the country itself is really sick of the fighting i mean these people in afghanistan have been really fighting for decades now. and i really think there's an incentive now for the taliban to start negotiations because they they really do i think. may be staying the course in that in that region so and in regards to the economy in that work i think there may be a divide now between the taliban and the economy that work and. i think we can deal with the economy and work separately and i think if we take out afghanistan and the taliban out of this equation and now i think the real war is in pakistan that needs to be fought i am definitely not the only one that is saying that which makes the fact that we are still at war in afghanistan nine years later all that much more difficult to consider especially since pakistan really is now the region

we should be focusing thanks so much for joining us. thank you. ok just ahead on the show this anniversary is prompting veterans to ask when the war will end with you volunteering to serve abroad soldiers are forced to do repeated tours of duty despite fighting physical and psychological problems of their own correspondent when ford will have that story and we've talked about the army and then war from the u.s. perspective but what about the people on the ground times correspondent drome starkey will join me to discuss how afghans view this war and how their opinion of u.s. troops is changing. the news today. put up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the

streets of canada. charlie corporations are all. but again this is all she has known. as the boredom got to start and has it's terrible and yet the table is turned on coalition soldiers posting basile field videos all that and a ton of the now using tapes uploaded by allied troops to drum up support and with the withdrawal deadline nearing bothers her because she shows no signs of abating. tension miles ahead of basically canada's parliamentary elections and politically divided kurdistan security measures have be intensified across the country john voight watches the country has been in turmoil says president but it was just read

in the bloody uprising and i put. it. to live talk from that by going to cosmodrome in kazakhstan and so use rocket has left for the international space station with a payload of navigation data systems on board a two russian cosmonauts and an american else who will complete the expedition twenty five crew that are expected to dock with the eye sessile sunday well they'll spend the next six months. and out for the second part of the continuing analysis of that got a stunning talks with veterans about whether enduring freedom has achieved its goals that's coming your way in just a moment. let me repeat again the day today the u.s. enters its tenth year of what already is its the longest war it was sold as a mission to liberate the country that ghana stands in the grips of the taliban and

to root out al qaeda so with al qaeda dispersed around the world and the taliban still largely in control how do you us troops who fought in those wars reflect upon the sacrifices that they made for the mission and for reports. it is the longest war in u.s. history and arguably the most ambiguous today begins the tenth year of the u.s. occupation of afghanistan nine years ago today the united states invaded afghanistan under the guise of finding osama bin laden today more than ninety four thousand u.s. troops maintain a permanent presence there twenty two year old brock mackintosh was one of them i was one of the more optimistic soldiers who. you know i got on the ground in afghanistan and i wanted to. participate in this liberation of afghans and defending the country from terrorists and all that nonsense and the on the ground experience completely contradicted all the pretty preconceived notions that i had

when i entered the country. and. what tends to happen with a lot of soldiers not all soldiers but certainly with me is. you you reach a point where it's no longer about. defense or liberation or the constitution or anything like that it's just about getting home alive and being able to say to marry your fiance or to hold your baby that was born while you're away or take your daughter fishing for the first time or to be in an environment where where. it's not normal to become naaman indifferent to the sound of mortars and rockets crashing around your tents mackintosh and other veterans took to the streets today in a six mile march to protest the ongoing wars in iraq and afghanistan they departed from walter reed army medical center where combat veterans are treated for physical and psychological trauma america's longest war has seen relatively few combat

deaths but returning veterans say surviving is just part of the battle many are returning to places and prepared or unwilling to help them with debilitating physical wounds and deep psychological trauma i'm a survivor of military sexual and trauma and. never really having to do back to back to point it's never really gave me. a way to recover and i had another incident at the end of my deployment in which i was sexually assaulted and i never did it because i didn't think. anything would happen based on my first incident and because of lower crude men many soldiers are redeployed several times even after suffering traumatic brain injuries or being diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder already been diagnosed with stress of traumatic brain injury posttraumatic stress disorder and i was on psychotropic drugs so for me to go back you know that should have even been an option many believe the pentagon is doomed to repeat history in afghanistan and in order to leave the best

