The Afghan-American Future

With Afghan President Hamid Karzai in D.C., a U.S. defense analyst says America's strategy is doomed to fail. We hear the debate.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was in the Oval Office this morning on his “make nice” tour of Washington.

Feathers have been ruffled, and much more, with U.S. complaints of corruption, ineptitude, and a stolen election.

The apparent mission this week: to try to get back on the same page, strategically, as U.S. forces prepare for a big offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar.

My guest today has studied Afghanistan for decades. And he says we’re living in la-la land — that the Afghanistan strategy isn’t working, and won’t.

This Hour, On Point: myth and reality in year nine of the Afghan war.Guests:

Karen DeYoung, senior diplomatic reporter for The Washington Post. Read her article today on the conflict between American counterinsurgency strategy and Afghan President Hamid Karzai's views.

Thomas H. Johnson, director of the Program for Culture & Conflict Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School. For two decades, he has conducted research and written on Afghanistan and South Asia.

Stephen Biddle, senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.