Suicide bombers killed at least 58 people and wounded over 100 at a shrine in Kabul on Tuesday, the holy Shiite day of Ashura. Two other attacks were carried out, killing four at a mosque in Mazar-i-Shari, and the other in Kandahar, where no one was killed. The attacks, coming on the most important day of the year for Shiite Muslims, was the incident of first sectarian violence in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. Rod Nordland, reporter for The New York Times, has the latest from Kabul.

The day after Sept. 11, 2001, journalists from around the world flocked to the Middle East to cover what would be become the defining story of the decade. Osama bin Laden instantly became a household name and Al Qaeda was America's new enemy. Now, nearly ten years later, the U.S. has achieved its original mission in Afghanistan — to find and kill bin Laden. To mark this historic moment, we talk with two veteran reporters who've been covering the story from day one: David Sanger and Rod Nordland, reporters with our partner The New York Times.

The Libyan government has denounced the U.S. plan to provide unmanned aircraft to NATO. The Libyan rebels are heartened by the news and want to see a more robust NATO involvement, says Rod Nordland, correspondent for The New York Times, who reports from Benghazi. Sen. John McCain is also in Benghazi and Rod Nordland responds to his visit.

The United Nations has reached an agreement with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on providing humanitarian aid to the country. The agreement also includes setting up a aid corridor to Misurata, which has been under siege for the past 50 days. The New York Times' Rod Nordland reports on the latest from Benghazi.

The burning of a Quran at a Florida church has set off a wave of violence in Afghanistan. Thousands of protesters mobbed the United Nations building in Mazar-i-Sharif on Friday. Seven U.N. workers were murdered, and protests against the United States raged in Kandahar over the weekend, killing dozens. President Obama and General David Petraeus condemned the Florida pastor’s actions. Including the U.N. workers, 24 people have died since protests began last Friday.

The Obama Administration is expected to reveal it's four-year plan to phase out active fighting and combat in Afghanistan at a NATO summit this week in Lisbon, Portugal. How might the plan work, and is that country ready for a departure from direct engagement from U.S. combat troops? We're joined by Rod Nordland, foreign correspondent in the Baghdad Bureau for The New York Times, to help us try to answer some of these questions.  

On October 7th, 2001, less than a month after the attacks of September 11, American and British forces entered Afghanistan seeking to disrupt terrorist activities and capture members of al-Qaida. Nine years later we look back and reflect on one of the longest armed conflicts the U.S. has ever seen. Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs joins us for the hour.

In Afghanistan’s Kandahar City, nearly 500,000 residents try to go about their daily lives while U.S. troops, Afghan police and Taliban fighters battle for ground. And important ground it is; the major trading center has long been a home base for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and proved a consistent and troublesome flashpoint for Soviets during their own occupation of the country.

Today, the city continues to go through transitions, both symbolic and tangible. Though a new push by NATO forces has removed some of the Taliban’s more visible presence, fighters continue to assassinate members of the police, battle U.S. troops, and detonate suicide bombs throughout the city.

The international community has pledged $250 million to anti-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan, but the money and the structure to integrate it has not been secured and the program has stalled. Foreign correspondent for The New York Times, Rod Nordland, explains that everyone agrees that this program is a necessary part of the anti-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, where Taliban foot soldiers get paid higher salaries than the country's policemen.

General David Petraeus was confirmed by the Senate yesterday as General Stanley McChrystal's replacement as top commander for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A demoralized army, an inept Afghan government seen as hopelessly corrupt, increasingly skeptical international partners, a disinterested American public, a report that American taxpayer money has inadvertently been funneled to Afghan warlords, and a new torrent of violence resulting in 100 military casualities over that last month are among the panoply of challenges Petraeus faces when he touches down in Afghanistan.

President Obama has long held that Afghanistan is a key battleground in the War on Terror, and for that reason, has maintained a commitment to a mission that began back in October 2001. But the exact form of that mission is in flux.  

Three suicide car bombings killed dozens in Iraq this weekend. Though no one has taken credit for the attacks, which targeted foreign embassies, Rod Nordland, foreign correspondent for The New York Times says it's widely believed that al Qaida of Mesopotamia is to blame.

A NATO airstrike mistakenly killed 27 Afghan civilians in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, Sunday. NATO apologized for the incident, but experts worry about the effects of this kind of event on the local populace. It was the third such incident by NATO in Afghanistan.

It's been one week since NATO and Afghan forces began their offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan. In that time, much of the Taliban has fled the region and key leaders have been caught. But will controlling the city help defeat the Taliban in the long run? 

American, British and Afghan troops have entered day five of a major offensive in a Taliban stronghold in Southern Afghanistan. While the offensive is largely going to plan, troops on the ground are dealing with far more than just encounters with Taliban fighters. The accidental killing of 12 civilians in Afghanistan in recent days has troops bringing condolences to the families of the victims.

Allied forces continue to fight in Marjah, Afghanistan as they attempt to clear hundreds of Taliban fighters out of the region.  But what happens once the offensive is over? 

Iraqis are grappling with the aftermath of a pair of devastating suicide bombs that struck the heart of Baghdad on Sunday, killing more than 150 people. Rod Nordland, New York Times correspondent in Baghdad, tells us the latest.

The United States is ready to pull more troops from Iraq, but part of the equation for troop withdrawal is the need for credible elections. Progress on that front slowed yesterday as the Iraqi parliament announced it had hit a stalemate in their efforts to draft election laws. That could delay the election scheduled for Jan. 16. Rod Nordland, foreign correspondent for The New York Times, joins us from Baghdad.

A new program called Operation Proper Exit brings Iraq war veterans back to the battlefields that haunt them. The New York Times foreign correspondent, Rod Nordland, followed a group of eight soldiers as they sought emotional closure after their physical wounds had healed.

For more, read Rod Nordland's article, Wounded Soldiers Return to Iraq, Seeking Solace, in today's New York Times.

A string of bombings in northern Iraq and Baghdad has killed over 100 people in the last several days. The attacks are raising fears that extremists are engaged in a sustained attempt to spark ethnic and sectarian warfare. Rod Nordland, New York Times foreign correspondent in Baghdad, reports in today's paper that Shiites are actively organizing to resist being drawn into the violence.

For more, read Rod Nordland's article, Shiites in Iraq Show Restraint as Sunnis Keep Attacking, in the New York Times.