On COI COI #149, Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter break down the fall of Kabul and the complete collapse of the Afghan government under a Taliban offensive.
Major territorial gains that began in provincial centers earlier this month came to a head on August 15, with the militant group waltzing into the national capital and seizing the city, encountering virtually no resistance from government forces in the process. With Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country, the Taliban has installed a new president from its own ranks, insisting there would be no transitional state as it declared the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” as the new government.
Having failed to prepare for the fall of the capital, Washington is now overseeing a hasty, chaotic evacuation of diplomatic staff and other American civilians, with some 6,000 US soldiers deployed to secure the operation. Thousands of Afghans are also looking to flee the country, including those who worked alongside US diplomats, but with no clear contingency plans in place, their fate remains in limbo.
Will and Kyle break down the Biden administration’s response to the news, the overall status of the American withdrawal, as well as the reactions from hawks who insist the occupation should never end.
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AUGUST 12, 2021 The dark side of Eisenhower’s foreign policy
While he warned about the military industrial complex, he was less restrained when it came to covert interventions, some which reverberate today.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/08/12/the-dark-side-of-eisenhowers-foreign-policy/