Ice cream and dreams melt as Kandahar's electricity falters

Kandahar was once the seat of Taliban power. To try to keep the Taliban at bay, America's big strategy was to create jobs there. To do that, you need power. With the U.S. spending generously to keep the electricity abundant, Waisuddin Jamalya opened an ice cream business. His factory operated around the clock, employed 300 people and produced 10,000 cartons of ice cream a day. But now, Jamalya has slashed production, laid off 100 workers and believes he can only keep making ice cream for another few months. By all estimates, the American power project to win hearts and minds in Kandahar has failed. In this excerpt from Compass, Jennifer Glasse investigates what went wrong and how it has affected residents' views of the United States.