War and Peace in the Graveyard of Empires

Last week, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, as he concluded a series of strategy sessions on the eight-year old war in Afghanistan. Efforts to defeat the Taliban, create a credible government and help the civilian population are failing. The countryside is so dangerous that aid workers can't leave the capital city to advise farmers on growing crops. General Stanley McChrystal wants to add 40,000 troops to the 68,000 already there, to fight the Taliban and to establish effective civilian government. It could take decades to control corruption, establish a justice system and prop up the economy at the cost of billions of American dollars and thousands of lives. What are the alternatives? What are America's goals? We look at the options.