suarez: then, new violence in afghanistan: margaret warner reports on taliban attacks in the heart of kabul, killing at least 12. >> brown: the surprisingly tight senate race in massachusetts to fill the vacancy left by the late edward kennedy. we get an update. >> suarez: and a martin luther king holiday conversation about black power and black leaders with historian peniel joseph. >> what's interesting is that it's the black power movement, self-determination to get black faces in higher places that really leads obama to even try to run for president. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's pbs newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> will your savings be enough to fund your retirement? what will happen if your spouse outlives you by many years? what will happen if you outlive your savings? pacific life knows that tomorrow's questions require planning today. with financial solutions and strength, pacific life can help you and your financial professional develop a plan. pacific life, the power to help you succeed. >> every business day, bank of america lends three bi

there is two different -- in kabul. the kabul conference which will be -- to the conference of london. we have to go -- implementation of -- in kabul and that will be in the but peace -- domestication -- the occasion which will be -- by president karzai in a few weeks. this conference we will invite -- from different parts of the country, the -- of afghan society. to come together and discuss the issue of how we have to make -- how we can make peace with each other because this is our issue, issue of afghan. the listing -- they are the -- leadership of taliban. they are eight years in kabul. number four of the five, which was requested two years ago. and the united nations, we -- for the listing of the -- of the government, the taliban leadership and we are happy that they did it. we have to talk to the -- all the citizens of afghanistan that they are -- part of al qaeda and they are to respect and accept our constitution, human rights, from my point of view, woman rights and absolute gender equality. >> speaking of wom

it comes just over a week after taliban gunmen launched an assault on kabul that brought the capital city to a standstill. the los angeles city council gave final approval to close most shops that sell medical marijuana. there are currently between 800 and a thousand pot clinics operating across l.a. but under the new rules, that number will be capped at 70. mayor antonio villaraigosa still has to give his approval for the ordinance to take effect. on wall street today, stocks made early gains, but those faded in the closing minutes of trading. the dow jones industrial average lost more than two points to close at 10, 194. the nasdaq fell seven points to close over 2,203. former republican senator charles mathias has died at his home in maryland of complications from parkinson's disease. mathias represented the state of maryland for 26 years in both the house and senate until his retirement in 1987.

we have also set a roadmap from now to kabul and what i expect in kabul when the conference takes place later this year is that we will have equally clear and precise plans for how to develop the civilian institutions and the economy. let me say a few words on that. we are in is a tuition where we do spend much too much money on a quick impact projects. we must diverse resources to build institutions solely afghans themselves can deliver these services to the people. we must develop the afghan economy in the way they can sustain what these services will cost in the future. between now and kabul, we must have in place concrete plans for how the international community cannot get behind the government. this conference was a clear sign we are all in the transition strategy and it is important for the future of this country. thank you. >> we will not take some questions. >> i think a microphone will come to you. >> thank you. tim marshall. thank you. the transition strategy is now coming into focus. part of it is supporting fund to pay members of the taliban and to basically a switched side

>> i would be very reluctant as a case officer to go out anywhere in afghanistan including kabul, to meet a source like this, and i think what's going to happen, we're going to know, less and less about the country rather than more simply we have been cut off from the people. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> in denmark, police shot a somali man who they said was trying to kill a controversial cartoonist. his portrayal of muhammad triggered protests in 2005. the cartoonist survived by hiding in a special safe room. >>> after a u.s. judge dismissed the charges against them the five blackwater guards opened fire on a baghdad street in 2007, leaving 17 civilians dead. the shooting hardenened antiamerica sentiment in iraq. >>> still ahead on "world news" this saturday -- the new year brings new laws and lifestyle changes for millions of americans. how they'll affect you. >>> a young man stays in the game that he loves even though he can't see the field. true grit in the heartland. >>> and it's all in the timing. identical twins with birthdays in different decades. years from now,

they had recently bombed the norwegian delegation and a hotel and kabul, as well as is well known, the egyptian embassy has also been bombed and islamabad has also been bombed by al qaeda. so there's a violence, censorship, and self-censorship. those are some of the legacies of the cartoon conflict. a new framework for the international unification of islamic phobia. certainly a new legal definition of what the meaning of blasphemy, and speech restrictions. but i think also it is important to note that in some regard the cartoons have also become a western soap opera. muslims need not even participate in it for westerners to start getting concerned about what we can say and not say about islam, or in september 2006, a berlin opera performance was canceled on -- not based on any active thread, but simply anticipation of a development along the lines of the cartoons. we have had various acting out performances, almost i would describe him as happenings in the manner of the cartoons. in july 2007, a swedish cartoonist set up some cutoffs portraying muhammed as a dog, he called him. anothe

