More Monday in Afghanistan

Anderson Cooper takes show to Afghanistan at a crucial moment
posted by halboedeker on Sep 7, 2009 -- 11:23:26 AM

Anderson Cooper is taking his CNN show on the road for a week, starting tonight. The difficult destination: Afghanistan.

"We always say things are at a critical juncture," Cooper told me in an interview last week. "Afghanistan has been at a critical juncture for a while. It may be a cliche, but it's true."

As reasons for going, Cooper pointed to Friday's anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks and the recent presidential election, which opponents of President Hamid Karzai have derided as a fraud. Cooper also cited the Afghan government's problems of projecting power beyond Kabul, which used to be relatively safe, but has been rocked by suicide bombings.

"Anderson Cooper 360" airs at 10 p.m. on CNN and CNN International. Cooper also will offer a special at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Afghanistan hasn't received as much attention as it should by the U.S. domestic media, said Cooper, who will be embedded with U.S. troops.

"It's very expensive for domestic networks," Cooper said. "A lot of regions are remote. To bring in satellite equipment is costly. We think it's an important story. We have a full-time correspondent in Kabul. I wanted to bring a team. We wanted to devote significant resources to it at and will broadcast the show every night from an embedded position."

Joining Cooper are Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent; CNN's national security analyst Peter Bergen; and CNN correspondent Michael Ware. Gupta will be embedded with medical doctors to look at surgical procedures.

"We're bringing the entire show with us," Cooper said. "We'll have some domestic stories, but it will be heavy on Afghanistan."

Cooper will draw on Bergen's wealth of knowledge. "He's the only person I know who's met Osama bin Laden," Cooper said.

A recent poll showed that most Americans don't believe the Afghan war is worth fighting.

"It's part of our coverage," Cooper said. "I don't think it changes our job in the field or the job of the Marines who are there fighting. We're going to tell the story of Afghanistan and the troops that are there, fighting under difficult circumstances, doing an incredibly difficult job. Whether people support the war or not, that's part of the overall story."

Has the Obama administration done a good enough job of putting Afghanistan on the public's radar?

"I think the Obama administration had attempted to redefine what success there is, and what the operation there is," Cooper said. "Now they're focused on mainly limiting al-Qaida. You don't hear about nation building and democracy. Democracy is something they desire, but it's not first and foremost."

Cooper said he didn't know which figures he might interview, because it was difficult to make bookings a week ahead. He has visited Afghanistan at least four times."I'm looking forward to it," said Cooper, who decides where to take his show. "We've been trying to arrange a trip for a while, but things have been getting in the way."