the plan was to have the incumbent hamid karzai take on his two main rivals. just 24 hours before air, he pulled out, saying he didn't have enough time to prepare. it's an excuse this man doesn't buy. >> he would not be able to actually defend his activities. that's why he didn't appear for the debate. >> reporter: instead, karzai's two closest rivals, a former top world bank official and karzai's former foreign minister abdullah abdullah sucked up two hours of television. they pointed to casualties as a major reason to opposition to foreign forces. despite the criticism, president obama's special envoy to the region, richard holbrook, said the american presence is important, highlighting the ongoing operation in helmand. >> this election will take place on schedule, and helmand will be able to participate thanks to this offensive that general nicholson and his colleagues are directing. >> reporter: karzai has been accused of running a lackluster campaign but is still widely expected to finish first. his no show on the debate may not have hurt his chances. the

. >> that is an issue that is still lingering, and one that i raised with president karzai and othersnd it's the shia family law, but one of the issues is awareness. you know, there are a lot of long standing inbred attitudes and a lot of women aren't aware of what their basic human rights are. deep down they may feel that they're not to be abused obviously. they aren't aware of the universal declaration of human rights or even their rights chiseled in the afghan constitution. but that's why programs that raise the whole issue of awareness and possibility for women are so critical because then their lives can be transformed in ways that they can make a real contribution in bettering themselves and their families and certainly moving their country forward. >> bonnie: last month ambassador verveer visited afghanistan ahead of the august election to emphasize women's rights are critical to afghanistan's stability. after iran's contested elections, many are keeping an even closer eye on afghanistan. >> there are a couple of candidates for president, but the important thing is that those e

hamid karzai startup well, he has become corrupt and that is why i think a good sign with this election, that are viable candidates. so hopefully if the afghan people feel as you do, they will put someone else and there. host: orlando, florida. glen on the democrats' line. caller: thank you for having the show. lawrence, i wanted to just touch on one of your points where you were talking about how we could actually buy a lot of the opium from the afghan people and help them in the meantime while we figure out how to control that market. it is actually one of the best things we could do. opium -- i don't think people realize it -- but it is one of

the taliban ambushed a convoy carrying one of president hamid karzai's running mates as he was traveling to a campaign appearance. he wasn't hurt. >>> the violence in afghanistan has forced the united states to try a high-stakes strategy shift. nick schifrin is in afghanistan. >> reporter: across afghanistan, the u.s. is trying to turn around a stalemate. for u.s. troops, july has been the deadliest month of the war. afghans are more pessimistic about their futures than anytime since the war began. >> it's been a stalemate. neither side was going to win. and that is not where you want american troops and those of our allies. so, we're changing it. >> reporter: changing it by sending in 20,000 additional troops to southern afghanistan, the heartland of the taliban. >> the mission down here is a whole lot more complicated than it was in iraq. here, it's, well, we know where the enemy is. we're going to attack them and on our own terms. >> reporter: lieutenant patrick higgins and the men of bravo company spend their days on patrol, trying to create security by keeping taliban away from peac

he's running for president of afghanistan against hamid karzai.lle is the political consultant for the former finance minister of afghanistan. james carville has been doing things like saying in interviews that karzai is incompetent. meanwhile, hillary clinton is secretary of state. how's that for an awkward moment the next time secretary clinton is supposed to meet hamid karzai? madame secretary looking forward to these negotiations. perhaps you could first remove the teeth of your consigliare from my ankle. the elections are in less than a month and because this is afghanistan there are pretty amazing details about what it takes to get a national election done there. the ap reporting this week, frank, that 3,100 donkeys are being dispatched to remote villages that are inaccessible by any kind of vehicle. the official american line on what we're doing in afghanistan now is using our troops to protect the civilian afghan population from insurgent fighters, to keep the taliban from coming back to power. meanwhile we're supposed to be trying to buil

