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Bin Laden's Gone, What's Next For The U.S And Afghanistan?

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Bin Laden is dead. The Taliban is fighting again. Can the U.S. get out of Afghanistan?

A U.S. Army soldier patrols near near the village of Tarok Kolache, Friday, April 1, 2011, in the Arghandab River Valley of Afghanistan. (AP)
A U.S. Army soldier patrols near near the village of Tarok Kolache, Friday, April 1, 2011, in the Arghandab River Valley of Afghanistan. (AP)

The United States went to war in Afghanistan explicitly to deal with the terrorism threat from al-Qaida. Now, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is dead.

It’s been nearly ten years of war — with distinctly mixed success — in Afghanistan. We’ve got big needs and problems at home. Is it time to head for the exits?

An Obama official said Monday, “It’s crazy to walk off the field now,” with the bin Laden success in hand. But how long, and to what end exactly, should the U.S. fight in Afghanistan?

This hour On Point: bin Laden is dead. We’ll look at the war in Afghanistan and where and how it ends.
- Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Alissa J. Rubin, Kabul bureau chief for the New York Times.

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

Thomas Johnson, director of the Program for Culture & Conflict Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Bing West, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration. He's author of "The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan."

This program aired on May 3, 2011.

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