All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

The White House sent a powerful message this morning to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai: He'll get no extra U.S. troops, until he proves his government is credible.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel says President Barack Obama must be convinced he's got a legitimate partner in Kabul.

"It would be reckless to make a decision on U.S. troop level," Emanuel said on CNN's "State of the Union," "if, in fact, you haven't done a thorough analysis of whether, in fact, there's an Afghan partner ready to fill that space that the U.S troops would create and become a true partner in governing the Afghan country."

That's a message that will reverberate in Kabul, where U.S. diplomats have been urging incumbent President Karzai to somehow legitimize an election widely believed to be fraudulent, by choosing one of two options – a runoff election between the two top candidates Karzai, and his nearest challenger Abdullah Abdullah, or a negotiation between those candidates, Emanuel said.

That Sunday morning politicking won praise from Brooking Institution's Michael O'Hanlon.

"I think a little Chicago politics could be just what this situation needs," he said, to pressure President Karzai to prove to the Americans – and more importantly to Afghan citizens – that his government is credible.

Otherwise, O'Hanlon says, the U.S. faces repeating the mistakes of Vietnam, where it poured in more troops, but had no credible partner in the South Vietnamese government to back it up.

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Mandy Clark is a CBS News Digital Journalist based in Afghanistan. In this blog, she previews her story for the CBS Evening News.

Nine young boys were tricked into delivering a bomb for the Taliban. It is the story of Eidullah and his friends. I came across the story on a military base in Khost, Eastern Afghanistan when a few of the boys had come for a check up. Military doctors saved their lives.

The boys were asked to deliver a fruit basket to a local commander working with U.S. forces. What they didn’t know was hidden in the basket was a bomb. It exploded early and injuring the boys. Two lost legs, one went blind, all their lives changed in a flash.

Using children is new terror tactic that is growing in Afghanistan. Doctors at the combat hospital say they are seeing child bombers more frequently.
Eidullah was one of the boys who lost his leg. When I met him, his face was etched with worry. He used to run his father’s shop in his village. His father is blind and as the oldest son it’s up to him to take care of his mother and 6 siblings. He doubts he can. It is hard to believe such responsibility for an 11-year-old.

Nine year old Mohammad’s father begged doctors not to amputate his leg, but the blast took out his sciatic nerve. His right leg is now dead. He has no feeling and no control over it. It will need to be removed in the future but the doctors respected the father’s wishes.

Even when it is amputated, it’s unlikely Eidullah or Mohammad will ever get a prosthetic leg, they are simply too poor to afford it. They will join the 50 thousand other Afghan civilians amputated by 30 years of continuous war.
Despite the agony from their injuries, not one of the boys complained. They were near stoic with their new reality given to them by a terrorist.

The bombing that changed the lives of these boys happened on September 11th. A terrible reminder of how it always seems to be their lives of the innocence that are torn apart by terrorism and war.

When President Bush announced the start of the war in Afghanistan, eight years ago today, he repeated one word over and over: patience.

We knew this would be a long and difficult battle, but many Americans never expected that eight years later, our leaders would be debating whether to send as many as 40-thousand additional troops to fight a resurgent Taliban.

General Stanley McChrystal says he needs more men and women to get the job done - a job that has already cost more than 800 American lives.

But he's facing resistance from those who feel we've sacrificed enough.

Less than a third of Americans think increasing our force is the right move.

The road ahead in Afghanistan is full of potholes and I-E-D's.

No matter how far down it we travel, reaching our destination will require a combination of military strength, political compromise and an even bigger ration - of yes, patience.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

This morning I Googled the phrase "civilian control of the military." You know, a little light reading.

It means the U.S. military answers to elected officials - not the other way around. The Constitution says that Congress has the power to raise and support armies, and the President is the commander-in-chief.

From time to time, the concept pops up in the political debate. For example, in 1951 President Harry Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur for defying and criticizing his policy in Korea.