president karzai has promised that he will provide additional resources to that and i believe that is starting now. at the same time, i've said to president karzai that after october, i think it's important that the house knows that after october. we are prepared to do more work, mentoring and training the afghan security services and that is something that we will consider as we make our decisions about what we do after october. >> of course, the most recent focus on building up the afghan army on the coordination between afghanistan and pakistan is right. but i think it would actually help to acknowledge that some of the early objectives were slightly loftily and vague and the coordination wasn't there. i think we will take people with us for the future if actually we admit to some of the things that we got wrong in the past. let me ask some very specific questions about helicopters and afghanistan. isn't the basic problem this? the number of helicopters we have in afghanistan is simply insufficient. will the prime minister confirm that the american marines who have approximately th

she explained al-qaeda was haunted karzai's -- hamid karzai's organization. [laughter] we spent a lot of time with them making sure they knew what al- qaeda was. similarly, many cannot give a clear explanation of what the taliban was. you need to be careful of the translation and that folks understand. with those caveats in mind, we will move forward. this is very interesting -- if you look at a map, you have ethnic pockets -- this is 5% of the population. in a statistical sampling, this is a lumpy soup. the soup is not well stirred. you have to take bites all over the suit. we do not really know whether the results we see are and at a far -- are an artifact of the lumpy soon phenomena or if it is genuinely and a liar. we we tracking this in the 6000- person survey. -- we will be tracking this in the 6000-person survey. we will be talking about the threat perception. and we will be talking about the attitudes toward american policy and leadership and so forth. this is a slide we have already seen. we asked whether respondents see this as a threat or not, and

and ifyou can clean up the problems with the karzai government and within the international aid efrt that would provide a vry strong inntive to afghs to reje the talannd support e goverent. >> well, iant to bring up, you meng saiin your report that one of the geat challenges facing the u. and no is the ghan government. why is the government a chlenge? >> partf the reason is, it simply lackscapabili. we created a sysm that s extremely centralized to try to make e warlords weaker. in fact what we did was mak karzai and otherso dependen on regial leaders that we acally strengtned the rlords. but in the process, there's no rel provincial government. you create a power vacuum and it's one in which power brers ancorruption dominate. not the kind of government y need out in the field, outn the provinces to provide an alternative to the taliban. only about 15 sends left. i just wondered, yo firstha observation of general mcchrystal,hat were thy? >> i think for the first time you have aeader working with an ambasdor, ambassador eikenberry o fully uerstands what's hapning. andhat american lead

and if you can clean up the problems with the karzai government and within the international aid effort that would provide a very strong incentive to afghans to reject the taliban and support the government. >> well, i want to bring up, you meng said in your report that one of the great challenges facing the u.s. and nato is the afghan government. why is the government a challenge? >> part of the reason is, it simply lacks capability. we created a system that was extremely centralized to try to make the warlords weaker. in fact what we did was make karzai and others so dependent on regional leaders that we actually strengthened the warlords. but in the process, there's no real provincial government. you create a power vacuum and it's one in which power brokers and corruption dominate. not the kind of government you need out in the field, out in the provinces to provide an alternative to the taliban. >> only about 15 seconds left. i just wondered, your firsthand observations of general mcchrystal, what were they? >> i think for the first time you have a leader working with an ambassador,

and big concern about karzai is the leader -- i went with general jones to talk to karzai, he's very outgoing and friendly and highly westernized, but you dig behind that and a lot of people say he's making deals with people who are corrupt in order to win the election next month. and not putting people in, or keeping people in the afghan government who are really going to fix things for the people in afghanistan. >> most of the afghanistan's wealth is from poppies, from opi opium. they're the biggest supplier of opium around the world. is there any progress in reducing that? >> they've decided now we can't fix that because that is the farmers' income. i talked to the general on the ground in afghanistan, and i asked about that, and he said, we do not want to eradicate the poppy crop now. we can't do, it because that will have 21,000 angry farmers, and i can't deal with that. >> that was an american general you're talking about. >> that was an american general. so there is a new policy of, we'll deal with the drug problem later. >> are the pakistanis on the other side of the border,

