karzai then moved to take control of the anti-corruption task forces which were u.s. and british trained that had done that. infuriating u.s. officials. this seems like it's coming right at a time where you have another one of these karzai versus his u.s. backers kind of rounds on anti-corruptionment he's going after the private security companies which he complains are part of the problem not part of the solution. >> woodruff: is there something about this time right now? >> there's also an election coming up. there's parliamentary elections coming up september 18. this plays to the crowd and definitely plays to afghans who want to see more afghan-led stuff, who want to see a more independent government and who don't like the u.s. where sentiment is not in our favor. >> this kind of threat definitely puts a pressure on the coalition because if these all these security contractors all over the country are forced to leave and there's a vacuum there's nobody there to replace them. that undermines the mission in a big way. i think see this is going to cause a lot of ajts

karzai's complaint came amid new tensions with the u.s. over the festering issue of wide spread corruption in his government. the issue was front and center ten days ago when the chairman of the u.s. senate foreign relations committee john kerry visited cabul. >> i was very heartened to hear the president and members of the government recommit themselves to significant efforts in the days ahead to guarantee the independent operation of their major crimes unit as an afghan institution, sovereign afghan institution. >> karzai pledged in turn to let that independent team continue its work. all it be with a caveat . >> the investigation body with concern to the international community, which began to look at, we will make sure that these bodies are according to afghan laws. >> suarez: but on sunday "the new york times" reported karzai fired a top prosecutor who claimed his investigations of high officials had been repeatedly blocked. in washington, state department spokesman pj crowley voiced concern today. >> what he was doing was vitally imp

will this be an important test for hamid karzai? >> it will be an important test for the afghan government and really for the country overall. the planning is well ahead of where the planning was for the presidential elections last year. but clearly, a lot of work to be done in the security arena, and in a variety of other significant details that have to be ironed out prior to the conduct of those elections. >> couric: do you think hamid karzai has gotten an unfair rap? >> i think he's in a very, very difficult position. again, this is afghanistan. this is a country that is not a developed country. it has a checkered past when it comes to issues such as corruption. i don't think anyone has alleged that he is party to any of that. he has in fact just announced, of course, the ending of the private security contractor roles here in afghanistan. at least it's incumbent on us to help with this, to ensure that our money is not undermining our very efforts by ending up in the pockets of those who are not inclusive; they are exclusive whe

report the karzai cousins as well as size half brother ahmed wali karzai own two full largest security companies in southern afghanistan as a matter of fact house of representatives. member turney actually. commissioned a report that came out in june studying the way that these companies often engage not only in bribery but also in extortion and mafia type threats against competitors to attain a high concentration of market share and they supply two hundred american bases now my angle is well maybe karzai is shutting down all of them in order to reopen the ones belonging to his family so that the competition has been a limited. visa free entry for football fans that's one pledge from the russian government which is putting its weight behind a bid to host the world's biggest sporting event the soccer world cup easy entry to the country was promised by prime minister putin after a meeting with a fifa delegation inspecting proposed a venue for the two thousand and. they started in st petersburg before travelling to moscow will also visit other russian cities including the two thousand and

now afghanistan's president hamid karzai issued an order on tuesday to disband private security forces within the next four months so could this be proof that afghanistan really has had enough or is this just another and two threat we'll speak to a defense contractor who is currently in afghanistan to get his take on karzai is actions next new photos on facebook are raising tensions between israelis and palestinians and israeli soldier posted pictures of herself on facebook posing next to tied up palestinian prisoners she says that it's harmless but some are saying that this could be israel's great will host a debate to figure it out that the f.d.a. has dropped an endorsement on a breast cancer treatment that has been proven to be ineffective but some members of the public are outraged aligning this move with the creation of death panels in america so i'll get miss middle america's opinion on the issue and with the overcrowding problems in jail some people are offering up another solution a prison without any walls when we save money and prevent overcrowding by letting some people wear

ambassador carl eikenberry defends karzai now but last fall he privately warned that karzai could not be trusted. my direct question is you made it clear that you did not trust him as a partner in this debate. that may not have been a view that you wanted public but there it is. have you changed your view about that and based on what? >> david, we have a very good cooperation with the government of afghanistan to work at the challenges we have here of helping to build a capable government. this is a hard task and my role here as united states ambassador is to take forward the president's strategy here. we've got a very clear strategy, david. we've got for the first time -- we've got the proper resources. we've got an array of good programs here in working with the afghan government and law enforcement, their judicial sector and we remain cautiously optimistic about our ability to make progress. >> during our visit with general petraeus, he focused on examples of that progress. security gains in the center of the country. >> you can see again the construction going on here. >> we accom

