Joyce Hackel

Joyce Hackel

Joyce Hackel is a producer at The World.

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Afghans Skeptical of Obama Claim that War Will End in 2014

February 13, 2013 ⋅ Post a comment
An Afghan man watches a television broadcast of U.S. President Barack Obama delivering his State of the Union speech, in Kabul. ( Photo: Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

An Afghan man watches a television broadcast of U.S. President Barack Obama delivering his State of the Union speech, in Kabul. ( Photo: Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

President Obama was greeted with wild applause from both sides of the aisle in the State of the Union address Tuesday night when he announced the pull back of US troops from Afghanistan.

Host Marco Werman talks with BBC correspondent Bilal Sarwary in Kabul who says Afghans received the news with far less enthusiasm.

“People have many concerns and many doubts,” Sarwary says. “And let’s not forget the Afghan National Army still lacks an air force. Only one of the brigades can operate on its own, can carry out independent operations.”

Discussion

One comment for “Afghans Skeptical of Obama Claim that War Will End in 2014”

  • yrag01

    Come on—this is stupid, and annoying. Shame on the World for your sensational headline: “Afghans Skeptical of Obama Claim that War Will End in 2014″

    This is such a bogus nonstory (to me at least). In your own sound clip we can CLEARLY hear President Obama say “. . . by the end of next year OUR (my emphasis) war in Afghanistan will be over!” He didn’t say ‘THE war’ will be over, he said ‘OUR war’—as in America’s military fighting in the conflict will be over—he is after all reporting to Congress and the AMERICAN people, not the Afghan people about THEIR struggle. Why is that hard for anyone to understand, or for that matter to report on?

    Personally I can see an argument for the US and NATO to provide Afghan forces with air cover, but President Karzai has been such a difficult and disingenuous ‘partner’ and the Afghan government is so totally corrupt, perhaps such an arrangement was not tenable. I feel sorry for the Afghan people.

    But anyway, please do not sink into sensational news’making’ The World.

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