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On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Candace Rondeaux, the author of Putin's Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia's Collapse into Mercenary Chaos. She serves as the Senior Director for the Future Frontlines and Planetary Politics programs at New America, and is a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Previously, she advised the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and served as the South Asia bureau chief for The Washington Post. Our conversation today discussed the origins of the Wagner Group, the role of mercenaries in Russia's national security strategy, and more. You can purchase the book, which was released May 13, here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/candace-rondeaux/putins-sledgehammer/9781541703087/?lens=publicaffairs
Join Jim and Greg for Wednesday's 3 Martini Lunch as they discuss the mounting economic pressure on China from President Trump's new tariffs, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's decision not to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff, and explosive findings that the Taliban is making billions selling abandoned U.S. weapons and vehicles to terrorists.First, they welcome reports that Trump's 145 percent tariffs are already hitting China hard—forcing many companies to pull out of the U.S. market, threatening millions of Chinese jobs, and sparking public protests over unpaid wages. But will this lead to any major concessions from the communist leaders in Beijing?Next, they react to Gov. Kemp's announcement that he won't run for the U.S. Senate in 2026. Kemp matched up far better against Ossoff than any other likely Republican candidate. They examine why Kemp decided not to run and what the Senate race will look like without him.Finally, they unload on new findings from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), revealing that the Taliban is making billions by selling the military equipment the U.S. abandoned in Afghanistan to terror groups, including Al Qaeda affiliates. Jim and Greg blast both the Biden administration's epic failures and empty promises, warning that this predictable disaster now poses grave new threats.Please visit our great sponsors:This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. We're all better with help. Visithttps://BetterHelp.com/3ML to get 10% off your first month.This spring, get up to 50% off select plants at Fast Growing Trees with code MARTINI, plus anextra 15% off at checkout on your first purchase! Visit https://fastgrowingtrees.com/MartiniFuture-proof business operations with NetSuite by Oracle. Visit https://NetSuite.com/MARTINI todownload the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning.
The pandemic is long behind the country. And now the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery is about to sunset. But not before issuing a final report to Congress. One members ought to pay attention to. The government faces big losses yet to come in the Main Street Lending Program. Highlights now from the assistant inspector general for pandemic recovery, Geoff Cherrington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The pandemic is long behind the country. And now the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery is about to sunset. But not before issuing a final report to Congress. One members ought to pay attention to. The government faces big losses yet to come in the Main Street Lending Program. Highlights now from the assistant inspector general for pandemic recovery, Geoff Cherrington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
John Sopko was the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) who revealed the shocking truth about tens of billions of our tax dollars misspent in Afghanistan. He also made a lot of powerful enemies among those exposed by his audits. I interviewed him for my TV program Full Measure as he prepared to wind his office down early, since we aren't spending as much in Afghanistan anymore. Order Sharyl's national bestseller: “Follow the $cience.” Subscribe to my two podcasts: “The Sharyl Attkisson Podcast” and “Full Measure After Hours.” Leave a review, subscribe and share with your friends! Support independent journalism by visiting the Sharyl Attkisson store.
John Sopko was the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) who revealed the shocking truth about tens of billions of our tax dollars misspent in Afghanistan. He also made a lot of powerful enemies among those exposed by his audits. I interviewed him for my TV program Full Measure as he prepared to wind his office down early, since we aren't spending as much in Afghanistan anymore. Order Sharyl's national bestseller: “Follow the $cience.” Subscribe to my two podcasts: “The Sharyl Attkisson Podcast” and “Full Measure After Hours.” Leave a review, subscribe and share with your friends! Support independent journalism by visiting the Sharyl Attkisson store.
After spending two decades in Afghanistan, the government has accumulated a lot of lessons learned. In fact, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has published 13 chapters of lessons learned. The latest one concerns personnel practices in Afghanistan activities. Basically, everyone who ever worked there said personnel practices were terrible. We get more now from SIGAR's deputy director for lessons learned, David Young. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
After spending two decades in Afghanistan, the government has accumulated a lot of lessons learned. In fact, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has published 13 chapters of lessons learned. The latest one concerns personnel practices in Afghanistan activities. Basically, everyone who ever worked there said personnel practices were terrible. We get more now from SIGAR's deputy director for lessons learned, David Young. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryWhat does the name Taimaka mean?To what extent are there challenges, as an organization, when you aim for evidence-based decision-making?What kind of culture is needed to truly live the aspiration of being evidence-based?In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Dr. Umar Abubakar and Justin Graham, co-founders and co-directors of The Taimaka Project -- an NGO working in Gombe state, Nigeria, on what happens when a start-up nonprofit wants to nurture an evidence-based culture.Umar Abubakar's Bio:Co-founder and director, Taimaka Project, an NGO working on child malnutrition in Gombe state, NigeriaMedical doctor, Ministry of Health, NigeriaUmar has degrees in clinical medicine as well as public healthHe runs the medical side of Taimaka's malnutrition programUmar manages Taimaka's team of nutrition care specialists, oversees hospital partners, and ensures that patients receive the best possible standard of careJustin's Bio:Co-founder and director, Taimaka ProjectWorked in the past for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan ReconstructionFormer intern at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)Justin oversees technology, finance, and innovation at TaimakaHe handles Taimaka's tech portfolio and manages in-house digital case management database We discuss: Taimaka Project is a start-up NGO working on child malnutrition in Gombe state in N-W Nigeria.Taimaka Project stands out in how much attention it gives to rigorous evaluation of its program treatment methods (in this case with regard to child malnutrition related interventions). Using this approach entails the following