toght on "worldfocus" -- talking to the taliban. as e war in afghanistan escalates, n efforts to bring the surgent group into the political mix. plus the littlenown relationship beten afghanistan and irn. how million of afghans have crossed the border in iran loing for aetter life. how drugs from afghanistan have forced the ianians to fightheir own drug wa and a story o srength and rseverance. the boxer from rth korea now called the million-dollababy. fr the different perspectes of reporters and analystsrom around the globe, this is "worldcus." major support has been proded by rosind p. walter and the peter g. peterson fountion, dedicated promoting fiscal responsibili and addressing key onomic challenges facing america's futu. and additional funng is provided bthe following suorters -- > gd evening. i'm edie magnus. daljit dhaliwal is o toght. we begin in afghanistan and wt appes to be growing momentum for bringing the taliban into that country's political process. as the united statesnd its allies fight an creasingly toh war against the taliban, there is also new talk of reaching o to elements of the group with t aim o reaching a polical settlement on. thursday, an international conference i london will explore ys ofdoing just that. as well as a framework for transferng security respsibility to the afghans. the iss is also being discussed in a smaller meeting he today in istanbul wit the president of afghanian, pakistan and turkey. hamid kaai of afghanistan spoke after themeeting. >> those talin who are n part of al qaeda are other terrorist nworks are welcome to come bac to eir country, lay down arms, and resume life. >> as for th war and the surge of american troops, the u. coander, general stdly mcchrystal, says i an interview published toy in btain's fincial times, that the aim was to weaken e taliban so its leers would acceptsome form ttlement with afghanistan's government. asd if he would be content to see tiban leadersn a future governme in kabul, general mcchrystal that, "i think any afghans can play a role they cus on the future and not the past." the paper d that had "the remarks revealed t growg faith the u.s. military is placing in the hpe that aower sharing arrangement c end the war." the possibily floated in islamabalast week by robert gates teresting u.s. defense secrary, when he described the taliban apart of afghanisn's political faic. the u.s.sn't the only western country trying t the talibainto the fold. in our lead focus tonight, our german partner deutsch welle gives us t europea perspective. >> reporter: the u.s. goverent says increasing troop levs in afghantan will improv security i the country. washington expec its partners to follow its example but the german government is joing otr allies in calling for a new sttegy. incling incentiveso encourage taliban fighters to leave the militants and join civil sociy. >> translator: n everyone fighting there is a rrorist. e leaders are. they're so blinded b ideologically rey hopeless. but the followers are the ones we have toreintegrate into society. >> reporter: advocates would have the money f these incentives pd in an internatiol fund but some experts say that would just encourage more rruption. >> tralator: what i recomnd inead is for the germ govement toirectly support projects on thground by providing them wi jobs and education. >> reporter: anoth idea being discussed is expanding traing progra for the afghan army and police fces so tey can oulder the security burden sooner the gean chancellor, cabinet ministers wille honing the gornment's stance on these issues befe the london coerence is due to convene on thursday. >> with that we continueur look this we at presidt obama's keyoreign policy challenges one year to his term. we call itbama andhe world.toni an pakistan. joining us tonight, mad kal, ambassador to the united nations, and hassan abbas, another nool is now wh the asia societynd is now profesr of international affairs at coluia university thaufl foroining us. bere we do g to the big picture, i want to focus on the news that we have just seen, and that is about the negotiated setment wi the taliban. what a the chances that can happen? >> it's welcome and overdue. evolutioof american foreign policy has taken place. so far it wasan extension of the bush doctrine which was t find a military solution in iraq and afghanistan and pistan based the concept ofut off the hea of the ske and everythingill fall into place. this doctrine which was evolved originally by israel did not sueed in palestin did not succeed iraq. ancannot succd in afghanistan and pakistan. becae the militants draw their stngthn tir objective, with hispan and attrition themlves draw their trenth om the public unhappine whh is based on an opposition, a public opposition t their own government a to u.s. polies. sothat oxygen has be ded up. and at requires a change in u.s. policy toward dialogue an aloguehichopefully american public will support. >> i found