>>tonight on "worldfocus" -- a grim assessment by the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. send more tops or face faile. a day of mourning in italy as the bodies of its war dea return home. and new qestions in germany out its mission to afghanistan. we wl take you to cina to see w scientists are doing in their race toroduce an h1 vaccin today there wa some good news abouthe vis. >> and 16 months after a cyclone killeds many as 100,000 people in anmar,

international aiis still not gettinto the people who need it most. we will tell you why. from the world's leang reporters and analysts, here what'sappening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." madeossible in part by the following funder-- major suppt has also been provided by thpeter g. terson foundation, dedicated to promoting fisca responsibility and addressg key economic challges facing america's future. good ening. i'm dalj dhaliwal. are going takeann depth look tonight at the warn afghanistan fr several diffent perspectives that americanson't oftenget to see with views from britn, gerny and italy, which are also heavily involved i this confct. as the war tensifies,he death toll mounts andpublic

opinio turns negative. we'll hear how the united states and its allies are re-evaluating their missn. whilehat process unfds and president obama considers the options, his top commander in afghanistan warning of the possibility of faire without additional american tops beyond the 68,000 already appred. in our lead focus, we look at that possibity and how was reported today from our british partner tn. >> reporter:.s. troops defending a remote utpost near the border wi pakian. theinsurgents areeoldened. witht reinforcements the t u.s. and nato comnder in afghantan is warning the war will liky result in failure. in a confidtial brieng obtained by "the wasngton post" genel stanley mhrystal says flure to gainhe initiative and reverse insurgents' moment numb the near term, xt 12 moths, while

afghanistan secuty capacity matures, risks a outcome where defeating th insurgency i no longer possible. the u.s.eployment in afghanistahas already doubled this year and will riseto 68,000 by year end but calls for even moreill prove even more deeply unpopar with the ameran people. >> i think it's important that we match strategy to resources. what i'm also notoing to d is pu theresource questio before the strategy question. fore i'm satisfied that we've got the right stategy, i'm not going to be sending someyoung man or woman over there beyond wh we already he. >>eporter: a deeply flawed presidential election are hobbling sport for the missn as it stands n let alonean expansion. mcchrystal warns the real challenge is changg the way it's sn by afghans. unless it moves from killing insurgents to precting the

afghan citizens. mcchryst says we can defeat ourself. >>. now, to ity were th was nation day of mourning for six italianroops klled last week in afghanistan. in rome, thousands me to pay thr respects a a state funeral for the soldiers. applauding in a tradional sign of rpect as the coffinsere brght into the basilica. one of theost moving moments, a 7-year-old son one of the soldiers touched his father's coffin whi an elderly woman said good-bye in her own way. all of it a very public display not often seen in thee states, as thear hits home in italy, and the untry finds itself i a period of soul arching which we hear about in this report fm deutsc welle.

spontaneous apause bre out. people gathed in the hundreds toay their rescts to the six deceased soldrs. the planearrying the coffins home from aghanistan touched down in e italia cital on sunday morning. italian prident giorgio napotano was amgst those waiting about the troops were killed when their convoyake under attack in kabul on thursday bringing the number o italian soldiers that have died in the eight-year conflict to 21. the tragedy has sparked renewed deba in aly over e widrawal of its 2,800 troops from afghanist. e government says it maysoon embark on glaul withdrawal. but that the time is not ye right for full exit plan. >> transtor: we must remain in afghanistan despite e pain it brings us. >> pope benedict offers ayers for inrnational troops the. >> translar: i would like to

renew my encouragemen to prome solidarity between nations, to cnter the logic of violence andeath in fvor of juste, reconciliation and peace. >> the italian government declared mondaa national day of mourning. thateport from our german partner utch wel which has been looking at gerny's role the war. until now, the governnt of chanceor angela merkel which faces an election sixdays from now, has fused to call a war, selling it to the voters as humanitarian mission. but things ha change for germany's 4,000 oops, my of them in the northern prince, e mission has turned increasingly violent. here is w deutsche welle covered that. aemorial services held as german soldiers honor their faen comrades. to de 35 oops have lost

