John Nagl on Afghanistan and Iraq

Hour 1

Guest: John Nagl

NATO troops are scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by December 31, 2014 marking an end to the 13 year war there.  President Obama is having difficulty reaching an agreement with President Hamid Karzai to keep a small force of American troops in the country to train and advise Afghan forces. Meanwhile in Iraq, a sharp increase in violence by al-Qaida affiliates has raised serious concerns about that country’s security and the potential of civil war two years after U.S. withdrawal.  This hour, a conversation with Retired Lieutenant Colonel JOHN NAGL on the final year of war in Afghanistan and challenges of sectarian violence in Iraq.   Nagl is now Headmaster at the Haverford School in suburban Philadelphia, is one of the architects of the U.S. counterinsurgency operations, co-authoring the Army and Marine field manual on counterinsurgency strategy.  He comes in to talk to Marty about the future of Afghanistan and Iraq and the role of the U.S. in the region.