tonight on "worldfocus" -- after months of deliberation, the president announces a plan to add more than 30,000 troops to try to win the war in afghanistan. will it succeed? it won't just be a military surge. it will be a civilian surge as well. we'll show you how state department employees train for their deployment, learning to do it the afghan way. on this world aids day, we'll travel to south africa where the government has announced new measures to try to curb the scourge. and we'll ta you to nepal for a rare glimpse inside mt. everest. a great meltdown is under way. from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." major support has been provided by rosalind p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. and additional funding is provided by the following supporters -- good evening. i'm david brancaccio. daljit dhaliwal is off. we're going to start tonight with an in depth look at what may be a defining decision for barack obama's presidency, his plan for the next phase of the war in afghanistan. the president is ordering the deployment of some 30,000 additional troops but also planning to start bringing them home by the middle of 2011, about a year and a half from now. over the last two days, the president briefed key foreign leaders, members of congress and held a video conference with the afghan president, hamid karzai. the escalation will bring the american troop presence in afghanistan to more than 100,000 in the next six months and will largely give the american commander general stanley mcchrystal, the big surge that he wante in tonight's "lead focus," we look at the goals and strategy for what has clearly now become obama's war. beginning with james bays of al jazeera english. >> reporter: it's now three months since the u.s. and nato commander, general stanley mcchrystal, sent his bleak assessment of the situation on the ground to his commanders at the pentagon. the general's strategy is clear. focus on the afghan population, and that means concentrating resources on protecting the cities rather than fighting battles in rural areas where the taliban is strong. priority number one in the mcchrystal plan -- afghanistan's second city kandahar. a place where the population of about half a million, it's key to control of the south of afghanistan. it's symbolic, too. the building of this unfinished mosque right in the center of the city was ordered by mullah omar, a reminder of the situation before 2001 when this city was his home and the taliban's de facto capital. more than eight years on and western military commanders know taliban influence has been growing, particularly here in the north of the city, where some areas are now no-go zones for the afghan police and army. a small canadian military force is stationed inside the city, and the u.s. special forces are in a forfied base called camp gecko close to the part of the city where the taliban have been gaining ground. the largest number of nato troops in the province are based 17 kilometers outside the city at the giant kandahar airfield, but mcchrystal doesn't intend to send many more troops into the city itself. instead, he'll put his forces in a ring around kandahar city concentrating on nearby areas like agnadab and panjwayi where the taliban are strong. other key priorities for mcchrystal, the city of khost and the surrounding provinces. here america faces fighters like these under the command of jalauddin haqqani, who are known to have close links with al qaeda. troops will be sent, too, to the north, particularly to kunduz where the taliban re-emergence over the last year has worried the generals. some extra forces will be sent to helmand, although commanders are disappointed by progress here, an area where forces were doubled overhe summer in an effort to disrupt the taliban that many believe has largely failed. mcchrystal wants to use any adtional troops to shore up the dozen largest population centers in afghanistan, cities like herat, mazar-e-sharif and the capital kabul. at the same time, he must balance all these plans with the need to use a significant number of his troops to train, mentor and lead in battle afgnistan's own army and police. when he submitted his assessment this summer, general mcchrystal said he believed he only had 12 months to change the fortunes of the international forces in this country. however, his new strategy is a high risk one concentrating on the cities and urban areas is what the russians tried before they left this country in defeat. james bays, al jazeera, kabul. for much more about all it is an area which is deeply threatened. the british, which hold helmand are outnumbered, and the canadians, which hold the critical province and city of kandahar to the southeast, also do not have the strength to hold those areas and provide the kind of protection the population needs. >> what's your expectation when the marines first get there? first couple of months, what will they face? >> you have to understand the marines are already there. they're in helmand province. there are troops already inside kandahar. so what we're doing is we're building up strength. the marines are part of some 30,000 troops, which will include army forces. it will be there in the next six to eight months. and we really have never had the troop strength before to both conduct tactical operations and secure the populated areas. the taliban has been able to take over as much because there really hasn't be any resistance as because of their strength. >> do you foresee some kind of set battles between american forces and the taliban fighters? or is this going to be more guerrilla warfare? >> it's usually a combination of both. they try to have clashes, inflict casualties, get sort o a negative headline or a spin in the west from the casualties, then they disperse, then they use improvised explosive devices, not in classic guerrilla warfare. they prefer a remote use of bombs and mines and detonations. but then they infiltrate back in or they try to infiltrate back in. so this is a duel that takes time. in the process, you have to protect the population, give it security on a more lasting basis and bring back afghan governance and some kind of economic hope for the people in the area. >> and i suppose protect our own troops. is there likely to be -- should we prepare for a great increase in american troop casualties? >> there certainly will be a significant increase in casualties. we have to remember up to this point those casualties have been extremely low. each one is a tragedy. but by historical standards or even by iraq standards, the casualties have been very, very minimal. in part because a year ago we had something like 34,000 troops. now we have 68,000 plus and with the president's announcement, we'll have something like 100,000. >> now, the president is focusing on an exit strategy. there are critics who say that will only encourage the taliban to wait u.s. forces out then launch a later offensive. is that one of your worries? >> i think it is frankly just a matter of misunderstanding of semantics. the president has looked at the risks of this. there are no certainties of victory. he's looked at what will it take for the united stat tj÷w?uí eventually leave, but his strategy doesn't just put u.s. troops in there for a while. it calls for doubling the afghan army and having a major change to create a force that can stand on its own. you're going to make major increases in the police and try to improve the justice system. you're shifting the aid process, so you have aid going directly to the afghans at the local district and provincial level, and you're putting aid through the central government only where you know it's relatively honest. you're calling for more effort from our allies, not so much in numbers -- >> right. >> -- but unity of effort. so these are all major changes that prepare afghanistan first to defeat this enemy and second to be able to hold with only a very limited outside presence. >> all right. anthony cordesman, thank you very much. >> thank you. you might not have realized it, but there's another american surge under way in afghanistan. this one involves civilians whose ranks will have gone from the low hundreds at the beginning of this year to almost a thousand by the start of next year. we have a fascinating inside look at how they're being trained. sarah smith of itn went to a place that looks and feels like afghanistan, but it's right in america's heartland. >> reporter: at this supposed afghan power station, the americans are learning to tackle the kind of corruption that's all too common. the coal is being stolen or the managers charge for electricity that's meant to be provided free. the afghan government simply isn't capable of preventing this sort of problem. so america has to find a way to help them as well as pressuring them. as the u.n. are removing half of their civilian staff, these volunteers will have to fill the void in afghanistan. it's exactly the kind ofork e bush administration refused to do as they were determined to avoid nation building. >> they argued that the small footprint, low profile approach to nation building would be much better. >> reporter: they say it takes three cups of tea to get anything done in afghanistan. americans say sit, stay and sit until the pot is empty if necessary. but they also need to learn to shapa different future if they're ever going to leave. theytju ever going to leave. sought out who might make more effective partners than the discredited central government that is so corrupt the u.s. ambassador has warned against sending any more troops until president karzai cleans up his administration. >> the u.s. government and the afghanistan government have a responsibility and a partnership to reduce tensions and conflict. >> reporter: but this is not afghanistan. it's an army base in the middle of indiana. these state department civilian are rehearsing their role, trying to reduce corruption and tackling the problems the afghan government can't or won't. >> we tend to take the american approach to problem solving and that doesn't necessarily work as well in afghanistan. so i think we do have to teach people who come from bureaucracies that, you know, we have to go back to the human element. >> reporter: these people are not soldiers, not seen as occupiers, but because they have to wear helmets and flak jackets, they do look an awful lot like them. you can't have a civilian surge unless you also have a very large military escort. because while these people might be able to bring some measure of security to parts of afghanistan, first they have to train for a violent insurgency. [ explosion ] [ yelling ] under a simulated rocket attack, the americans are trained to leap into their humvees and get out of there. the local governor is left to fend for himself. >> you left the governor. in that attack. >> we left the governor? >> you left the governor here. >> reporter: no matter how many soldiers are eventually sent, the u.s. knows it can never eradicate the taliban. instead the advice is to use an increased civilian presence to try to win the support of the people who currently believe the taliban can look after them better than karzai's discredited government in kabul. sarah smith, channel 4 news, muscatatuck urban training center, indiana. some other news including follow-up to a story we reported yesterday. there was some strong new criticism today of that vote in switzerland to ban the construction of minarets, the towers often constructed as part of mosques. it came from the u.n. high commissioner for human rights. she condemned it as part of a wave of anti-foreigner scare mongering going on in a number of countries. she called it discriminatory, deeply div is i've and a thoroughly unfortunate step for switzerland to take. this item from cuba, internet blogs that have become an important vehicle for pple to make their voices heard in that communist country. one of the newest was started by the roman catholic church. it's called believing in cuba and is described by the church as a meeting place for those who live, dream,ork and hope in cuba and the cuban community overseas. the church said it's intended to be apolitical, a place for suggestions, not complaints. on this world aids day, the government of south africa annoced a major shift in how it deals with the disease. president jacob zuma compared the lengthy battle against aids with the long struggle against apartheid. for one thing, south africa will broaden treatment for babies and pregnant women. in a country of about 50 million people, more than 5 million are living with hiv. and tonight, we want to show you the devastating impact of aids on one family. haru mutasa of al jazeera english has their story from a township outside of capetown. >> reporter: 69-year-old felicia mfamana says she's struggling to cope. she lost three children and a grandson to aids, a disease she says she doesn't completely understand. the burden of looking after the family has fallen on her. her daily routine is predictable. pick up the two youngest, likhona and