a far cry from the criticism he is facing from the west, hamid karzai is in china where he is speaking to a slightly different audience, talking about economic views and reaffirming ties. >> indeed, china traditionally says they do not like to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, so anything going on inside of afghanistan with regards to the election of hamid karzai, they will not touch on those issues. what is really being discussed is the economy and how china can help afghanistan after the current military campaign comes to an end. really, the afghan president indicated that that is what it wanted from the chinese yesterday when he spoke to 70 or so businessmen here, he said once those companies to get involved in mining, infrastructure, and energy projects. things like that. he also said that he hopes to be able to guarantee safety and security for all of the chinese companies that he hopes will invest millions of dollars in his country. >> china has some concern about what is going on in their main region, not least of which the long-term presence of nato troops.

. >> reporter: obama also visited with president hamid karzai. in public he praised him. privately he urged him to clean up his government, root out corruption and the thriving drug trade. >> reporter: u.s. troops need to fight a large battle for southern afghanistan. that is expected to start in a few weeks which means 2010 could prove even more violent than 2009. abc news, washington. >>> 5:16. quickly showing you the almanac on this 29th of march, should be 37 in the morning, up to 59 in the afternoon. we're close to the high already at 52 degrees. looks like the day won't much move on the thermometer thanks to the rain. 52 philly. 54 richmond, 60 norfolk. a lot of energy. they just adjusted to 55 because of the storm moving through. heavy rain and severe weather southeast virginia through the carolinas. nine tornado reports yesterday. it looks like a lot of that energy is going to try to stroll its way up the eastern seaboard stalling out the cold front. the cold front itself bringing in slightly cooler air but will bring in wind shift and that will hold our temperatu

a delegation linked with the taliban met with president hamid karzai to discuss a peace deal. it comes ahead of karzai's national peace conference next month. >>> and north dakota, fargo's mayor says the champagne corks will be popping to celebrate the successful fight against red river flooding. the city has managed to escape major damage thanks in part to lessons learned from last year's record floods. barbara pinto reports. >> reporter: at fargo's first assembly church of god has a celebration. >> we need to give god thanks. we've been spared. >> reporter: neighbors thanked god and each other for keeping the swollen river at bay. >> it started looking like the flood was getting here earlier area than expected. >> reporter: thousands of volunteers helped save the family's homes, so did dry weather. tom and donna winters had to trade their car for a fishing boat. >> i think we're going to be in this for a week yet. so for us out here, it's not over. >> reporter: the flooding and the fear are receding, slowly. all of this water is straining dikes and levees so national guardsm

did a story about money in a kabul bank to individuals, friends, family, business connections of hamid karzai. and when you consider the amount of corruption that's going on in afghanistan can only be called charitable crony capitalism. "the washington post" in an article said signs of crony capitalism. i ask unanimous consent to put this in the record. the speaker pro tempore: so ordered. mr. kucinich: and as a result, u.s. taxpayers and aid organizations are investing billions of dollars in afghanistan, but the leaders of the country are investing in real estate in dubai. we care about democracy. try building democracy in a place which is rife with narcotraffic, crony capitalism, villas in dubai. what is this about? why are we there? i'm from cleveland, ohio. the people i represent are very basic people. when you tell them that the head of afghanistan has his hands in all these crooked deals you start to wonder, we're going to build a democracy on this person's shoulders? i don't think so. we're supporting a government where corruption is epidemic. last year usaid said corruption in afghani

today, ahmadinejad met with president hamid karzai in kabul, and he turned gates' charge around. >> ( translated ): they are playing a double game. they themselves created terrorists and now they're saying that they are fighting terrorists. this is not possible. they cannot do it. >> reporter: amid the war of words, there was more violence on the ground. a suicide truck bomber killed five afghan troops at a base in paktika province. and the taliban claimed responsibility for a bombing in khost province that killed two nato troops yesterday. later, president karzai flew to neighboring pakistan seeking help with reconciliation efforts aimed at the taliban. at the same time, pakistan has stepped up the pressure on afghan taliban leaders-- capturing several senior figures in recent weeks. >> ifill: now, with the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: vice president biden sought to reassure palestinians today about the u.s. commitment to their future. he met with palestinian leaders in the west bank, after holding similar meetings with israelis yest