connor powell in kabul, afghanistan. well, the attack is bringing brand new attention to the role that america's spy agency is playing in this dangerous area of the world. the cia undergoing major changes in recent years, agents moving choser to the front lines and playing a more direct role in our military operation as we battle militants not only in afghanistan but across the border in pakistan as well. caroline shively has been looking into that from washington. i understand the cia plays a big role in the unmanned drone program. tell us about that. >> sure, gregg. chapman is reportedly where a lot of the manage for unmanned drone strikes are originated, not the execution, not the launch, that's done elsewhere, but the guys at chapman help figure out how to target in afghanistan and across the border in pakistan. now, this attack on chapman proves how dangerous a mission it is for cia agents there, but it's also incredibly complicated. many analysts say the cia is basically orchestrating the war in pakistan, something

the next conference will be in kabul. some elements of the taliban where change by terrorist groups could fill will these be invited to the reconciliation or the reintegration as part of the taliban? >> you are right that iran's foreign minister was invited to this conference. for some inexplicable reason, she chose not to attend. on the occasions when i have met him, he's talked to me about the dangers that his post to afghanistan. he is talking about the danger of drugs coming from afghanistan to iran. that is one reason why we thought it was right to invite iran to participate in this conference. we think it is regrettable that they failed to attend. even the ambassador of iran to london who was invited to attend the conference. they found it impossible to attend the conference. i think it is very important that countries say what they mean and mean what they say. we meant it when we thought that iran should attend. they have said before that they want to play a positive role in promoting stability in afghanistan. the

the kabul to kandahar, it went seven hours in 2005 and 2006. if anybody today you'd be signing your own death warrant. this is the most important for a politically and economically. it would be very observable in the next 18 months of it returned to a road that actually could be used. that would be a sign of real progress. that is the kind of thing that most pashtuns want. that road connects the pashtun capital to the national capitol. that is the sort of thing in the new surge will deliver. that is something we can. >> do you mind if i ask you a quick question? peter, before you leave, how would you respond to the -- how would you respond to vital u.s. interest in afghanistan when it general johnson said there are probably only 100 al qaeda members there? in response to what mark was arguing. >> well, there 200 members of al qaeda on 9/11. so small numbers of people can effect history very greatly. i would make two points. talking about afghanistan without talking about pakistan is like pakistan without talking with israel or vice versa. lashk

to stop those people entering our country, and the government should keep security tight at kabul's four main entrances and not allow the suicide attackers to come to our land to kill our innocent people. we want the government to make the country safe and eliminate the terrorists. >> sreenivasan: in response, afghan president hamid karzai ordered a review of security, but he also praised afghan troops for preventing an even larger disaster. there was word today the f.b.i. illegally collected some 2,000 u.s. telephone records during the bush administration. "the washington post" reported it took place between 2002 and 2006. it said the f.b.i. sometimes invoked emergencies that did not exist. the agency said again today the practice involved records of incoming and outgoing calls, and not their actual content. the u.s. supreme court has refused to close two shipping locks near chicago to keep asian carp out of the great lakes. the state of michigan asked for an injunction. it warned the carp will wipe out native fish if they reach the lakes from the mississippi river watershed. illin

the road is now complete to kabul to kandahar and jalalabad to kabul. that's about 60% of the way done. a lot of women are fighting for land ownership. there's 8 and a half million kids in school the goal is 13 million. if you put this all together. you know, we're about 60% of the way there where the people feel they can run on their own and it's, and so i think that has all happened during six years we were off in iraq. we went into afghanistan very vigorously to try to one was find osama and defeat the taliban al-qaeda. but we also went there to help the people out. but then unfortunately in a year and a half we ran off to iraq. the media. the military. the humanitarian groups and for six years afghanistan and pakistan were kind of left on the back burner and now to me it's very exciting to see that finally the country that we first went in to help and where we were trying to fight the taliban now it is taking again a priority. i don't know where i'm headed. >> i like it. keep going. you're always one of the most fascinating people to listen to. clea

the kabul to kandahar, it went seven hours in 2005 and 2006.ody today you'd be signing your own death warrant. this is the most important for a politically and economically. it would be very observable in the next 18 months of it returned to a road that actually could be used. that would be a sign of real progress. that is the kind of thing that most pashtuns want. that road connects the pashtun capital to the national capitol. that is the sort of thing in the new surge will deliver. that is something we can. >> do you mind if i ask you a quick question? peter, before you leave, how would you respond to the -- how would you respond to vital u.s. interest in afghanistan when it general johnson said there are probably only 100 al qaeda members there? in response to what mark was arguing. >> well, there 200 members of al qaeda on 9/11. so small numbers of people can effect history very greatly. i would make two points. talking about afghanistan without talking about pakistan is like pakistan without talking with israel or vice versa. lashkar-e-tai

traditionally baracky brock grows most of the food people in kabul eat.ut a two-hour drive. the troops there, in fact represent reinforcement, because a year ago there were 100 americans in the province. now there are 1,000. when there were 100 they couldn't do anything. they sat in one little base and looked around. that's all they could do. no local development work or training up the afghans now they have enough troops to do some work tan colonel there from the division decided he was going to identify the population centers in low gar that are most amenable to working with the coalition, taking advantage of that favorable attitude and get in there and do some developmental work and seal the attitude. so he put most of his troops there in the most friendly population center, and the idea, he wants to do good work there so word spreads to some of the less friendly communities that hey, look, get along with the coalition and you get stuff. they call it "extreme makeover" afghanistan edition. >> so which villagers are the ones that need the power? >> emu.

