AC: "There's going to have
to be something dramatic happen here to see a
reversal."
Monday, September 07, 2009
Length: 3:55
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The first of the AC360 reports: the road
from Kabul to Kandahar, which US forces had rebuilt
just a few years ago, is now under the control of
the Taliban. Michael talks with a truck driver who
has to drive that route every week as he reports
from a checkpoint at the Kabul end and a truck
depot at the Kandahar end. There is also a recorded
wrap-up.
(Michael's blog entry on this story is
here.)
ANDERSON
COOPER: There are setbacks and constant reminders of
how dangerous and deadly the mission is in
Afghanistan. Michael Ware found out first hand. He
traveled on the road from Kabul to Kandahar. The U.S.
helped rebuild that road. It used to be safe. Now it
is now a Taliban death trap.
Here's Michael's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The
costs of the Afghan war are staggering. The loss of
life, the billions upon billions of dollars, and yet
what has it delivered? Looking around, talking to the
U.S. military, it's clear: this war is not being won.
(on camera) For most ordinary Afghans, this perhaps
is the simplest, clearest measure of that. This is
Highway No. 1. It's here that Kabul ends, and 300
miles down that road is Kandahar and the Taliban
heartland.
I remember when taking the journey from Kandahar to
Kabul was more than 12 exhausting hours, but in 2004
American aid money repaved this road and cut that
down to a mere five or six. Now, that journey is back
to nine or ten hours. There's at least three known
Taliban checkpoints on this American-paved highway.
People are being pulled off buses and executed by the
Taliban.
(voice-over) Truck driver Mohammed Qasim runs this
Taliban gauntlet once a week. He hauls fuel in this
tanker. The road, he says, is in terrible shape,
wrecked by explosions. Drivers are left completely
exposed.
"It's been blown up by land mines and there is no
security on it," he says. A father of three, Qasim
has to provide for his children. He takes his life in
his hands each time he travels Highway 1. "I'm
compelled," he tells me. "How else do we eat? There's
simply no alternative."
Highway 1 looks like this. It is one of the most
vital arteries in Afghanistan, rebuilt with almost
$300 million in American aid money. Its asphalt rolls
out from the capital, Kabul, to the west towards
Kandahar, the nation's second largest city and a
political epicenter.
(on camera) And this is the other end of that road.
Kandahar is just a short distance down there; Kabul,
hundreds of miles that way. But here in Kandahar,
this is a city surrounded by pockets of Taliban
resistance. Indeed, just a few miles down that dirt
road is a Taliban-controlled district. A few miles up
the highway is the first Taliban checkpoint.
The fact that the Taliban's been able to strangle the
life out of this highway is a testament to the fact
that there's simply not enough American, British,
international or Afghan troops to secure it. What had
once been an American project, hailed as a sign of
progress, has now become a mark of a mission in
crisis.
In talking to senior U.S. military here on the ground
and others, that crisis is across the board with the
mission. Militarily, the entire U.S. military
strategy for the war in Iraq [he
meant Afghanistan] right
now is under significant review. As one commander put
it to me, an American commander, "We can't move
forward; we can't move back."
Politically, the nation is in limbo. The election
results from the presidential runoff
[he
meant election] last
month have been stalled from being released because
of a storm of corruption allegations. As one senior
American officer said to me, there's going to have to
be something dramatic happen here to see a reversal
-- Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We'll have more from Michael Ware throughout
this week as we report to you live from Afghanistan.
American
Morning ran the clip again with different graphics:
Length: 2:51
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