afghan president hamid karzai said today he does not want any proxy wars fought on his soil between the.s. and iran, or anyone else. this week, u.s. defense secretary defense robert gates accused iran of backing the taliban, while it seeks closer ties with the afghan government. today, in abu dhabi, gates said again iran is "playing a double game." but he also said it is not a serious threat, yet. >> at this point, the level of their effort is not a major problem for us. level of support for taliban so far as best we can tell has been pretty limited. just trying to express hope it wouldn't get any worse than that. >> sreenivasan: iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad has rejected gates' criticism. he accuses the u.s. of playing both sides. a series of powerful aftershocks shook chile again as the new president sebastian pinera was sworn in. the strongest of the quakes measured 6.9 and sent people scrambling into the streets. pinera evacuated the congressional building in valparaiso, where he was sworn in. and he urged coastal residents to head for higher ground in case of tsunamis. the

he also met with president hamid karzai who announced a three-day peace conference in late april.at least 13 people have died in a suicide car bombing in eastern pakistan. the attack came in lahore. it targeted a building where police interrogate high-value terror suspects. the offices were shattered and more than 60 people were wounded. the taliban claimed responsibility. meanwhile, in northwest pakistan, intelligence officials said a suspected u.s. missile strike killed three people near the afghan border. a new tanker plane for the u.s. air force. the contract would be worth $35 billion but northup said the new set of guidelines clearly favors boeing. the long running fight will now effectively become a no-bid contract. it's expected to be awarded in september. security was tight across central nigeria today after a new wave of muslim-christian violence. as many as 500 people were killed near the city of jos. we have a report narrated by lindsey hilsum of independent television news. a warning: some of the images may be disturbing. >> reporter: greece and fear. after attacks wh

i think in many ways we're still awaiting a hamid karzai moment. seen it and it might be a good inflection point should one occur. secondly and directly related to the surge it's not so much the number of troops that were sent but the decision taken by president bush. set aside the argument about whether or not going into iraq was the right decision or not. the fact was we were there. and against considerable opinion within the professional ranks of both our diplomats and our military, president bush took the hard decision to actually go the route of the surge. and that signaled in my opinion a very strong commitment and a willingness to stick it out despite very high political costs that then reverberated through the iraqi people and the iraqi government and it changed the dynamic of what it meant to have the american forces on the ground there. now as the previous panel pointed out, whether that ultimately was the right decision or a fruitful decision and one that's going to lead us to the right answer, i think that chapter has yet to be written.

soon after touching down, he met with afghan leader hamid karzai. then he met with military officials at bagram air force base and spoke to a crowd of about 2,000 troops. >> if this region slides backwards, if the taliban retakes this country and al qaeda can operate with impunity, then more american lives will be at stake. the afghan people will lose their chance at progress and prosperity. and the world will be significantly less secure. and as long as i'm your commander in chief, i am not going to let that happen. that's why you are here. i've made a promise to all of you who serve. i will never send you into harm's way unless it's absolutely necessary. i anguish in thinking about the sacrifices that so many of you make. that's why i promise i will never send you out unless it is necessary, but that's only part of the promise, because the other part of the promise is that when it is absolutely necessary, you will be backed up by a clear mission and the right strategy and you will have the support to finish the job, to get the job done. and i am c

. >> sreenivasan: eide said he hopes a spring conference organized by afghan president hamid karzai will bring a consensus for peace. meanwhile, a u.s. marine commander said today there are no immediate plans to withdraw 4,000 marines and afghan forces out of marjah, in the south. they waged a major offensive last month to push taliban forces out of the city. a german court has convicted four members of an islamic extremist group for plotting to attack americans in germany. the targets included the u.s. air base at ramstein. no attacks ever took place, but the judge said the two germans and two turks had intended "a terrible bloodbath." the plotters showed little reaction as the verdict was announced today. they had confessed during the trial, which started last april in dusseldorf. sentences will range from five years to 12 years in prison. top democrats in the u.s. house worked today to find enough votes to pass health care reform. president obama called wednesday for quick, final action even if there's no republican support. majority leader steny hoyer said today the goal is to get a