question: what is the most amount of impact we can ‘produce' or contribute to, per dollar spent? This can come across as utilitarian to some, and a vigorous discussion about the ethical trade-offs of such an approach is always a good thingIf you want to promote an evidence-based culture, what does this entail? One facet: when you are told you are wrong, whether you are a leader or staff, you should take this personally. Taimaka regularly collaborates with academics on rigorous program evaluation. What are the ins and outs of working with academics, as a practitioner organization?Taimaka is also shifting from a start-up into a ramp-up phase and is currently experiencing fast growth. What does this imply for policies, systems, and processes that now need to be built or adapted, and how do we preserve what is precious about the org's culture? Quotes:· “We go a layer deeper in our measurement and evaluation” Resources:Dr. Abubakar's LinkedIn ProfileJustin's LinkedIn ProfileJustin's EmailThe Taimaka Project (sign up for their email newsletter if you want insight into their evaluation and (cost) effective measurement approaches)Tamaika LinkedIn Business Page YouTube video Click
In this enlightening episode of The Digital Executive, host Brian Thomas engages with Refael Kubersky, a distinguished figure in international relations with a rich background working for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and a passion for migration technology and the global rise of populism. A Georgetown School of Foreign Service alumnus, Kubersky shares his journey from public policy to documentary filmmaking, highlighting the human impacts of U.S. foreign policy through his work on the documentary "Allies Left Behind," which sheds light on the plight of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during its two-decade presence in Afghanistan but were left behind due to bureaucratic visa processes.Kubersky also delves into the critical role of technology in diplomacy and global governance, exemplified by the U.S. research monkey shortage crisis post-COVID-19, underscoring the importance of international cooperation and technological advancements in addressing global challenges. Through his experiences and insights, Kubersky offers invaluable advice for those aspiring to enter the field of international relations, emphasizing the importance of broad experiences, understanding foreign cultures, and the critical analysis of technology's influence on information dissemination and public policy. Join us as we explore the intersections of technology, accountability, and global diplomacy with Refael Kubersky on The Digital Executive.
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. Rowdy Christian Merch Plug: If you’re a fan of CrossPolitic, or the Fight Laugh Feast Network, then surely, you know we have a merch store right? Rowdy Christian Merch is your one-stop-shop for everything CrossPolitc merchandise. We’ve got T-Shirts, hoodies, hats, but we’ve also got specialty items like backpacks, mugs, coffee, even airpod cases! Visit Rowdy Christian Merch at rowdychristian.com, and buy that next gift, or a little something for yourself. Again, that’s rowdychristian.com. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/desantis-replaces-campaign-manager-amid-low-polling DeSantis launches major shakeup, replaces presidential campaign manager amid low polling In a major shakeup weeks in the making, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announced Tuesday it had replaced its campaign manager amid low polling in the 2024 GOP primary. DeSantis' gubernatorial chief of staff James Uthmeier replaced campaign manager Generra Peck, DeSantis' team confirmed to The Hill. Peck will now work as the campaign's chief strategist. "People have written Governor DeSantis’s obituary many times," Uthmeier told The Messenger. "He’s breaking records on fundraising and has a supporting super PAC with $100 million in the bank and an incredible ground game. Get ready." Additionally, David Polyansky, former chief of staff for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, will also join the campaign after serving as an adviser at the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC. "David Polyansky will also be a critical addition to the team given his presidential campaign experience in Iowa and work at Never Back Down," DeSantis' communications director Andrew Romeo said. Republican strategist and former Trump adviser Roger Stone predicted that 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will completely run out of money by the first of October. The largest donor to the Florida governor said earlier this week that he was going to hold off funding until DeSantis could appeal more to moderates. Trump is ahead of DeSantis in Republican primary polls with 53.2% to the Florida Republican's 15.1%, according to an average of polls analyzed by FiveThirtyEight. The staffing changes come after the DeSantis campaign laid off more than one-third of its employees last month. https://bongino.com/electric-vehicle-company-heavily-promoted-by-biden-admin-goes-bankrupt Electric Vehicle Company Heavily Promoted by Biden Admin Goes Bankrupt Proterra, an electric bus manufacturing company promoted by the Biden administration, had everything it needed to succeed - and failed anyway. As the Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross reported: Proterra cited "various market and macroeconomic headwinds" in a Chapter 11 filing on Monday, which came after the California-based firm cut hundreds of jobs earlier this year and restructured hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding debt. Proterra stood to rake in millions from Biden's infrastructure and green energy initiatives, the former of which included at least $5 billion in spending on electric buses alone. Biden's flagship climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, also includes spending to help cities convert from diesel buses to electric buses, a major incentive for companies like Proterra. JoAnn Covington, Proterra's chief legal officer, acknowledged last year that tax credits and federal grants under Biden's bills were a major incentive for the company. Grants to purchase electric buses and to create electric vehicle charging infrastructure would "open up opportunities to accelerate adoption of battery-electric and zero-emissions vehicles to all the other commercial segments on the cusp of being electrified," Covington said. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm held non-public shares of proterra, which she sold in mid 2021 to an undisclosed buyer, pocketing over a $1 million profit in the process. She pledged to disclose the buyer, but never did. Proterra's stock only crashed from there, and Granholm’s 240,000 shares would be worth roughly $60,000 total as of writing, had she still held them. Earlier this year in February, Proterra’s CEO Gareth Joyce was appointed by Biden to his Export Council. The year prior, Biden hosted a virtual White House event that spotlighted Proterra’s business, which included the president of the company giving a virtual tour of the company’s manufacturing facility. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/biden-admin-has-given-2-35-billion-to-taliban-controlled-afghanistan/ Biden Admin Has Given $2.35 Billion to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan The Biden administration has provided more than $2.35 billion in taxpayer dollars to Afghanistan since the Taliban retook control of the government in 2021 following a deadly U.S. evacuation. The United States remains Afghanistan’s top patron, even as lawmakers and federal oversight officials warn that these funds could be propping up the Taliban’s terrorist government. Updated spending figures were disclosed Tuesday in a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a federal watchdog that documents waste, fraud, and abuse related to U.S. expenditures in the war-torn country. Around $1.7 billion "remained available for possible disbursement" at the time of SIGAR’s report, meaning that this money is ready to flow into non-profit groups and other entities working on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. With the Taliban exerting control over nearly every sector of the country’s infrastructure—including the NGO community—it is more than likely that a sizable portion of these funds will end up in the terror group’s coffers. The latest figures are certain to increase congressional pressure on the Biden administration to stop sending taxpayer funds into Afghanistan until officials can ensure the Taliban is not stealing the money. John Sopko, head of SIGAR, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in April that he "cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban." Sopko also accused the Biden administration of blocking his investigatory efforts and refusing to hand over documents that could show if the Taliban is being propped up by American cash. In the two years since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan following the Biden administration's withdrawal of American forces in 2021, it has become increasingly clear that the terrorist group views international assistance as a "revenue stream," according to SIGAR’s latest report. The United States Institute of Peace recently warned the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary vehicle for U.S. spending in Afghanistan, that the Taliban is "pushing for ever-increasing degrees of credit and control over the delivery of aid." United Nations officials also disclosed to the watchdog that "the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming." This reality is raising questions about the nearly $2 billion in funds the Biden administration has made available for disbursement in the country. As U.S. aid money flows to the country, "Taliban interference with NGO work escalated, leading to a steady decline in humanitarian access in 2023, with a 32 percent increase in incidents between January and May 2023 as compared to the same period in 2022," according to the report. The Taliban government also has not moderated its jihadi principles since seizing the country. As SIGAR and congressional oversight committees raise concerns about the Biden administration’s push to pump money into Afghanistan, the government agencies in control of these expenditures are not cooperating with investigations. Sopko revealed in April that the "the Department of State, USAID, the U.N., and other agencies are refusing to give us basic information that we or any other oversight body would need to ensure safe stewardship of tax dollars." Sopko revealed in April that the "the Department of State, USAID, the U.N., and other agencies are refusing to give us basic information that we or any other oversight body would need to ensure safe stewardship of tax dollars." "More troubling," he added, "State and USAID have instructed their employees not to talk to SIGAR, and in one recent instance, State told one of its contractors not to participate in a SIGAR audit." The White House also would not cooperate with SIGAR. Congress has had similar experiences, with USAID declining to tell investigators what safeguards were put in place to ensure taxpayer cash is not stolen by the Taliban. https://nypost.com/2023/08/07/nathan-cruz-cousin-of-uvalde-school-shooter-arrested-for-threatening-school/ Cousin, 17, of Uvalde school shooter arrested for allegedly threatening ‘to do the same thing’ A cousin to Uvalde school shooter Salvador Ramos was arrested after he was accused of threatening to shoot up a school and shoot his sister in the head, according to authorities. Nathan Cruz, 17, allegedly told his sister he planned “to do the same thing” as his sicko cousin, who shot and killed 19 students and two staffers inside Robb Elementary School last year, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio officers responded to a mental health call after the teen suspect’s mother grew worried Monday morning. “The suspect’s mother was especially concerned because the suspect is currently on probation, was intoxicated at the time, and for the fact that they live near an elementary school,” the affidavit reportedly stated. Cruz also allegedly mentioned how “school is starting soon,” according to KSAT, which also obtained the warrant. Cruz reportedly denied making any threats when speaking with detectives. Cruz’s mother said she overheard her son attempting to buy an AR-15 illegally over the phone, according to the warrant. The family lives across the street from the Gardendale Early Learning Program, the newspaper reported. In addition to the school shooting threat, he also threatened to shoot his sister in the head, the mother alleged. The young man’s sister believed his threat was credible “due to the recent history of their family and the suspect’s knowledge of his cousin’s actions,” according to the San Antonio Express-News. Cruz was booked on a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to the public and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat to a family member, according to online records from the Bexar County jail. Just when you think Disney may have figured things out… https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/08/07/disney-teams-up-with-transgender-tiktok-influencer-to-promote-girls-apparel-i-literally-look-like-minnie-mouse/ Disney Teams Up with Transgender TikTok Influencer to Promote Girls Apparel The Walt Disney Co. has teamed up with a transgender TikTok influencer to promote apparel for girls — specifically, Minnie Mouse-themed clothes that include a red dress, yellow pumps, and a red hair bow. Transgender influencer Seann Altman — a biological male who identifies as “gender fluid” — created a promotional TikTok video for Disney Style, the company’s social media brand promoting Disney-themed clothing, makeup, and accessories. In the video, which was first reported by the Twitter account @LeftismForU, he provides a dress-up tutorial to look like Minnie Mouse. The video was subsequently posted to Disney Style’s official TikTok account. https://twitter.com/i/status/1688344659003629569 - Play Video As you just heard, Altman models a red dress, which he accessorizes with a white petticoat, yellow high-heel shoes, and a belt. He then adds artificial buns to his hair to simulate Minnie’s ears and tops it off with Minnie’s signature red bow. The video is the latest example of Disney promoting transgenderism and gender non-conformity. As Breitbart News reported, Disneyland recently employed a mustachioed transvestite to welcome young girls into the park’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. In the past couple of years, Disney has fought Florida over its anti-grooming Parental Rights in Education law, created multiple transgender characters for its children’s shows, put gay characters at the center of its big-budget movies, and even launched an LGBTQ-themed apparel line. In 2021, the Disney+ streaming service hosted This Is Me: Pride Celebration Spectacular, a musical special on YouTube starring drag queen Nina West, with performances of popular Disney songs re-imagined with LGBTQ themes.