their lives in afghanista in rent monthsattacks on the germans nearthis prohave become more equent. theyame here to help the afghaneople to rebuildheir countries to win the hearts and minds with new schools and idges. the reality today, hever, is very dferent. german tops no longereel safe here,hether they'ren their base or t on patrol. th face rocket atcks, ambushes hidden explosives an firefits with an increasgly aggressive emy. injuly, gman troop equipped with heavy mortar andrmered vehicles launch an offensive against taliban foes in the area. >> translator: we knew what they were facin because the threat level here in therea has increased significantly, b we didn't expec such mssive resistance frothe enemy. >> i may 2007, there w a tuing point. asuicide bomberilled three

german soldiers in a market. after at, the situaon for germanorces in the area deteriorated dramatically. insurgents sepped up tir caaign with increasi number of attacks. the taliba managed to gain control of everoreerritory in afgnistan. they itimidated and threatened afghans who refused support assist the insurgency. for german troops, the situation has bome incasingly complex and confusing. the insurgents don't wear uniforms. they're impossible to distinish from the rest of the civilianpopulation. >> translator: peoe we deal within the morning and have a good feeling abt turn outo part of the same circle that attacks our ba in the evening. then they're ck for more talks, for construction projectsnd mediate in the community. it's a realchallenge. >> despit the precarious

security situation, germany coinues to invest in civil reconstruction projects. a new police acamy is takg shape. neby, a gem polishing shop h been set up to help boost the local ecnomy. projects like these are intended to show afghans that germany is commitd to helping the cntry by peaceful means, but for the time being, t germans here are busy fighting a warthat they're not even allowed tcall a war. toxamine all o this we're joined tight fromashington, d.c.y anthony cordesman. he's with theenter for rategic and international studie thank you very mh for joining n the program. >> pleasure. >> so the psident said ts weekend that he is studying s strategic opons in afghanistan before decing whether or n to send additional troops the. what do yo think his optns are? >> i think this is more a potical statement than real. the present has appointed a

new commander, a new ambassador. the actual strategic options were readyt the end of july. there are some choice in terms the level of tops he might commit rel isk, but he ally has onlyone set of optionat this point. he can either pvide the ambassador and the commander with the resources necsary to implement the strategy th they ve requested or, giventhe up populaty of the war bothn the u.s. and overseas, and the fa th we have an going isis in military terms, his oices are going to essentially be to leave or loe. >> well, some believe that sue like the one at was us in iraq is phaps what mightbe need to turn theide in afghanistan. any ason for you t believe that something like tis would work? >> i think at this point, anody onhe outside ying to suggest a new strategy that no

one who is in command or has an authory is going to support is pointless. th type ofbuildup in resources and manpow that general mcchrystal and amssador eikenber have been looking at is much more limited an the surge inside iraq. it's als focused muchore in building up afghan rces. it's focused on buildingpid an civil programs a protecti the afghan population rather than covering a large area to deat an insgency as in iraq. >> doou think enoug has been said about the vil side, th options that need to be consided in afghanistan? >> i think the pblem -- that a verygood question because, frankly, general mcchrystal is tyg to solve theroblem of the military dimension primarily. and eikenberr has to deal with coordinaon of the civilside,

which will be as critical to the strategy general mcchrystal is recommending as poviding more forces, whether they'r afgh oru.s. d we need to remember that this document isompletely separate from th ovall resource request, wch not only ha to affect u.s. troops butto decide how to fund afghan mitary and police forces, how to nd more civians, what addition level of civiln aid is required and how this strategy will be imemented over a period of yes. cause we're not talking about one sudd surge. we're talking about a strategy that takes years to implement >>ust very riefly, the last time y were here, you had lked about howmuch ground the taliban had gained in afghantan just in this past year. in your view how dire is the situation now? >> ihink the situation is

extremeldire. d people sometimes see this as somethin sudden, but from2006 to the prese, the united tions, naturo and a whole oup of oside intelligence analysts have steadily showed how e taliban and the network have expanded from a minor presce in the east in t southo a presence which now covers spots throughout the country and dominates a good part of the east and south. >> all right. anthonycordesman, thank you very much. >> thank you. in pakistan, authorits have placed der house arrest the head of a group accused of carrying o last ar's terrist aacks in mumbai, india. he's the sonof the band militant group that india say masterminded the assault that killed 166 pople in november. pastani policelaced him unde hous arrest in connection

