Afghanistan's Future

05/03/2006 at 9:00 a.m.

It's been four years since the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. But today an insurgency is raging, marked by roadside bombings and suicide attacks by the Taliban and other militants. Is the country fracturing along ethnic and political lines? On the military front, NATO plans to double its peacekeeping operations. Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are moving to replace U.S. forces in the South. Meanwhile, the U.S. is planning to reduce troop levels from 19,000 to 16,500 this year. What is the U.S. mission in Afghanistan today? When will it be accomplished?

Guests:
Larry P. Goodson holds the General Dwight D. Eisenhower Chair of National Security at the US Army War College, where he also serves as professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy. Between March-August 2004, he was a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Fellow, and served as advisor to General John Abizaid, the CENTCOM Commander.
Nazif Shahrani an Afghan-American and professor of anthropology at Indiana University who received his Ph.D from the University of Washington in 1976. He is also a trustee of the new American University of Afghanistan and recently in Kabul.
Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry is the commander of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan. Prior to his current assignment, he was the director for Strategic Planning and Policy for U.S. Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.