night on "worldfocus" -- eight years after the ameran-led invasion of afghanistan, we lo at the streth of al qaeda in that country as the unitestates debates ether to send more troops. making one corneof somalia a peacef place. after years living in the united stas, one man goes home to do somethinbig. the global environment can this count learn something from south korea whereoing green has beme a national obsession? and our ignature" story on

aving the childr." imagine your kids having tdo this. the effort tbring a better life to some of pastan's destitute. fromhe world's leading reporters and alysts, here's what's happening fm around the world. this is "worldfos." major support has beenrovided rosalind p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation dedicated to promoting fisl responsibity and addressing key economic challenges fang america'future. and additional funng is provided by the following suppters -- hello and good evening i'm daljit dhaliwal. begin tonight bytaking note of the eight annivsary of the u.s.-l invasion of afghanistan. the aim was to defeat the talibaand deny al qaeda a home

base after the september 11th attacks, but today t taliban are resurgent, the war has become ineasingly deadly for america d its allies and osama bin laden remains free man. e afghanistan conflict has gone on longer thaanyone imagined iwould. for his partpresident obama says he willot substantially duce the number of troops in afghanistan r will he change the mission. the question i will he expand the american mitary presence beyond the 68,0 troops already committed as t war becomes increasingly unpopul? in tonight's "lead focus,"e nt to assess the stngth and role of al qaeda inafghanistan, and we begin with e view from that count from zeinakhodr of al qaeda english. reporter: tucked deep in th tora bora mountains inastern ghanistan was bun of the

military bases of osambin laden. it was also where the alaeda leer lived before 2001. >> he was a mple guy just like us. every time he came vit, he treateus well. when the bombing hedisappeared and we never saw him again. >> reporte for years there's beenontradictory information about bin laden's whereabos and even whethere is alive or dead. the qution of al qaeda's strength is now at the heartf the debate or whether to send additional u.s. troopso afghanistan. the reasons for inding the country -- to capture kill bin laden and deny al qaeda sanctuary. that w the mission then, and eight yearon it still hasn't been accomplisd. taliban propaganda foote. it sws a suicide palmer involved in anttack on the culture ministry in kabul. the bomber shoots the ard befo storming into the buding, gunning down others and then setti off his explosiv. the taliban must have film the attack from one of tse buildings.

ey have become more sophisticated not onlyn their media propagandaampaign but in their mitary operations. u.s. commanders adt that, and afghan security ofcials say al qaeda has been behind the taliban's growing strength the government saythey often arrest forgn fighters crossing from pakistan. it's from there, aording to afghans, that al qda and the taliban operate and bin lan continues inspire many. the u.s. may be maki some headway in afghanista but the makeup of the enemy and the nare of the battle fight have been chaed. it no longer a fight against one organization, t a broader war against an ideogy that is much greater thaits original urce of inspiration. osambin laden. >> zeina khodrn afghanistan foal jazeera english. across the border, pakistan's powerful mitary expressed whatt called serious concern today about a big new americanid package for pakian. apparent it doesn't like some

the strings attached, espeally the fact that the civilian government would ha show that it has control ov the mitary. the bill, which is awaitg presidt obama's signature, would prove $1.5 billion a year for t next fi and pakistani protesters swed their oppositi to the bill by burning anmerican flag, saying it wou lead to greater.s. interference in kistan's affairs. for re on the relationship between al qaeda and t taliban in afghanist, we're joined now by hassan abbas. he is a rnard schwartz fellow at the asisociety here in new york. welcomto the pgram. >> thank y. >> well, eight years after the invasion, how rong are al qaeda in afghantan? >> ctainly not as strong as they were. i think now their top leadship is in hiding or on e run, and it has become more ten ideological orgization which is inspirin others but their

tworks are no more ther they have affiliate, frahises, butot a base as they had once or eight yearsago. >>ow closely linked are the taliban t al qaeda, not just in afghanistan but also across the border in paktan? >> there aretrong links. but i mu add that thesere t inseparable. at one level they're a relationsh for providing recruits to each othe support to each other. buon an institutional level, i think the taliban faction, the iran taliban, the are so many, punjabi militant grps and therare linkages, inspirional linkes, people move from one organation to another, butheyare not sitting across the table at one place and making desions jointl >> and what ro does al qaeda play in tis wide ranging