a myself wondering about the timing of ths. is it a hillsudden? >> it is a little sudden, yes. but ter hearing from the bassador, i would like to lk it from a different perspective. mber one, how do we defi taliban? if these are thesame taliban who we were fighting forhe last eight years ung american taxpayers' mon, failing miserably, tn what's the purpose? i think they may have a different interpretation arrestingdifferent definion of taliban, nber one. number two, the whole issue is that all pashtuns in th ara, so of them who don't want outside forces they're not a taliban. and secony, they have tobe, nodoubt, different ways, means tohich you talk to peop. talk to thepeople of afghanistan. if we are talking about a negotiated deed with ahan talin who were the killers and butchers, i don't think that is possible. >> defense secreta gates, in additi to talking about power sharing as we've heard, also saide doesn't believe the taliban will even entertain th possility unless it has concluded it can win militarily. >> that not correct. it is the essence is not wit the liban. and their understanding of where the victory is ound the corner or not. the esnce lies with american foreign policy understanding, at a military solutions just not possible. and that you have to found a a litical solution for afghanistan and fa more importantly, in pakistan. afghantan is not a patch compared to the problem of pakistan because pistan is larger. it is 170 million people. is a hopelessly didou have i'ded country. dividedpolitically, divided provincily, divided economally and it has highl inefficient d inept govement. that is th essencef american foreig policy lies andmerican curity liesn findg a solution to the econoc prlems, both of afghastan and of pakistan and to its own job creati ithe united states. >> let'sake a lo at things more broadly. here we are one year into president obama's term. can u tell us a little bit, what's happening in afghanistan litarily? whatis going on on the ground? nothing. >> nothing? we're out to have a huge toop surge therethough. >> i would argue thate are stuck between two extres. for thlast eight years, we were seeing falsely in my view, that we are doing a nation ilding. no one c do nationbuilding. maybe state building i some ways andow we'r saying, i will oy be for so time we were saying there will only be a military optn. prident obama took a lo time. wean defend that, that he took a longtime to review but we cannot define iction. this is the time toupplement that policy. state it to some extent. accept the realities involving the originalpowers, unle we were inlved in original cotries. and i see some hope tt there haveeenany political leaders andilitary leaders going to pakian, hopefly in the air, and others. >> one year in,is ourforeign policy with regard to afghanisn succeedg? not succeeding b it can become part of a successful policy are bein put in place. >> do you agree? >> absolutely it is evoing. it is evolving in the righ directn. and therefore, there is hope that this evolution will lead to success th in ghanistan and in pakistan. >> now all of this tk about negotiated settlements, however, coincides with very aggressive use of these unmned predator drones, particularly alg the afghan-pakistaniborder. >> that part of e same licy of the military approach to the problem. drones cannotolve the problem. because this is, the concept is to cut off the hd of the snake. the collateral damage is far greater than the head of the ake. and the collatelamage then sets off a snow ball effect of opposition to the dronattacks. you see that in pakistan an pakistan there is enmous opposition tou.s. policies, particularly with referenceo the drawn attas wl. >> does the use of the drones set us back? >>he problem is yes we he converted a tact into a strategy by killing four leged trusts, were creating tenreal rrorists. it cane a good tactic, if bin laden isaken out, everybo will be very hpy. >> let meet to you look ahead tone year. wh do you think should be the priority in the ne year of president ama's term? >> i think the original approach involving theriginal countries, improng the relations with t muslim world overall which the president had in cairo and turning wkey. >> i ree. it means including both iran and india in the afghanistapakistan context. >>ll right. thank you oth. ahmad kamal and hassan abbas. we appciate you being withs today. hank you.u. >> we woul also like to hear what you think about all this. our question tonight, should the unitedtates and its allies start engaging the talin with the aim of power sharing arrangement? you can tell us wh you think by going to t how you see it seion of ourwebsite. that's at worlocus.org. brgs to us our signature sty. we routinely hr a great dl about how the war in afanistan affects paktan, its neighbo to theeast. much less obviousnd much less covered is how what happens in afghanistan affects its neighbor tohe est. iran. you may or y not