Afghanistan: a view with trees, art, and culture

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Asma Eschen is a Board Member and Director of Agriculture at Afghans4Tomorrow. She is the Co-founder of the Bare Roots Group and has led 4 delegations to plant and distribute 125,000 trees in Afghanistan since 2005. With her mission to green Kabul's hills, this year Asma and her team planted over 6,000 trees in and around Kabul. She comments on her experiences there this time around.

An excerpt from recent event at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center called Liminal Spaces, Afghan Culture and the Future of South Asia. A preview screening of Shireen Pasha's movie, Slowly Slowly Mud and Lotus and a four person panel:
Tamim Ansary, author of West of Kabul, East of New York, and born and raised in Afghanistan.
Robert Abdul Hayy Darr, a student of traditional Islamic culture and author of The Spy of the Heart and translator of classic sufi poetry.
Shireen Pasha is a storyteller and film maker, Slowly Slowly Mud and Lotus
Bina Sarkar Ellias is founder publisher, editor and designer of Gallerie, an award winning global arts and ideas journal published in India.
Thanks for Farhat Ashufta, videographer, for sharing the audio for this segment

"Military Mom" Joan Najbar and Michael William of Coffee Strong on the National Guard

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Joan Najbar's son spent 16 months in Iraq during periods of intense combat. She talks about her family's experiences with "reintegration" from the perspective of a mother and a mental health professional. She also talks about the lack of awareness of colleagues, friends, and the general US population not directly involved in issues of war and peace and who don't make it their duty to learn more.


Michael William in Washington state, is a war resister on the cutting edge of GI supported business. We talk to Michael at his place of Work, Coffee Strong where active duty troops from the nearby military bases come for coffee and mix with veterans, resisters, and their families.
Coffee Strong and GI Voice

Download shorter segments of this show:
Joan Najbar (24:50)

Michael William and Coffee Strong (17:00)

Promo for radio host's book tour (1:20)

Dr. Bacevich on NATO and Sasha Crowe and Maha on Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

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Whither and wherefore NATO? Boston University's Dr. Andrew Bacevich suggests the U.S. exit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since its primary organizing principle has been fulfilled.

With the situation of Iraqi refugees in the Greater Middle East out of the headlines in the U.S., listeners might believe the problems facing displaced people have been solved. Sasha Crowe and Mahaare based in Amman, Jordan with the organization Collateral Repair Project. They update listeners on the day-to-day realities facing refugees in Jordan.

Collateral Repair Project
CRP Newsletter (pdf)

Dr. Clare Brandabur and "Roadmap to Genocide"

Listen to "Dr. Clare Brandabur and 'Roadmap to Genocide'"

After 12 years teaching in the English Department at University of Illinois, Dr. Clare Brandabur went on to teach extensively in the Middle East: Birzeit University in Occupied Palestine, Al-Ba'ath University in Syria as a Fulbright Professor, Bilkent University in Ankara, Middle East Technical University, the University of Bahrain, and at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. She currently teaches at Dosh University in Istanbul and her fields are archetypal criticism and mythology, contemporary Arabic literature, post-colonial criticism, feminism, and human rights issues. Dr. Brandabur discusses a recent article published in Left Curve Journal titled "Roadmap to Genocide".

Left Curve Journal

Pluto Press for books mentioned in this show

Seth Manzel on the anniversary of the war on Iraq; Farima Joya on Afghanistan

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Recognizing Mordechai Vanunu, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize... and refusing it for its association with Israeli Simon Peres.

Iraq War veteran Seth Manzel on the sixth anniversary of the war on Iraq. After his tour of duty as an infantryman with the US Army he is Executive Director of GI Voice in Washington state.

Farima Joya, co-founder of Berkeley Bamyan Education Foundation, was born in Afghanistan and left her homeland with her family in 1983. Farima Joya helps us understand something about a country that the US has been engaged with militarily since October 7, 2001, the day we began a bombing campaign that is yet to end.

Nora Barrows Friedman Shares the Radio Arts

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An update from World Can't Wait's western coordinator, Stephanie Tang, who faces one year in jail and $1000 fine for protesting.

Nora Barrows Friedman is a senior producer of KPFA's Flashpoints and the creative impetus for sharing radio arts with West Bank youth. In this wide-ranging conversation she speaks about how she got started in radio and the background that informs her work.

Map illustration of Palestinian Loss of Land from 1946-2008.

Observing International Women's Day...and the Stop Recruiting Kids Program

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[58:50 mins]

2011 will be 100 years of celebrating International Women's Day and this year we review the latest data and listen to clips from news on the event from Russia, Iran, Haiti.

David Meserve of Arcata California speaks about their ballot initiative to make military recruiters Stop Recruiting Kids... at least in Arcata and Eureka. The case goes to court and if it prevails, military recruiters could faces challenges to the recruiting business as usual around the country.

Global Gender Gap Report

BBC's article on Iran

UK Guardian's clip on Haiti

Play list:
John Lennon, "Woman"