September 2009

CB: "You need more troops...just to put the hurt on the Taliban."



Michael (in NY) and Gloria Borger (in DC) discuss the latest information about Afghanistan -- will President Obama send in more troops or come up with another option?

Length: 6:22

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CNN/I: BackStory



A look at some behind-the-scenes footage from Afghanistan. It mostly focuses on "Sir" Tommy Evans and Sarmad Qasiri, but there is a bit of footage of Michael that we haven't seen before.

Length: 2:37

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NR: "The war in Afghanistan is not going well."



Today on NewsRoom they finally played the package that was scheduled to air on the fourth night of the Afghanistan coverage -- another look at Kandahar and the option of bringing the local warlords onto US payroll (similar to what was done in Iraq) as a way of blocking support for the Taliban and (more importantly to US interests) al Qaeda.

Length: 3:30

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AC: "The Taliban will continue to fight as long as U.S. troops or foreign troops want to be there."



Michael is back in New York, and in light of the leak of General McChrystal's report to the president, takes part in a panel discussion about the future of Afghanistan, along with Peter Bergen and Rory Stewart.

Length: 8:53

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GPS: "This is a mission both politically and militarily in crisis."



In an interview recorded Thursday, Fareed Zakaria asks Michael to evaluate the American mission in Afghanistan, compare it to Iraq, and discuss the close call with the IED last week.

Length: 11:31

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SAM: "US-backed militias of the kind that we saw defeat al Qaeda in Iraq."



Two short sound bites that were played on Saturday Morning -- when the first one was on, I thought it might be a preview of the GPS interview, but at the end of the second one, he says "Anderson," so it looks like these were outtakes from the interview used for the "Inside the Battle Zone" special.

Length: 0:31 / 1:09

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AC360 special: Inside the Battle Zone



The AC360 special "Inside the Battle Zone" was mostly the reports shown during the week, but there was some new material, including this conversation amongst Anderson Cooper, Peter Bergen, and Michael.

Length: 3:36

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AC: "They want you to go home. But they don't want you to leave the wreck that is currently Afghanistan."



Another discussion about the state of the war in Afghanistan, this time with John King asking Michael about issues on the ground and David Gergen about political realities. (At one point Michael asks someone on his end whether the other panelist is Peter Bergen or David Gergen. Ahh, live television...)

Length: 5:01

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CB: "This war is about something else. It's about trying to stabilize this country..."



Michael is part of a panel discussion about Osama bin Laden and 9/11, but I've clipped just his section. (I pulled the preview clip as well, since during the actual segment they showed B-roll of OBL rather than the video of Michael.)

Length: 2:30

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NR: "Al Qaeda does not have bases or sanctuary of any kind here in Afghanistan."



Michael talks to Kyra Phillips about Osama bin Laden's relevancy to the current war in Afghanistan.

Length: 3:34

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CNN/I: International Desk



Isha Sesay hosts a discussion about 9/11 amongst Michael (in Kabul), Cal Perry (in Baghdad), and Reza Sayah (in Islamabad).

Length: 9:25

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AC: "There's no al Qaeda training camps, and there's very little al Qaeda activity."



The fourth day of the special reporting from Afghanistan gives us a discussion amongst Anderson Cooper, Peter Bergen, and Michael. It is already 9/11 in Afghanistan, and the discussion centers on what has happened to the search for Osama bin Laden and whether al Qaeda is still active in that country.

Length: 4:41

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CNN/I: Connect The World



Becky Anderson covers the story of the controversy over the Farrell rescue. Michael talks about what happened and the confusion and anger that has erupted since then. I did clip out a lengthy interview with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, and afterwards Michael points out that this is just one of many similar incidents.

(Be sure to watch to the end to see Michael do a facepalm after he calls Becky by the wrong name.)

Length: 6:28

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CNN/I: International Desk



Michael Holmes talks to Michael about the death of Sultan Munadi during the rescue of Stephen Farrell. This may shake out in ways that increase the dangers for war correspondents...

Length: 3:40

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CNN/I: World News



Fionnuala Sweeney reports about the backlash against the raid that rescued NYT reporter Stephen Farrell but left his Afghan translator dead. Shockingly, his body was left behind, something that would not have happened had he been a Western journalist. Michael discusses the local response from the Afghan media and says that the British forces (who lost one of their own in the raid) are also discussing whether a rescue should have been mounted for a journalist.

Length: 5:02

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AC: "...all of which leaves the view from Kandahar one of a Taliban war machine that shows no signs of slowing."