by november 2001, the taliban had been driven by kabul. soon after that an international body met to name an interim government in afganistan to be led by its interim president hamid karzai. despite the early success al qaeda's leadership was able to find a safe haven in pakistan's tribal areas. a few years later it gained enough strength to once again pose a serious threat to the u.s. meanwhile the taliban reestablished its headquarters in pakistan and gained enough strength as a result of inadequate afghanistan security forces. by last year the situation had grown so pa perilous that generl stanley mcchrystal issued a report stating that our failure to gain the initiative and reverse the momentum of the taliban within 12 months to make defeating the insurgency impossible. it was largely as a result of that assessment that the president agreed last year to send 30,000 more troops to afganistan. earlier this month i and some of my colleagues had the opportunity to visit afganistan and pakistan to assess the situation on the ground firsthan

corruption in kabul. corruption in the provinces. corruption in the army. that's a different issue and i would consider it one of most dangerous ones and one of the most urgent to be dealt with. >> gretchen, last word to you. as this re-assessment of afghan policy goes on, as this crisis in governance in afghanistan is playing itself out, how is this going to help or hinder, more like likely, the effort to control the drugs? >> well, i think at the same time that the drug problem creates challenges. it also presents opportunities. my research among the people of afghanistan and pakistan finds that on both sides of the border people are fed up by the drug trafficking and the other criminality and officials and insurgents are up to. they're fed up with this. i think it provides an opportunity for a counterinsurgency campaign to build a more well-governed region from the bottom up, from the village level up. >> so you support what general mcchrystal is basically saying, that the whole process of development and counterinsurgency and really building from the gr

guest: the state department has an embassy in kabul and we reopened that embassy once were able to go am very sure that the u.s. government, through the embassy manned by the state department and many other agencies, will be in afghanistan for the duration. we will be there. the embassy will be there. the ambassador, the political adviser, the economic counselor. they will be there, it is a long-term commended. it is not a long-term commitment to have 30,000 troops. the long term commitment begins to become clear sometime in 2011. host: the "new york times" running over the weekend about president karzai's cabinet selections writes about bagram airbase and they write the agreement signed by the ministry of defense clears the way for the american military to begin a program of training and preparation for the afghans to take charge there. what concerns do you and others have about the afghans been able to take over a facility like that? guest: this is a very good thing to happen. for americans to be running the corrections system and the system of putting people in jail is not the end

the area southeast of kabul and kandahar.ut your troops, put your resources there and do classic counterinsurgency there. >> provide security for the people there and that's the vast bulk of the population? >> exactly. >> and then in -- more rural areas, pull your troops back and do a triage but use counterterror against them. >> if you saw a terrorist base being set up in nurestan, go in attack helicopters, destroy it, but get back out. >> yeah. i would call this -- do the biden plan for areas like nurestan and petraeus plan for areas like the major cities and other population areas. >> what does this say about the taliban and its military tactics? when you watch what you are describing, should we be wowed by the level of sophistication or just street smarts? >> i think we consistently underestimated afghanistan. i used to live there when i was a teenager. one thing i learned there -- >> you lived in afghanistan? >> 1969 to 1971 and kabul. my father was a professor for two years. i was a member of the afghanistan ski patrol

kabul, khost, and kandahar. put your troops, put your resources there and do classic counterinsurgency there -- >> provide security for the people there and that is the vast bulk of the population of afghanistan? >> exactly. then in more rural areas, pull your troops back, do a kind of triage but use counterterror against them. >> if you saw a terrorist base set up in nuristan, go in with attack helicopters, destroy it but get back out? >> yeah. i would call this do the biden plan for areas like nuristan, do the petraeus plan for areas like the major cities and other population areas. >> what does this say about the taliban and its military tactics? when you watch what you're describing, should we be wowed by the level of sophistication or is this just street smarts? >> i think we've consistently underestimated afghanistans. i used to live there when i was a teenager. one thing i lived there -- >> you lived in afghanistan? >> from 1969-1971 at kabul. i was a member of the afghan ski patrol and skied in the salin

