Tuesday, October 06, 2009

In Places We Shouldn't Be

**Updated to include links to the interview audio***

Tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, it will mark eight years since the US invaded Afghanistan. We thought we were going in for the right reason: to get the people who ordered the 9/11 attacks.

But the Bush administration dropped the ball on that one, and let Osama bin Laden get away.

Then they invaded and occupied Iraq. We're still in clean-up mode for that mess.

During the campaign, Obama said that the Bush administration took it's eye off the ball in Afghanistan. True that. But he said we need to focus more troops there to fix the situation.

What we're learning is that troops are not the answer. Unfortunately, this administration isn't listening to the loud chorus of voices screaming that we need to help the Afghan population, not continue killing them and making their lives even more difficult.

In the second hour of tonight's show, when it will officially be October 7 on the east coast, I'll speak with Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans, who just returned from a 10-day mission to Afghanistan, where she met with people from all walks of life. I hope you'll listen and hear what's really going on over there. For my fellow females, please also visit codepinkalert.org to help the plight of the Afghan women.

**Click here to listen to my interview with Jodie**

I also encourage you to watch Rethink Afghanistan. You can purchase the DVD (just click the link to your left), or watch any or all of the segments online for free. I'll even post them all here, at the bottom of this essay. Just watch. Learn. Feel.

Another place we shouldn't be is Guantanamo Bay. President Obama made it his first order of business to shut it down. Unfortunately, we'll miss his target date, with no end to the torture chamber in sight.

My Air America colleague Jack Rice just returned from a trip over there. We'll discuss it during the first hour of tonight's show. He has lots of video on his website from his visit. Including this one:



**Click here to listen to my interview with Jack Rice**


Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Now, it's time to Rethink Afghanistan....

Part 1: More Troops + Afghanistan = Catastrophe



Part 2: Pakistan: "The Most Dangerous Country"



Part 3: The Cost of War



Part 4: Civilian Casualties



Part 5: Women of Afghanistan



Part 6: Security

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