WTF Happened in Afghanistan
The past week, we’ve all been watching scenes from Afghanistan in horror. After a 20 year presence, American forces departed as the Taliban took over the country with breathtaking speed. Many of you have asked me to explain what happened. There are so many angles to tell this story - we could talk about the humanitarian aspect, which in my view is the most dire. My heart breaks for the allies who risked their lives to work with us whom we have now left behind, and the countless young girls and women now in harm's way. We could talk about what went wrong, or why we were even there to begin with. We could talk about the corruption - both on the part of the Afghan government but also on our part, the military industrial complex that continues to drive our foreign policy. All these are important yet remarkably complex topics that are beyond the scope of what I can offer. But I will say, in the coming weeks, as you see blame being passed around, do your own homework rather than for one sided explanations. Be wary of simple answers, because if one thing is for sure, this is far from simple.
In this WTF video, I won’t cover what’s happening right now. There are plenty of journalists doing great work breaking that down for us (Mosheh is one that I recommend following for that). I’ve decided to focus on what I do best - the history. See, most accounts you will find on the US in Afghanistan start with 9/11, but in reality, it goes back way farther than that. I am going to tell you the story of the Mujahideen.
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LEARN
Mosheh Oinounou: Breaks down the top news story, provides context, balanced and fair reporting, shows various perspectives
You Can’t Build Others’ Nations: Nathan Gardels argues that Biden is right to stick to his lack of guns in Afghanistan and think strategically about protecting the liberal order where it still exists in Noema Magazine. (full disclosure: I work there)
We Failed Afghanistan, Not the Other Way Around: In my opinion, one of the most important articles you’ll read. Covers the tyranny of the military industrial complex and why we don’t go to war for the reasons we think we do.
Afghanistan is Not Vietnam: As someone who has grown up with a family who experienced this conflict first hand, I appreciated my friend for writing this piece. This is not to say that one is/was worse than the other, but rather, to highlight the fact that these are two completely different conflicts, in different countries with different histories, cultures and stories. “To draw an analogy between Kabul and Saigon”, Jason writes, “is to see both situations solely through an American-centric lens that elides all the details and leaves a surface-level analogy of limited use except to generate clicks or score political points.”