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Afghanistan 2010: Obama Compounds Bush’s Blunders

Journalist Anand Gopal returns with a comprehensive look at the US occupation of Afghanistan; comedian/satirist Will Durst recaps the top 10 comedic stories of the decade. Gopal is an independent, unembedded war correspondent who has spent most of the past 3 years in Afghanistan. He recaps the past year, commenting on the administration’s December report of “fragile” gains, the expanded use of drones in Pakistan, the recent death of Richard Holbrooke, the Taliban leader we were negotiating with who turned out to be an imposter, the recent expansion of night raids leading to the recent botched action in Kabul, WikiLeaks, US detention centers in Afghanistan, the truth about our efforts to control Marjah and Kandahar. We talk about his report that key Taliban leaders in the Kandahar area left the conflict in 2002 with promises of amnesty–but got harassment and torture instead, causing them to flee to Pakistan and resume fighting; and the dubious Obama pledge to bring troops home starting in just 6 months from now. Durst’s commentary starts at about 48:50