and i have talked with president karzai many, many times about this issue. and it's no secret that it is widely believed, and i share this belief, that corruption is the levels it now exists in afghanistan, of course corruption has always been an issue in societies like afghanistan. there's corruption everywhere in the world. but corruption at the current levels as perceived by the afghan public is a serious advantage to the taliban. it's one of their main recruiting tools. and therefore the american government and our allies at every level has talked about this with president karzai. and members of his government. all i can tell you is what president karzai has said publicly and privately. he knows it's a problem. he set up these anti-corruption task forces. he's working with us. we're giving him advice. since this administration took office we have made this a primary priority. >> rose: coy s this a fair statement. ambassador holbrooke is satisfied with president karzai's efforts to root out corruption in afghanistan. >> no, even president karzai says he's

brother the governor of kandahar while the karzai has actually he's running a lot of these security firms down in kandahar so i don't know what effect that has on him or what you know the talk is between the karzai family but it's a very volatile situation and contractors they do need to be reined in but i would be surprised if this really went through the way karzai is kind of making noise that he wants it to go through yeah i was struck by the end. this interesting development one of the major news outlets in the u.s. had great live coverage of u.s. troops leaving iraq and then the next day they reported on the new casualties of u.s. servicemen in iraq so this is a strange kind of withdrawal and i remember i think when the helicopters left saigon i think that was it i think that was the end there wasn't they don't seem to be able to let go of the kind of war profiteering and easy money that comes with occupation all right let's let's talk about iraq there's lots of noise about attacking it what are the what are your sources in the defense industry think and the think tanks there i

us private military contractors quote terrorists by night your thoughts will karzai really send these guys packing by the end of the air i don't think so i think there will be some agreement reached for i mean for all the black waters and all the small you know companies that do hurt civilians and flaunt the law i think there are a lot of people as well that you know protect state department check the provincial reconstruction teams that are pretty essential to the security situation in afghanistan we need better regulation of these people. there needs to some of the need to go out of business but part of the issue as well is that it's been rumored that karzai is brother the governor of kandahar while the karzai has actually he's running a lot of these security firms down in kandahar so i don't know what effect that has on him or what you know the talk is between the karzai family but it's a very volatile situation and contractors they do need to be reined in but i would be surprised if this really went through the way karzai is kind of making noise that he wants it to go through yeah

just last week, karzai reportedly tried to disband a task force trained by u.s. forces, after it accused powerful family friends of laundering drug money, and it's drug money that fuels the taliban. who are your enemies? >> my enemies are the enemies of afghanistan. >> reporter: and his allies are those who can keep kandahar's king seated on his throne. mandy clark, cbs news, kandahar, afghanistan. >> couric: as we mentioned, u.s. operations in iraq are winding down. today, 150 soldiers from the 4th striker brigade were welcomed home to washington state. last night, other members of the force crossed into kuwait, the last full combat brigade to leave. for now, there are still 6,000 american combat troops in iraq, but they'll leave by the end of the month. the u.s. will maintain a presence of 50,000 non-combat troops to train iraqi forces. general petraeus was once the top u.s. commander in iraq. we spoke today about the changing mission there. having been in iraq with you, general petraeus, i have to ask you, now that the combat troops are leaving iraq, is this t

and everyone knows it from karzai on down. i was struck by how readily he admitted to you that corruption is endemic. i mean, his support here in the united states is dropping like a lead balloon. he says he's going to preserve the independence of the anti-corruption units. but everyone knows that he's not going to allow his own aides to be indicted and imprisoned. >> i asked him about that. he said, yes. but, of course, everybody, as you say, is looking for more than just words. they're looking for actions. what do you see about that? the united states wants to see this militia system disbanded. it's a bit too ambitious to do it in four months. >> and he knows that, too. every index shows that george was right a year or so ago, nothing is going right. there are supposed to be regional elections. there are serious questions about whether the serious elections can be held. the battle for kandahar, no one seems to be optimistic. the corruption issue that bob just talked about. john kerry was probably as close to karzai as any am

like the neo cons have returned gen david petraeus just hired frederick kagan to fight corruption in karzai government but is this scary revelation proof that obama's administration really does mimic president bush's we'll speak with radio host tom hartman next we'll ask if the criminal justice system really works in this country a new report shows that our north carolina crime lab has withheld or given faulty forensic evidence and over two hundred and thirty cases and this unfortunately is not an isolated incident so what does that say about our system we'll speak with the reason magazines radley balko then seventeen attorney general attorneys general are teaming up to get craigslist to drop its adult section after years of uncertainty surrounding the page many states want to drop a section altogether to avoid any chance of prostitution but is removing something on craigslist really going to fix the problem orders sex trafficking and much more complicated issue that needs attention in this country will speak with c.n.n. baskin from the sex workers project and also we'll continue our series