many members of the political society in kabul today are former taliban. they are in the -- one is outspoken. one of them wrote a best selling book about his experiences with the taliban. so this is critically important. this program used to exist on paper, and it was not very successful. about three weeks ago, the "washington post" wrote a superb front page piece on five taliban who decided to. come in from the cold, and got no support. now they feel like they're trapped in a no man's land. we cannot allow this to happen. when ashley and i visited kos province a year and a half ago as private citizens, we met with five young people who told us the same story, ex-taliban, so president karzai in his inaugural speech on november 19th laid out a policy proposal and we are focused very much on this, and i think david petraeus, stan mcchrystal and i would all say that this is one of the most important areas that needs to be addressed, because nobody believes that the outcome of this war will end with a complete demolishment or killing everybody who fights with

forces moved out of kabul and into the countryside. i think something similar is happening to what happened in the soviet period where the more troops so they troops put in just created more fighters against them. now, obama has really said that german strike outside the tribal areas and special forces to hit afghan taliban targets in pakistan, will be used or at least threatened if the pakistanis to do something about it. i think this will drive pakistan public opinion crazy. and of course, i think these sorts of strike should be limited for getting al qaeda people, and the lightest footprint billion possibly have. pakistan does provide, or at least people think they provide, shelter for osama bin laden and al qaeda central leadership. somebody in the pakistani military probably knows where he is, and the pakistani certainly avoid fighting the afghan taliban or trying to capture, kill its leaders. so the pakistanis have their own agenda. and i think one of the reasons that gates and clinton were walking back obama's pledge to withdraw

in kabul, a political setback for afghanistan's president karzai. the parliament rejected most of karzai's picks to fill his new 24-member cabinet. most turned down were viewed as cronies of karzai. a bit of controversy from five years ago is flaring up again this weekend in denmark where a man has been arrested for trying to kill an artist who drew cartoons of the prophet mohamm mohammed. sheila macvicar has more. >> reporter: carried into the courthouse on a stretcher his face covered to conceal his identity, this is the man police say tried to murder danish cartoonist kurt westergaard. the somali broke into westergaard's home last night wielding an axe and a knife and shouting he wanted to kill him. the car to bist and his five-year-old granddaughter was able to take shelter in a specially secured bathroom. when the police arrived two minutes later, the would-be killer attacked them, too. police shot him in the knee to stop him. five years another a danish newspaper commissioned a dozen cartoons depicting the prophet mohammed. kurt westergaard dr

loden comes in, he less in kabul, -- lives in kabul, but he comes in on monday and stays through friday, so we have a almosted amount of time and he loves the evenings, so we go over and have a meal with himev prey day and n you're sharing a meal is where you're able to really make inroads as far as understanding what they're trying to accomplish and helping them understand what we're trying to accomplish together to build a better afghanistan. >> so what are the biggest challenges in your job? >> it's slow. it's slow, because you realize that one, if we just go out and try to do a project on our own, we're limited. we can go out and throw a mosque kit, but it's like a concentric circle, it stays if one circle, and what we're trying to do is take that concentric circle with the subgovernor and his staff and expand out into the -- into the developpages that are around. i mean, there's tons of villages in the baraki barack district and you can't do that without this key leaders, you know, key leader engagements, without the subgovernor and the people he knows, because what i've seen just

traditionally, they grow much of the food that people in kabul eat.and that is connected to kabul by all road, about a 50-mile, two-hour drive. the troops there represent reinforcements, because a year ago, there were 100 americans in all love our province. now there are 1003. 0. -- in logar. no local development work. no training up the afghans. now they have enough troops to do some work. the colonel in the province from the 10th mountain division decided he was going to identify the population centers in the province that are most amenable to working with the coalition, to take advantage of that favorable attitude and get in there and do development work and cement that positive attitude. he put most of his troops there in the most friendly population center. the idea is you wants to do good work there so that word spreads to some of the less-friendly communities that, if you look -- if you get along with the coalition, you get stuff. he calls it his extreme makeover afghanistan addition program. >> which the villages are the ones that need the pow

jim maceda joins us me from kabul, afghanistan. good evening, your time.o the significance of this tape. let's talk about it. >> reporter: right, well, it is very significant indeed if it is real. i think i have to stress yet again that we're saying this is allegedly al balawi, we haven't independently confirmed that yet. you see on the tape, as you say, a man standing next to the current leader of the pakistani taliban that is hakimullah mehsoud. the fact they're together would suggest the pakistani taliban claim of responsibility in the -- in the actual incident. al balawi speaking in arabic at one point in that 90-second video, says the true jihadist will never bargain or sell out his religion. perhaps mockingly suggesting that he never was flipped by either the jordanian or u.s. intelligence agencies as had been suggested in some previous reports. he also goes on to say in that video that one must never forget, quote, our amir or commander baitullah mehsoud, the other mehsoud, the former leader of the pakistani taliban who was killed in a cia run air s