wi two charges of hate speech against the state. charges that fall under terrorism laws. ne day before president obammeets here in new rk th the laders of isra and the palestian authority, israel's air force launched an atck on palestinian rgets in the souther gaza strip early today. the targets were three t israel says aresed to smuggle arms into gaz across e border from ypt. th israeli army said that the attacks were in rponse to ckets which were fired into israel by palstinian militants from gaza over t weekend. also ahead of tomorrow's meeting in new york, palestinian authority presidt mahmou abbas met in cairo with egt's present hosni murak. abbas repeated the palestinian position tha netiations with israel cannot rsume wiout an agreemt by israel to freeze jewish settlementin the west ba and arab east jerusalem.

>> translator:e have yet to reach an aeement on the ttlement issue. it willlikely require additional eorts in the ture. but sie no agreemenwas reached, ten the resumptionf negotiations whi could have potentially been announced in waington, will not happen now >> that tes us to tonight's estion -- if israe imposes a freeze on all settlement construction, are you confint that the will be a peace deal between israes a palestinians? you can tell us wat you thnk by going to the "ho you see it" section our website at worldfocusrg. muslims havbeen celebrating th festival of eid whicmarks the end of the holy moh of fasting known as ramadan. in hina, muslims gather in a mosq in one of the main muslim neighborhoods obeijing. they prad awell in baghdad where iraq' top shiite leader called fornity between the political rivals bore elections in january. anin ity, thounds of

muslims defied a ban and gathered in a plaza in central rome. the mayor's office had denied their reest to pray outdoors saying that al prayers should be conducted in rome's oy mosque. the's news from around e globe tonit regarding the ongoing efforto combat the h1n1 virus. in china a massiveampaign to vaccinate pele against swine flu began in beijing today. it is thought to be the first nation to begin inoculating its population against the1n1 virus. cha has been among the worls leaders in develong a sne flu vaccine wi no fewer than five chinese druakers involved in theeffort.

ch hinese officials ho to vaccinate 5% of th country's population. mexico officialsre predictings many as 5 milon cases of swine flu this wint with som 2,000 deaths. rlier this year, mexico was ground zero f the pandemic bu was t bring it under control forshutting schools and business for several weeks. this time mexican officials are promising such csures will be more fused. justrecently, some 1400 schools in one nohern city were closed after a reported obreak. swinflu has hitouth america hard and in particular brazil. brazil is now reporng so 900 deaths due to the pandemic, more than any other untry in the world. according to the worldealth organization, the are now nearly 300,000 cases of swine flu worldwide with nearly 3,500 deaths. om hong kong today, there was some good news. at a meeting regional health

ministers, the world health organition said that so far the1n1 virus hasot mutated into a more deadlytrain. hower, w.h.o officials are warning thathe pandemic ll hit poo countries especially hard at the united naons meeting in new york laterhis ek, those officials pl to k wealthy nations to contribute to a special fund fothe developing rld. for the latest on the h1n1 paemic we're joined b our regular contributor when i cos to science, michael novacek, therovost of scien at the american museum of naral history right here in new york. good to see you again, michael. >> gooto be here. >> with winter just a few months awayn the northern hemphere, we've been hearing a lot of dire predictionabout tens of millions of new cases ofwine flu. fit of all, how accura is that? and ll, how concerned should we be? >> the h1n1 influenza "a" virus

as it's technicay called is reading very rapidly, so it could affect a large part of t popution. on the oth hand, we know that the mortality rates are not hugely severe. they're more comparle to that ofseasonal flu, yet we ha to take precautionsnd the vaccination is a very important part of that. >> we also heard from the w.h.o today that it h not mutated, at least n sofar. how legitimate is the concern of mutation? >> in this cae, fotunately, the organism es not seem to ha mutated siificantly, in fact, at all. it's very ch the same as it was last spring. this is good newsecause it meanthe vcine is well rgeted toatch the organism. >> we also heard from the w.h.o. today that the doses of the vaccine mayall short prious estimates that w had been hearing. ho concerned should we babout that? i mean, we'renotrolling it out

