in helmand, 65,000 boys and girls are going to school.t was violent with no security or democracy. we cannot deny with the british have achieved. >> but the ruins of his old ford is a sober reminder of the past failures of foreign intervention. the british were driven out of here in 1882. the military presence of britain and helmand, with just over 4000 troops to leave next year, and all combat troops out by the end of 2014. this time they hope to leave behind a more lasting legacy. >> bagpipes are traditional part of new year celebration in scotland, of course, but what about in pakistan? there are a common sight, the biggest back tight -- and they're the biggest bagpipe producer outside of scotland. >> a bagpipe band setting the tone for a wedding in pakistan. this is not an unusual sight. there are a few hundred back pipe and drum bands across the country which play a formal ceremonies. but ollie back cuts in pakistan, it claims to be the biggest bagpipe producing country outside of scotland in the world. the city known for producing s

it's the capital of helmand province. though it looks nothing like it did way back then. the suburban-style tract homes have been sort of built over, there's no more swimming pool, and it's not quite as safe of a place as it was six decades ago, unfortunately. >> host: now, for americans six decades is a long time, but for the afghan community it's not such a long period, is it? >> guest: afghans over there still remember this period. i remember going and traveling through helmand province in 2009, and an old afghan man came up and asked me and the marine colonel i was with whether he knew mr. and mrs. lerner, and the colonel looked befuddled. of course, the lerners were the couple that taught him english decades ago, and he had no concept of the united states was a country of 300 million people. of course, we should know every other american, and why did we not know the people who had taught him english? so for the afghans of a certain generation they remember with great fondness this period of engagement and, in fact, remember it far more fondly than they think of the c

it's the capital of helmand province, so it looks nothing like it did way back then. the tract home, white suck toe walls -- stucco walls have been sort of built over. there's no more swimming pool, and it's not quite as safe of a place as it was six decades ago, unfortunately. >> for americans, six decades is a long time, but for the afghan community, it's not such a long period. >> afghans still remember period. i remember going up and traveling through helmand province in 2009, and an old afghan man came up and asked me and the marine b colonel i was with whether he knew mr. and mrs. learner, and the colonel looked fud led. well, of course, the lehrer ins were the couple who taught him english decades ago, and he had a concept of the united states was a country of 300 million people, of course, we americans should know every other american. so for the afghans of a certain generation, they remember with great fondness this period of americanen gamement and -- engagement and, in fact, remember it far more fondly than they think of the current american period, the per

the military is applying pressure from the air, fighter jets attacking a town in the helmand province. opposition activists say that areas close to military airport in the north are also being heavily shelled. this shows the body of a man and boy who were apparently killed in an attack in a nearby town. government forces are targeting the airport because the rebels have managed to surround it. fodder say they are running low on ammunition, but they're still attempting -- rebels say they are running low on ammunition but they're still attempting to approach the air base. >>> rebels from the central african republic are agreeing to peace talks. meantime, battles are continuing between the rebels were trying to overthrow the president and the government troops. the letters have taken control of at least 10 towns across -- fighters have taken control of at least 10 towns across the country's no.. >> the message was clear, stop the fighting, hundred sticking to the streets demanding that the rebel alliance and hostilities and calling on france to deploy forces to defend them. they fear the

he was assigned to a special operations battalion and was conducting combat operations in the helmandrovince. that accident is under investigation. >>> bay area volunteers paid their respects to veterans today by taking part in race across america. about 100 people placed wreaths on veterans' graves in saratoga. an organizer says the annual event is inspiring people to thank service members for their sacrifice. >> they like the idea of having wreaths out at the cemetery over the holidays. people really supported that and we do a lot of e-mails and lot of flyers and try to get the word out as much as possible and it's growing. >> veterans from the civil war through the war in afghanistan are buried here. mark bingham, one of the 9/11 heroes who helped stop flight 93 from reaching washington is also buried there. >>> president obama is reportedly poised to nominate massachusetts senator john kerry as the next secretary of state. senator kerry has been praised by some republican colleagues in the senate, indicating he could face an easy confirmation. the possible nomination comes followi

engineers decided to build a model town for themselves right smack dab in the middle of the desert into helmand province. it was eight square blocks, four blocks by two blocks. instead of traditional afghan homes, big tall walls around, they built suburban style american homes, ramblers, white stucco walls, manicured front lawns. they had the country's first and only coed high school. they built a swimming pool where boys and girls could swing together, ma and a clubhouse with her nightly card games, weekly squared dances and a bartender the afghans look at the town, which the american engineers thought would serve as a model for what the afghans might aspire to build for themselves. of course, the afghans said that's fine for you, americans, we don't really want to live that way. the afghans came up with a name for it and called it little america. that's what got the title of the book because that brand development experiment, which really fail to achieve its goals back in the '50s and '60s and 70s. in many ways, was -- for the grand nationbuilding effort our country had engage country had eng

it's the capital of helmand promise. the suburban style homes come away stucco walls have now been told over. there's no more swimming pool and it's not quite as safe as they please as it was six ago unfortunately. >> now, for americans, six decades as a long time. for the afghan community come it's not such a law. period >> afghans to remember this period. i remember traveling through helmand province in 2009 an old afghan man came up and asked me a marine colonel is with whether he knew mr. and mrs. learn all. of course the learners are the couple's had taught him english back there decades ago. he had no concept united states as a country 3,300,000,000 people. of course we americans should know every other american. why did we not do the people who are taught in english? for the afghans, they remember with great fondness american engagement and remember far more fondly than the current american. of our stabilization activities unfortunately. >> rajiv chandrasekaran, haven't there been several starts and stops, hopeful

i spent a year at helmand, and i was just curious, i embedded working government with issues and tribal issues. like you said, it's very different in kunar. knowing that i might end up going there next, what were or the main grievances that they brought looking for a government in afghanistan's support for? for us it was -- [inaudible] drove everything, a may sure source -- major source of greens. just curious what you saw in kunar. >> corruption. >> well, obviously, corruption. >> that was the major grievance was nothing could get done because there was a quid quid po quo, or you had to pay for something, you had to get something, you know, to get your wheat bushels. that was generally the big biggest problem and challenge at every level. water can become an issue. not as much as you would think up there because the snow melts, and the springs are actually -- they've done some amazing, amazing terraced architecture with their agricultural designs from to the valleys to the main valley. water was a problem when it flooded. and that happened pretty bad. today had a historic flood -- they

daniel died on august 6 at the age of 23 while conducting combat operations in helmand province, afghanistan. dan always wanted to be a marine. he made his decision at the early age of four and want to be a marine until the day he died. he was the third generation of his family to serve in the marine corps, and for 46 years there's been at least one lineberry in the marine corps. no wonder he knew that he wanted to be a marine at such a young age. dan loved the corps, but more than that, he loved his wife of just a year, chelsea, and baby daughter rosa lee. i spoke with dan's wife chelsea, and she impressed upon me that dan was much more than a marine. she needed me to know that he was first and foremost a good husband and a good father. just a really great guy who loved his wife and loved being a dad. dan's baby girl rosa lee just turned seven months old this past weekend. dan got to spend only seven weeks with her before deploying. three of those weeks an extra blessing because baby rosa lee was in such a hurry to meet her dad that she arrived three weeks early. from the minute dan first h