The third
AC360 report is a look at the changes in Kandahar and the results of a recent truck bombing (the location of yesterday's piece for BackStory.) Michael also tracks down some more old friends and gets their views on the current situation.

(Read about Ahmed Wali Karzai in
this article written for Time in February 2002 and Astad Abdul Halim in this article for Time from March 2002.)

Length: 5:55

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CNN/I: BackStory



Michael does a "debrief" with Michael Holmes, discussing what's been going on since he arrived in Afghanistan, including the close call with the IED last week.

Length: 8:51

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TSR: "...engaging the tribes to attack the Taliban and keep them out of their area."



A preview of the piece to air on
AC360 tonight, as Michael travels through Kandahar to see how the city has changed since he left it to go to Iraq.

Length: 5:14

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CNN/I: Connect The World



Becky Anderson talks to Michael about the release of NYT correspondent Stephen Farrell and he then shows the police patrol piece. She then plays a piece from Reza Sayah about a supposed victory over the Taliban in Pakistan, and then comes back to ask Michael about the possibility of bringing the Taliban into the Afghan government.

Length: 12:18

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CNN/I: International Desk



Isha Sesay talks to Michael about the situation in Afghanistan and last week's close call in Kandahar. (And whoever chose the B-roll to play while he's talking clearly did not use stuff his team had shot -- as he's describing going out without the safety of being embedded with the military, we're watching military patrols...)

Length: 6:25

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AC: "An IED is about to hit this Afghan police gun truck."



The second
AC360 report also focuses on Michael's time in Kandahar last week. As he mentioned in this afternoon's discussion on The Situation Room, one night when he had gone out on patrol with a local police force working to curb Taliban activity in the area, the truck he and his cameraman were riding in hit an IED.

(Michael's friend, Mullah Gul Akund, was mentioned in
this article he did for Time in January 2002.)

Length: 7:03

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CB: "The Taliban war machine is not under threat. It's barely under pressure."



Campbell Brown talks to Michael (in Kabul) and Anderson Cooper (at Forward Base Jaker in Helmand Province) about the status of the war on the ground and the accusations of fraud in the recent elections.

Length: 5:37

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CNN/I: BackStory



Tommy Evans gives us a look behind the scenes as Michael and the crew films in Kandahar.

Length: 3:07

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TSR: "But for us, it's just the less attention that you attract, that's that little bit safer that you are."



Wolf Blitzer asks Michael about the current status of the war in Afghanistan, and also asks him about a close call he had last week when the truck he and his cameraman were riding in struck an IED. (The full story and video of that night will be on AC360 tonight.)

Length: 5:40

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NR: "...eight years on and what is there to show for it? "



Michael talks to Kyra Phillips about the lack of progress in Afghanistan -- what is there to show for eight years of combat there? In the second hour of her program, another showing of the Highway #1 piece, but with a different beginning.

Length: 3:04 / 3:22

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CNN/I: World News



Michael talks to Fionnuala Sweeney about the disputed election results and also shows the Highway #1 piece.

Length: 5:49

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CNN.com: Afghan highway symbol of mission in crisis

From Michael Ware
CNN

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Paid for with U.S. dollars, Afghanistan's Highway 1 was supposed to symbolize a path toward a bright future when it was repaved five years ago.


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AC: "There's going to have to be something dramatic happen here to see a reversal."



The first of the AC360 reports: the road from Kabul to Kandahar, which US forces had rebuilt just a few years ago, is now under the control of the Taliban. Michael talks with a truck driver who has to drive that route every week as he reports from a checkpoint at the Kabul end and a truck depot at the Kandahar end. There is also a recorded wrap-up.

(Michael's blog entry on this story is
here.)

Length: 3:55

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TSR: "Highway #1 is now a mark of the American mission in crisis."



Michael is in Kabul and talks to Suzanne Malveaux about the disputed election results (still disputed; it is Afghanistan, after all...) and gives a bit of a preview on his report tonight about the Kabul-Kandahar road that had been one of the American success stories but now has fallen to the Taliban.

Length: 3:34

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AC: "You have seen the Taliban here. It is an evolving enemy."



Anderson Cooper holds a "Strategy Session" with David Gergen as well as Michael, who is in an unspecified location in southern Afghanistan. It was not quite 7am there, and it looks like Michael is heading out for a long day of work. [We now know he was in Kandahar, and later this day the truck he was riding in would hit an IED.]

Length: 5:08

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