i spent quite some time in conversations with president karzai because i think it's important we talk to whoever is the elected president of afghanistan -- we talk about what they can do. and i'm very clear the afghan party has got to do more. i'm very clear where we are and helmand we need to complement of more troops and police and i also clear that we have a role to play and will be a continuing role after the election for some of our troops to mentor and treen the afghan security forces. >> the trouble is in the most recent visits that i've done, the defense committee security seems to be getting worse and not better. why do you think that is? and do you think it might be because we have few troops on the ground? >> i.t. the issue first of all ages the change in approach of the taliban campaign in afghanistan, and i think there are defense experts far better equipped than me to explain the nature of what has happened. but clearly the afghan taliban and associates are operating in guerrilla tactics and using roadside bombs and electronic devices to cause maximum damage. they are no

and that's always been an option and president karzai has spoken publicly and interviews with you on interviews on the same subject. let me be clear on this. we are not in favor of bringing people into the government who advocate the denial of rights to the women, who are murderous and who are closely allied with al qaeda. but people fighting with the taliban include vast number of people. probably three quarters, lou just pick up a gun, get paid, and go off and do these things and there is always ram for them to be reintegrated. many have come back. that program kind of fell apart. we'll revitalize it. after the elections, you'll see a very dramatic increase in our policies across the board and this will be one of them. >> after the afghan election. >> sure. august 20th. >> i should say one more thing. it is a run-off situation. if nobody gets 50% on august 20th, then there will be a second round in about a month. >> we'll be covering it. you have a tough mission. we wish you success. >> thanks. > >>> john f. kennedy jr. pictures from days before his death. right now, all over the c

. >> ill: there isobody who tnks that hamid karzai isot ing to be re-elecd. wht is it about the electi that feeds ito this? >> i think it's tritionally in afghan hitory, transition of power betwee remes has always been an a of violence. the tnsition in 2001 after the tragedy of 9/, the establishment of the bonn agreement and then in 205 with the election of esident karzai re the first two instances where there haseen aeaceful transition to wer. this is then the third transion and whether president karzai is elected or whether o of e othercontenders ge elected, i thi there is evdence that the field is opening up no with the commment of the u.s. to a crediblend free ection, regardless w wins it is aime of volatility. >> ifillin britain as we lked about in the setup pie abo the sudden spike in casualties, is anyf this connected atall to the military strategy? is this connected to prepedness in any way othe pat of the coalition foces? >> i don't think it' a function of preparedness, just think there has been a push from the u.s. military androm the briti militari

. >> ifill: are you confident that hamid karzai is on board with this idea?that the central government itself in afghanistan is strong enough to pull this off. >> that's an important question. president karzai was elected and it's important that we support legitimate elected government in afghanistan. but afghanistan is not like the u.s. or the u. k., it's a society that is 174th in the world development index, with no long-term history of centralized government of the sort that you or i might recognize. i think the president karzai has outlined a very clear vision for his country and we have to help him make sure that he's aable to put it into practice. critically that means ensuring that different parts of the 34 provincees of afghanistan, there are clean, noncorrupt governments able to lead change in those provinces. >> ifill: he seems to be more focused on the idea of civilian casualties and what allied forces can do to reduce that. are you with him on that? >> that's important. every time that afghan civilian is killed by our forces, by the taliban, that

. >> ifill: there is nobody who thinks that hamid karzai is not going to be re-elected. what is it about the election that feeds into this? >> i think it's traditionally in afghan history, transition of power between regimes has always been an act of violence. the transition in 2001 after the tragedy of 9/11, the establishment of the bonn agreement and then in 2005 with the election of president karzai were the first two instances where there has been a peaceful transition to power. this is then the third transition and whether president karzai is elected or whether one of the other contenders gets elected, i think there is evidence that the field is opening up now with the commitment of the u.s. to a credible and free election, regardless who wins it is a time of volatility. >> ifill: in britain as we talked about in the setup piece about the sudden spike in casualties, is any of this connected at all to the military strategy? is this connected to preparedness in any way on the part of the coalition forces? >> i don't think it's a function of preparedness, i just think