strategy that the obama ministration isarrying t on afghanistan? nobody wants preempt wat's gog to be, and the's a lot of deba about this review, bu why don you give us your though on that? >> first, i think the review should not b ending. t because it was supposedto end eight or six months ago, but netheless, the most critical question is whether we should kn what i al qda's capability, whether we should be able to define taliban better bu for short alysis, it is od to say taliban. different groups require differt kind of strategies. all sides, al qaed taliban, sutaliban groups, they need to be tackle very fractiously and strong. but a better analysis of who is being supported by whom, that

should be critical part. >> rning the corner a bit, your response to thes protests in pakistan over the big new americanid package? >> i think the aid paage is one of thevery good thin that have happened. support for health care, education, cotruction, police reforms, and the protests are a reflection o a dicit between that and the ited states. pakistan military also has expresd very serious concerns abouit. so this can come a problemati issue were do you think it's going to pass? >> it will pass. it wl pass. or ithould pass-- or i hope should pass. bu prhaps more ca is needed when these -- not coitionalities but provisions have been drafted. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. we also wa to know what you think on thiissue. our queson tonight -- after ght years of war in afghanistan, are the uted states and theorld safer from

terrorism? you can give us your opini by going to the "how u see it" section of ourebsite. that'st worlocus.org. the united stas has come out with a very strong stament about recent violence in gnea. nine days o in that west african country,oldiers opened fire on pele protesting the militaryovernment of captain ussa camara. a human rights group sa that 157 kied during the demp strags in a stadm, though the government puts the number at 56. some m have been trampled to death as they raaway from the shting. tnesses say soldiers raped women in the streets of th capital. yesterday, secretary ostate hillary clinton called the crkdown by t government crinality of the greatest degree and said the gornment cannotemain in power.

in east africa, 've told you ten about the chaos and violce of somalia, where a weaku.s.-backed government struggles to hold on tpower as inrgents linked to al qaeda trto overtake it. but in the middle of all thi somethg remarkable is going on. we want to show u what jeffrey gettleman of "thnew york times" h found in one corner of somalia. in the city of ada in the centl part of that country. there, peace andtability have broken out, thanks to the vision of one man who came home fm erica. >> repter: 37-year-old mohammedaden is aman on a mission. >> what i do daily solves the oblem. lack of fo and water. we need security. now we're forcedo do for the economics. >> repter: since2008, mohammed has be thee facto

mayo goverr and evenwaord ofadado, austy town in a destitute country,somalia. the problems he faces are typical insomalia. his backound is not. >> i w afid. when i w comingo come in here. i was afraid because i basically heard a bad thing about th region. but when iarrived, my mind changed. >>eporter: mohaed returned in 2008 on aersonal mission -- aid victims of a drought. heeft hi country 16ears earlier after being shot in the ankle by a stray bullet when the country spiraled intonarchy after the governmen collapsed. he eventually me his way to the u.s, first livin in a miamiomeless shelter, then taking agreyhounduso minnesa, a promised land for somali immigrants. there he earned a college degree in management iormation

systems fr minnesota state by parking car and worng in a faory. back insomalia,rmed with determination d donations from mali expats, his hard work earned h the respt of locals deerate for a leader with direction. >> due to that, ty are going to support him. reporter: in less than one year, mohammed has se up a cal government, transformin ado and the surrounding swath of central somalia from an area hated by ndits and warring islamic factns into enclaves of peace. >> in other works an measure yoursuccess. t this isery easyto measure your success. you can see in the people eyes that you helped them. you feel gd about that.

