Cross-posted with Tomdispatch.com.

The big Afghanistan debate in Washington is not over whether more troops are needed, but just who they should be: Americans or Afghans -- Us or Them. Having just spent time in Afghanistan seeing how things stand, I wouldn't bet on Them.

Crossposted with TomDispatch.com

A Film That Captures Some Edgy, Fearful Truths

Kabul, July 2009 -- I've come back to the Afghan capital again, after an absence of two years, to find it ruined in a new way. Not by bombs this time, but by security.

Crossposted with TomDispatch.com

Women in the Crosshairs

Wake up, America. The boys are coming home, and they're not the boys who went away.

On New Year's Day, the New York Times welcomed the advent of 2009 by reporting that, since returning...

Cross-posted from TomDispatch.com

The first of 20,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops are scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan next month to re-win the war George W. Bush neglected to finish in his eagerness to start another one. However, "winning" the military campaign against the Taliban...

As an aid worker, I've divided my time for the last four years between the United States and Afghanistan. Whenever I return stateside, Americans ask about the changes I've witnessed "over there." But the biggest changes I see are right here at home. Lately, we're getting to be a lot...