our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr.nks so much. >>> acclaimed author khaled hosseini just wrapped up a visit to his native afghanistan. he's an american citizen, but born in kabul and afghanistan has always remained near and dear to his heart. he's written about it in "the kite runner" and "a thousand plenty did sons." he's a goodwill ambassador for the united nations. khaled hoe ssseini is joining u now from washington. always good to see you. thanks for being here. really interested to know how afghanistan looked to you today. you actually left just on tuesday. >> yeah, i think the current trend, especially from the standpoint of security is not an encouraging one. when i spoke to afghans, they were concerned about their future and have some reservations and disappointments about the present. but the sense that i got that things are not hopeless and sustained stability in afghanistan is an achievable goal. but in order to meet that goal, we do have to be patient. this will take time and we need the sustained commitmen

cnn's pentagon correspondent is barbara starr. >> reporter: swedish charity workers say u.s.ldiers and afghan forces forcibly entered this hospital last week breaking down doors, ordering patients out of their beds and tying up staff. it was only later they say the troops told them they were looking for an insurgent leader. >> they didn't find any insu insurgents in the hospital. still this is a clear violation of internationally recognized principals and rules. >> reporter: nato is investigating, but it couldn't come at a worse time for general mcchrystal, he's trying to convince afghans that foreign troops will protect them against the taliban, but for now, he's busy trying to explain nato's actions. mcchrystal personally inspected a site where a predawn air strike on two hijacked full trucks killed perhaps dozens of afghan civilians and he promised another investigation. >> from what i have seen today in going to the hospital, it's clear to me that there were some civilians who were harmed at that site. >> reporter: afghans are already upset about civilian casualties cause

here's cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: the latest suicide car bomb attack in the heart of kabul. another day when insurgents made clear the capital city is not safe. but suddenly, the obama administration and the president's top military advisers are split on the urgency to fix afghanistan's security problems. just days after the top military officer said -- >> a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces. >> reporter: the vice president said not so fast. >> a decision on additional resources is premature, and it's a distance off. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview, vice president joe biden told cnn's chris lawrence no more troops will be sent until the current 21,000 troop increase is in place and the afghan election results are finalized, all still weeks away. but a senior u.s. military official tells cnn general stanley mcchrystal, the top u.s. commander, has now decided how many more troops he needs but he's been told by washington don't send that request until you're asked for it. >> there's been a lot of talk this week and the la

barbara starr takes a closer look. >> reporter: this is the new ground zero in the u.s. fight with iran over its nuclear weapons program. here, 20 miles north of the holy city of qom, is where president obama says the regime has built a secret underground nuclear fuel plant. it's been an intelligence cat-and-mouse game to track iran's latest secret nuclear site. satellites have watched overhead for signs of dirt or vehicle movement. but how can you know what's going on underground? >> that could have been through human intelligence. that could have been through penetration of their -- their computer systems. it could have been a mistake iran made and told someone what was going on. many ways. >> reporter: add to this, two other major worries. another enrichment facility at natanz and a nuclear center at ishmahan, part of iran's program to spread the program across the country and bury facilities underground. putting part of the crown jewels underground could make it tough for the u.s. or israel to effectively bomb these sites and it's tough to know if any attempt to dest

jeanne will be out checking with her sources and barbara starr and mike brooks.bring in fran townsend once again. will they run a train exercise on september 11th? >> as i once said about the buzz over of lower manhattan it would be felony stupidity if they decided to run a training exercise on september 11th at the same time the president is at the pentagon. it is inconceivable that anybody would have approved a training exercise on this day. >> it would never be approved. how high a level does something like that go? would the secretary of defense have known about it? where does that go exactly? >> normal l aally a training ex doesn't go up to the cabinet level. >> but on this day -- >> i wouldn't rule it out. the government has made these sorts of mistakes in the past as we've seen. it really would be a tragic, horrible mistake for which people should be held accountable by the way if there is a training exercise like this in this area on this day. and i also think jeanne is right. if this was a training exercise, the command center ought to know that and been