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. Rowdy Christian Merch Plug: If you’re a fan of CrossPolitic, or the Fight Laugh Feast Network, then surely, you know we have a merch store right? Rowdy Christian Merch is your one-stop-shop for everything CrossPolitc merchandise. We’ve got T-Shirts, hoodies, hats, but we’ve also got specialty items like backpacks, mugs, coffee, even airpod cases! Visit Rowdy Christian Merch at rowdychristian.com, and buy that next gift, or a little something for yourself. Again, that’s rowdychristian.com. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/desantis-replaces-campaign-manager-amid-low-polling DeSantis launches major shakeup, replaces presidential campaign manager amid low polling In a major shakeup weeks in the making, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announced Tuesday it had replaced its campaign manager amid low polling in the 2024 GOP primary. DeSantis' gubernatorial chief of staff James Uthmeier replaced campaign manager Generra Peck, DeSantis' team confirmed to The Hill. Peck will now work as the campaign's chief strategist. "People have written Governor DeSantis’s obituary many times," Uthmeier told The Messenger. "He’s breaking records on fundraising and has a supporting super PAC with $100 million in the bank and an incredible ground game. Get ready." Additionally, David Polyansky, former chief of staff for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, will also join the campaign after serving as an adviser at the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC. "David Polyansky will also be a critical addition to the team given his presidential campaign experience in Iowa and work at Never Back Down," DeSantis' communications director Andrew Romeo said. Republican strategist and former Trump adviser Roger Stone predicted that 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will completely run out of money by the first of October. The largest donor to the Florida governor said earlier this week that he was going to hold off funding until DeSantis could appeal more to moderates. Trump is ahead of DeSantis in Republican primary polls with 53.2% to the Florida Republican's 15.1%, according to an average of polls analyzed by FiveThirtyEight. The staffing changes come after the DeSantis campaign laid off more than one-third of its employees last month. https://bongino.com/electric-vehicle-company-heavily-promoted-by-biden-admin-goes-bankrupt Electric Vehicle Company Heavily Promoted by Biden Admin Goes Bankrupt Proterra, an electric bus manufacturing company promoted by the Biden administration, had everything it needed to succeed - and failed anyway. As the Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross reported: Proterra cited "various market and macroeconomic headwinds" in a Chapter 11 filing on Monday, which came after the California-based firm cut hundreds of jobs earlier this year and restructured hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding debt. Proterra stood to rake in millions from Biden's infrastructure and green energy initiatives, the former of which included at least $5 billion in spending on electric buses alone. Biden's flagship climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, also includes spending to help cities convert from diesel buses to electric buses, a major incentive for companies like Proterra. JoAnn Covington, Proterra's chief legal officer, acknowledged last year that tax credits and federal grants under Biden's bills were a major incentive for the company. Grants to purchase electric buses and to create electric vehicle charging infrastructure would "open up opportunities to accelerate adoption of battery-electric and zero-emissions vehicles to all the other commercial segments on the cusp of being electrified," Covington said. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm held non-public shares of proterra, which she sold in mid 2021 to an undisclosed buyer, pocketing over a $1 million profit in the process. She pledged to disclose the buyer, but never did. Proterra's stock only crashed from there, and Granholm’s 240,000 shares would be worth roughly $60,000 total as of writing, had she still held them. Earlier this year in February, Proterra’s CEO Gareth Joyce was appointed by Biden to his Export Council. The year prior, Biden hosted a virtual White House event that spotlighted Proterra’s business, which included the president of the company giving a virtual tour of the company’s manufacturing facility. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/biden-admin-has-given-2-35-billion-to-taliban-controlled-afghanistan/ Biden Admin Has Given $2.35 Billion to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan The Biden administration has provided more than $2.35 billion in taxpayer dollars to Afghanistan since the Taliban retook control of the government in 2021 following a deadly U.S. evacuation. The United States remains Afghanistan’s top patron, even as lawmakers and federal oversight officials warn that these funds could be propping up the Taliban’s terrorist government. Updated spending figures were disclosed Tuesday in a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a federal watchdog that documents waste, fraud, and abuse related to U.S. expenditures in the war-torn country. Around $1.7 billion "remained available for possible disbursement" at the time of SIGAR’s report, meaning that this money is ready to flow into non-profit groups and other entities working on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. With the Taliban exerting control over nearly every sector of the country’s infrastructure—including the NGO community—it is more than likely that a sizable portion of these funds will end up in the terror group’s coffers. The latest figures are certain to increase congressional pressure on the Biden administration to stop sending taxpayer funds into Afghanistan until officials can ensure the Taliban is not stealing the money. John Sopko, head of SIGAR, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in April that he "cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban." Sopko also accused the Biden administration of blocking his investigatory efforts and refusing to hand over documents that could show if the Taliban is being propped up by American cash. In the two years since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan following the Biden administration's withdrawal of American forces in 2021, it has become increasingly clear that the terrorist group views international assistance as a "revenue stream," according to SIGAR’s latest report. The United States Institute of Peace recently warned the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary vehicle for U.S. spending in Afghanistan, that the Taliban is "pushing for ever-increasing degrees of credit and control over the delivery of aid." United Nations officials also disclosed to the watchdog that "the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming." This reality is raising questions about the nearly $2 billion in funds the Biden administration has made available for disbursement in the country. As U.S. aid money flows to the country, "Taliban interference with NGO work escalated, leading to a steady decline in humanitarian access in 2023, with a 32 percent increase in incidents between January and May 2023 as compared to the same period in 2022," according to the report. The Taliban government also has not moderated its jihadi principles since seizing the country. As SIGAR and congressional oversight committees raise concerns about the Biden administration’s push to pump money into Afghanistan, the government agencies in control of these expenditures are not cooperating with investigations. Sopko revealed in April that the "the Department of State, USAID, the U.N., and other agencies are refusing to give us basic information that we or any other oversight body would need to ensure safe stewardship of tax dollars." Sopko revealed in April that the "the Department of State, USAID, the U.N., and other agencies are refusing to give us basic information that we or any other oversight body would need to ensure safe stewardship of tax dollars." "More troubling," he added, "State and USAID have instructed their employees not to talk to SIGAR, and in one