How to rebuild Afghanistan

Chinook helicopter
A CH-47 Chinook helicopter, carrying an Army vehicle, in Afghanistan.
U.S. Army photo by Spc. Patrick Tharpe

Violence is on the rise in Afghanistan, as insurgents are increasingly using roadside and suicide bombings against foreign and Afghan government forces. That's the backdrop for a visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to the White House this week.

Southern Afghanistan is bearing the brunt of clashes and suicide bombings, the worst outbreak of violence since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban-led regime.

Karzai and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf are to to join President Bush for dinner Wednesday at the White House.

Karzai and Musharraf have been at odds recently over each country's efforts to hunt terrorists and to stop them from crossing their shared border, especially in tribal areas, and wage attacks in Afghanistan.

How the resurgence in violence will affect efforts to rebuild Aghanistan is one topic of discussion in a recent Kennedy Library Forum. on "Rebuilding Afghanistan." Panelists include former NPR reporter Sarah Chayes, who has been living in Kandahar..... Sebastian Junger, who has covered Afghanistan for ABC News and other publications.... and Harvard University terrorism expert Jessica Stern. Sarah Chayes is the author of a new book, "

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