longstribes man, who have been in a secret army and speck references to karzai as the brother of hamid karzai, "the new york times" did a big expose showing how he's the major drug trafficker in afghanistan today. and, now in terms of the drug war in asia, my argument is that that is a precedent for subsequent policies. part of the failure of that policy was because the u.s. continued to support regimes of the historian mccoy termed regimes of total corruption. and the other problem was predicated on a similar fact of shaping the overriding failure of u.s. foreign policy, namely, the inability to win the hearts and minds of the population. the state department and federal enforcement agencies face grave difficulties adapting to local circumstances, and convincing the native population to stop profiting from the drug trade, in a depressed war time economy and a yao chief and a cia asset told an american reporter, quote the protestant ethic of american society sees as corrupt others see as fair game and it is hard for my people to understand why they should stop growing opium because, it affect

in afghanistan, president hamid karzai met with a senior delegation of insurgents in kabul. it was the first confirmed meeting between the government and militants. the hizb-i-islami movement is led by a former prime minister. a spokesman said they presented a 15-point peace plan. also today, nato reported two of its troops were killed in fighting in the south. the u.s. community activist group acorn is disbanding. a spokesman said today the once powerful organization will shut down as of april 1. he blamed plunging revenues. last year conservative activists posed as a pimp and a prostitute and taped acorn workers advising them on how to evade tax laws. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to judy. >> woodruff: now, the haiti story. shortly after the earthquake, president obama named his two immediate predecessors to lead the u.s. fundraising effort. former presidents bush and clinton visited there today, and met with haitian president rene pre

in afghanistan, parliament rejected president hamid karzai's bid to gain tighter control over a commission that monitors elections. that body stripped karzai of nearly a third of his votes in last year's election due to fraud. also today, a bicycle bomb killed eight afghans and injured 35 near lashkar gah, the capital of helmand province. the trial in the 2008 terror attacks in mumbai, india wrapped up today. there were three defendants-- a pakistan national said to be the lone surviving gunman, and two indians. they're accused in a three-day siege in mumbai that killed 166 people. the prosecutor charged again today that pakistani authorities played a role. >> this is a case of, a classic case of state sponsored terrorism, and some people from security apparatus of pakistan are involved in this terror attack. >> sreenivasan: the judge is due to issue a verdict in may. the suspects could face the death penalty if they're convicted. in economic news, toyota reported u.s. sales surged 40% this month from a year ago. the company offered deep discounts and generous financing to win back custome

guest: before you asked what hamid karzai thought about the united states.re was the lending conference held in january of this year. it brought the leaders of the international community that were interested in supporting afghanistan. there were two issues on the table with respect to dealing with the taliban. the first was reintegration, trying to get both sides to stop fighting. the bigger and more controversial move was reconciliation, essentially political talks, some kind of power-sharing agreement with the taliban. obviously not just for strategic regions -- reasons, but human- rights reasons, it is very problematic for the united states. we were very cautious about things like that. host: joseph, republican line. long island. good morning. welcome to the program. caller: my question -- why does the u.s. think that we can win in afghanistan when russia was there as a major superpower for 10 years and they left with their tails between their legs? host: a question asked for years now. guest: exactly. there are significant differences in what the soviet

guest: before you asked what hamid karzai thought about the united states. there was the lending conference held in january of this year. it brought the leaders of the international community that were interested in supporting afghanistan. there were two issues on the table with respect to dealing with the taliban. the first was reintegration, trying to get both sides to stop fighting. the bigger and more controversial move was reconciliation, essentially political talks, some kind of power-sharing agreement with the taliban. obviously not just for strategic regions -- reasons, but human- rights reasons, it is very problematic for the united states. we were very cautious about things like that. host: joseph, republican line. long island. good morning. welcome to the program. caller: my question -- why does the u.s. think that we can win in afghanistan when russia was there as a major superpower for 10 years and they left with their tails between their legs? host: a question asked for years now. guest: exactly. there are significant differences in what the so