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Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

127. Matt Zeller. The Collapse of Afghanistan. Biden Is Blowing It. #SaveOurAllies. The Guam Option. Why The Taliban Don’t Want Women to Read. Asian Jumping Dirt. How You Can Help.

Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

Righteous Media | Bleav

Daily News, Veteran, News, Politics, News Commentary, National Security

4.6907 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2021

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As American troops pull out of Afghanistan, the Taliban is advancing. Quickly. Violence is widespread. And tens of thousands of men and women who helped US efforts there are facing imminent danger. The numbers are shocking. 20,000 of our allies and thousands more of their family members are facing slaughter. It’s a terrible and disgraceful betrayal of our allies. And the ramifications will impact our national security forever. But what’s the real situation on the ground? How bad could it get? What should Biden do now? What can we do to help from here? Our intrepid host, Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) breaks down the national security components, the media coverage, and the political dynamics from a truly independent viewpoint. And we’re joined by the heroic Matt Zeller (@mattczeller). Matt is America’s leading voice on the issue. The courageous Co-Founder of No One Left Behind, Truman National Security Fellow and author of Watches Without Time: An American Soldier in Afghanistan joins host and fellow Army veteran Rieckhoff for a gripping conversation that goes deeper and hits harder than anything you’ll hear anywhere else. Matt knows first-hand what it’s like to have fought alongside these brave men and women. He’ll tell you how after a ferocious firefight in Afghanistan, one saved his life. And became his best friend. Now, they’ve made it their mission to save the lives of others who have been left behind. It’s as real as it gets—and this conversation will leave you better informed and better prepared in the coming months as events unfold.  Be a part of the solution. Join us for exclusive access and events by joining our Patreon community. Get access to events, guests, merch discounts, and exclusive content. And check out the new IA merch to hook up your favorite independent as summer winds down. “What all political pods ought to be: fun, engaging, freewheeling, and respectful - even welcoming- of different points of view. I’m a fan.” -That’s what political strategist Paul Begala called Independent Americans, You can also watch the video of this conversation with Matt and more than 100 other important, inspiring and iconic leaders from Sarah Jessica Parker to Meghan McCain; Stephen Colbert to Pete Buttigieg on the Righteous YouTube page. Independent Americans connects, informs and inspires--and is powered by Righteous Media. On social media or www.IndependentAmericans.us. And stay vigilant, America.  Watch the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/C1I8I6aSg8A

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Independent Americans.

0:16.1

Welcome to a very important episode 127.

0:20.7

I'm your host, Paul Reikoff.

0:23.7

Now,

0:24.6

more than any other time,

0:27.2

now is a time

0:29.2

to stay vigilant.

0:32.9

I don't know.

0:52.3

And I tell come after. That's the sound like the Taliban taking over Kundan's center in Afghanistan.

0:57.6

It's August in America, the hottest time of the year.

1:02.0

But things are even hotter in Afghanistan right now.

1:09.2

Just one month from the 20th anniversary of 9-11, Afghanistan is in collapse.

1:13.6

Yeah, back home, of course, there's plenty of important news.

1:17.5

Governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned in disgrace.

1:22.1

The Delta variant continues to rampage across America.

1:28.3

And it looks like we may finally have a historic infrastructure bill coming out of Congress.

1:36.4

And August is a time for summer vacations, for those last days of summer, and for the start of school.

1:42.0

It's hard to keep track of everything flying around in the news and in all of our lives.

1:48.8

But on this show, we will continue to bring you the most urgent, important issues you need to track on, even when so much else is going on.

1:52.6

And I've been playing replay conversations for the last few weeks.

1:56.0

But as events continue to unfold in Afghanistan, we had to put a stop on that summer break

2:01.5

and dial up a very important conversation with an important, inspiring leader that you need to hear from.

...

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