thing that they can do is make it slightly you know worse than it was when they entered and i think that's what happened in russia's case and that's what's going to happen in the in the americans case we're going to leave at some point and it's not going to be any better it'll probably be a little worse. what victory means in afghanistan is equally ambiguous for afghan expatriates on the outside looking in for both sides go a lot of people of course yes and as if we were. for united states. for safety united states. for the people and know that they had one thousand two hundred fifteen u.s. soldiers have been killed in afghanistan along with an as needed fourteen thousand to thirty four thousand afghan civilians but it is hard to imagine how america's longest and most ambiguous war will be remembered here and cast in stone among so many other feeling for our team washington d.c. . most americans those who haven't had to sacrifice in any form for this war

probably don't even know that today marks the beginning of its tenth year we don't see it on our streets we are surrounded by living it day and night like the troops the contractors the reporters who are there and of course most of all like the afghans whose country is being robbed. just a population were eighty percent of people are literate but most know how to use a gun starting from a young age a population that no longer knows who to call friends or enemies a poll from george soros is open source foundation revealed just today how strongly the afghan people stressed is eroding to the point where many not only regard the international community with suspicion but have even accused internationals the international military in particular of directly or indirectly supporting insurgents in order to justify their continued presence in the country so what's it like on the ground nine years later or earlier i caught up with jerome starkey the times correspondent in afghanistan starkey's in kabul so i first asked him if this

day is being noted there. it's been probably in the national media. and you're being honest about it because pointed out that. very few real feelings. about two thousand and six when the insurgency really started to take place. there is. no school increased. when you get education the brown boxes being. forty eight dollars present caused by a number of key allies making that is to try and kick start negotiations with the insurgents although it's extensive terms is very different to the sniffed effort to reach out to the minute since then compared to. the last two or three years and so far. the taliban officially maintained that they will not negotiate while foreign

troops in afghanistan have been very fearful creaks signs of these major steps which will be any different of course they've been very secretive about it up until this point saying that it's too early for them to talk or you cannot dog them i put the dogs in jeopardy or they without that excuse in case nothing actually comes out of it now i also want to touch upon a poll that's being released today by a george soros is open source foundation and here they're talking about the deteriorating attitude amongst afghan civilians and you know i want to know as of course a very is by regions but really what's the sense that you get there is there a lot of mistrust when it comes to foreign troops these days. most interesting thing. touchstone was the number of people who actually buy into conspiracy theories which very often to sound completely outlandish and totally incredible the very very many people in southern afghanistan in kandahar and

helmand where the insurgency. is von and one of the taliban are stronger these people repeatedly so more than two years said to me that they really matter britain and the international community are actually supporting the insurgency down to the number of times the people at home in the states need the person is a country in helmand is a privilege why can't they defeat the insurgency and they say the same things about america they find it very difficult to comprehend a country seemingly as powerful as the united states and a coalition with many members of nato and they did international security assistance force has failed to win the men's him all the time about insurgency movement military might of the western superpower is nonetheless that insurgents with kalashnikovs. these improvised explosive devices are still managing to check the progress. military campaign that general is there anybody really that this

people do have trust in these days because you know and i hate for the taliban is it is a very high right now like you said like this the research is showing that distrust of american and all nato troops also is very high there's not a lot of hope in the government itself in afghanistan so who these people really look to. that's very hard to say and i'm very genuine with you from place to place in the two thousand and one i was. told that was a genuine sense of optimism when the taliban certainly instead there was a new era and one of the things you had very. honest on how did unique opportunity many countries from around the world come to try and help afghanistan and many people sent to optimism. obstinacy and gradually. the progress is of progress and development. being delivered and being honored and graduating the insurgency in danger the men in the top and the government has

learned more predatory and corrupt and instead of being its people in this area stolen from the people it's supposed to be serving. with the increasing violence that most people deeply disillusioned is not the future and about that prospect that most evident when you see the number of people. people trying to need to afghanistan ten years after the taliban with helpful in ten years the international community promised afghanistan a future you get the chance to lead still take it very very quickly and that must also erode them around when it comes to the troops that you interact with bed with i guess other journalists contractors that are there i mean yourself have been there for four years covering it how does it affect you. as a spectator. you certainly can be. to watch what appears to be happening to this

country and. bleakness it emphasizes exaggerated when the doesn't seem to be any any real progress in the don't enjoy any prospects of improvement every time the international community tries to. laid down the foundations laid down the framework for progress particularly on issues like corruption trying to tackle a. person who had come about called it the cancer corruption in his government and it as we time they try to make concrete steps trying to address cancer in china scientists from the afghan administration president karzai and his administration seems to sort of so i outmaneuver the international community's efforts in any any initiatives to try and crack down on corruption or trying to improve the government or to try to improve the really basic services delivered to people who fail and they often fail because of the self-interest of the competing self interests of the