the incumbent, amid karzai, declines to take part, saying a debate would be biased on a private station. plans to unveil to take over porsche by volkswagen, following an aborted bid by porsche to take over its larger rival that crippled it with debt. forest fires claimed the lives of five forced firefighters and continue to burn across northern spain. more than 1500 have been forced from their homes in the face of heat and high wind. hillary clinton and north korea's this time did not hit it off. she warned pyongyang that they have no friends left to back ambitions. their median return described quran as an an intelligent -- her as an intelligent, funny lady. we had an interview. >> u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has just dropped off a new trip to india and thailand. she came here to emphasize that the american administration wants to cooperate with countries in the region after which he claims were years of neglect by washington. she also warned iran against continuing its nuclear program and spoke of the defense umbrella. before she got on the plane back to washington, i sat

it guest: he is concerned about the corruption of the hermit karzai government.he fact he is willing to challenge his former boss, that he is willing to take this on -- and i offered to debate and hamid karzai did not show up. i think this is a hopeful sign for afghanistan. host: north carolina. go ahead. caller: i am not republican or democrat -- i think the republicans have no need for minoritiesnd democrats pretty much ignore. that being said, i think going after the dealers themselves instead of the crops is a bad mistake. as you see in the inner-city is, we go after dealers all the time and that does not stop anything. it pacifies the general public for a while. i think we have to take a firm stance and destroyed the crops. they are not really affecting the rich. that is just how i feel about it. i am not a politician from you guys award in may but that is how i feel. guest: i think one of the reasons you have to get the people who are profiting from the drug trade, basically they are using those profits to fund the insurgency. that is what i think we want t

envoy in afghanistan met with president karzai and his top challengers.residential elections are scheduled for next month. tight security will be in place as taliban fighters continued attacks. militants armed with automatic weapons attacked eastern afghanistan today. the seven militants died. >>> supporters of the ousted honduran president zelaya blocked a highway, calling for a return of him. they quickly retreated back into nicaragua when about 100 supporters clashed with the police. the former president was ousted in a coup last month. >>> up next, sarah palin is spending her final weekends governor of alaska. what is next? and what is in store for the rest of the weekend? brian van de graaff is tracking the latest. >>> this is the final weekend in office for alaska governor and former vice presidential ninee sarah palin. she is spending her final 48 hours in office sharing hot dogs at picnics across the state. she steps down tomorrow. as for her future plans, no one seems to know. >> is spent a couple days with her. she would be good. >> even her fat

president karzai is the frontrunner, but whoever wins will rule afghanistan for the next five years, getting their support for a campaign of national reconciliation to undermine the taliban insurgency, and that could be as critical as stages two and three of panther's clock. bbc news, brussels. >> lots of excitement in london about the 2012 olympics. today marks exactly three years until the games begin, and preparations are on schedule. here is james pierce, who spent the day at the site in east london. >> on july 27, 2012, this area will be a hive of activity, with a dozen people heading to the opening ceremony. three years ago, and still plenty of work remains to be done. >> good morning. the good news is that this is not your driver speaking. >> he has led the way for the fast few years, and today he was at the head again. this high-speed rail link is a highlight of the 2012 transport plan. the train is just pulling out, and should take us seven minutes. we will see how long it actually takes. >> spectators will be carried, 27,000 and hour, between the fields. this was a first te

the key element is taking a hard, long look at karzai.ng at him and his brother and their connection with the opium thing. c'mon, let's get real. if you were to give richard holbrooke in a room alone he would tell you the same. to into the one who called about being tired of war. the main reason we are there was that the twin towers, the thousand of our brightest are now gone. the first time we have ever experienced that. it is like the whole thing with bush -- i do not know. iraq, iraq, iran, iran --and let's forget about afghanistan. the fact that well, al qaeda -- you know? bin laden running around somewhere in a cave with his dialysis machine -- go on now. do not get me started. and tried to stay on point. we do need to get rid of al qaeda. -- i am trying to stay on point. having been a marine i can certainly and understand what you have experienced. i was in vietnam. do not get me started about the military complex host: thank you. he began by talking about the president's karzai -- what is his standing with the u.s. government, u.s.

