STORM2K

Did anyone catch Christiane Amanpour's (one of my favorite journalists) documentary on Afghanistan last night? If not, it was a very interesting piece. Two years after the war to oust the Taliban, it covers what progress has been made in rebuilding the country and the fragile line that country walks between being a success or falling back into the hands of the Taliban or other insurgents who don't want the country to succeed.

Watching it also helped me understand a little better the problems the Iraquis are facing in rebuilding their country. Maybe I'm out of touch with reality but I would have thought that in two years, much more progress would have been seen in Afghanistan. There are parts of the major cities like Kabal that still don't have electicity and running water. Roads are still non-existant for the most part. Schools have reopened and are available to both boys and girls but still meet resistance when it comes to educating girls. The majority of the population of that country is illiterate. Heath care (even very basic healthcare) is still non-existant and the mortality rate for infants and mothers is extremely high. And the poppy fields are still being nurtured since the drug trade is supplying tribal leaders with monies to purchase guns and other military equipment to further their own agendas.

If it is repeated, I would recommend that you all watch it.

Thanks for the FYI - I'll have to make sure that I tune into it if it comes on again.

Was it a new episode? I noticed CNN repeats a lot of their documentaries. I am not much for documentaries and CNN's seem to be 'slower' than MSNBC's and Fox News Channel's.

Afghanistan is, and has been much slower to modernize, even by Arab standards; Iraq, on the other hand, is not as "cosmopolitan" as Egypt or Jordan, but it does have much of the technology, industrial capacity and physical infrastucture Afghanistan lacks.

Therefore, comparisons cannot be made with any degree of accuracy.