, is it different than it was between mcchrystal and karzai? >> well, that's a great question. it's, in fact, the key question. because, you know, this... the war is really going to... that relationship is so important to the war and we saw with general petraeus that there were a couple early wins. some things that karzai was dragging his heels on, the local defense initiative, the special forces led initiative to organize some local villages. the afghan government was very skeptical of that. pretty soon after petraeus was in place, karzai came out and issued a decree endorsing that. also, progress on reconciliation orders. and so, you know, people close to mcchrystal will say all these things were in the works. but there's no doubt that general petraeus came in and got president karzai to do some really important things very quickly. >> rose: what's the plan for dealing with the haqqani network >> we've seen a lot of action in eastern afghanistan beginning about in april where u.s. special operations forces and to alesser degree conventional f

karzai fired members of his government who were considered anti-pakistani. there are active negotiations going on towarded sort of reconciliation that the women in aaron baker's piece are dreading. but that's in progress now. it's happening. >> rose: all right,arian baker, who wrote this story here today, but are we looking at a new reappraisal of what are we doing in afghanistan? >> well, certainly, as you know, charlie, the president is actually doing a reappraiseal and an evaluation in december at the end of the year, but i think what's happening in the body politic and among americans are people are feeling a certain amount of exhaustion. they're feeling a certain amount of ignorance about what the mission is. there is-- there is mission fatigue, and the release of the wikeleak documentses that crystallized that. it has confirmed a lot of the things that we believed already, but suddenly people are seeing the primary sources and they're being confront with it in a way they hadn't before. and part of the reason i wanted to view this cover and confront peo

but hamid karzai told me that's the reason he wants the private security out, to allow his own forces to get ready quicker. >> therefore, we have decided the afghan government to bring an end to the presence of the security companies who are running a security to the afghan government causing corruption in this country but to looting and stealing from the afghan people. >> he brings up corruption there and we know the questions about possible corruption there in his government and the election, is he going to allow independent investigators to continue to dr their work? >> to specific crime force task forces to try to combat corruption which he has criticized, u.s.-backed, u.s.-mentored, he today told me he'll allow them to continue but with stiff new rules to the keep them alongside afghan authorities and he said, no foreign interference. >> christiane will have more tomorrow morning with president karzai as well as interview with two women involved in the effort to build the topheral mosque on ground zero tomorrow morning. >>> to iraq, just dat last u.s. combat brigade to leave that

is karzai corrupt? can this fight be won? this summer mutiny. key democrats in congress now question the war. does barack obama who ran against the iraq war truly have his heart in this one? wi his bet on a surge a world away loosen his party? and finally, pin the tail on the elephant. democrats are out there trying to tie all republicans to the craziest of the tea partiers but in this nasty environment, could even some of the craziest actually win? hi. i'm chris matthews. welcome to the show. with us today, hdnet's dan rather. the a.p.'s kimberly dozier. "the new york times'" helene cooper. and "time" magazine's rick stengel. the leaks from afghanistan showed the difficulty of our mission there. president obama in playing down the tharm done from the leaks again took ownership of the war. >> we've substantially increased our commitment there. insisted upon greater accountability from our partners in afghanistan and pakistan. developed a new strategy that can work and put in place a team, including one of our finest generals, to execute that pla

afghan president karzai warned the u.s. timetable for withdrawing troops next july is empowering the insurgency. and, u.s. food and drug administration officials have found positive samples of salmonella in chicken feed, connecting two iowa farms to a massive egg recall. the "newshour" is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: robert mnookin will answer your questions about negotiating. that's on paul's "making sense" page. also there, author matt ridley responded to your emails about why he thinks we should be optimistic about the future. our coverage of the 5th anniversary of hurricane katrina includes a slideshow of images of new orleans 9th ward today and a blog post by betty ann bowser about the levees. on "patchwork nation," we check the economic hardship index for communities around the country. and on "art beat," find out how minnesota artists are taking a business cue from small farmers and selling their work locally. all that and more is on our web site, news

karzai himself has now ordered an investigation of the afghan anti-corruption unit. he said in a statement the u.s.-backed corruption investigators are violating, quote, human rights principles. the senate foreign relations committee today delayed releasing a major report on afghan corruption because of fears its publication could endanger the lives of the afghan investigators. lester. >> michael isikoff, good to have you on the broadcast, thank you. >>> in pakistan tonight, these are desperate hours for millions in the flood zone, but they are surviving. many have no food, no water and no clue what happens next. s nistskephagoe reports from one of the many hard-hit go towns in northwest pakistan. >> reporter: the people of nowshera are knee deep in mud and neck high in misery. the rain has stopped here for now and the water is receding but it brings little good news to this small town in northwest pakistan. there is hardly any food or water and aid has yet to arrive. widespread illness might get here first. >> translator: the majority of people are suffering from sk