barbara starr from the pentagon, appreciate that.et you know, cnn today at 4:00 wolf blitzer talks to afghan president hamid karzai about the recent elections. that's today on cnn. tomorrow we'll have a special guest on our own show. the author of "the kite runner" and united nations good will ambassador just back from afghanistan. we'll talk to him at 9:30 eastern about the struggles of refugees there. >>> the man at the center of a terror investigation in new york city has been found in colorado. federal agents searched the home of the afghan national while he was at the fbi office in denver. the investigation moved into high gear with monday's raids at several buildings in new york. ted joins us now from denver. what's the update? >> reporter: the investigation has moved here to the denver area. you mentioned an apartment that was searched yesterday also another home of this person of interest if you will and this individual that lived here in denver but traveled via rental car to new york where he stayed at an apartment there. th

let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr.iraq the pentagon is weighing whether or not to send additional troops to afghanistan right now. where does that stand? >> reporter: well, wolf, they are waiting for a recommendation from general stanley mcchrystal, the new commander in afghanistan, but what is the military necessity of possibly sending more troops to the war zone? well, threat number one, those improvised explosive devices, and the ied was blocking this road in central afghanistan a few days ago. [ explosion ] this time u.s. troops blew it up before it could cause harm, but stopping roadside bombs is an uphill battle >> we're losing people, as everybody knows. >> reporter: the statistics are staggering. since 2007 the number of ieds in afghanistan has jumped more than 300%. many are found before they detonate, but the number of troops killed is up more than 400%. the number wounded up more than 700%. one u.s. military source tells cnn that in just the last year the taliban's capacity to manufacture bombs, train attack

cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon. l with this situation? >> reporter: well, this is just more news that general mcchrystal really doesn't need, kiran, as you say. u.s. troops acknowledge they were at this hospital but they say they obeyed the rules. >> reporter: swedish charity workers say u.s. soldiers and afghan forces forcibly entered this hospital last week, breaking down doors, ordering patients out of their beds, and tying up staff. it was only later, they say, the troops told them they were looking for an insurgent leader. >> they didn't find any insurgents in the hospital and they didn't hurt any of the staff. still, this is a clear violation of internationally recognized principles and rules. >> reporter: nato is investigating, but it couldn't come at a worse time for general stanley mcchrystal, the commander of u.s. and nato forces. he's trying to convince afghans that foreign troops will protect them against the taliban. but for now, he's busy trying to explain nato's actions. mcchrystal personally inspected

barbara starr tells us his family cherishes his family and the special honor he received. >> reportert obama awards the medal of honor to the family of sergeant first class jared monti who died trying to save others in a brutal firefight in afghanistan. >> he said no, semi soldier. i'm going to get him. >> reporter: he is the sixth man to receive medal for actions above and beyond the call of duty in today's wars. all of them awarded post humously. there's no one wearing the blue ribbon from iraq or afghanistan. there's been no living recipient for any military action since vietnam. the defense secretary believes there are unrecognized acts of courage among the living. >> this has been a source of real concern to me, and i would tell you it was one of, i think it was one of president bush's real regrets that he did not have the opportunity to honor a living medal of honor winner. >> reporter: there are still 95 living recipients, aging heroes from past battles, world war ii, korea, and vietnam. >> before i was in the army i had no idea what the medal of honor was. >> reporter: gary la

and our barbara starr live at the pentagon now to give us a look at the reality of what combat is reallygood morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, t.j. for every u.s. service member on the ground, combat in that war zone gets tougher by the day. more troops may well be on the way because, t.j., we have now learned that general stanley mcchrystal has made a decision on how many more troops he thinks he needs in the war zone, even if president obama's not ready to approve anything just yet, commanders are getting concerned. troops on patrol talk with afghans about building a medical clinic. this is the type of action u.s. commanders want. helping afghans so they don't turn to the taliban. but the combat reality, senior u.s. officers increasingly believe urgent change is needed. >> if i could change one thing today with what's happening in the south of afghanistan, it would be more troops. but more afghan troops. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview with cnn, general james conway, marine core commandant, spells out how more troops might be used. >> i think there's lots of plac