recent instance, State told one of its contractors not to participate in a SIGAR audit." The White House also would not cooperate with SIGAR. Congress has had similar experiences, with USAID declining to tell investigators what safeguards were put in place to ensure taxpayer cash is not stolen by the Taliban. https://nypost.com/2023/08/07/nathan-cruz-cousin-of-uvalde-school-shooter-arrested-for-threatening-school/ Cousin, 17, of Uvalde school shooter arrested for allegedly threatening ‘to do the same thing’ A cousin to Uvalde school shooter Salvador Ramos was arrested after he was accused of threatening to shoot up a school and shoot his sister in the head, according to authorities. Nathan Cruz, 17, allegedly told his sister he planned “to do the same thing” as his sicko cousin, who shot and killed 19 students and two staffers inside Robb Elementary School last year, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio officers responded to a mental health call after the teen suspect’s mother grew worried Monday morning. “The suspect’s mother was especially concerned because the suspect is currently on probation, was intoxicated at the time, and for the fact that they live near an elementary school,” the affidavit reportedly stated. Cruz also allegedly mentioned how “school is starting soon,” according to KSAT, which also obtained the warrant. Cruz reportedly denied making any threats when speaking with detectives. Cruz’s mother said she overheard her son attempting to buy an AR-15 illegally over the phone, according to the warrant. The family lives across the street from the Gardendale Early Learning Program, the newspaper reported. In addition to the school shooting threat, he also threatened to shoot his sister in the head, the mother alleged. The young man’s sister believed his threat was credible “due to the recent history of their family and the suspect’s knowledge of his cousin’s actions,” according to the San Antonio Express-News. Cruz was booked on a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to the public and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat to a family member, according to online records from the Bexar County jail. Just when you think Disney may have figured things out… https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/08/07/disney-teams-up-with-transgender-tiktok-influencer-to-promote-girls-apparel-i-literally-look-like-minnie-mouse/ Disney Teams Up with Transgender TikTok Influencer to Promote Girls Apparel The Walt Disney Co. has teamed up with a transgender TikTok influencer to promote apparel for girls — specifically, Minnie Mouse-themed clothes that include a red dress, yellow pumps, and a red hair bow. Transgender influencer Seann Altman — a biological male who identifies as “gender fluid” — created a promotional TikTok video for Disney Style, the company’s social media brand promoting Disney-themed clothing, makeup, and accessories. In the video, which was first reported by the Twitter account @LeftismForU, he provides a dress-up tutorial to look like Minnie Mouse. The video was subsequently posted to Disney Style’s official TikTok account. https://twitter.com/i/status/1688344659003629569 - Play Video As you just heard, Altman models a red dress, which he accessorizes with a white petticoat, yellow high-heel shoes, and a belt. He then adds artificial buns to his hair to simulate Minnie’s ears and tops it off with Minnie’s signature red bow. The video is the latest example of Disney promoting transgenderism and gender non-conformity. As Breitbart News reported, Disneyland recently employed a mustachioed transvestite to welcome young girls into the park’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. In the past couple of years, Disney has fought Florida over its anti-grooming Parental Rights in Education law, created multiple transgender characters for its children’s shows, put gay characters at the center of its big-budget movies, and even launched an LGBTQ-themed apparel line. In 2021, the Disney+ streaming service hosted This Is Me: Pride Celebration Spectacular, a musical special on YouTube starring drag queen Nina West, with performances of popular Disney songs re-imagined with LGBTQ themes.
The Biden regime has been secretly funnelling a whopping $2.35 billion of taxpayer money to the Taliban over the past two years, according to a bombshell report by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
Sometimes the Beltway lingo collapses under the weight of its own idiocy. Yesterday was such a day when Congressman Michael Waltz asked USAID Director Samantha Powers if U.S. money was going to terrorists in Afghanistan. The Director reframed his "yes or no" question into "Congressman, I think you are asking for more visibility into the granularity' of U.N. controls on American aid dollars." He wasn't, and he said so, but wow, what a phrase. Plus Senator Josh Hawley talks about his new book "Manhood."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction says the State Dept. is guilty of "the worst I have seen in transparency” in his 20 years of bipartisan oversight. Subscribe to my two podcasts: “The Sharyl Attkisson Podcast” and “Full Measure After Hours.” Leave a review, subscribe and share with your friends! Support independent journalism by visiting the new Sharyl Attkisson store. Order “Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism” by Sharyl Attkisson at Harper Collins, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, IndieBound, Bookshop! Visit JustTheNews.com, SharylAttkisson.com and www.FullMeasure.news for original reporting. Do your own research. Make up your own mind. Think for yourself.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
While Eliot is on travel Eric welcomes LTG Sami Sadat whose poignant op-ed in the New York Times in August 2021 about the fall of Afghanistan described his personal feelings of betrayal by the US. He is a major figure in the National Geographic documentary Retrograde now airing on Disney+. They discuss the Biden Administration's recent "Interim Report on Lessons Learned from the Afghanistan Withdrawal" and the contrast between it and the report of the Special Inspector General on Afghanistan, the relative responsibility of the Trump and Biden Administrations, the flaws in the Doha Agreement and the role that contractors played in sustaining Afghan National Security Forces. They also discuss the current humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan and the country's future prospects. Lt. Gen Sami Sadat's 2021 Op-Ed: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/opinion/afghanistan-taliban-army.html Biden Administration Interim Report the Afghanistan Withdrawal: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/US-Withdrawal-from-Afghanistan.pdf SIGAR Report on the Afghan Security Forces Collapse: https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/evaluations/SIGAR-23-16-IP.pdf Retrograde Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CufeaxpsTTQ 1208 Foundation Website: https://www.1208foundation.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