nick schifrin starts us off from kabul. >> reporter: the cia thought the man on the right could lead them to al qaeda's deputy leader, instead he led them into a trap. he had already provided exclusive information on al qaeda hiding places, so the cia invited him onto the base. but when he arrived he looked suspicious, holding his hands in his pocket, according to a u.s. official. just before cia security officers searched him, he exploded his vest. the cia director today defended the officers who have died -- that damage has come largely thanks to a barrage of missile strikes by unmanned aerial drones. inhe days since the base attack the cia has launched seven strikes just across the border. >> the cia the pentagon and indeed the white house, believe that these predator attacks are the only way to go up against al qaeda and the taliban in these tribal areas of pakistan. >> reporter: the bomber was a jordanian doctor. in the video he sits next to the leader of the pakistani taliban. and says his suicide mission was in response to one specific drone attack that killed the former pakis

we will -- we were not just in kabul.of the locals, including a local that sprung back to life that had been shut down by the taliban. there is no question that our presence is creating improvements. the thing i want to touch on returning to senator chris bo is more detail and the confusion surrounding detention policy. from the top to the bottom, the american military people that we talked to indicated some confusion operationally about what you do when you are detained -- when you detain terrorists. this confusion in my view -- when general did not want to answer the question without turning to his lawyer who was also in the room. this operational confusion has created unnecessarily and dangerously by the administration. there are in these two standards of contention. if you are captured by a u.s. soldier who is not under nato command, there is another standard. this preoccupation if you will that we see on full display here in the u.s. with the example of the christmas would be bomber was turned not over to the militar

a visit to the cab in downtown kabul and walk around the embassy a would indicate it is a visible sign said we are on the other side. let me go back to my sources of intimacy and recommend to use their chase's book "punishment of virtue. she spent a good deal of her life in the last eight years -- the book centers on this incident i scribe -- i described, but she interweaves into it a well-written history that is well-organized, and based on her own research with original sources. a second really important understanding of the country can be gotten from the book, "hyo pm season, which details that he was involved as a subcontractor in 2004 and 2005 to offer alternative livelihoods. it gives a great view of the violence, and moreover, it shows the bureaucratic disfunction that is increasing the complexity and cost of our involvement, not as in war, but in development. a third source if you want to understand it is rory stewart', who within weeks of the fall of the taliban walked in winter, which is supposed to kill you, through villages, and described that experience in a way i think an

let me therefore conclude that as we look forward to the next conference, that will be held in kabul. have served in afghanistan through these troubled times. they're not just our great forces from all arab countries and the afghan army and police but also the civilian step of afghan an international who have been doing critical work with international agencies and non- governmental agencies on behalf of the people of that can stand. let us remember in particular those who gave their lives, making the ultimate sacrifice for the security and stability of the afghanistan and for the protection of the security of people in all our countries. all around the world, thousands of men and women of all religions, including thousands of the moslem faith have been murdered by al qaeda tax. today, our message to al qaeda must be clear -- it is the same message we sent to all those who pursue violence and extremist ideology is that pervert the true islamic faith. we will defeat new and we will defeat you not just on the battlefield but in the hearts and minds of the peoples of this world and parti

and not some much in kabul, but regionally. >> i am also with undp, the washington office. i am wondering if you can clarify, particularly isabelle, whether you think that the division of labor works effectively going forward, and looking back, in each case there might be less of each entity that would improve the next one. thanks. . . >> i wrote an article about the lack of advocacy. i found out that most un security representatives did not really report a lot about how they work to include women in political processes. i wonder if you know some good examples from your own work or from the un in afghanistan that sets a good example for the afghan people. and if you have some examples of how you and your colleagues are working to support the implementation of the resolution. thank you very much. >> does anyone care to tackle this question mark? >> i was in pakistan in 2007 and 2008 for the elections and in afghanistan in the 2005 election. one thing i found impressive was the development of the media between those two election cycles. my sense from talking to colleagues was

he is deciding whether to return to kabul or baghdad. >> alexander?exander is living in california. he is engaged in ever more interesting projects on his house. >> you have a little wraps on in a hearing situation. this is only a minute or so. let's run this and then we will wrap it up. >> this morning, we meet on actions regarding investment banks and other financial institutions. ♪ ♪ >> the video, you must have gone over that idea because you were out in a normal position. >> actually, no, it did not work that way. the boy shot before the idea happened. that music, you might want to say how we ended up with that music. >> that was written in 1982. we heard about it from former traders from bear stearns and there were playing of that in the bear stearns trading room. it is very eloquent. >> in 60 seconds, what did you learn? you better go first. >> the most important is when they tell you that things are too complicated for you to understand. that is not to. -- not true. it is very simple. >> i think that what i learned is having spent so much of my