and a karzai spokesman repord a cease-fi with the taliban in part of northwestern afghanistan.he taliban denied it, d called the announcement propaganda. we'll speak with itish foreign secretary david milibandbout e situation in afghanistan toorrow night's newshour. and still to come on the newshoutonight: paying for obesity; and remembing merce nningham. that follows the hh-level talks beeen china and the u.s. margaret warner reports >> warner: whington drew an unprecedented gatring today of scores of u.s. andhinese cabit ministers and their deputies. welcoming them at the nald reagan building,resident obama stessed the importance of this new rategic and economic dialogue beten the two countries. >>> you can't pedict dict with certaintyhat the futureill bring but question be certai about the issues. we als know this, the relaonships between the united states a chin ll shape the 1s cenry which kes it as iortant as any bilateral retionship in the world. that really mu undein our partnership. that is the reonsibility that together we bear. >> the the president said he d no illusi

it guest: he is concerned about the corruption of the hermit karzai government.the fact he is willing to challenge his former boss, that he is willing to take this on -- and i offered to debate and hamid karzai did not show up. i think this is a hopeful sign for afghanistan. host: north carolina. go ahead. caller: i am not republican or democrat -- i think the republicans have no need for minorities and democrats pretty much ignore. that being said, i think going after the dealers themselves instead of the crops is a bad mistake. as you see in the inner-city is, we go after dealers all the time and that does not stop anything. it pacifies the general public for a while. i think we have to take a firm stance and destroyed the crops. they are not really affecting the rich. that is just how i feel about it. i am not a politician from you guys award in may but that is how i feel. guest: i think one of the reasons you have to get the people who are profiting from the drug trade, basically they are using those profits to fund the insurgency. that is what i think we wan

. >> ifill: are you confident at hmid karzai i on board with thi idea?that t central government itself in afghanista is strong enough to ll this off. >> that's an important question. presidentkarzai was elected and it's important that we support legitite ected gornment infghanistan. but afghanistan is not like the u.s. orhe u.., it's a society that i 174th in the world development index, with no long-term history of centralized governmentof the sort that you or i might recogniz i think theresident karzai has outlined a very clear vision for his coury and we have to lp him ma sure that he's ale to put it into practe. critically th means ensuring that different rts of the 34 provincees of afghanistan, there e clean, noncorrt governments able to le change inhose provinces. >> ifi: he seems to be re focused on the idea of civilian casualtiesnd what allied forces can doo redu that. are you with himon that? >>hat's important. evy time that afghan vilian is killed by our forces,y the taliban, that obviously is a major loss to all of us. i think we've got to rem

i think the work that we've done to bring president zardari and president karzai together we will be holding the friends of pakistan meeting in september that we will convene to get other countries to support pakistan in this effort. now that they've started to take on this in surgeon threat and terrorist threat we have complementary action in afghanistan and pakistan and then get some help the objectives we set can be achieved. >> i would agree with all of that prime minister. >> thank you. we now move on to andrew miller. >> iran has been described with regard to middle east peace and recently richard bolten said its not exceptional to talk foul of iran. their behavior and ambition provoke strong reactions and they certainly seem to have reacted britain's position in recent pronouncements. i want to take the number of aspects. first of all, on the nuclear debate referring back to the paper that was spoke about and has been published today that says they grant supply access to nuclear power and commitment isn't to proliferate nuclear weapons as the key part of that. and again, dalto

bonnie: one of ambassador verveer's priority counies is afghanista earlr this year president mid karzaigned a bill tha would have permittedarital rape and would have barred women from leaving the house without eir husbands' permsion. it wasn'until president obama, along th other world leaders, spoke out against e bill that kaai decided to review, and later omit, the violations of man rights to becomeaw. according to a new uted nations report, womes rights are beinrevoked under presidenkarzai's adminisation. >> thais an issue that is still lingering, and one that i raised with presidenkarzai and others. and it's the shifamily law, but one of the issues awareness. u know, there are a loof long standing inbred attudes and a lot of women aren't aware what their basic hun rights are. deep dn they may feel tha they're not to be abused obously. theyren't aware of the unersal declaration of human rights or even their rights chiseled in the afghan constitution. but that's why progrs that raise the ole issue of awarens and possibilityor women are so critical cause then tir lives can be ransformed

