Afghanistan U.S. troop debacle (with Elliot Ackerman, Carol Leonnig, & Phil Rucker)
Skullduggery
Michael Isikoff, Daniel Klaidman, Victoria Bassetti
4.0 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2021
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Back in April, President Biden announced the full U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11th. With said date now less than a month away, the news out of the region is that city after city is falling to Taliban forces. And now the U.S. is asking the Taliban to spare its embassy in the capital city of Kabul with the anticipation of an upcoming fight for its control. Quite the mess to say the least. Where do we go from here? Everyone agrees that this solution isn't the best, yet no one has a solution that satisfies all those involved. One thing we do know for sure is that more blood will be shed in the coming days, months, and potentially years in a place the U.S. has spent so much time, money, and loss of life in order to protect. This is quickly shaping up to be another Saigon.
GUESTS:
- Elliot Ackerman (@elliotackerman), Author and Fmr. U.S. Marine, served multiple tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
- Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig), Washington Post reporter, MSNBC contributor, and co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year
- Phil Rucker (@PhilipRucker), Washington Post Senior Washington Correspondent, NBC News Political Analyst, and co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year
HOSTS:
- Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff), Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News
- Daniel Klaidman (@dklaidman), Editor in Chief of Yahoo News
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| 0:00.0 | As they commit mass murder in the city squares of these cities, as they bulldoze girls' schools, |
| 0:09.3 | you know, as they eliminate all of the gains that were made after the demise of the Taliban regime in 2001, |
| 0:18.1 | should we just stand idly by, based on really the recognition that we had deluded ourselves? |
| 0:25.7 | Shouldn't we now reassess our actions and do what is, I think, not only in our interest, |
| 0:31.9 | but I think is morally imperative at this stage. What we're actually seeing is the reversal of morality. |
| 0:39.4 | That was HR McMaster, one of Donald Trump's national security advisors, |
| 0:43.7 | speaking Thursday about the startling Taliban advances in Afghanistan. And what they could |
| 0:49.4 | mean for the war-torn country is US troops complete their pullout. In the last few weeks, |
| 0:54.8 | Taliban forces have swept through northern provinces of that country, capturing hundreds of Afghan |
| 1:00.2 | soldiers, seasoned control of provincial capitals. On Wednesday night, the US Embassy in Kabul |
| 1:05.4 | tweeted that it had reports of the Taliban executing Afghan troops in ways that could constitute war crimes. |
| 1:12.4 | And on Thursday came the news that Harat, the country's third largest city, had fallen. |
| 1:17.4 | As the US accelerates its withdrawal, the specter of a Taliban takeover, and a bloody aftermath |
| 1:22.6 | hangs over the Bush administration. It also threatens to dominate the news as the country prepares |
| 1:27.7 | to commemorate next month's 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks that caused us to invade Afghanistan |
| 1:34.0 | in the first place. We'll talk to Elliot Ackerman, a novelist historian and retired marine who |
| 1:39.3 | served four tours in Afghanistan about what to expect in the weeks ahead. And then we'll talk to |
| 1:44.8 | Washington Post reporter Carolinic and Phil Rucker about their book, I Alone Can Fix It, |
| 1:50.1 | a gripping account of the last year of Donald Trump's presidency on this episode of Skull Duggery. |
| 1:58.8 | Hi, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. |
| 2:05.6 | And will to the best of my building. Reserve, protect and defend. |
| 2:10.1 | Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. So help me God. |
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