special operator blocked karzai's plan to governor for kabul. she interweaves a very well- written and interestingly a history that is a well-written, well-organized and based on her own research with original sources. a second really important understanding of the country can be gotten from the book "the opium season," which details a year in which he was involved as a -- a subcontractor in u.s.a.i.d. efforts in 2004-2005 to provide alternative livelihood's to draw with a workforce from opium production. it gives a view of the violence, tribal and warlord relations, and moreover, it shows the bureaucratic profiteering and dysfunction that is increasing the complexity and cost of our involvement, not just in war, but in development. a third source, and i think it is outstanding if you want to understand the country is stored, who within weeks after the fall of the taliban locked to kabul in the winter, which is supposed to kill you -- what to kabul in the winter, which is supposed to value and described the bill which experience in a week -- and

many members of the political society in kabul today are former taliban. they are in the -- one is outspoken. one of them wrote a best sel so this is critically important. this program used to exist on paper, and it was not very successful. about three weeks ago, "washington post" rode a superb piece on 5 taliban that decided to come in from the cold and got no support. they feel like they're trapped in a no-man's land. we can't allow this to happen. when we crossed the province a year-and-a-half ago as private citizens, we met with five young people who told us the same story. ex-taliban. president karzai in his inaugural speech on november 19 laid out a policy proposal. we're focused very much on this. i think david petra -- we would all say that this is one of the most important areas that needs to be addressed. . . will end with a complete demolishment or killing everybody who fights with the taliban. that's neither possible nor necessary. and -- for is it in the nature of this kind of war. it won't end on the deck of a battleship, and it won't end in

on the other side, they are putting together the diplomatic and technical expertise in kabul and in the field to match our military effort. now, one reason that i'm more optimistic now than when i visited afghanistan in september is that our counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold. our troops are comfortable with the new focus on securing the afghan people. this requires that our troops remain with the afghan people and not just clear towns and villages of taliban and then leave the afghans to fend for themselves when the taliban return. our troops understand and embrace this people-centered approach. as british major general nick carter, commander of the coalition forces of the south, said -- "if we show confidence and mutual trust, the population will look after us." the afghan people are more optimistic than they have been in the recent past. a recent abc news survey found that 70% of the afghans polled said that afghanistan is headed in the right direction. a significant jump from a year ago. over 60% of afghans expect that their children will have a better life. the taliban remai

. >> we know that there's overcrowding and houseing in kabul and baghdad. there may not be anything we can do about that in the short run burks if there are other types of equipment or needs not being met, let us know about that. >> thank you. larry sperling from the oes bureau. want to applaud the earths you've laurnled with respect to the qddr, a much-needed look at the direction that weaver going. i'm wondering if you can share any insights on the kinds of reform that is might occur as a result of that review. in particularly, whether putting development in diplomacy on equal footing means greater integration or greater independence of decisionmaking between state aid and also to what extent we might see stream lining of the various decisionmaking processes for planning and budgetting. >> well, larry, those are all very important questions. i'm not going to preempt or preview the qddr. we will be having many meetings to explain what the proposed conclusions are and the policy that is flow from them. but i think just your question illustrates the need. i

there was a very significant event a few weeks ago with the multiply timed suicide attacks in kabul that was handled well by the afghans themselves. there were no international troops involved. . . >> there will likely be continuing military aid, assistance, and advice from international partners beyond the combat mission. >> the next question -- >> i would like to ask about the reintegration and reconciliation process. the afghan government has invited the taliban to take part this year. does the u.s. specifically support this invitation and do you think the invitation should include top taliban leadership as long as they renounce ties to al qaeda? does the u.s. have any plans to contribute funds beyond the military phones you have mentioned to the reintegration fund that the japanese are helping to establish? do you feel this reconciliation process represents the first point in a real road map toward ending the conflict in afghanistan? >> i think that the starting premise is that you do not make peace with her friends. -- with your friends. you have to be engaged with your enemies if y

cnn's atea bowie is in kabul with the very latest. >> reporter: the question that remains is just howber was able to make it onto an american base in eastern afghanistan, detonate his vest and kill seven cia agents. american officials here in afghanistan still are not talking about just how he was able to do that. the taliban claiming that he was actually an afghan soldier, a soldier that they were able to convince to switch allegiances rather than fighting with the u.s. forces, fighting against the u.s. forces. and the taliban claimed that they will continue to infiltrate the afghan army and they point to an attack just a day before wednesday's attack in western afghanistan where an afghan soldier was able to shoot and kill a u.s. soldier and shoot an injure two italian soldiers. reports today also that the pakistani taliban are now claiming responsibility for this attack that killed the cia employees. this is really no surprise when you look at the area that it occurred. host province boardsers the north and south waziristan areas of pakistan, an area where one group has very strong