While Eliot is on travel Eric welcomes LTG Sami Sadat whose poignant op-ed in the New York Times in August 2021 about the fall of Afghanistan described his personal feelings of betrayal by the US. He is a major figure in the National Geographic documentary Retrograde now airing on Disney+. They discuss the Biden Administration's recent "Interim Report on Lessons Learned from the Afghanistan Withdrawal" and the contrast between it and the report of the Special Inspector General on Afghanistan, the relative responsibility of the Trump and Biden Administrations, the flaws in the Doha Agreement and the role that contractors played in sustaining Afghan National Security Forces. They also discuss the current humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan and the country's future prospects. Lt. Gen Sami Sadat's 2021 Op-Ed: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/opinion/afghanistan-taliban-army.html Biden Administration Interim Report the Afghanistan Withdrawal: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/US-Withdrawal-from-Afghanistan.pdf SIGAR Report on the Afghan Security Forces Collapse: https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/evaluations/SIGAR-23-16-IP.pdf Retrograde Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CufeaxpsTTQ 1208 Foundation Website: https://www.1208foundation.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 4: In bombshell testimony on Wednesday, John Sopko—the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)—told the House Oversight Committee, “as I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban…Nor can I assure you that the Taliban are not diverting the money we are sending from the intended recipients, which are the poor Afghan people.” You can read more about the testimony here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/19/politics/afghanistan-congress-watchdog-hearing/index.html While speaking in North Charleston, South Carolina as part of his Florida Blueprint tour, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated, “a man in a dress is not a woman.” Last month, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board documented a “strange house call” the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made to independent journalist Matt Taibbi's home—unannounced “the same day Mr. Taibbi testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” The WSJ Editorial Board writes, “[t]he taxman left a note instructing Mr. Taibbi to call the IRS four days later. Mr. Taibbi was told in a call with the agent that both his 2018 and 2021 tax returns had been rejected…the curious timing of this visit, on the heels of the FTC demand that Twitter turn over names of journalists, raises questions about potential intimidation.” Today, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) confronted IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel about the aforementioned “visit” during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Read the full editorial here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/irs-matt-taibbi-twitter-files-jim-jordan-daniel-werfel-lina-khan-84ee518?mod=hp_opin_pos_2#cxrecs_s
The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (04/19/2023): 3:05pm- On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. During questioning, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) quoted a recent New York Times article documenting the Biden Administration ignoring multiple warnings that migrant children were being exploited for labor. Sen. Hawley stated that Sec. Mayorkas should resign for putting the lives of innocent children in danger. You can read Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Hannah Dreier's report here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/us/politics/migrant-child-labor-biden.html 3:10pm- During an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, billionaire Elon Musk alarmingly explained that, prior to his acquisition of Twitter, government agencies had access to the private direct messages of users on the social media platform. 3:20pm- During a House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-GA) asked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky about statements she made in March 2021—she had claimed, “vaccinated people don't carry the virus, they don't get sick.” Dr. Walensky explained that discrepancy between her optimistic claims in 2021 and reality were due to “an evolution of science.” 3:30pm- On Wednesday, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition. Unfortunately, Sen. Fetterman seemed unwell. 3:45pm- While appearing before a House Appropriations Committee, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Lawrence Tabak said he believes COVID-19 originated via a zoonotic transfer that occurred naturally. Is it just us, or does he sound exactly like Frank Pentangeli from The Godfather Part II? “I don't know nothing about that!” 4:05pm- During a Homeland Security and Immigration hearing on Capitol Hill, Senator Rand Paul stated: “DHS even put out a video encouraging children to report their own family members to Facebook for disinformation if they challenged US government narratives on COVID-19. Does that not sound like something out of 1984? Does that not sound like something out of Stalin's Russia?” He went on to accuse the U.S. government of disseminating misinformation regarding COVID-19. 4:10pm- While appearing on Fox News with Laura Ingraham, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) accused Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of having facilitated “the biggest child trafficking ring in U.S. history.” 4:15pm- Rich continues to marvel over the similarities between National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Lawrence Tabak's answers to Congressional questions about the origins of COVID-19 and Frank Pentangeli's responses to a Senate investigation hearing in The Godfather Part II. 4:30pm- In an article on his Substack—The Disinformation Chronicle—Paul Thacker documents how Dr. Anthony Fauci and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “created an earworm in the intelligence community with lyrics bent against a Chinese lab accident.” You can read the full article here: https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/the-wuhan-road-show-forming-a-band 4:45pm- Netflix announces they will discontinue its DVD mailing business and will also begin to crack-down on password sharing. 5:05pm- The Drive at 5: Dr. Wilfred Reilly—Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University & Author of “Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About”—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his most recent article on National Review, “We Need a Revenge of the Jocks.” Dr. Reilly writes, “Tennessee state representative Justin Pearson became famous as one of the so-called Tennessee Three, a small group of state lawmakers who led a mob into the legislative chamber during business hours. Pearson and another Justin (Jones), who disrupted the session with bullhorns, found themselves thrown out of the legislature (before being reinstated shortly thereafter). A bespectacled black dude known for his Afro hairdo and histrionic arm movements while speaking, Pearson always struck me as a Dollar General Malcolm X. But, the past few weeks have provided a deeper revelation about him: It's all an act.” Why are we incentivizing people to veer away from normalcy? Dr. Reilly argues, “[t]he focus of mainstream conservatism in the near term should be to re-normalize normalcy and to counter the institutions promoting division as a virtue.” You can read the full article right now: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/04/we-need-a-revenge-of-the-jocks/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured-content-trending&utm_term=first 5:30pm- In a Wall Street Journal exclusive report, Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber write, “[a]n IRS supervisor has told lawmakers he has information that suggests the Biden administration is improperly handling the criminal investigation into President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and is seeking whistleblower protections… The supervisor has details that show ‘preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected.'” You can read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/irs-whistleblower-says-u-s-is-mishandling-hunter-biden-probe-7cd127f2?mod=hp_lead_pos7 5:40pm- Matt reveals his favorite comedy of all time is “This is the End”—Rich yells at him, but then concedes he has never seen the film. 6:05pm- In bombshell testimony on Wednesday, John Sopko—the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)—told the House Oversight Committee, “as I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban…Nor can I assure you that the Taliban are not diverting the money we are sending from the intended recipients, which are the poor Afghan people.” You can read more about the testimony here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/19/politics/afghanistan-congress-watchdog-hearing/index.html 6:30pm- While speaking in North Charleston, South Carolina as part of his Florida Blueprint tour, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated, “a man in a dress is not a woman.” 6:45pm- Last month, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board documented a “strange house call” the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made to independent journalist Matt Taibbi's home—unannounced “the same day Mr. Taibbi testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” The WSJ Editorial Board writes, “[t]he taxman left a note instructing Mr. Taibbi to call the IRS four days later. Mr. Taibbi was told in a call with the agent that both his 2018 and 2021 tax returns had been rejected…the curious timing of this visit, on the heels of the FTC demand that Twitter turn over names of journalists, raises questions about potential intimidation.” Today, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) confronted IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel about the aforementioned “visit” during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Read the full editorial here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/irs-matt-taibbi-twitter-files-jim-jordan-daniel-werfel-lina-khan-84ee518?mod=hp_opin_pos_2#cxrecs_s