let's bring in our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. she's been doing great reporting on this story. what are you picking up? >> reporter: you know, wolf, as my colleague jack cafferty likes to say, today's question. today's question is whether political concerns are suddenly overriding military concerns in afghanistan. the latest suicide car bomb attack in the heart of kabul. another day when insurgents made clear the capital city is not safe. but suddenly the obama administration and the president's top military advisers are split on the urgency to fix afghanistan's security problems. just days after the top military officer said -- >> a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces. >> the president said not so fast. >> a decision on additional resources is a distance off. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview joe biden told cnn's chris lawrence no more troops will be sent until the current 21,000 troop increase is in place and the afghan election results are finalized. all still weeks away. but a senior u.s. milit

here now is cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: troops on patrol talk with afghansing a medical clinic. this is the type of action u.s. commanders want. helping afghans so they don't turn to the taliban. but the combat reality, senior u.s. officers increasingly believe urgent change is needed. >> i think we need more troops, but it needs to be more afghan troops. >> reporter: the marine commandant spells out how more troops might be used. >> i believe there's more places where we can put the taliban on the run. his command and control, his money source, which in large manages drugs. >> reporter: the joint chief of staff says more troops may be needed. >> what will happen in a two or three-day period is the security environment that we're training in. >> if we're just training, i think the training environment is -- >> reporter: as public support for the war continues to slip, conrad says the public isn't see the full picture. >> i'm an optimist, i think that one the country needs to understand better what's taking place. >> reporter: members of congress have now bee

here's barbara starr with the story of one who didd make it home. >> reporter: on this wind swept hillsidenorth of san diego, california, one man's lifetime of treasures. >> i have never been much of a sickly guy, in fact the only time i ever went to the hospital was after december 7. >> reporter: december 7, 1941, the day pearl harbor was attacked by japan. john finn was there serving in the navy he loved. john enlisted as soon as he turned 17. the year, 1926. we'll do the math for you. john finn just turned 100. he lives here on what he calls his ranch recalling in detail the day that still lives in infamy. >> the morning of the attacks, see the japs got there early and they rudely awakened us and they kicked the living hell out of us and burned us all up. and then left. see. they didn't hang around there. that jap admiral, he knew his business, he went there to do one thing and he did it. >> reporter: john was an order nance specialist, within minute, he was manning a machine-gun, a one-man counter attack. >> there were japanese fighter pilots, i can remember seeing some cases where i c

cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr explains. >> reporter: in the ied was blocking this road ingo. [ explosion ] >> reporter: this time, u.s. troops blew it up before it could cause harm, but stopping roadside bombs is an uphill battle. >> we're losing people as everybody knows. >> reporter: the statistics are staggering, since 2007, the number of ieds in afghanistan has jumped over 300%. many are found before they detonate, but the number of troops killed is up more than 400%, the number wounded up more than 700%. one u.s. military source tells cnn that in just the last year, the taliban's capacity to manufacture bombs, train attackers and target u.s. troops has grown. on september 8 near kandahar, troops seized five tons of ammonium nitrate, more than twice what was used in the bombing in oklahoma city in 1995. experts say the taliban have a key advantage. afghanistan's dirt roads make it easy to quickly hide ieds. >> you have disturbed earth all the time. you still probably have junk around, especially close to villages and close to intersections. that just makes the seeing a

more from our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. >> reporter: president obama awards the medal ofthe family of sergeant 1st class jared monti who died trying to save others in a brutal firefight in afghanistan. >> jared said, no, he is my soldier. i'm going to get him. >> reporter: monti is the sixth man to receive the medal for actions above and beyond the call of duty in today's wars. all of them awarding posthumously. it's the type of heroism these men know, living recipients gathered this week as they do every year. but there's no one wearing the blue ribbon from iraq or afghanistan. in fact, there's been no living recipient for any military action since vietnam. the defense secretary believes there are unrecognized acts of courage among the living. >> this has been a source of real concern to me, and i would tell you it was one of -- i think it was one of president bush's real regrets that he did not have the opportunity to honor a living medal of honor winner. >> reporter: there are still 95 living recipients, aging heroes from past battles, world war ii, korea, and vietnam.