. >> it is about a 45 minute drive from kabul. it is outside the city. it is a former soviet air base that has been converted into the major at nato logistical hub. all the supplies and people that come into afghanistan passed through here. they either stay there in the kabul area or they get sent out into the ground convoys. they deliver the stuff or the people to the final destination. , at this sending them out to the secondary help of cantar distribution or out to the nort. they can sustain an issue. when i do an air drop where we get to drop in food immaterial to a village that a scud devastated by a flood that took out their crops and killed some of their people, when we go up there and read them goods and services like food and water, they trust us. when they get a child they get hurt, the other day a child fell off a row, we to guard helicopters. we picked up the child and brought into the hospital and heels of that child. they will for ever trust us and know that we are there to help. we go out into a village that is being intimidated by the ala

it is very beneficial and it takes place after the political situation has settled down in kabul. we are very grateful to tom vilsack for doing it and we are thrilled that this takes place only hours after rajiv shot takes office says the aidid administrative. thank you. >> we will take questions for the benefit of our ministry garan guest. identify yourself and your organization. >> just to questions. what has happened with the trade transit agreement between afghanistan and pakistan which is key to moving those high-value products to india and secondly, success said you had in convincing farmers to switch from-- to we products? >> on the first question, which has been under the goshen-- negotiation for 44 years, including as i have been administrator. >> that is true, is ned raj? >> started in 1965 this negotiation. we are down to about two remaining issues. mary beth goodman, who may be you know is working on this very actively. secretary clinton and i talked about it this morning. we are in touch with the governments in islamabad and pakistan. you are quite right about the agr

it was similar to an assault in kabul two weeks ago. in britain today, former prime minister tony blair made his long-awaited appearance before a british commission investigating the iraq war. >> blair lied, thousands died. >> sreenivasan: blair had to avoid more than 150 protesters outside a london convention hall and chants of "jail tony!" and "blair lied, thousands died." but once he took his seat inside, blair defended his decision to have britain join the u.s. in the 2003 invasion of iraq. >> the primary consideration for me was to send an absolutely powerful, clear and unremitting message that, after september the 11th, if you were a regime engaged in w.m.d., you had to stop. >> sreenivasan: indeed, the former prime minister said there were strong fears that saddam hussein already had, or was working hard to obtain, chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons. >> so far as understanding the decision i took and, frankly, would take again-- if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we should st

an american ba inside kabul was the target of a suide bomb attack. 14 people we wounded, including eight amerans. thbomber set off a minivan packed with explosivesear camp phoenix. the taliban claime respsibility for it, saying the bomber was aiming a civilian cvoy. it comes jusover a week after taliban gunmenaunched an assault on kul that brought e capital city to a standstill the los anges city council gaveinal approval to close most shops that sell medal marijuana. the are currently between 800 and a thousa pot clinics operating acro l.a. but undethe new rules, that number wilbe capped at 70. mayor antonio villargosa still has to give his apoval for the ordinance take effect. on wall stet today, stocks made early gai, but those fadein the closing minutes of trading. e dow jones industrial avera st more than two pointto close 10, 194. the nasd fell seven points to close over,203. formerepublican senator charles maias has died at his home in maland of complicaons from parkinson's disee. mathiarepresented the state of marylandor 26 years in both the house and senate untilis retirementn 1

that meant that the average black male had a better chance of surviving the streets of kabul or baghd than in the streets their urban community this culre has evoed a standard of violence thacommissioner stern was very mucaware of. and deite the fact that he was waiting fothe judicial disposition of ts situation to work ou he wagoing to come down very hard. heade that clear early on. >> reporter: all rightwe do have to leavet there. harry edwardand mike wise, thank you bo very much. >> tnk you. >> tnk you. >> lehrer:ow, health officials are still ging americans to get vaccinated against the sne flu. ray suarez has o health unit update. >> we ha 100 doses of injectle vaccine. suarez: the crowds that lin up for hourset an h1n1 vaccination in the fall at clinics nationwi are long gone, d the rush to get vaccinated has slowed, but iit all too soon? there is a sense that its over, but 's too soon to say that itsver, because it is eay in the flu sean still, and h1n1as been very difficult to prect. >> suarez: dr. thomas ieden of the nters for disease control says there'still plenty of time t

looking as more people are now for by kabul, walkable places to live. they are there and they're out there. people are moving to them. finally, we recommend that people get political both on the local level where it can be as simple as looking to add sidewalks so that kids can walk to school. so that you can add pathways that will encourage bicycles. at the state level and at the federal level, pushing for policy changes, understanding which of your leaders are receiving contributions from the oil and gas industry and from the car industry, and pushing perhaps for a different choice. if they do. there are a lot of things that the government can do to shift spending from subsidies for oil and gas companies from auto bailout toward public transit. so we recommend a shift in spending, not necessarily more spending. but with that being said, i want to open the floor to questions, and we have a young gentleman here with us, mike. so if you do have a question, and i call on you if you could just wait for the microphone to ask the question. and if we have some

