#1437 Afghanistan: The Long Road to Now (Remix)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2021
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 8/25/2021
Today we take a look at the history of the war in Afghanistan. First of all, do you think that it's been going on for 20 years? Think again, it's been a lot longer than that. From British Empire Building to Cold War gamesmanship, Afghanistan has been a center of conflict since long before American citizens bothered to take notice.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Afghans Try to Flee U.S.-Caused Crisis - The Intercept - Air Date 8-18-21
The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, forcing the U.S.-backed Afghan government out. The Intercept Vanessa Gezari, who also reported from Afghanistan for years after the U.S. war began, breaks down the historical trajectory that led to this moment.
Ch. 2: Matthew Hoh on Afghanistan Withdrawal - CounterSpin - Air Date 8-20-21
We’ll prepare ourselves with insights on Afghanistan from Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, and from Matthew Hoh, senior fellow with the Center for International Policy.
Michael Brooks breaks down the history of the modern military establishment.
Ch. 4: War presidents - Rachel Maddow Show
We speak with Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock, author of the new book “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War,” which reveals how multiple U.S. presidents deceived the public about progress in the war.
Ch. 6: The Pentagon Papers Of Our Time with Craig Whitlock - On the Media - Air Date 12-20-19
Bob Garfield talks with Craig Whitlock about the Afghanistan Papers and the comparison to the Pentagon Papers.
As thousands of Afghans try to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control, we look at the roots of the longest U.S. war in history and spend the hour with Pulitzer Prize-winning national security reporter Spencer Ackerman.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 8: 30,000 speech - The Daily Show
President Obama channels George W. Bush in his speech announcing the deployment of an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.
We speak with Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock, author of the new book “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War,” which reveals how multiple U.S. presidents deceived the public about progress in the war.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 10: No bipartisanship for now - Rich from Oregon
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on questioning a theory of change before supporting an idea
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world)
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left Podcast in which we shall take |
| 0:07.4 | a look at the history of the war in Afghanistan. |
| 0:10.3 | First of all, do you think it's only been going on for 20 years? |
| 0:13.8 | Think again, it's been a lot longer than that. |
| 0:16.6 | From British Empire Building to Cold War Gamesmanship, Afghanistan has been a center of conflict |
| 0:23.1 | since long before American citizens bothered to take notice. |
| 0:26.6 | And this is another of our experimental remixed episodes in which we sprinkle in some classic |
| 0:32.4 | clips from our own archives in addition to the kind of new material you're used to, so |
| 0:37.7 | be sure to let us know what you think of this experiment. |
| 0:40.9 | Clips today are from the Intercept, Counter-Spin, the Michael Brooks Show, The Rachel Maddo |
| 0:45.7 | Show, Democracy Now, on the media, The Daily Show with John Stewart, yes I said John |
| 0:51.4 | Stewart, and Newsbeat. |
| 0:59.8 | During most of the 1980s, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to |
| 1:06.2 | Afghanistan to support the Mujahideen or holy warriors against the Soviet Union, which |
| 1:12.0 | had invaded in 1979. |
| 1:14.8 | During the past 18 months, the Mujahideen fighting inside the country have improved their |
| 1:21.1 | weapons, tactics, and coordination. |
| 1:24.7 | The result has been a string of serious defeats for the Soviet elite units, as well as many |
| 1:30.3 | divisions from the Kabul Army. |
| 1:32.7 | The US supported Jihad succeeded in driving out the Soviets, but the Afghan factions once |
| 1:38.8 | allied to the US eventually gave rise to the oppressive Taliban and Osama bin Laden's |
| 1:44.9 | Akhidah. |
... |
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