.

for it to happen in this kind of terrible way, i think we all are concerned about it. but what we don't want to do is to do it in a way that is just a rush for the exit. it makes me more determined to make sure we're getting our troops home. it's time. it's been a decade. now that we've gotten bin laden and weakened al qaeda, we're in a stronger position to transition. >> we know the american people weren't happy about this. majorities saying we shouldn't have gotten in. here's newt gingrich, a man who has identified with the right with the military right. he's saying something quite surprising. newt gingrich. >> i think it's very likely that we have lost tragically lost the lives and suffered injuries to a considerable number of young americans on a mission we're going to discover is not doable. >> that's my question.

not that it wasn't a worthy mission, but its doability in the context of the horrible setbacks. we have the people urinating on the dead taliban. you have the kill team. you have the koran burning. now we have had this. can we still win the minds and hearts as in-country allies of the government? >> that may be too ambitious, chris. i'm not going to claim we can do that. i would point out the iraqis were much angrier with us. they still put us in the 50% favorability range. that's not nearly what it was in 2001 and 2002 when they loved us, but there is a certain amount of common interest as well above and beyond whatever affection is still there. i think the afghans know they have pakistan to the east. 180 million people nuclearly armed. also doing nasty things inside their own territory. they are a little more afraid of being left alone, i think, than

the iraqis who are fairly self-confident were afraid of being left alone. i think on balance, we'll probably find a way to muddle through this. i'm not saying it's a great situation, but both sides still need each other. >> a woman reporter who said the women are scared of what would happen if we left. i think it's fascinating. michael, thank you. up next, will britain stand with america? our ambassador joining us right here on "hardball," only on msnbc. [ heart beating, monitor beeping ] woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy

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two voter i.d. laws in two different states were blocked today. in wisconsin a state judge issued a permanent injunction blocking a new law requiring voters to present identification at polling stations. wow. and the justice department objected to the new photo i.d. requirement in texas saying that law would discriminate against voters. we'll be right back.

we're back. the terrible events in afghanistan this weekend are being closely watched and for good reason. the british have the most troops in that country, afghanistan, after us. tomorrow british prime minister david cameron comes here to washington for an official visit, and louis susman serves as our ambassador to the court of st. james. thank you, mr. ambassador. it's great to have you on. you're a pal of mine too. let's talk about this story. the cameron visit. we have this special relationship. we had bill clinton, who was a close personal friend of tony blair, and then tony blair become a friend of w's, and way back to churchill and roosevelt, a special relationship. how's going to hold now in afghanistan under the pressure of this horror that happened the other day?

>> i don't think it's going to affect the game plan, the strategy. i think the british government is in lock step with ours in terms of the president's plan, out of lisbon where we'll have a mid-inflection point in 2013 and be out in 2014 with an enduring presence. i see no space at all between the british government's position and the united states' position. >> there couldn't be a hotter issue than a nuclear war, which we've been lucky enough not to have, haven't even used a weapon since hiroshima and nagasaki. what about iran, what about europe, what about us? >> again, we're in lock step with the brits on this thing. the president is clear, he's not going to let them have a nuclear weapon. as he said, this president doesn't bluff. he doesn't believe in a policy of containment. and i think that he strongly believes the sanctions have a chance to work, diplomacy has a chance to, would.

there's going to be a meeting next month in geneva back to the negotiating table, but i think it's clear we are not going to allow iran to have a nuclear weapon. >> as a political guy, do you think we have the muscle economically to change the mullahs' minds? can we talk them out of weaponization, out of building a weapon? >> tough question. i think the sanctions are hurting them now. that in and of itself, will that change their policy? it's a good question. i think there's other factors. they'll be isolated. what russia and china will do and how they'll deal with them. and their own internal problems, how they'll play out. i think that they haven't made a decision, the supreme leader, to move forward on it. so we'll have to wait and see. >> let me ask you about the last question of syria because on this question people like newt gingrich have been more hawkish. they want us to go in there like with libya. maybe a lot of democrats do too.

what's the president's position on syria? it seems murky. >> no, it's not. it's we hate. we hate the fact that people are being killed. there's violence. we want it to stop. president hasan is killing his own people. that being said, you're not in a position to do a no-fly zone. you're not in a position to put weapons in the hands of people we don't know who they are. it's a country much, much bigger than libya. they have a big air force. it's a real major problem of how to handle it, and they're hoping that, through the united nations, through the arab league, through turkey, et cetera, that they'll eventually be in a position to solve the problem. but it's a real form of major power, having not the power they want to have. >> how about us? how's our president doing over there in the world? you're the representative in europe and everywhere else. >> he's very lucky. he's got a 70% approval rating in the united nations kingdom. i suggested to him to run over there rather than here. >> 70%.

thank you, louis susman. thanks for coming on "hardball." a big press conference with the president on wednesday. when we return, the crossroads we're facing in our war on affection.

horrible things happen in war. even at its cleanest, it's good people killing other good people. guys fighting for their country against other guys fighting for their country, and now women too. i don't know where we put this latest horror, an american soldier on his fourth tour in a combat zone, who spent most of a dozen years over there fighting our wars, gets up one day and heads around door to door killing people, including nine little kids, killing 16 people in cold blood, and then burning them. is this this war's milai? is the combination of all wars, guys at the front for too long then sent back too many times for too many years all the time away from home? these are different kinds of wars. it's not heading for berlin in tanks, island hopping our way to the japanese home islands, or turning back invaders like in korea or in a much messier way in vietnam. it's about trying to keep people who are of a country from coming back to dominate a country. people of extreme nationalism

and zealous religion to grab back power a decade after we took it from them. how do you sell the fact that we're the good guys when things like this continue to happen? the koran burnings, before that, the soldiers peeing on dead afghans, before that, the kill team. how do you win hearts and minds with that stuff making the rounds, with each new story adding to the fire? ask yourself, is there a job in the world today that's easier than being a taliban recruiter? getting people to join up against the americans that have been in afghanistan all these years. vice president biden said a while back we should get our big force out of afghanistan and shift to a policy of anti-terrorism, focusing on al qaeda, the group we went into that country to get. it does no good to say what might have been had we followed that course. it does do good to consider it now. the mission of counterinsurgency, which the president chose over that of anti-terrorism, is still the mission. is it still doable given the course of these events? is our presence in that country