[inaudible conversations] >> " >> malcolm garcia, what is "the khaarijee"? >> it literally means the man that comes from outside. with the transmitter and the book would call me. he had difficulty pronouncing my name. >> where were you? >> kabul, afghanistan. >> why? >> i went there shortly after november 11th. i was working at the kansas city star. the editors needed people to go overseas. i've volunteered. i have not worked overseas. i saw it as an opportunity. >> what were you writing about before you went over there? >> daily stories, feature stories, anything from dog of the week to local news. so afghanistan was certainly quite a jump. >> how did that decision change your life? >> well, you know, i did not even know where afghanistan was to be candid. it gave me a perspective. across the globe outside of my day-to-day 9-5 existence. seeing a culture just radically different from my on in a country that experienced 30 years of warfare. just been devastated. a kind of devastation i had only seen in photographs of world war two and pictures of europe afte

malcolm garcia, his book is "the khaarijee" a chronicle of friendship and war in kabul. >> welcome toooktv's coverage of the 2010 annapolis book festival. we'll begin with the panel and global security moderated via benjamin wittes is senior fellow at the brookings institution that include shane harris author of the watchers, the american surveillance state. pw singer author of wired for war and bruce rydell author of the search for al qaeda. the second panel which starts in about an hour and 15 minutes is on the world's water and features are kurlansky author of fight for the day and orrin pilkey professor emeritus of the nicholas school of the environment at duke university and author of the rising sea. starting a 2:for guy that look at the financial market with william cohen author of house of cards a tale of hubris and wretched excess on wall street. finally, a look at the new america foundation's barry lynn and his book, cornered the new monopoly and the economics of destruction. >> we are going to get started. can people hear me okay? thanks for joining us. it is a wonderful thi