America’s third war

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Jeb Sharp about an important component of President Obama’s counterterrorism strategy: the controversial drone war over Pakistan.Download MP3

• American drones in Pakistan (Jun 18, 2009)
• The debate over drones (May 27, 2009)

Multiple Taliban attacks in Afghanistan

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Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers have attacked buildings in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, setting off explosions and sparking gun battles. Fighting erupted near the Serena Hotel and the presidential palace, although Afghan President Karzai says security has now been restored. The Taliban said 20 of its fighters took part in the attack. The World’s Matthew Bell reports on the implications of the brazen Taliban attack. Download MP3

• BBC coverage

Afghan poll hints at growing optimism

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Most Afghans are increasingly optimistic about the state of their country, a poll commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and Germany’s ARD shows. Of more than 1,500 Afghans questioned, 70% said they believed Afghanistan was going in the right direction – a big jump from 40% a year ago. Jeb Sharp talks with the BBC’s Mark Dummett in Kabul. Download MP3 (Photo: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images)

• BBC coverage
• Full survey (pdf)

Hacking into American drone aircraft

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Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from unmanned American drone aircraft, US media reports say. Shia fighters are said to have used off-the-shelf software programs to capture the footage. The hacking was possible because the remotely flown planes have an unprotected communications link. Alex Gallafent reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Wired Magazine’s Noah Shachtman on the ‘drone war’ in Central Asia
• Tech Podcast: Listen to a longer version of the Shachtman interview
• Marco Werman talked with Ahmed Rashid about drone attacks

Afghan dam project in peril

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Kajaki Dam project in Southern Afghanistan is a symbol of US involvement in the country going back to the 1950s. In recent years, the project has been a priority for international development efforts, but the Taliban insurgency has put the success of the dam at risk. Washington’s foreign aid agency USAID has now put the Kajaki project on hold amid security concerns. Matthew Bell has the story. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• USAID in Afghanistan
• Background Brief: Taliban insurgency

Fighting the Afghan insurgency

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The commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, US Army General Stanley McChrystal, says the American military now understands counterinsurgency better than it ever has, and has made it a centerpiece of the new Afghanistan strategy. Reporter Ben Gilbert has been embedded with American forces in Afghanistan. On today’s show he is taking a look at how the counterinsurgency doctrine is being implemented on the ground in Afghanistan. Download MP3 (Photo: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images)

• Background brief:Taliban insurgency
• President Obama’s Afghanistan plan
• BBC coverage of the Afghanistan conflict

The drone war

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At least three suspected militants have been killed in a US drone attack in north-western Pakistan, officials say. The area is a major sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. Pakistan has publicly criticized drone attacks, saying they fuel support for the militants. The US military does not routinely confirm drone attacks, but the US armed forces and CIA in Afghanistan are the only forces capable of deploying drones in the region, analysts say. Noah Shachtman of Wired magazine is just back from the region. Download MP3 (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

• BBC coverage
• Wired.com: U.S. Military Joins CIA’s Drone War in Pakistan
• Podcast: Listen to a longer version of our interview with Noah Shachtman
• Marco Werman talked with Ahmed Rashid about drone attacks (Nov 5)
• Jeb Sharp on the controversial US drone strikes (Jun 18)

General McChrystal in Afghanistan hearing

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The United States will reverse Taliban momentum within a year and accomplish its mission in Afghanistan, but it will be “undeniably difficult” and costly, the top American commander there has said. Appearing in Congress, General Stanley McChrystal warned the mission would fail without more troops and praised President Obama’s decision to deploy 30,000 additional forces. Katy Clark reports. Download MP3 (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

• BBC coverage of the conflict with the Taliban
• President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy
• Background Brief: Taliban insurgency

Pakistan mosque attack

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More than 30 people have been killed and dozens injured in a coordinated attack at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, military officials say. Reports suggest there were at least two suicide attacks during Friday prayers followed by a series of explosions. Marco Werman speaks with Saeed Minhas of the State-run PTV News television in Islamabad. Download MP3 (AP Photo: Anjum Naveed)

• BBC coverage
• Pakistan’s Taliban dilemma
• On The World: Pakistan’s reaction to President Obama’s speech

Behind the bombings

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Download MP3
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Pakistani columnist Kamran Shafi about how Pakistan should move forward in the wake of today’s bombings at the mosque in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan’s reaction to Obama speech

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President Obama said one of the three pillars to success in Afghanistan was Pakistan. Many in Pakistan have reacted negatively to that. The official reaction in Pakistan has been somewhat muted, but the press is speaking out strongly against the President’s new plan. The World’s Jason Margolis reports. Download MP3

• Obama speech: Reaction in quotes
• President Obama’s address on The World

President Obama’s Afghanistan plan

Special coverage of President Obama’s speech on The World:

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President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan but warned America would begin to withdraw its military forces by 2011. World security was at stake, Mr Obama said in his address to the nation at West Point, calling for more allied troops. Download MP3

• Our coverage of President Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan

Kandahar update

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President Obama is to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and deploy them within six months, US officials have said. Commanders on the ground want the reinforcements concentrated in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan, including Kandahar and Helmand, the group’s opium-producing heartland. Ben Gilbert is reporting from an American base in Kandahar Province. Download MP3 (Photo of Marines in Helmand by Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty Images)

• President Obama’s Afghanistan plan: our coverage
• BBC coverage
• Monday’s interview with Ben Gilbert

The situation in Kandahar

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President Obama will officially unveil his new orders for the US military in Afghanistan tomorrow night at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. You can be certain the President’s speech will be closely watched at the military base in Kandahar. That’s Afghanistan’s second largest city and militants have been making gains in the area. Reporter Ben Gilbert is there. Download MP3

• President Obama’s Afghanistan plan
• Taliban insurgency
• Jeb Sharp on the mission in Afghanistan

British computer hacker to face US trial

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The lawyers for computer hacker Gary McKinnon (pictured) intend to challenge the British government’s decision not to block his extradition to the US. McKinnon who has Asperger’s syndrome, has been charged with illegally accessing computers, including at the Pentagon. He says he was seeking UFO evidence. Marco Werman talks with Gary McKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Clark Boyd’s previous story on this case (July 2009)
• Technology podcast 252 (July 2009)