Afghanistan in Crisis

Civilian casualties and coalition deaths in Afghanistan are now at record highs, government corruption is rampant, and the top U.S. military leader, Admiral Michael Mullen, predicts a worsening situation to come. Now the White House says it will overhaul its strategy there.

This hour, On Point: The crisis in Afghanistan and the way out of it.

You can join the conversation. Should the U.S. send more troops? Adjust the strategy? Or, perhaps, get out? We’d especially like to hear from veterans — civilian and military — who served there. Tell us what you think.
-Guy Raz, guest host

Guests:

Joining us from Kabul, Afghanistan, is Anand Gopal, correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. He has recently reported on how Afghan civilian casualties undermine support for the U.S.

From Washington, we're joined by Peter Spiegel, Pentagon correspondent for The Los Angeles Times.

Joining us from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is Robert Kaplan, national correpondent for The Atlantic Monthly and author of "Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts," just out in paperback. His recent op-ed in The New York Times, "A Manhunt or a Vital War?," argued that in Afghanistan "the fate of Eurasia hangs in the balance."

And from Paris, France, we're joined by Jeremy Shapiro, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and director of research for its Center on the United States and Europe. He authors the Brookings "Afghanistan Index."