cnn's barbara starr has been working the story for us joining us live from washington on what this findcould mean for the region. barbara, any idea how big of a stockpile we're talking about just yet? >> reporter: a senior u.s. military official says they don't know exactly how many but that afghan national police a few days ago did capture a st k stockpile of iranian made weapons in western afghanistan. let's go right to the map. that will show everyone why this is so critical. the weapons were discovered in the city of herat up against the iranian border. it could be a signal of additional iranian involvement in the war in afghanistan. what did they find? they found rockets and explos e explosively formed weapons. roadside bombs that are particularly made in iran particularly designed to destroy the kind of armored vehicles that u.s. troops use in the war zone and they found c-4 plastic explosives made in iran with iranian markings and the type of explosives that could be used in future suicide bombs against u.s. troops. heidi? >> in the past obviously there had been many other irania

barbara starr, cnn, ft. south carolina. >> many service men and women face mental health issues after going to the most common post-traumatic stress disorder. it is one of the illnesses treated at a brand new facility set to open in the spring of 2010. construction shots there. the privately funded national center will open in bethesda, maryland. it will treat troops those with severe brain injury and those with ptss. >>> laura ling and luna lee admitted they were arrested in china. they blame their guide for leading them across the border and believe he may have tipped off north korean soldiers. they were held for five months before their release last month. in time in captivity, they say it's still painful to talk about. >>> cnn express on the road again. ali velshi traveling across the midwest talking to people about the economy and health care reform. hi there, ali. south side of chicago today, right? >> reporter: that's right. i'm on the south side of chicago in front of jim's original polish sausage. 2

barbara starr, thank you so much. we're talking a little bit more this morning about the war in afghanistan. we asked you whether or not you support it because of the new poll that's out that shows some of the american support for the war lower than it's been in the past. we'll get to some of your responses here now. cnn.com/heidi is the blog site here. this person says -- always fresh appreciate your thoughts. thank you for responding. >>> more bad language at the u.s. open. this time the s bomb is dropped. you might be surprised at who let it fly. when we spend a billion dollars a day buying foreign oil... we don't just waste our money... we put our economy in the hands of hostile nations. we let big oil make record profits... while we struggle. and we lose new energy jobs, r9that go overseas. but we can take charge of our economy... by passing strong clean energy legislation. 1.7 million new american jobs. less carbon pollution. and a cleaner america for our children. it's time for clean american energy. xwxwxwxwxw

barbara starr has the latest from the pentagon. barbara, what's the latest? this is near munsey, indiana, two f-16 fighter jets are tailing this small civilian aircraft. it's called an m-20m, single engine four-passenger aircraft. but only a pilot is onboard. he is said to be unresponsive. this is a matter of great concern, not a terrorist activity, according to u.s. military officials. they obviously believe there is some sort of health or other situation onboard this small aircraft that has caused the pilot to become unresponsive. he is said to be slowly descending at this hour, flying in a somewhat erratic pattern. obviously the concern is to calculate where this plane may now come down and what will have to be done. so at this hour, two ucf-16s is watching it, unable to make any contact with the pilot onboard this small civilian four-seat aircraft. >> as you said, they don't think it's terrorist activity. they know it's not. they believe it's some sort of health issue. barbara starr, thanks so much. news just in to hln. we'll keep you posted on that. than

barbara starr, cnn, washington. >>> and our anderson cooper takes you inside afghanistan all this week from the battle zone tonight. don't miss the special "ac360" at 10:00 eastern time. >>> before we get to break, i got to tell you, we're overwhelmed at the blog. it's a good problem to have, it really is. we've only been able to approve 100 of your comments so far, but we've got 2,000, 2,000, since the president's speech, his pep talk, to kids. >>> i want to read a couple to you. leslie writes, every president should speak and deference should be given to the office. mike from texas writes, of course, jim greer, and jim greer is the head of the republican party, the gop in florida, who was outraged at the i -- initially at the thought that the president was going to give the speech. not sure about the lesson plan materials that were sent out ahead of the speech. of course, jim greer has had a change of heart because he put his foot in his mouth, causing panic across the country. >>> we will try to get to more of these responses. we are not able to keep up with all of your responses so

