Jacobin Radio w/ Suzi Weissman: The End of the Occupation in Afghanistan

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🗓️ 24 August 2021

⏱️ 60 minutes

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Summary

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley Law explains the California recall procedure and argues that the rules of the recall violate constitutional principles, making the September 14 Recall election unconstitutional. This is an incredibly consequential election, and a lawsuit has been filed compelling the Courts to intervene and either prohibit the election or change the rules to allow Governor Newsom’s name to appear on the replacement candidate list. Chemerinsky argues that because the procedures specified by the California Constitution violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the recall should be stopped now. Otherwise voters risk allowing a candidate preferred by a small minority of Californians to be the next governor.

Anthropologists Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale did fieldwork in Afghanistan and have just published "Afghanistan: the End of the Occupation." The 20 year intervention ended in defeat for the US: 2448 American soldiers, 4000 US contractors and somewhere between 48,000 and 100,000 Afghans were killed. Many more were wounded, and one trillion dollars was spent on the war. Nancy and Jonathan help us understand the evolution of the Taliban from 2001 to 2021, unraveling stereotypes and confusion about the nature of the population’s support for them. They explain that support is the wrong word – Afghans had to choose sides and they chose the Taliban rather than the cruel and corrupt American occupiers, because the Taliban are the only force fighting the American occupation. We also ask about the challenges ahead for Afghans, especially women, the Hazara and other ethnicities, as well as the looming refugee crisis.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Suzy Weisman. On today's program, we begin with the California
0:16.0	Recall election scheduled for September 14. Irwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley School
0:22.8	of Law and Constitutional Scholar argues that the rules of the recall violate constitutional
0:29.8	principles. This is an incredibly consequential election, and a lawsuit has been filed compelling
0:36.1	the courts to intervene and either prohibit the election or change the rules. We'll get
0:41.4	Irwin Chemerinsky's understanding and explanation. We then turn to the end of the American occupation
0:47.9	of Afghanistan, a 20-year intervention that ended in defeat for the United States. Anthropologist
0:54.5	Nancy Lindesfarn and Jonathan Neal did field work in Afghanistan, and they're just published
1:00.4	article Afghanistan. The end of the occupation is a cogent analysis of Afghan society, the
1:07.5	evolution of the Taliban from 2001 to 2021, the nature of their support as well as the
1:13.8	challenges ahead, all this when our program returns in just a moment.
1:30.6	This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Suzy Weisman and very pleased to have Irwin Chemerinsky back
1:36.5	with us. He's the Dean of Berkeley Law, Constitutional Scholar and Distinguished Professor,
1:42.6	and he's joining us to elaborate and explain something that is incredibly important and urgent,
1:49.7	and that is California's recall election, which is scheduled for September 14th, ballots
1:55.8	are already out, and Irwin has published along with Professor Edlin, an op-ed or guest
2:02.3	essay in the New York Times, and says that this recall, as it is right now, is unconstitutional,
2:10.1	and a lawsuit has been filed, compelling the Court's dinner, and to declare this recall
2:15.0	election procedure, unconstitutional, because it violates a core constitutional principle,
2:22.1	that every voter should have an equal ability to influence the outcome of an election.
2:28.3	And the lawsuit advocates a court order that either prohibits the recall election or makes
2:34.4	a change in the rules by adding Governor Newsom's name to the replacement candidate list.
	...

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