here in the united stas until mioctober, countries like china have already staed rolling it o. >> the crical faor, of course, how much vaccine there will be available. an it's predicted at we could get as much as 20% of the human populati in this season of the flu. that's a go effort. it might have been ideal to have come in a little earlier, but a mid-october date will still be effective, not only f treating the disease now but for also protecting the population for future waves of the disease. >> other than the fact that it hasn't mated yet, is there anything else that is differen that can discern about this h1n1 vis? >> one aspect of this is who it affects. what the virus affects. and one concern is thatt actually does seemto hit althy peole with vryctive immune systems. andome -- we have serious cases in that age cagory.

>> michael novacek,hank you very mh. >> nice to bhere. finally tonight, we wan to return to a story thatasn't be in the headline lately b is still havin a major imct. has been almost a year and a half since a devastating cyclone to through mymar also known as burman southeast asia. 100,000 people or more may have be killed and many are still suffering. ase hear fromthe cadian broadcastingcorporation, the aid effort is bing hampered by widespread corruption. >> reporter:n the dta where burma meeti the sea, life is harder than ever. it's been 16 months sncehe cyclone swamped everything re.

after struggling with the military junta, international aid flowed in, but many have reived next to nothing. th family tries toke out a living selling charal. there e eight children to provide r. d there's been virtually no help sin nargus hit. "i just go a bucket and a pan, that's it she say "i that all you got?" she's asked. "f other livin i didn get ything." the fami's pigs are not for eating. they too will be sold to pay for vital supies like cooking oil. ey can't afford to send the kids to school a they oen go hury. "i lost everything, atever i own. i d a smll houe. alsogone" she says. it's the same storyin village aftervillage on thedelta. inedibly, many are still waiting for reli supplies.

these large woven mats have been donateto replac walls blown t of houses. bu there's a ca ese goodsay have been donated, b they found the way to the handsof the head of the villag as is often the case,or these lief supplies, you have to pay. those thatan't are shut out. no ai no supplies, no help. at another viage, a similar complaint. this one involves a seed voucher program sponsoredby the european union. these voiuchersre supposed to be worth 15000 chat in burmese currency, buty the time the locahead of the village kes his cut, they'reorth a lot le. ifou can't wait,you only get just 60,000 chat, she says. at the other ville, a woman needed some urgently. st a t. if you need urgently, you lost

lot, he says. if u c wait one month, y get 8000, she add itappens all the time, they say. aid is siphoned off byhose entrusted to distrbute it. i'llgive you an example, he says. when the people came and dote is here, if the village he doesn't benefit, he doesn't allo donatns. almost comically, they point to goods that have been receid that are bely us. this part of burma, almost all cooking is done in clay pots. ainless steel and tin have little appeal. clothes are appciated, even shor that they joke could easily hold two farmers of teir size. d kids who do two to school can be seen with their light blue packpks from unicef. farmers like this man sa it's not this year that the about. 's th future. "all my buffaloes, co, everhing is gone, see,

everytng, gone." "what haened," he's asked. >> nothing grew. i don't know wt happened. he haso sds to plant for next ye's harst. evenf he di he's worried that the wate here is so salty nothing aould grow anyway. there are many who share his concerns. they believe b nextyear, t devastation of cycle nargus willave disapared from the headlines. fo supplies will be exhausted. and few are relyingonburma's regime to keep bellies full. for its par te junta is ner r away. but it seems its efforts are not so much about improving people's lives as they are about sopping the wod from seeingthe suffering on the dta goes on. cbc new bangkok. >> that is "worldfocus" for this monday evening. for much more global ne and

perspective go to our website worldfus.org. i'm daljit dhaliwal in new yk. thank u so much for joining . we hope toee you back here at the same timtomorrow night. od-bye. orldfocus" is made possible in part by th following funder-- major support haalso been provided by the peter petersonoundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility andddressing key econom challenges facing responsibility andddressing key econom challenges facing amica's future. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com