NATYLIE BALDWIN—Krystal and Saagar are joined by foreign policy expert Richard Hanania to debunk the lies told by neocons about the withdrawal from Afghanistan and explain where the US went wrong in the war.
US EXCEPTIONALISM
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JOSEPH KISHORE—What began with Afghanistan was escalated with the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The military and media collaborated directly in the institutionalization of “embedded reporters,” beginning with some 700 journalists who were stationed with military units. Explaining the purpose of the program, US Marine Corps Lt. Col. Rick Long said at the time, “Our job is to win the war. Part of that is information warfare. So we are going to attempt to dominate the information environment.”
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Chaotic scenes at Kabul airport as thousands flee Taliban
9 minutes readCNBC—The chaotic scenes Monday at Hamid Karzai International Airport captured by news crews and cellphones convey a terror and desperate rush to escape the country, which is now overrun by Taliban militants in the lead-up to the complete departure of U.S. forces. A video shared on Twitter appears to shows large crowds of people, including children, moving toward passenger aircraft on the tarmac. “No one can really leave,” Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and senior adviser to the Massoud Foundation, told CNBC in a phone interview. Alam was stuck in Afghanistan, his flight out of the country canceled. “If you don’t have a visa or passport, which the majority of Afghans don’t, you’re not going.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday evening, reportedly to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, as the Taliban entered the presidential palace and declared the war “over.” Ghani said he fled to prevent “a flood of bloodshed.” “The Taliban have won with the judgment of their swords and guns, and are now responsible for the honor, property and self-preservation of their countrymen,” Ghani said.
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MICHAEL HUDSON—Hardly anyone asks how the U.S. ever got in. Jimmy Carter was suckered by the Polish Russia-hater Brzezinski and created Al Qaeda to act as America’s foreign legion, subsequently expanded to include ISIS and other terrorist armies against countries where U.S. diplomacy seeks regime change. Carter’s alternative to Soviet Communism was Wahabi fanaticism, solidifying America’s alliance with Saudi Arabia. Carter memorably said that at least these Muslims believed in God, just like Christians. But the Wahabi fundamentalism army was sponsored by Saudi Arabia, which paid for arming Al Qaeda to fight against Sunni Moslems and, early on, the Russian-backed Afghan government.
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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan back with a bang
23 minutes readPEPE ESCOBAR—It’s impossible to understand the Taliban – and most of all, the Pashtun universe – without understanding Pashtunwali. As well as the concepts of honor, hospitality and inevitable revenge for any wrongdoing, the concept of freedom implies no Pashtun is inclined to be ordered by a central state authority – in this case, Kabul. And no way will they ever surrender their guns.