Tonight's guests are Hassan Abbas on The Daily Show and Michael Sheen on The Colbert Report.
Hassan Abbas "is a Pakistani-American academic in the field of South Asian and Middle Eastern studies. His research focuses on security issues pertaining to governance, law enforcement and counterterrorism in these regions. Abbas was a security officer in the governments of Benazir Bhutto (1994–1996) and Musharraf (1999–2001)." He is also an author and will be discussing his book The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Frontier
In autumn 2001, U.S. and NATO troops were deployed to Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban rulers, repressive Islamic fundamentalists who had lent active support to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda jihadists. The NATO forces defeated and dismantled the Taliban government, scattering its remnants across the country. But despite a more than decade-long attempt to eradicate them, the Taliban endured—regrouping and reestablishing themselves as a significant insurgent movement. Gradually they have regained control of large portions of Afghanistan even as U.S. troops are preparing to depart from the region.
In his authoritative and highly readable account, author Hassan Abbas examines how the Taliban not only survived but adapted to their situation in order to regain power and political advantage. Abbas traces the roots of religious extremism in the area and analyzes the Taliban’s support base within Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In addition, he explores the roles that Western policies and military decision making— not to mention corruption and incompetence in Kabul—have played in enabling the Taliban’s resurgence.
I think it should be a good interview, and I hope he will also touch on ISIS and their version of radicalism.
Michael Sheen is an actor. He stars in Masters of Sex which is another one of those talked about shows I have never seen since it is on Showtime. Apparently he is dating Sarah Silverman and he is auctioning off a gate that was part of the boathouse that belonged to Dylan Thomas that he acquired as a teenager.
Mr Uzzell-Edwards told BBC Wales how he and his artist father John found the gate while visiting Laugharne with Sheen.
"We were walking down the hill on a jolly boys' day out to check out the boathouse when we saw this metal sticking out of the mud," he said.
"Me and Michael were wearing cords and chunky sweaters in the Brideshead Revisited style of the time - not really dressed for mud larking - but we managed to get it out.
"My dad had a photo of Dylan Thomas standing in front of the gate of the boathouse so we knew it was the actual one.
Michael Sheen's Swansea bite-size Dylan Thomas readings
Hollywood actor Michael Sheen will soon be heard reading bite-size extracts of Dylan Thomas poems across Swansea.
Sheen has agreed to take part in Poems in October, a project celebrating Thomas's centenary.
The voice of the Frost/Nixon and The Queen star will be used for minute-long recordings of some of the poet's and Shakespeare's famous works.
The train station, market and Grand Theatre are some of the places where visitors will be able to listen in.
They will also be broadcast in the No Sign Wine Bar in Wind Street and the Uplands Tavern through concealed speakers or PA systems.
My guess is that he is on to discuss Masters of Sex but he has a movie
Kill the Messenger coming out in October. He also was in a TV movie of the play Under Milk Wood based on the 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. I sense a theme in his side projects.
This Week's Guests
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART
Th 8/28: Todd Glass
THE COLBERT REPORT
Th 8/28: JR