help lift afghanistan out of poverty and possibly end the war, or could it serve to enrich and maybe embolden the taliban? lieutenant colonel tony schafer for the center for advanced defense studies. when you read this, tony, it sounds great on the surface, and, you know, it certainly could be. afghanistan one of the most impoverished countries on earth. they need natural resources, it would go a long way toward helping that country, you know, get out of the eighth century. but if the taliban remains in charge there and they get their hands on all of these resources, that could be very bad news, right? well, i d like to believe this is going to be motivation for the central government and for the regional leaders to fight and win the battle against the taliban. it is a good news/bad news story, but look at our own history. look at what happened in california when gold was discovered. this is an opportunity. and this will allow the u.s. to take a look, a hard look at how to sustain th
new offensive will include assassination and roadside bombs of dignataries and target foreigners, too. is it an empty threat? what do u.s. and n.a.t.o. forces have in store for them. jing me now is lt. colonel tony schaeffer external communications at the center for advanced defense studies. thank you so much for being with us today. thank you, jamie. jamie: a big story and the threats are pit potent on their face, it s a new, new plan that the taliban says they have in operation called al-fahad which means victory. how much strength is behind it, do you think? well, it s hard to tell at this point because so much of what the taliban has said has been purely propaganda and it s been consistent. they have changed their tune recently with the shahzad attack in new york city and kind of predicted they would do something there and also with kandahar and other provinces, some level of attacking government targets. what they re trying to do, frankly, is paint us to be
the attempted attack and claimed responsibility. but then yesterday an official taliban spokesman denied the group had any connection to it the contradiction highlights the amore fous nature of the enemy. it begs the question, how big threat are they really? and how do we respond to that? all i want to that, have we created in ourselves a unique vulnerability to pakistan? byt( focusing on afghanistan specifically and having to utilize pakistan as a base of operations for a war in afghanistan. joining us now, christine fare, assistant for the center for peace securities at georgetown university. and a senior fellow at the center for advanced defense studies in washington, d.c., lieutenant-colonel anthony schaeffer. tony, i will begin with you. how coordinated a relationship is there, in your opinion of terrorist operation or
foreign staff and closed down its mission in the city. the u.n. says security in kandahar widely regarded as spiritual and geographic cal home of the taliban has been deteriorated in advance of a major nato military offensive in the coming weeks. nato forces will work with afghan army and police units as part of the president s surge in the region. but if the u.s. can t control kandahar, some say it can t win the broader war. lieutenant colonel anthony schafer is a senior fellow at the center for advanced defense studies. thanks for joining us. i want to read you a quote from a story new york times in the. two months after the march offensive afghan officials acknowledge the taliban have in some ways retaken the momentum there, including kills or beating loek ams allied with the central government and its american backers. let s put that in context. we re talking about a hamlet of 80,000 people. if we knlt control that, we re going to have a heck of a time trying to go in and wee
prize the prosecution and some lawmakers clearly feel that that is not the case. senator john mccain on that topic, this morning. joe lieberman and susan collins would not have issued these subpoenas if they didn t feel frustrated. they are not the kind to, you know, leap into something. they have been trying for months to get the information they think is necessary. for them to carry out their duties, as chair and cochair of the homeland security committee so i think it is clear that the subpoenas are necessary because they are not getting the information through the normal methods. martha: all right, there you have it. joining us is lieutenant colonel tony schaeffer, he s director of external communications at the center for advanced defense studies. good to have you with us today. welcome. thank you. martha: this is an unusual situation, i mean, all when this i want to take everybody back to the fort hood day. and remember what happened. i mean, the initial thing that came o