This week, General Stanley McChrystal is taking some heat for expressing his view that the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and that more troops are needed.

He didn't exactly pull a MacArthur, but the administration would probably prefer a more discreet consultation.

That said, the situation in Afghanistan is very serious - and the White House should remain open to all informed opinions - especially from those fighting on the ground.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

On Saturday, 300 insurgents stormed a remote American outpost in Afghanistan killing eight U.S. soldiers.

Last July, a similar attack killed nine in an area just 20 miles from this one - in a village called Wanat.

Some say this latest incident is proof - the strategy in Afghanistan needs to change. The American commander there, General Stanley McChrystal, wants to move troops away from remote areas to focus on protecting civilians in towns and cities.

As the war reaches its eighth anniversary, and a critical impasse, that is just one ongoing debate.

For the next three nights, we're devoting the bulk of our broadcast to Afghanistan - to help you better understand the situation there.

It was once considered the right war, but many feel it's going wrong. And if it is still worth fighting - how should the strategy change?

These decisions cost valuable time and money - but most importantly, they cost us lives - and the situation deserves our attention.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

Katie Couric is off today.

As the President braces for a renewed health care battle here at home, a war overseas is grabbing headlines once again.

It's been nearly eight years since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in response to 9-11. Troops went in seeking Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda operatives responsible for the attacks. What they found was a virtually lawless nation where poverty and a lack of infrastructure have made progress a challenge.

Now, as years pass but the violence doesn't, support for the war may be slipping.

In a new CBS News poll, 52 percent of those surveyed said the war is going badly, and fewer than half approve of President Obama's handling of Afghanistan.

August was the bloodiest month there yet, with 51 Americans killed.

The administration may now have to wage two campaigns to win hearts and minds - in Afghanistan where an emboldened Taliban is gaining strength - and in the United States, where time may be eroding resolve.

I'm Michelle Miller, CBS News.

July has been the deadliest month in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001.

At least 34 Americans have been killed, and suicide bombers have launched an onslaught on government buildings. Those haunting images of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier held captive by the Taliban, are another startling reminder that this war is far from over.

As the Taliban gains strength in remote regions, Hamid Karzai is losing his in Kabul. Corruption and chaos have undermined his rule and weakened support for American involvement.

This single country represents a world of challenges for the United States. The road forward will be strewn with massive potholes, barricades and IEDs, as Americans try to keep terrorists at bay by building a better nation.

It's a terribly dicey and complicated situation, but we can only hope, for the sake of the Afghan people and the safety of the world, one day, the tag line: "Graveyard of Empires" will be buried for good.

That's a page from my notebook.

A month ago, four men on motorcycles opened fire on a female council member in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

She was murdered by the Taliban for fighting for women's rights in her country.

More than 80 percent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate, but the Taliban make an education nearly impossible. Last year, a group of girls was doused with acid in front of their school - some were burned severely.

As the Taliban regroups and gains strength, Afghan women risk an erosion of any gains made since the war began in 2001, and lawmakers are doing little to protect them.

A recent law passed by Parliament would allow marital rape. President Hamid Karzai has said it will be amended, but one wonders how it was passed in the first place.

As the United States formulates a new approach during these dark days in Afghanistan, it must not forget to lift a lamp, as Emma Lazarus wrote, to illuminate a path to basic human rights.

That's a page from my notebook.

This video features some beautiful scenery of Afghanistan as Katie films takeoff from the cockpit on her way from Kabul to southern Afghanistan. Viewers will also get a look inside the C-17, a cavernous and loud aircraft that carries personnel and supplies.

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In this video, Katie introduces you to the reporters accompanying Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on his five-day trip to the Middle East and Afghanistan. She asks her fellow reporters how things have changed at the Pentagon since the Obama administration took over, and asks about the different approaches of Sec. Gates and his predecessor Sec. Donald Rumsfeld.

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