President Bush has frequently promised that the United States will not abandon Afghanistan as it seeks to rebuild itself from years of Taliban rule and the American-led air strikes that helped overthrow that regime.

But according to journalist Michael Massing — who recently returned from several weeks in Afghanistan — the level of support the United States is giving to that country is far below what it needs to meet its stark challenges.

The problems Massing observed are many: The interim government led by Hamid Karzai is seen by many, if not most, Afghans as well meaning but ineffectual. The majority of the power rests with the Northern Alliance. An estimated 700,000 Afghans remain armed. Lawlessness rules on the country roads outside of Kabul, and much of the country remains hungry.

This hour, Michael Massing takes us inside the politics and troubles of Afghanistan today.

Guests:

Michael Massing, contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, author of the new article: “Losing the Peace?” in this week’s The Nation

General Bernard Trainor, retired three-star Marine Corps general, former military correspondent for the New York Times, senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations