The official line coming out of last week's election in Afghanistan was that it was a democratic 'success'. Was it? We talk to independent journalist Anand Gopal and Human Rights Watch researcher Rachel Reid. But how realistic is the prospect of change regardless of the outcome of the Afghan vote? Afghan journalist Syed Abdul Rahim, and Women for Afghan Women Board member Esther Hyneman join J Alexander Thier from the Rule of Law Center of Innovation at the United States Institute of Peace and Sonali Kolhatkar, co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission and co-author of the book, “Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence. Then, while President Obama's declared an end date for Americans in the Iraq war, will it ever be that simple for Iraqis? We talk to Yanar Mohammed, President of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq and Yifat Susskind, communications director at MADRE who are helping women survive in the mess that is today's Iraq.