various corrupt power brokers in the government without meaning to often seems like the international community. we created the very conditions in the now you know if you recall in the mid ninety's which called the consequence of power that has the international community it helped really empower the same corrupt warlords who's accountable copula on to ninety nine to just doesn't seem like it's just becoming a worse every day and then quite the quagmire and i'm sure like you said that even as a spectator it's not something that's easy to watch surround thank you so much for filling us in. well there's just one more segment on tonight's show we're going to look at the politicians who want to wage war against islam in the united states so they can have some political ad bring the fear mongering to an entirely new level i will show you why and we'll get a filmmaker's perspective on the war from the very beginning do you conner's the director of the film meeting resistance now discuss his impressions of the country

right after the u.s. invasion nine years ago today we'll be right back. but another's it sparkles and unexplainable interest. in a place where supernatural things are happening. on our t.v. . every

month we give you the future we help you understand. and want to bring the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us for technology update on our g. wealthy british sign. on. the. market. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my next concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds of reports

. while we're taking time to concentrate on the war in afghanistan we also want to shed light on an internal war being waged within the military it's the war against leakers with the media giving so much more attention to whistle blowing web sites like weekly leaks generals and high ranking officers have created brand new regulations prohibit ng soldiers from speaking with reporters it's called the threat awareness and reporting program which sounds pretty menacing and you see it lays out new rules for low level troops and mostly teaches soldiers how do identify threats of espionage and terrorism within their bases but also lays out new regulations instructing soldiers to rat out their peers who might be leaking

information to threatening outside sources like foreign intelligence and the media now the intelligence part of it i get that's obvious but since when did the media become this threatening outside source to be classified in the same way as a foreign operative that itself asked me is disturbing. now back to regulation three eight one dash twelve aside from the classification of media as a threat there is one more problem general and other high ranking officers talk to the media all the time let's not forget about the infamous stanley mcchrystal do you were last year when the new strategy for the war in afghanistan was leaked to the media well the general claim that he had nothing to do with it but of course there are some that doubt that and directly afterwards he went on a media spree discussing all of the details publicly for all eyes to see how is that ok now this regulation just doesn't apply to the army it's also for all intelligence officers but this is my question is why the double standard when

a general can talk about strategies it just is part of the news but when a soldier talk to a reporter it's a big no no and it threatens the entire u.s. military come on guys officers need to lead by example so don't tell your troops not to do something while you're out doing it yourself. now the u.s. is trying desperately to convince the world that we are not engaged in a war with islam just a war against terrorism or extremism yet they seem to have failed in convincing the american people of that more and more the american people have expressed a fear and a hatred of muslims living within the us as long a phobia has dominated the airwaves especially this summer and it's become a major talking point and many political campaigns now the latest incarnation of islamophobia is the framing of muslims as some sort of enemy lurking within the us to get midterm votes a shameless use of fear mongering that simply stoking the fires in the us waged wars in the middle east and the ground zero mosque or pastor terry jones as plot to

burn the koran where the most obvious examples where candidates could use that fear to gain voters plain and simple well here we found some of the most outrageous political ads targeting muslims and trust me they are absolutely disgusting here's one from the national republican trust back. september eleventh saying that they are against us. and to settle down hard on the saudis and americans want to build a monstrous thirty two story mosque at ground zero this ground is sacred where we. preach. that mosque is a. victory that the petition for. a mosque at ground zero must not stand

the political class says nothing the politicians are doing nothing to stop. americans will be hurt join the fight to kill the ground zero mosque go to g.o.p. trust. that's right leave it up to the g.o.p. to come up with the most offensive and transparent ads either ever see their message is kill it's not stop or any other civil connotation of the word they purposely include it wrong information about the location of the mosque in the worst part of it all as if they're taking horrific images of the world trade center attacks to inspire americans to hate but this last video that i want to show you well this one really takes the cake. my name's dan finale send me to washington i'll send our enemies where they belong and that's not to report does this look like a terrorist or this. time to stop this political correctness and the invasion of

our privacy let's face it it's a good looking guy without much fear flying airplanes into the towers and have no problem being pulled out alive therefore. this is an airplane. this as a terrorist send me to washington to get rid of them somehow increase i'll be sure you guys like there is no where near things like this. but nellie is just blindly admitting that he doesn't like brown people he's encouraging racial profiling and just grabs more attention the ad starts with a scene that looks like it was pulled out of twenty four now both of these ads are ridiculous and just to let you know the first one never actually made it to air but i can't help but bring up again how sad it is that this has become a normal part of our political culture that this doesn't even seem shocking to us