know that ir's oil money has made it dramatically wealier than some of its neighbors. and much of mexicans seek worth the united states, millio of afghans hav fled the chaos in their countr seeking work iran. from world focus, ey traveled to iran last smer and scovered that iran remains a attractive destination for poor worker seeking a better life. our rept tonight is by richard. >> reporter: while the worlds still reeling from the ongoing economic meltdown iran's ecomy is pushed by this stream of meyhat comesere to pay for its oil. things he slowed with the doturn in oil pricesut being the wor's second laest proder does still mean money in the bank. and having cash means the is not much you n buy here. from high e aus to the haste computer it isll for sle in tean's marketand its famous bazaar. while ir is considered a supporter terrorism by europe and the u.s., to neighbors li afanistan and ira iran looks like a model of stability. so the odds are pretty goodthat someone working in aow wage job here is a refugee from one of irn's troubled or impoverishedneighbors. nearly 3 million are fm afghanistan. two thirds of them are here illegally. >> tralator: i have been here for a year ad a half. my familyis back in afghistan. i send themoney. came here to fnd work. >> he a his fou brothers and a fewothers wil spend most the next year building aucksry condo i tehr's fancy nohside. they make their own home three flights below grnd. in the condo's unfinisd basement is an invible afghan ville. there is water from aose but nother pluing. they tapped into the building's electrical line. in everyuilding aroundhere, there is a similar scene. >> my brother did this. we allove frojob to job together. >>eporter: the construction company lets the afans stay heren part to hide them from the authorits. 32-year-old gorban is part of th team. >> translator: have been arrested three time. the first twotimes, they made me sign a letter. third te, i had to pay $600. >> reporte that's about three monthspay. even at that price, he an his men are doing far betr here than theywould at home. >> around $10 a day for a laborer. you can ke $25 to mpbl 30 day if you have a skillful of that $10 we spend on food and send the rest back home. >> reporter:he afghans do their bestto sy out of sight. when ouide they try to bld in. western afghanista wherehese men come fro was on part of persia so they do speak t same language. likeost iranians, share shia muslims but at hom and here, life is less about cultura coections and more abt family and villas. >> translator: this is noa good life. we are not home with our families but we make good money and have better opportunities here than athome. i hope i can go hom in a year d save enough to go back for good in five years. >>eporter: iran would li to see their back sooner than that. but taking a hard line wou create an economi crisis across the bder. this is the ministry of interior's oicial in charge of refugees and mgrants. >> right now, afghanistan is not stable. there is no work for the refugees. we believe when the is a vibrant ecomy, with help, education, homesnd securit they will go back totheir countr >> reporter: the$2.5 billion at flows each year fr workers in an toheir afghan familiess about as much as afghanistan's entire national dget. >> not as hd iniran as we thought it wuld be. life is pretty good here. i send oney. >> reporter: life underground has its comfor. there is enough to eat. aoom box bought from an upgrading contractor, and even a tv. tonit's feature is a korean historical soappera dubbed intoersian. the dong is crial. few of theorkers on the daem read, working as laborers is their on option. the iranian governmt actuay sees theirack of education reason to let them stay. they come from afghan communities that opposeiran's enemy, the taliban so keeping the communities healthy is in iran's interests. >> translator: if they er go back to afan and try to run their untry, they need to be literatend need to dide themselves what kind of society they want. 3,000 afghan refugeesre going to universities. more than % of talan forces are illiterate so we can se this education as a way to fight teorists. >> reporr: the refugees have more sile dreams. >> translator: i have twboys and a girl. i'm not happy to be ay from them. my hope is to make enoug money to go backnd live with my wife and kids. >> reporte for "worldfocus," tehran. we want to tell you tonight about anotherparallel betwee mexico and thenited stat, anafghanistan and iran. it is a far more siniste connection, alsoot well ported in this country. st as the united stes is fighting a war on drugs that come here rough mexico, iran is engaged in a similar battle ainst drugs fromafghanistan. in a report that offers a raur lookt iran'srug proem, the reporter from al jazeera english says at lea part of thelame is aimed at the west. >> reporter:he park in southern tehran, a place for ki to kick a ball around, but also a