nbc's jim maceda reporting from kabul, afghanistan, for us today.nd jim, as i understand it, the pakistani taliban isn't the only group taking credit for this attack. what can you tell us? >> that's right, chris. not the only one. just the latest one. and it's becoming quite a confusing picture. there are competing claims now, probably for propaganda reasons, but again, they are creating a mess in terms of trying to sort out the identity of this bomber. the first one was what we're calling the cia version. that leaked first from -- former u.s. intelligence officials suggesting that the bomber was actually invited on to base, forward operating base chapman as part of a process of warming him up and turning him into an informant and to gain the trust and confidence of that potential informant, the standard security procedures, frisking, patdowns, heavily guarded gate were foregone. in doing so, the -- there was an attempt to gain his trust but that trust became fatal, if, indeed, this scenario played out. now we're told by some sources that it's not u

>> 7:37 in kabul, afghanistan weather the latest on the shock. thank you. >>> when president obama gets back to washington next week, it is back to the grind on health care. >> that's right. it's just one of many big issues that's shaped his first year in office, but senior white house correspondent, ed henry, tells us some are wondering if president obama is doing too much, too quickly. >> reporter: betty and richard, this working vacation has been more work and less vacation, a reminder of the 24/7 nature of the presidency. but one of mr. obama's good friends is urging him to slow down in 2010. as the president rests up for his second year in office, one of his closest allies here in hawaii is expressing concern about the pace of year one. >> i think he's done exceedingly well, although, for 50 years now, he is pushing himself too hard. >> reporter: the charge he has too much on his plate usually comes from republicans. this time it's democrat daniel ino inoue, who speaks with authority after serving in the senate with ten presidents now. >> fi

so for years the taliban used lofar as a base to launch attacks northward toward kabul.ate 2008 and early 2009, as more americans joined the coalition, there was that first wave of reinforcements at the end of the bush administration and the beginning of the obama administration and some of those troops reinforced the small contingent in logar. so the coalition presence in logar grew from about 100 guys to about approximate 1,000 and it's still growing. so the coalition is on track to have 1500 guys in logar. this is one of the logar's districts and when the army began moving reinforcements in logar they identified as baraki block for getting a foothold in logar province. they concentrated its area and it's the safest area. it has the best security. you see all sorts of knock-on effects as refugees return and businesses get -- new business gets started and people are getting back to work and the army does security-type patrols to maintain that level of security. but they managed to create the space they need to do development work. >> you know, we got the checkpoint down

enormously relevant when this hit because after all let's remember what happened, we had a house in kabul the burst. bernanke and hank paulson, s. res three secretary pronounced it to be contained meaning that the damage would be limited to housing and screw up the rest of the economy. and it turned out not to be contained, and when big financial institutions began to include especially after, i think ben bernanke realized he was at risk of presiding over something like the episode he had studied, and that gave him more courage i think to do dramatic things and some other person but at that. i think the beginning some of his colleagues thought he was overreacting. after all anybody who studies one episode in history tends to see everything that happens like this is happening again. and they thought he was overdoing it. i think the and -- >> host: he was fighting the last war. >> guest: or the 500 war and it turned out he was fighting something that looked a lot like the depression which was stunning the we could be in 2008 going for something that we thought cause all the economists told

but he's deciding whether he's been -- deciding whether to return to kabul or bagdad, that's where he spends -- >> and alexander -- >> alexander is living in northern california where he's got his web -- his newsletter counterpunch.org -- counterpunch.org. and engaged in ever more interesting architectural projects on his house. >> as a last clip you have a little rap song and secretary hank paulson, former treasury secretary, in a hearing situation this is only a minute or so. let's run this and then we'll wrap it up. >> this morning we meet for a hearing on the turmoil of u.s. credit markets recent actions regarding government sponsored entities, investment banks and other financial institutions. >> everybody's broke and everybody knows they're messing your money, everybody's broke. >> this is not just a cosmetic issue and a feel good issue. >> we all ain't got no money, i don't think it's very funny, everybody's broke. >> the tax payer already is going to suffer the consequences if things don't work the way they should work. >> welcome to the great depression. oh, this is a double

relevant when this crisis hit, because after all but remember what happened here, we had a house in kabul that burst, bernanke and hank paulson treasury secretary pronounced it to be contained, meaning the damage would be limited to housing and it wouldn't screwup the rest of the economy, and it turned out not to be contained, and win big financial institutions began to implode, especially after lehman, i think bernanke realized he was at risk of presiding over something like that so he had studied, and that gave him more courage i think to do dramatic things than some other person would have been. i think that in the beginning some of his colleagues thought he was overreacting. after all anybody who studies one episode in history tends to see everything that happens like this is happening again. and they thought he was overdoing it. i think in the and -- >> host: he was fighting the last war. >> guest: or 50 year old war. and it turned out he was fighting something that looked all of look like the great depression which is stunning in 2008 we could be going for something that we thought