and stat is just proof that analysts war only helps to foster and less hades. now we've spent today's entire show discussing the ins and outs of the current u.s. policy in afghanistan america's now longest war from bush to obama from chaos in pakistan to think tanks in washington we haven't heard yet is what the war was like from the very beginning nine years ago today so how was the u.s. greeted by the people as liberators or as occupiers and how is that different from the mistrust the sweeps the country today nine long and bloody years later while joining this very top joining me for this very topic is steve connors veteran journalist and director of meeting resistance who spent fifteen months with the afghan people right after the invasion steve thank you so much for being here so here we are we've been discussing what it's like nine years later but tell me about day one when you first got to afghanistan what was it like how did the people act towards you well first of all there was still that the taliban still hadn't fought

as such i mean the left kabul they left kabul fairly quickly but there was still some fighting going on up in the north so when i crossed over from tajikistan one of the things i found very interesting was as we crossed over at night and then in the morning the sun comes up and i see all these women wearing burkas so and i've never been to afghanistan before so i turn to our guide and i said why are all these women wearing burkas with the taliban here and he looked at me as if i was a halfwit and he said all the way because you know so i've been sort of pumped up with this with this anti taliban propaganda about about about the way they treated women which of course not realizing the vets just the way their life is in the country that it wasn't it was a good deal more complex than when we were being told so you know if they were you know you know how were you taken by these people who did it as it were you looked at you know and did the way that they looked at other american troops coming in i mean were these people liberators or was there from the very beginning

a sense of mistrust they were right at the beginning i think as as jerome said earlier there was a sense of oxen. and but that that soon begin soon began to erode as we so i remember doing a story about the first year. and we were not sober of two thousand and two i just beamed back to tora bora where you may recall there was all there was all the bombing and that's where that's where osama bin laden slipped out of the country and some of the al-qaeda fighters who'd been killed. in that fighting. the remains were being collected by the local people in the being buried in this place became showing. a holy shrine and people would come from miles around to visit the shrine i mean the women would use it as primary health care because they had no medical facilities to speak of. and there was i went back there in august of two thousand and two and i met up with a man and he was a typical pashtun tribesmen here we are out in the middle of the mountains in the

middle of the countryside and he said to me where are you from i said i mean bush and he said i listen to tony blair's brighton speech you remember tony blair giving this very hopeful speech about all that was going to be delivered to to afghanistan and and he said and he started reciting it. and this i found this astonishing obviously this whole conversation was taking place in pashto and i was it was it was being translated from various saying yeah. and and he and he stopped so he stops reciting what tony blair would said and and then he said to me but you people will be tremendous. and mind you people are talking exactly you see this is the question that you set up here you people all of us not just it wasn't just about the military it was about aid workers it was about journalists it was it was about the u.n. and initially you think well you know can this guy kill the difference between a soldier and a journalist and then you start thinking about it again and you think well he's

actually got a very sophisticated world view because he's recognizing the self interest in this already. and so you know little lessons learned why that was so and so now we have a few we have these are your photos hanging in the background and you know running out of time unfortunately but what you see today is the exact same thing that you saw on nine you while i was putting these together for just just to show a theatrical production of. cart runner and while i was in the middle of just putting the show the bit of a show together i under the new york times and we just saw there all that rubble and the guys walking in the rubble and i saw almost an identical picture taken three weeks ago so after almost a decade you still have people living in the in the rubble you know kabul. they still haven't they they still haven't been given homes they're still desolate they're still they're still carrying water up hills and that's and that's in the safe area and that's where we are today and you know this is and this is exactly

why we're doing the show to question why it is exactly the same way and why right over there steve thank you so much for joining us welcome all right that's it for tonight's show thanks for tuning in to make you guys come back tomorrow we'll have a man named matt sky on the show he has decided to single handedly take one back off the air i would love to help him out with that one but first we're going to hear his plan tomorrow now in the meantime don't forget to become a fan of the alona show on facebook and follow us on twitter and if you missed any of tonight's show or any other nights you can always catch it all at youtube dot com slash the loaner show where we now post the interviews as well as the show in its entirety coming up next is the news of the latest headlines from the u.s. and around the world.