Homeland Security: A Dangerous Return to Normalcy? Listen

Passengers pass through security check watched by National Guard MP officer, Logan International Airport, Boston

Forums: Do you feel that enough is being done to protect the U.S. from further attacks?

When John Ashcroft issued a heightened state of alert in September, the nation took notice. Reports of a terrorist threat to Boston a couple weeks after the attacks resulted in stores shutting their doors for the weekend and noticeably smaller crowds downtown. Passengers forced to wait in long lines at airports were patient.

But that was all before the "return to normalcy" that many Americans are feeling. Now, tighter security measures seem to also be returning to normal. Curbside check-in has returned to many airports. Close screenings at public venues have ceased. This hour: is America as vulnerable as it was on September 11th?

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Afghans scuffle for food, aid distribution points, Kabul, Afghanistan


Forums: What role should the U.S. play in tghe rebuilding of Afghanistan?

Aiding Afghanistan Listen

During the month of December, the United Nations' World Food Programme delivered an unprecedented 116,000 metric tons of food into Afghanistan. But much more help is needed, and the challenges posed by winter blizzards, extraordinary security, and treacherous roads in Afghanistan make aid delivery difficult.

While aid workers disguise shipments, bribe warlords and scramble to hire donkeys to pass regions where trucks are turned away, tens of thousands of Afghans are surviving on a mixture of grass and the roots of wild vegetation. Despite all promises that it would not, has the US abandoned Afghanistan?

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