>> rorter: he nowrovides safety, security and jobs for his people. mohammed cas these two tanks outsidehis officehis cadillacs. they remain a potent symbol tha his relive oasis of stability is alys at risk. deite the many comproses, locals areciate schools, structure and security that mohammed's leadershipas prided. but with somal's chronic cos always at hisdoorstep, it's a frile existence. >> wheer i go back to minnesota or stay insomalia, that's the big question. i don't kow just ye t what i need iso trn people so i can teach them how to govern, ucate them, that they can run their government or their administration effectively and efficient for that matte it's hard onmy kids, it' hard

on my wife. buthey, i'm doing something big and they understanthat. >>hat was jeffrey ttleman in somalia for "the new york times." and one note from euro tonight. a court in italy has orturned an immunity law that had shielded prime minister silv berlusni from a corruption trial while he iin office. the court saidhe law was unconstitutional, and it paves the way for the corruption proceedings to resume. thruling could increase pressure on e prime minister to rign and hold early elections. beusconi said any trial would be, quote, "a farce." we turn once ain to one of

our core issues here on "worldfocus," which the global envonment. we didn't know this and maybe yodidn't either, but south rea is the middle of a revolutiona green energy revolution that isetting international recognitiofor its scope. as we think about ouown efrts here in the united states, might be useful to keep in mind what stevehao of al jazeera english found as he lookedt wh south korea has been up to. >> repter: for centuries, soutkoreans have relied on the ebb and ow of the tide to harvest their shellfish. the country's westoast proves some of the most dramatic tidal shifts anhere in theorld. it no surprise then that it's here the govnment has chosen to harvest the per of the ocean itself. once completed, this360 million u.s. pla will supply electrity to half a million homes.

turning these massive rbines. wi be the changing of the tide. the daily surge isxpected to generate 254 megawts of power, about a quarter of the outpuof a nuclear power plant. >>ranslator: using tidal power is nothing new. frce has done it since the '60s, but ours wilbe the world's largt and the greatest part it's entily eco-friendly. >> reporter: eco-fridly, green energy, is fast becomi the catch phrase of the tis. the man reonsible for south koa's future vision says his government is serious abt reducing the use of pouting foss fuels. torove his point, he commutes by drivi an all-electric vehicle. >> the basic phisophy of green growth is you can get healthy growth by making tngs green, by making tngs less dependent on fossil fuel, by makinghings far more energy efficient. >> reporter:ike many nations,

south korea's wealth has comon the back of heavy dustry. it remns today one of the world's largest eenhouse gas polluters. but change iin the air. every ek it seems authorities e ushering in a new green project. re residents of seoul celebratthe opening of a park. its lights are powered by th wind. nearby, solar panels pump electricity the city's power grid. and it may be hardo imagine, but local nature reserve useto be the city dump. for 15 years, people pil their waste on to two towering mountains. they've since be covered over anbeautified for people to enjoy. translator: i've seen a big difference. not only has thenvironment improved b our culture is healthier. >> reporter: the governme's pledgef makingts cits eener and in som case more colorful has receid the praise of t united nations.

$87 billion u.s.ill be spent over the next five yrs to reduce greenuse gas emissions. it's one of the most aitious environmental plans anywhe in the world. the plan doehave its critics. >>e think these ki of mention is all lia. they are n true green. they are fake ones. >> reporter: take the case o sihwa. environmentasts say while using tidal power is a good idea rinciple the plant could end up floodin neighring mud flats, destroying the habitat of migratory birds. the government admits ere are shortcomings b says the overalbenefits of providing cleaner air caonly be better for everne, including the wildlife. steve chao, al jeera, sihwa, south korea. so, a you just heard in that report, some don't thin th tidal power i as green as it's being made out to b we want to tk more about that tonight with our rular science

analyst, michael novac. he's the provo of science at the amican museum of natural history rit here in w york. michael, good to see you ain. >> nice be here. >> looking at that report fom south korea, iteems positive but it is alsoeen by some as bein environmental controversial. lk about that some re detail. >> absotely. this is a big project. it involves e constructn of a massive sructure made of concrete and steellike a ant dam. it's called a barge, a barrage has these turbines bilt into it. the tuines areowered by e vement of water due to the changes or the shifts in the tide. but unftunately, like dam, they also come with a lot of negative impacts. for example, fish, the migration of fish,hat's very impornt to the environment ismpeded by these bi barrages. fish are even killed trying to cross ese barriers also, the sainity changes. it blocks t lagoons and

chans the salinity in the backwater a organisms are adapted to those changes. >>an it be changedthese impacts that a describg. >> getting power from the movement of water, one of these is caed the stream technology. and ts is really essentially having turbinesnder the surfe of the water and the movement of that water pors -- you get your ergy from that. >>ow phisticated is that chnology? >> wel this is really in the early stages of the experiment, and is not bei used for any commercial pposes currently, although there is a big problem in wales that is slott for completion by 2010 th actually in a sense is a ndmill farm under the sea or moreorrectly a turbine farm under the sea. >> let'srewind just a little bit. and address this dilemma.

