Conflicts of Interest: The People Who Were Right About Afghanistan

On COI #159, Kevin Gosztola joins Kyle Anzalone to discuss the people who were right about the Afghan War all along, among them Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who cast the sole ‘no’ vote against the 2001 authorization to attack Afghanistan. Lee correctly predicted that the bill would be exploited to justify an endless war, and has continued to fight to repeal the 2001 AUMF. 

Kevin recounts the story of Matthew Hoh. Working as a State Department official, Hoh realized Obama’s Afghan surge would be a deadly failure. He, therefore, blew the whistle on the administration’s propaganda campaign, which insisted the ‘surge’ approach employed in Iraq could be exported to Afghanistan. While Hoh was largely ignored, he gained key backing for his claims, which have since been proven correct. 

Like Hoh, Daniel L. Davis also blew the whistle over the disastrous Afghan surge. Years after Hoh, Davis reported to Congress – and the American people – that the country’s leaders were lying about their non-existent successes in Afghanistan. 

Kevin talks about the importance of journalist Micheal Hastings, who penned an explosive 2010 Rolling Stone profile that resulted in the firing of Stanley McChrystal, the “Runaway General.” Hastings also exposed the absurdity of the US counter-insurgency campaign pushed by the disgraced General David Petraeus. 

The horrors and failures of the Afghan War were also published by Wikileaks, thanks to leaker Chelsea Manning and journalist Julian Assange. Kevin explains why Manning passed the Afghan War Logs to Wikileaks and updates Julians Assange’s extradition appeal. 

Daniel Hale is another persecuted whistleblower, who released important information showing the massive number of civilians murdered by the US drone program. Hale appeared in the documentary ‘National Bird,’ but was not prosecuted for leaking the information until years later. 

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Kevin Gosztola is managing editor at Shadowproof, host of the “Dissenter Weekly,” and co-host of the podcast “Unauthorized Disclosure.”