. >> the shift from afghanistan to iraq was pulpable. we in the media did it as well.ed national public bureau in kabul because we all knew a war was coming in iraq. >> when there's media attention on the country, the country improves. when the media attention goes away, the country falls apart. >> now you have nato fighting against taliban insurgents, you have a very unpopular afghan government, and afghan population who no longer trusts the international community, no longer has great hope for the international community or the afghan government the way they did in 2001 and there was an incredible window of opportunity there. and i fear that, that window has closed and now the country is mired in yet another chapter of its endless civil war. five years after the overthrow of the taliban, i met with a taliban fighter who had been in the front lines in the trenches, facing off against the northern alliance during the u.s. bombing campaign of the taliban. he described to me the retreat of the taliban from that area. basically how taliban fighters, they got the order to