The Afghanistan war blame game

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2021

⏱️ ? minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Almost as soon as Kabul fell, the political blame game began in Washington. But why weren’t we more prepared? Plus, an interview with Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States on her fears for women and girls in her country.

As quickly as Kabul fell, the finger-pointing commenced. Reporter Shane Harris on the political fallout of a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — and how it could have gone better.

Roya Rahmani was Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States, serving from 2018 until just a few weeks ago. She spoke with producer Arjun Singh of the podcast “Can He Do That?” about what it’s like to watch her country fall to the Taliban, and what her fears are for women and girls who are still there.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is going to be a stain on this president and his presidency.
0:05.8	And I think he's going to have blood on his hands for what they did.
0:10.5	Almost as quickly as Kabul fell to the Taliban, the blame game in Washington began.
0:15.6	And ultimately it's up to the Afghans themselves.
0:17.6	It's up to the Afghan government.
0:18.7	It's up to the Taliban to decide the way forward for the country, including Kabul.
0:23.4	Absolutely.
0:24.4	President Biden bears responsibility for making this decision.
0:27.2	The overruled is on military leaders to do it.
0:31.1	But there is no question that President Trump, his administration, Secretary Pompeo,
0:35.2	they also bear very significant responsibility for this.
0:39.1	From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports.
0:42.7	I'm Martin Powers.
0:44.8	It's Tuesday, August 17.
0:51.2	In Kabul, a surge of U.S. troops have been able to regain control of the airport.
0:56.5	The Taliban's flights out have resumed.
0:58.0	More than 700 Americans and American allies have been evacuated in the past 24 hours.
1:04.1	But at least 10,000 U.S. citizens are still there.
1:07.8	Meanwhile, the Taliban continue to consolidate control.
1:11.7	The group's de facto leader returned to the country for the first time in more than a decade.
1:17.0	They announced a general amnesty for government officials and interpreters.
1:21.6	And they held a press conference.
	...

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