Jean MacKenzie, senior correspondent for GlobalPost, discusses her article on why the March 11 Kandahar massacre is much more surprising to Americans than Afghans; the success of US night raids in killing mid-level Taliban commanders – who are quickly replaced by younger, more hardcore fighters; the lack of a US endgame strategy, other than spinning withdrawal as a “victory;” and Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s odds of survival without US backing.
09/25/09 – Jean MacKenzie – The Scott Horton Show
Jean MacKenzie, Afghanistan reporter for GlobalPost.com, discusses how the Taliban protection racket takes a cut of U.S. reconstruction funds, the Afghan dislike of (even the kinder, gentler U.S. version) all foreign occupations, the Afghanistan opium trade that is too deeply entrenched to stop and Gen. McChrystal's assessment that 500 thousand more troops will be needed over 5 years.
04/08/09 – Jean MacKenzie – The Scott Horton Show
Jean MacKenzie, Program Director at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, discusses the ineffective use of foreign aid in Afghanistan, the lingering resentment of Hamid Karzai by factional groups excluded from political power, the India/Pakistan competition for influence in Afghanistan and the moral obligation of the U.S. to tidy the mess it made.