i mean, what's worse reall looking at the environmental impact on the loc environment dealing with trying toeduce these harmful greeouse gases which fect the entire planet, how do we get arond this conundrum? >> this is the esstial dilemma, isn'tit? youave a loc envonmental problem on one hand, but after all, sayin like a barrage is important for preventing the emsion of aot of co-2 and othegreenhouse gases, so that is an importan consideration, yet there's eironmentalists o claim we can get a wo-fer, we can still reduce our co-2 emissions t use a more distributed smalr scale approach to alternative ener urces like ter or wind or sor. >> and on a lae scale, how far away, how ny years away are we from trying t sort of mass harness this new technolo? >> i think it'ssome years away.

probably we're looking athalf a decade t decades before weee real gains forwar where an appreciable amount ofnergy in any given count is goingo me to that. >> michael novacek,hank you ry much. >>t's great to be here again. in tonight "signature" story, we continue this week series on "saving the chdren." in pakistan, the poore in some cies are relegated to a life that parts in this c could never agine for their children. tonight we take u to the city of quet, with the hp of a leading aid orgazation, concern rldwide. "worldfocus" producer yul lion shows us what some children there must do, b also how some grn-ups are helping them.

>> reporter:it's dawn i the ovincial capital of quet. they'rnot on their way to school and the bags o their backs don't contain books. they're fill with garbage. these kidsre going to work. to pick throughrash that has been dumped in the stres. thesecavengers are the chilen of refugees from neighboring afghanistan. as unristered residents their rents can't legally work here and they c't go local schools. instd they must do backbreaking worfor as long as hours a day, walking miles from one dump site to the nxt looking for recyclable items that might brg them 75 cent a day, oftenll the inme a family h. they'r as ung as 5 picking through the tras among the filth of goats usin their bare hands to find something of lue. this boyses a magne to llect tal. even so, he gets cuts from razor blades. >> he's a garba picker.

his hands arecut. his han are also cutwith the blade. ey're in a very dangerous job here,xposed to hoital waste with hiv/aids and contagious seases. they're st worki for the survival otheir families. >> reporter: wn they fill their sacks, the bo go a recycling det to have thr goods weighed and colle the precus rupees to help feed their familiesor another day. local aid organizations have stepped in thelp some of the estimated 10,000 garge pickers. one of them is ccern worldwide, an irish humanitarian organizati that says they reh over 4,000 refugee children in quetta, both boys and girls every year. they've eablished three dropping centers in the city to provide basi services forhe children. re, the garbag pickers can

ba wash off the street's grime a they're ven a nutritious meal. they're also taught rding, writing d math and more. >> claes are mainly onife ills education and hygine education anthen there are some recreational classes le art and aft classes. >>eporter: girls classes are held sepately from the boys. all the children lrn vocational skills like carpentry,plumbing, electrical wiring a sewing. this 15-year-old boy is one mo than 100hildren who have gone from the concern progam to find permane employment. but perhaps most importantly, the cters offer these chiren a chance tobethemselves chilen. there are places to play, learn d feel safe fromhe lives they st lead.

concern has plans to open eit re drop-in ceers. ile they don't get the children out of e dumps an off the seets, they do provide some help and the possility of a bright future. tomorrow in our "signature sear rirkse'll report from guatemala where tousands of children are suffering fr chronic malnuttion. and th is "worldfocus" for this wednesday evening. dot forget, yocan find a lot more news and perspectivesn our website at wodfocus.org. and while you're there, beure to join the conversationnline. i'm dalj dhaliwal in new york. from me and the re of the team, good-bye. -- captions by vitac www.vitac.co major support for "worldfocus" has been proved by rosalind p. walter and th peter g. peterson fountion, dicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addreing key economic challenges faci america's future. and additional fding is provided by the folling

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