lisakhanya from nursery school. when she gets home, she worries how she's going to feed 14 grandchildren on 350 u.s. dollars a month. >> please, god can help me. i want to look after the children. but it's too small. >> reporter: this is the only photograph she has of one of her sons. she doesn't know how she'll cope. >> they've got no mother, they've got no father. and me now, i'm old. i must feed my children's kids, look after them. now that they passed away before me. >> reporter: it's a somber trip to her grandson's grave. at just 2 years old, he was the youngest to die from an illness that shattered her family. there are more people living with hiv in south africa than any other country in the world. that's an estimated 5.5 million people. if more isn't done to fight this epidemic, many more will die. aids activists blame former south africa president thabo mbeki for this needless waste of life. mbeki famously denied the link between hiv and aids. his administration didn't make antiretrovirals available to many who needed them until late in his presidency. drugs used to improve the immune system of those living with hiv and aids. >> and also the shortage of antiretrovirals. i think those are the key things. now most of the people will die because there were no antiretrovirals. >> reporter: president jacob zuma has promised to correct the mistakes of the past. a promise the administration must keep if these children hope to escape the burden of this debilitating disease. haru mutasa, al jazeera, africa. on this world aids day, we thought it was worth taking a look at the global aids picture. the united nations recently released its 2009 aids epidemic update. it has some encouraging news. last year, 2008, the report estimates 2.7 million people were newly infected with hiv, but that is down some 30% from the epidemic's peak back in 1996. the number of people living with aids continues to rise. it's now more than 33 million. one reason for that increase is the new drug therapies. still, the number of deaths due to aids remains stubbornly high. about 2 million a year. it's about where it's been over the past five years. for more on the global aids outlook we're joined by bertil lindblad, the director of the u.n. aids office here in new york. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> now, the report talks about new aids medicines that are helping people to live longer. are there still newer medicines that are coming online that could help extend people's lives? >> the important point is that there are now about 42% of people in need of antiretroviral treatment that do receive treatment. and that also is the reason why we have the largest number of people living with hiv than ever before, 33.4 million, due to the fact that we have more people on treatment. however, it's also important to know that almost half of those who need antiretroviral medicines still do not receive them. so that's one reason why -- >> where might those people be concentrated? what regions of the world are people not getting the aids treatment that they need? >> that figure is global. there may be people even in a country like russia who need treatment that do not receive it for several reasons, but the fact remains that sub-saharan africa remains the hardest hit region in the world with over 20 million people living with hiv. that there are advances now, thanks to increased availability of arv treatment. >> now, south africa used to be a place that was accused of dragging its feet in the fight against hiv/aids. >> right. >> but they've made enormous progress. an announcement just the other day suggesay of getting aids medicines to very young south african children. is that a positive step? >> it's an incredible development. in fact, it was president zuma himself in south africa at the end of october gave a major speech announcing that on world aids day, which is today, he would call a major rally in pretoria. and this has just happened hours ago, and our executive director was there. in fact, he announced full package of measures for south africa for both hiv prevention and treatment, and this is quite signifant given the political role that south africa plays not only in africa but in the world. >> now, briefly, there are reports that the united states, u.s. officials may be changing their strategy toward how the u.s. encourages the fight against aids overseas. moving from more emergency medical treatment to funding sustainable health systems. that is significant? >> that is significant. what we need to get home as a message is we need to take aids out of isolation. that doesn't mean that we do less. however, to link hiv prevention to, for example, programs for tuberculosis. ere is a, you know, great correlation between hiv and tb infection, for example. and that health systems are fully integrated in terms of hiv prevention, treatment and care. so they all go together. so this is the route to take, but it's a comprehensive package. >> mr. lindblad, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> one more note about south africa. the united states will provide $120 million for aids drugs in that country in the next two years. that brings us to tonight's question. do you think the u.s. is doing enough to support the fight against aids in the developing world? you can tell us what you think by going to the "how you see it" section of our website. that's at worldfocus.org. finally tonight, with the start of the copenhagen summit on climate change just six days away, we're going to take you to a part of the world that will bring into focus the urgency of those talks. mt. everest in nepal, where james mates of itn shows us what is happening to the glaciers. >> reporter: the mt. everest as high and bleak and as cold a region as you'll find anywhere on earth. it seems impossible that here of all places the ice frozen on to the slopes of these giants could be melting. but this is the biggest glacier in nepal in the shadow of everest. its surface is scarred with lakes and melt water. and this is the himalayan winter. pictures like these show why people in china and india worry about where in the future their fresh water will come from. >> by the middle of this century, i think there will be a big lake here. no more ice left. >> reporter: glaciologist doug benn has been studying the glacier for more than a decade. we walk across a rocky moraine that covers the ice, past pools of standing water, to an ice cave, the surest sign that this glacier is in big trouble. a healthy glacier flows like a slow moving r