president karzai has established the afghan government's red lines, if you will. they must respect the constitution, lay down weapons, cut off ties with al qaeda and essentially be willing to be productive members of society. >> couric: so you have no moral qualms about bringing the taliban, even high-ranking members of the taliban, into the process? >> it's not about my moral qualms, it's about the afghanistan leadership which has established the red lines. and i think that you have to have at least an open mind about this because this is historically the way counterinsurgency efforts ultimately have been concluded. >> couric: what were the afghan and the u.s. have to offer the taliban in negotiations? >> they can live is number one. and number two, perhaps they can return to their country of origin. a lot of them are tired of, again, living the life on the run, being pursued, of living outside the country and so forth. and so i think that those are all fairly powerful incentives for them. >> couric: so you think they'd be receptive to reconciliation? >> some. ag

on drugs if it isn't then no amount of money is going to help it and recently we had the president karzai wants to kick out private security firms within four months is quite a tight time frame isn't it won't that make the security situation in the country worse will afghan soldiers realistically be able to cope with the situation themselves. well it's a case of your damned if you do and damned if you don't because clearly there is a risk that the taliban will explode to launch more attacks particularly on targets in kabul and international targets on the other hand these foreign military companies have made themselves literally on popular with the most of the afghan people by their behavior. by their offenses against afghan morality and by indiscriminate killing of afghan civilians on occasions so while their absence will help the taliban in one way their presence is help the taliban in another way and well obviously president karzai has decided that the benefits of getting rid of them must just about outweigh the disadvantages myriad of complications affecting the country and its whole

. >>> afghan president karzai had more pointed criticism of coalition strategy. karzai said this morning that coalition efforts to fight afghans insurgency have produced nothing but civilian casualties. he said there was a, quote, serious need to alter the strategy. >>> over the weekend seven more u.s. troops were killed by insurgent attacks. 42 americans have been killed in afghanistan this month. >>> now to the controversy over the proposed mosque near ground zero. we heard again from the religious leader spearheading the project imam faisal abdul. in an interview, he says the strong opposition is tied to the upcoming u.s. elections. many conservative candidates have used the project as a campaign issue. >>> one person we haven't heard from is the man behind the proposed islamic center, sharif el gamal who came up with the idea and bought the property. cbs news asked him where the money was coming from. >> the money is coming from the people wanting to be involved in the project. people from all walks of life. >> reporter: you decided to draw a red line around

europeans with their military support in light of what your saying it seems even warring president karzai as we were discussing yesterday he has recently announced he wants to kick out private security firms within four months from afghanistan is not just going to make the security situation worse in the country you know president hamid karzai and he is brother who is considered to be the top drug lord of going to stone they have their own agenda and their gender is very different from the one for all for america russia and european pantries so in this situation corazon wants to rule his country and to lead the business go on the basic problem of going to see via corruption and the local reputation and respect of the kabul government among the people in this situation russia has to deliver this clear message to afghanistan that political reform is needed to solve the situation and no foreign aid nor true cisterns would help to talk of the contre back on track again. to restore peace and of guinness that isn't so hard for them in practical terms what sort of coup steps the measures do you

region -- to signal the karzai government. secretary gates accepted the president's decision. he presumably recognize that it would have this effect of causing actors to head and the uncertain. >> let's take one less question here. >> a couple of suggestions how about having an afghan on the table? maybe you should look hard at an afghan lady. in a lady might do it. -- any lady might do it. it says every 3% of the army and our students. it is an interesting article. >> what is the question? >> you have to segregate [unintelligible] there are certain people's hair out for revenge. -- who are out for revenge. they will be here. they want revenge. what is your reaction? i want to very quickly say in terms of our approach, of brookings is the only place and has published a book by an afghan woman and an american scholar. we are delighted to have the panel that we have today that i think represent the diversity. hourly the substantive matter to my colleagues. >> a doubly it as you put it for the fifth had a great deal of difficulty

what about the karzai government? doesn't that -- >> look, i think it's absolutely clear there is corruption in the government. but i think it's much better for security of the united states that karzai is in charge in kabul than having the taliban and al-qaeda in charge of kabul. there is absolutely no question that -- >> stop -- [ overtalk ] >> stop attacks on the united states. >> chris: wait, wait, wait. stop. >> the point should be to stop attacks on the united states by terrorists. what we know now is there are about 250 members of the -- >> juan, if you -- >> we are sending 100,000 -- >> if you could win this by a trick, killing the taliban leaders we would have won it already. >> chris: we'll continue it in the next program, which is somebody else's. thank you, panel. see you next week. don't forget to check out the latest edition of panel plus where the group will pick up with this discussion on the website. foxnewssunday.com. we promise we'll post the video before noon eastern time. up next, we hear from you