have in barbara starr takes a closer look. >> reporter: this is the new ground zero in the u.s.over its nuclear weapons program. here, 20 miles north of the holy city of qom is where president barack obama says the regime has built a secret underground nuclear fuel plant. it's been an intelligence cat-and-mouse game to track iran's latest seek yet nuclear site. satellites have watched overshe had to watch for signs, but how can you know what's going on underground? >> that could have been through human intelligence, through penetration of their computer systems, it could have been through some mistake iran made and accidentally told somebody what was going on. so there's many ways. >> reporter: add this to two other major worries for the u.s. another enrichment facility at natanz, and a major nuclear center at isfahan, part of iran's plan to bury facilities under ground. putting part of the nuclear crown jewels underground to make it different to destroy them. >> it's sensitive if you whack them hard with a high level of explosives. you may call damage through vibrations and the

these insurgents employing it with deadly affect across the country, barbara starr. >> absolutely. one threat to u.s. troops. taliban are getting so good at it that u.s. commanders are seeing new tactics by them almost every week. an ied was blocking this road in central afghanistan a few days ago. this time, u.s. troops blew it up before it could cause harm. but stopping roadside bombs is an uphill battle. >> we're losing people as everybody knows. >> reporter: the statistics are staggering, since 2007, the number of ied" afghanistan has jumped more than 300%. many are found before they detonate. but the number of troops killed is up more than 400%. the number of wounded, up more than 700%. one u.s. military source tells cnn that in just the last year, the taliban's capacity to manufacture bombs, train attackers, and target u.s. troops has grown. on september 8th, near kandahar, troops seized 5 tons o of amoni nitrate, more than twice what was used in the bombing of the federal building in oklahoma city. and c-4 plastic explosives, believed manufactured in iran, were found in hera

our barbara starr is tracking this story for us this morning. ystal, the man in charge of the war, what is he saying right now about upping the troops in afghanistan? >> well, publicly general mcchrystal, kiran, is not saying very much, because, privately, it appears he's been told by the pentagon, don't call us, we'll call you. >> reporter: latest suicide car bomb attack in the heart of kabul. another day when insurgents made clear the capital city is not safe. but suddenly the obama administration and the president's top military advisers are split on the urgency to fix afghanistan's security problems. just days after the top military officer said -- >> a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces. >> reporter: the vice president said, not so fast. >> a decision on additional resources is premature and a distance off. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview, vice president joe biden told cnn east chris lawrence no more troops will be sent until the current 21,000 troop increase is in place and the afghan election results are

let's go live to cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. ce the fuel tankers were blown up. are we any closer to learning just what happened, barbara? >> reporter: well, suzanne, we do know more now. u.s. officials, nato officials confirming it was a german ground commander who ordered two u.s. air force f-15s to drop bombs on these fuel trucks where now we know some afghan civilians were killed. the commander of u.s. and nato forces in achg waded through the water to personally inspect the site where a pre-dawn air strike on two hijacked fuel trucks killed afghan civilians. >> from what i have seen today and going to the hospital it's clear to me that there were some civilians who were harmed at that site. >> reporter: no one knows how many civilians might have been killed. a nato official tells cnn classified pictures show about 100 people swarmed the site when the hijacked trucks became stuck. after the two 500-pound bombs were dropped, only a few people were seen running away. the official confirms to cnn the air strike was ordered by th

. >> barbara starr from cnn. i have to follow and as my real real question.n the iranian weapons, you have seen this for many years now and you understand the date of the stands on the iranian weapons. so what is the most recent manufacture of iranian weapons you have seen? and then i would like to ask another question i need to ask you. >> a follow-up on that i believe, i've already answered. i believe probably 2007 was the latest stamping out the date on a munitions that i personally saw and have heard about. >> what i really wanted to ask you about was the case against the four soldiers, it may sound alleged mistreatment of fellow soldiers, and specically the link you believe there is to the suicide of pvate first class wilhelm. in reading the chart sheet you see here the military seems to make a direct link between the alleged maltreatment and the private suicide. what can you tell us about what it is that you believe these soldiers did to their fellow soldiers? and what happened to the private in the hours before he committed suicide? >> first of all, i