and afghan president hamid karzai, who received support from the military and the cia. and a salon.com column yesterday reported allegations by some afghan detainees that american military personnel may have been present during the massacre. now, for more on all of this, we are joined by susannah sirkin, deputy director of physicians for human rights, the group that discovered the mass grave. thank you for joining us. president obama said recently on cnn that he has asked his security team to investigate the facts of this case. what do you think will be the results of that investigation? >> well, physicians for human rights certainly hopes that it will be a thorough investigation. ideally conducted by attorney general holder into what happened there and as well of the role of u.s. forces. >> "the new york times," as we just said, was covering this story quite extensively. do you think that they have reported it accurately from what you know? >> a lot of "the times" story reported discovery of the site and initial investigations by physicians for human rice called rights

and you can hp to shre up karzai and whofrt future presidts of afghanistan the mayor ofkabul, but thats very different from actlly coming up with the sort of progress that would b requed to allow for a long-term support internatially. the u.s. a europe, to contin this ing. at's probably not gng to happen. >> made very important point here that the talibannd their allies, including al aeda, are fighting a traditional guerrill warbased on t mayo model, which i when the enemy strong, retreat. when the ene gets rung out, harass. en the enemy gets weak, atck. so the marines who i thnk have done a outstanding job hel province. they're very well trained. theyut the emphis more on soft power than on firepower, but they're fed with the situatio kbiep they get strong, the emy disappears. anytime they ge strong or isated in a smaller unit, they get attack. >> buthen does this r become a political liabili for the president? >> rig now, it is a political liability. it's his war. he made it so. that is during thecampaign. he preached the gosl of -- de-emphasize iraq, emphasize in. it's his war to w

karzai, who is a leader of afghanistan, is one of those leaders who seem to be a responsible leader but has turned out to run a totally corrupt regime with apparently his brother as sort of the bagman for the family. he's managed to outmaneuver us from buying out various support levels from different tribes within afghanistan. he'll probably continue as president. we don't know how to get out of this mores a that we are in. we can't cread the ground to either alk -- cede the ground to either al qaeda or afghanistan. pakistan is a country that has over 100 nuclear weapons. we hope that a tyrannical regime mr. take over pakistan and use those nuclear weapons to threaten large parts of the world where we are very, very concerned about. and in a year from now we'll have another radical regime which is iran which is a high likelihood that they will have nuclear weapons. it is that nuclear capacity that just changes everything. it's a game changer. and it changes the level of fear and anticipation and gives these countries a great deal of power and influence in these other countries, even if

and you can help to shore up karzai and whoever the future presidents of afghanistan as the mayor of kabul, but that is very different from actually coming up with the sort of progress that would be required to allow for a long-term support internationally. the u.s. and europe, to continue this thing. that's probably not going to happen. >> you made a very important point here that the taliban and their allies, including al qaeda, are fighting a traditional guerrilla war based on the mayo model, which is when the enemy is strong, retreat. when the enemy gets strung out, harass. when the enemy gets weak, attack. so the marines who i think have done an outstanding job in helmand province. they're very well trained. they put the emphasis more on soft power than on firepower, but they're faced with the situation. anytime they get strong, the enemy disappears. anytime they get strong or isolated in a smaller unit, they get attacked. >> but when does this war become a political liability for the president? >> right now, it is a political liability. it's his war. he made it so. that is duri

. >> and how much does the reelection of karzai -- how much of this does hinge on the reelection of karzaicused of trying to buy reelection by many people in afghanistan. if he doesn't get reelected, does all of this come apart? >> i met with four of the 41 candidates, including president karzai and three of his leading opponents. i don't think anyone should assume the outcome of this election either way, but i want to stress, first of all, that the u.s. neither supports nor opposes any individual candidate. i work with -- i and my colleagues work with the government led by president karzai just the way the united states only has one president at a time. but in terms of the campaign, we're really truly neutral. and the ambassador has gone out of his way to emphasize that. the election is going to be an extraordinary event. the first contested election in afghanistan history. last week they had the first presidential debate. they had an empty podium. you're familiar with those, john. >> oh, yeah. >> it's democracy in action in war-time situations. it's an extraordinary event to watch, and i