mting point for drug dealers and addict at 36, he looks much older. he has been shooting up sie he was 10. he lost his job as a shop keeper a long time ago and now sleeps in the park. tells us drugs are available in his neighborhood and every child runs the risk of grong up to be likhim. guards are supposedo keep the rk drufree but th have fail. he said it is pointless to beat uprug dealers because the constant supply of nartics brin them back day after day. >> translator: dgs come in from ghanistan. if the government stops the traffickg, our youth will have a cnce to grow up can themlves won't be herin addicts and they won have any drugs to take. >> repter: iran's eastern border with afghanistan is long and pors and thousands of drugs pore through every year. iranian authorities say they can only do so ch to st the flow. they have seized 400 tns of drugs sie last march. they say tens of police officer are kied and the war on drugs every year. it is a war they say ty are fighting on behalf of the weern world. >> reporter: at a conferencin drug contro the head of the anti-drug task force lashes out ain't natnal organizations in stern powe. he said his men are being killed by trafckers as they try to stop drugs om reaching the west and they get littl thanks for their efforts. >> transtor: they are the main culprits. those who chase terrorists in afghanistan. they have left drug traffickers free and i think theyeven identified traffickers themselves allow a 50% increase in afghanian'selmond province where the british rces are cated. what does that mean? >> reporter: the representative of u.s. says his handsare ed. >> our technical sistance proble let me sayhat it is funded by extra bigotry. so theyonight have funding a s disposal toarry out any equipment, carry out any traing or eve chang drug sniffing dog >> reporter:ran is calling for more help fr the international community but is too late to help he an so many others like him. al jazeera, tehran. in iraq, three icide bombs struck today in baghdad near hotels popular with journasts and foreign contctors. security official said at least 37 peoe wereilled and more than 100 injure in the bombings which all occued within 15 minute in downtowbaghdad. there wa no claim of responsibility but they see i as an attempt t disrupt electis in march. the government linked insurgents link to the former regimef saddam hussein. shory after those bombings the government nounls ad cousin of saddam husin known as chemical ali had been executed. former general ali hassan a majid was hanged a week after he received a fourth death sentenc for poison attks that killed more than 5,000 iraqi kds in 19 and earned him his infams ckname. he was kwn as one of the mo brutalembers of saddam hussein's innercircl lding military campaignsgainst the kurds in the north, shiites in southe iraq. those campaigns cimed tens of ousands of lives. and in t waters off beut, leban, a search is continuing for passengers on an ethiopian airlines jetthat crashed into the sea. the plane went down in stormy weatheinutes aft taking off in t lenon says sabotage wanot suected. it washed hore in the hrs ter the csh. the plane wa carrying 90 peopl and by nightfall, 21 bodi had been recoved. no survivorsere found. finally tonight, an inspiring storyabout the will to overcome adversity through perseverce and strength. in this case, the strength oa boxing champio who made her w out of communistnorth korea a into a new lfe of freedo and fame. let's go ngside tonight with rahul patk al jaera english. >> reporter: she's been dubbed south kor's million-dollar baby. to others she is simply the defector boxer girl.whatever yo there is no denying th 19-yeaold choi hyun-mi has had a rmarkable journey. onthat has taken her fromhe streets pyongyg in north korea to the boxing rgs as a world chpion. >>ranslator: i don't mind that nickname it is true that i defected from north korea so it'okay but i wanto be known for my bing re than that i defected from north kore >> reporter:he might wantto be known forust her boxing but it is hard to get away from her past. a tanted junior in north kore her life changed forever when her father decided the family woul dect in 2004. the familyas sggled into china before traveling to vietnaand finally arrivg in south korea. >> translar: i was like wow, i finally got her it felt like i crossed the finish lin of a long track. >> reporter: however onc in south korea, choi and her family fellictim to the prejudi that many poorernorth korea experienced in theore affluent south. but slowly hss in the ring beganto one people. she wo the wba tit a year later, aitle she still holds. people now draw comparisons to the movie "million-dollar baby" that clint eastwood film about the femaleoxer. >> translator: i rusd out to see it. i just couldn't wait. i was so disappointed by the sad way it finished. >> repter: that film might have end in the trs but choi seems intent o making surher story finishes w