Fmr Senior CIA Paramilitary Officer Phil Reilly on U.S.' Afghan Mission

Intelligence Matters

CBS News

Politics, News, Government

4.7 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2018

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Phil Reilly, former Special Forces soldier and CIA Clandestine Service Senior Paramilitary Officer who was among the select team of ten officers first deployed to Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Reilly recounts how U.S. forces first partnered with the Northern Alliance in the Panjshir Valley against Taliban units and describes his team's harrowing first helicopter flight over Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan. Reilly explains why he believes maintaining a strong U.S. presence in Afghanistan is necessary to prevent the Taliban from regaining power and to keep the existing Afghan government afloat.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Intelligence Matters Add Free on Amazon Music.
0:05.6	Download the app today.
0:07.4	Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal.
0:11.6	Our newest series looks at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about two judges who stood
0:16.5	accused of making millions of dollars in a brazen scheme that shattered the lives of countless
0:21.4	children.
0:22.4	Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you catch your podcasts.
0:27.9	This is the Intelligence Matters Podcast with former acting director of the CIA, Michael
0:32.8	Morel, sponsored by Raytheon.
0:37.1	How is it possible that CIA was ready to insert a team into Afghanistan only 15 days after
0:42.4	9.11?
0:43.4	Well, to be honest, it's one of those reasons why CIA exists and why there is no other organ
0:49.3	in the US government that can do what CIA does.
0:55.0	We had had a very successful element of CIA that dealt with that part of the world, had
0:59.7	long-standing relationships with many of the people on the ground.
1:02.3	It would not have been the same had we not had those pre-existing relationships.
1:05.8	But now again, many people who weren't our friends quickly got in line when they realized
1:09.0	what the US government was about to do, but those that were allied with us really came
1:13.2	forward.
1:16.4	Did you support the president's decision for US forces to remain in Afghanistan?
1:20.7	I do.
1:21.7	Absent US troops there or US presidents.
	...

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