how can the central government of karzai rival war lords that provide that much cash to their people. >> governor pawlenty is back from afghanistan. the marines are attacking the poppy governor but several years of afghan history in two minutes that dope has been around -- that dope is going to be around. >> i did finish my 4th trip to iraq and second trip to afghanistan. a couple things. this country is unlike iraq in the sense that it has a very undeveloped infrastructure and educational structure and undeveloped in many respects. you put your finger right on it the main source of revenue for so many rural iraqis in the south and candle h kandahar providence is this poppy crock. they are simultaneously trying to develop alternatives for the farmers so they have other ways to make a living other than growing pop sees. see if that works. that will be an important question we have visited some of those in other places. but it's an open question whether the farmers are going to o that as a viable option this is america's news headquarters. i'm lauren sivan. two oklahoma sheriff de

we are just there to hold karzai up? that is very foolish. i cannot imagine what the military has as their objective. now, the victory may not be as in japan, but there ought to be a pretty clear sense about what the united states is trying to achieve, why we believe is worth risking our men and women, and whether or not we have achieved it. neil: given afghanistan and even growing pressure within the left in his own party to say, "we have got to cool it." he is getting ready for a pullback or may be a less active position and afghanistan -- or maybe a less active position in afghanistan. >> i am actually for being stopped in afghanistan, was his previous message, but afghanistan is not isolated. you have to deal with afghanistan and pakistan in the same way. the pashtuns -- it is a n enormous challenge. i think it will take a long time, not a short time. i do think that general petraeus understands about as much of counterinsurgency than anyone in the american military, and i think we will be successful, but the president is conflicted, beca

carol tweets the name karzai has yesterday to be -- has yet to be uttered this morning. guest: interesting point. as you know, the elections are scheduled for august 20th, and it seems now the sense in kabul and elsewhere that karzai is the odds-on favorite to win a second term. if you look back even last year, this seemed highly unlikely. he was facing criticism from the west as soon as president obama took the election, and he made pointed comments about karzai's inability to root out corruption in his administration and it seemed that this was a prelude to a changing of the guard, that he was not going to get as much support from the u.s. as he has almost unflinchingly in the past, but he has very shrewdly coopted a lot of his chief pone efntses in the months up to the election on all fronts, showing political acumen as he has shown in office, and it seems now despite his high popularity among the afghan public, his first term was 50% and now is somewhere 30% think he is not suited for the job. . guest: a lot of the afghan public are skeptical and cynical. that could

. >> do you have confidence in hamid karzai, the president of afghanistan?country. we're working with him cloelsly. in a month and ten days there's going to be a hugely important election in afghanistan. there are other candidates in the race. we don't have a candidate. we don't support, we don't oppose anyone. ambassador karl eikenberry, a former nato commander, our brilliant new ambassador there, has been meeting with all the candidates. >> there have been some excellent reporting by our michael ware in neighboring pakistan. and he sat down with representatives of the pakistan military, the pakistan intelligence. they seem to be making deals right now with the taliban, and they want the united states to get involved in this. i want you to listen to this clip. this is the pakistani military spokesman asar abbas. >> and that's where pakistan can perhaps sur pro-vid valuable assistance to the american mission. >> i think yes, that can be helped out. that's possible. >> he's saying on the record he wants to work out some relationship, if you will, between the

but we know in 2004, he approved a peace mission to karzai's government and as recently as december,e believe at least two senior taliban sort of put out peace dealers to the government that were approved. >> i want to ask you about a couple of other things we're watching from this region. there's a headline on msnbc.com about pakistan authorities detaining an islamic cleric who had brokered a failed peace deal in the swath valley. have ub able to learn anything on this front? >> i don't know about that specific case. i do know that offensive that the pakistani forces undertook in the swath valley is still very uncertain. refugees are wondering if it's safe to go home. >> and it also looks as though we've come across the taliban's code of conduct. what they call rules for mujahadin. it seems like sort of an oxy moron to think there are rules for mujahadin. >> i know the taliban are very concerned with that afghan civilians think about that. they understand that this is really a battle for the minds of local citizens, so they themselves have appointed a committee to hear complaints fr