Afghanistan Inc.: New Report Says "Contractors Making Big Money for Bad Work"

In Afghanistan, NATO has now taken command of most foreign troops across the country. The handover of power comes just days before the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan of 2001. The U.S. continues to have more troops than any other country in Afghanistan. The U.S. will also retain full control of Bagram Air Force base where the Bush administration is holding hundreds of prisoners.

* Daan Everts, NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist admitted that the war against the Taliban might never be won. He said there are now too many Taliban fighters and that they have too much popular support. Frist said backers of the Taliban should be brought into the Afghan government.

In recent months the Taliban has seized control of entire regions of the country. The security situation has worsened as suicide bombings are up 600 percent this year. Opium and poppy cultivation are at record highs.

Our next guest has closely monitored the U.S. reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. She is author of a study published by Corpwatch called Afghanistan, Inc. that examines the reconstruction efforts of companies like Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, DynCorp, Blackwater, The Louis Berger Group and The Rendon Group. Her name is Fariba Nawa. She is an Afghan-American journalist who has lived in Afghanistan for most of the past three years. She was born in Afghanistan and fled the country at the age of eight. At the time of the Sept. 11 attacks Fariba was living in New York, soon after she decided to return to her home country as a journalist. Fariba Nawa joins us from San Francisco.

* Fariba Nawa, Afghan-American journalist who has lived for most of the past three years in Afghanistan. She was born in Afghanistan and fled at the age of nine.

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