The New Kingmaker in Afghanistan; The Haqqani Network
Heritage Explains
Heritage Podcast Network
4.7 • 847 Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2021
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We all remember seeing the horrific scenes in Afghanistan, after the withdraw of our troops. We saw it played out in real time, and several commentators said this will certainly lead to less freedom and more oppression as the Taliban retakes control. Now, Afghanistan has been moved off the front pages, and few people are talking about what's happening on the ground and in the region. However, Heritage Foundation expert Jeff Smith has been tracking this situation, and wrote an incredible piece making the case that while the Taliban is in power, the more extreme Haqqani Network is becoming the real kingmakers in Afghanistan. Hint: It's worse than we could have imagined.
Show Notes:
Read Jeff's incredible piece: The Haqqani Network: The New Kingmakers in Kabul
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Tim Dessier, and this is Heritage Explains. |
| 0:35.1 | It will be hard to forget this scene at the Kabul International Airport in late summer of 2021. |
| 0:41.3 | Incredible scenes as the U.S. withdrew and the Taliban took over. Seeing desperate people latch onto a plane as it took off and then seeing them inevitably fall. |
| 0:48.3 | The horrific suicide bombing that took the lives of 13 U.S. service members and 169 Afghans. |
| 0:58.0 | And while it all happened, many of the news reports and commentators talked about the certain destruction of freedom and liberty for Afghan people after the Taliban retook control. |
| 1:10.9 | But after a few weeks, Afghanistan seemed to move off the front pages, |
| 1:16.2 | and a lot of people who watched it intently lost track. |
| 1:21.9 | So here's an important development you need to know about. |
| 1:30.3 | The men you see here taking over Afghanistan's presidential palace had been planning this for years. |
| 1:35.3 | The group they belong to, the Taliban, translated to students in English, have been trying to get back into power |
| 1:42.3 | ever since they were toppled 20 years ago. |
| 1:45.7 | Sirajuddin Hakani doubles as both deputy leader and head of the powerful Hakani network, |
| 1:51.1 | a US-designated terror group considered one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan. |
| 1:57.6 | Sirajuddin Hakani, Afghanistan's new interior minister, is wanted for questioning by the FBI |
| 2:03.6 | in connection for targeting a Kabul hotel in 2008, which killed six people, including one American. |
| 2:09.6 | The Hakani network has carried out a spate of high-profile deadly terror attacks in Afghanistan, |
| 2:15.6 | including a car bombing outside the Indian embassy |
| 2:18.4 | in 2009 and a truck bomb explosion in 2017. |
| 2:25.5 | The Hacani network, and Americans need to understand this, this network is the most dangerous |
| 2:30.2 | terrorist group they've never heard of. |
| 2:32.5 | And this guy, Saraj Hacani is the worst of the worst. |
| 2:36.0 | He's kind of a combination of Charles Manson and John Gotti combined. |
... |
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