How does the largest global security and defense company, with 116,000 employees worldwide, ensure the highest standards for its ethics and compliance program? This is particularly challenging amid an environment of increased regulation, geopolitical conflict, and economic uncertainty. In this episode of the Principled Podcast, host Susan Divers explores this question with Jim Byrne, Lockheed Martin's vice president for ethics and business conduct. Listen in as the two discuss how Lockheed Martin uses “force multipliers” to empower employees to create an inclusive culture, own their ethical workplace, and act when something is amiss. For a transcript of this podcast, please visit the episode page at LRN.com. Guest: Jim Byrne The Honorable James M. Byrne currently serves as Vice President, Ethics & Business Conduct, for Lockheed Martin Corporation. He is responsible for the strategic direction and operational excellence of Lockheed Martin's award-winning domestic and international ethics program and execution of the Corporation's compliance training across the enterprise. Jim is also on the Corporate Vice Presidents Contributions Committee of Lockheed Martin, established and authorized to review and approve large charitable contributions. Prior to rejoining Lockheed Martin, he served as the Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) where he led modernization initiatives and served as the chief operating officer of the federal government's second-largest Cabinet department, with some 385,000 employees in VA medical centers, clinics, benefits offices, national cemeteries, and other facilities throughout the country. Previously, Mr. Byrne served as VA's General Counsel, leading VA's nationwide team of nearly 800 attorneys, paralegals, and staff who support VA's mission and priorities by providing sound legal expertise, representation, and, as needed, critical problem-solving skills and risk-management advice to the Secretary and other senior VA leaders. Before arriving at VA, Mr. Byrne served as Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at Lockheed Martin Corporation. He also served for several years on the board of directors for Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE) when it was a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Byrne served in the career Federal Senior Executive Service as Deputy Special Counsel with the Office of the United States Special Counsel, and as both the General Counsel and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations with the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Soon after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Mr. Byrne was recalled to active duty for 18 months with the U.S. Marine Corps in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Lieutenant Colonel James Byrne was assigned as the Officer-in- charge of the Marine Liaison Office at the then-National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Colonel Byrne led teams of Marines, stationed in DC-metro-area military hospitals and Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, who were responsible for supporting injured and deceased Marines, Sailors, and their families. Mr. Byrne has over 25 years of experience in the public sector, including service as a forward deployed Marine Corps Infantry Officer and a U.S. Department of Justice international narcotics prosecutor. Mr. Byrne's professional honors include several DOJ awards and The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator's Award for Exceptional Service. He is also a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism and several military decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal. Mr. Byrne also currently serves as a Proxy Holder – Outside Board Director for Rancher Government Solutions, a company that delivers secure and certified open source and cloud-native software for the United States Government adopting DevSecOps across the IT landscape. His past professional engagements include director and advisory board positions on several startup companies, and service on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy & Integrity Advisory Committee and the International Association of Privacy Professionals Board of Directors (Chairman). Jim is very active in his church and community and prioritizes mentoring veterans. He currently volunteers on the American Association of Suicidology Board of Directors, the Navy - Marine Corps Relief Society Advisory Board, Veterans Moving Forward Board of Directors, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance Board of Directors, Victor Bravo Board of Directors and the Give an Hour Executive Board. Mr. Byrne is a Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Midshipman Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received an engineering degree and, ultimately, held the top leadership position of Brigade Commander. Mr. Byrne later earned his Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida, where was awarded a public service fellowship. He started his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Malcolm J. Howard, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina. Host: Susan Divers Susan Divers is the director of thought leadership and best practices with LRN Corporation. She brings 30+ years' accomplishments and experience in the ethics and compliance arena to LRN clients and colleagues. This expertise includes building state-of-the-art compliance programs infused with values, designing user-friendly means of engaging and informing employees, fostering an embedded culture of compliance, and sharing substantial subject matter expertise in anti-corruption, export controls, sanctions, and other key areas of compliance. Prior to joining LRN, Mrs. Divers served as AECOM's Assistant General for Global Ethics & Compliance and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer. Under her leadership, AECOM's ethics and compliance program garnered six external awards in recognition of its effectiveness and Mrs. Divers' thought leadership in the ethics field. In 2011, Mrs. Divers received the AECOM CEO Award of Excellence, which recognized her work in advancing the company's ethics and compliance program. Before joining AECOM, she worked at SAIC and Lockheed Martin in the international compliance area. Prior to that, she was a partner with the DC office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. She also spent four years in London and is qualified as a Solicitor to the High Court of England and Wales, practicing in the international arena with the law firms of Theodore Goddard & Co. and Herbert Smith & Co. She also served as an attorney in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the Department of State and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the UN working on the first anti-corruption multilateral treaty initiative. Mrs. Divers is a member of the DC Bar and a graduate of Trinity College, Washington D.C. and of the National Law Center of George Washington University. In 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Ethisphere Magazine listed her as one the “Attorneys Who Matter” in the ethics & compliance area. She is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Rutgers University Center for Ethical Behavior and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Practical Training from 2005-2008. She resides in Northern Virginia and is a frequent speaker, writer and commentator on ethics and compliance topics.
Eric flies solo in this episode (while Eliot is traveling in Europe) and hosts guest Paul D. Miller, Professor of Practice in International Affairs at Georgetown University and former NSC Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Bush 43 Administration. They discuss the recent Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report on the collapse of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in August of 2021 and attempt to assess the roles of the Trump and Biden Administrations in the debacle. They cover the diplomatic malpractice involved in reaching and implementing the Doha Agreement between the US and the Taliban, the repeated failure of US efforts to train foreign military forces to be self-sustaining, and the possible alternatives that might have been pursued to hold the Taliban at bay. They also discuss Paul's new book, The Religion of American Greatness: What Is Wrong WIth Christian Nationalism? (InterVarsity Press, 2022) and touch on American identity and the US role in the world, the universalism of the American creed, how Christian nationalism is related to isolationism, democracy promotion and the role of history and heritage in American life. https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/evaluations/SIGAR-23-16-IP.pdf https://www.amazon.com/Religion-American-Greatness-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1514000261 https://www.thebulwark.com/afghanistans-terrorist-future/ https://www.thebulwark.com/the-catastrophic-u-s-exit-from-afghanistan/ https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/eric-edelman-v/ https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/transcript/eric-edelman-v-transcript/ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2016.1145588 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592318.2013.857935 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Eric flies solo in this episode (while Eliot is traveling in Europe) and hosts guest Paul D. Miller, Professor of Practice in International Affairs at Georgetown University and former NSC Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Bush 43 Administration. They discuss the recent Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report on the collapse of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in August of 2021 and attempt to assess the roles of the Trump and Biden Administrations in the debacle. They cover the diplomatic malpractice involved in reaching and implementing the Doha Agreement between the US and the Taliban, the repeated failure of US efforts to train foreign military forces to be self-sustaining, and the possible alternatives that might have been pursued to hold the Taliban at bay. They also discuss Paul's new book, The Religion of American Greatness: What Is Wrong WIth Christian Nationalism? (InterVarsity Press, 2022) and touch on American identity and the US role in the world, the universalism of the American creed, how Christian nationalism is related to isolationism, democracy promotion and the role of history and heritage in American life. https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/evaluations/SIGAR-23-16-IP.pdf https://www.amazon.com/Religion-American-Greatness-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1514000261 https://www.thebulwark.com/afghanistans-terrorist-future/ https://www.thebulwark.com/the-catastrophic-u-s-exit-from-afghanistan/ https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/eric-edelman-v/ https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/transcript/eric-edelman-v-transcript/ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2016.1145588 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592318.2013.857935 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On COI #391, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman discuss the former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's comments that Washington is making the same mistakes it did in Afghanistan as a result of pouring tens of billions of dollars in aid and weapons into Ukraine, the latest Ukrainian drone attacks inside the Russian mainland, the US Congress reaffirming its support for starvation sanctions on Syria in the wake of an earthquake which killed thousands, the US-Israeli ramp-up for war with Iran, and the increase in major European anti war protests. Odysee Rumble Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash Qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Patreon Subscribe Star YouTube Facebook Twitter MeWe Apple Podcast Amazon Music Google Podcasts Spotify iHeart Radio
On COI #391, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman discuss the former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's comments that Washington is making the same mistakes it did in Afghanistan as a result of pouring tens of billions of dollars in aid and weapons into Ukraine, the latest Ukrainian drone attacks inside the Russian mainland, the US Congress reaffirming its support for starvation sanctions on Syria in the wake of an earthquake which killed thousands, the US-Israeli ramp-up for war with Iran, and the increase in major European anti war protests.
Bill Gates has acquired a minority stake in Heineken Holding NV, the controlling shareholder of the world's second-largest brewer, for about $902 million. A report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found President Joe Biden's deadly Afghan withdrawal in 2021 left at least $7.2 billion worth of military equipment under Taliban control, including missiles, aircraft, biometric devices, and communications gear. According to historian and filmmaker Amity Shlaes, modern America under President Joe Biden is not all that different from the America that then-President Calvin Coolidge, a Republican, faced when he took office in 1923. Plus more on today's episode.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction issued his report on the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling America's longest war a $145 billion failure. 5) SIGAR calls 20-year Afghanistan adventure a “total, epic, predestined failure”; 4) Target reports $600 million drop in gross margin this year due to “organized retail crime”; 3) San Francisco can't keep streets clean, but launches guaranteed income program for transgenders; 2) Pfizer and Moderna launch trials to determine long-term side effects to COVID jabs; 1) Sheep at farm in China mysteriously walk in clockwise circle for twelve days without stopping.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction issued his report on the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling America's longest war a $145 billion failure.5) SIGAR calls 20-year Afghanistan adventure a “total, epic, predestined failure”; 4) Target reports $600 million drop in gross margin this year due to “organized retail crime”; 3) San Francisco can't keep streets clean, but launches guaranteed income program for transgenders; 2) Pfizer and Moderna launch trials to determine long-term side effects to COVID jabs; 1) Sheep at farm in China mysteriously walk in clockwise circle for twelve days without stopping.
This episode contemplates lessons learned from America’s twenty years of war in Afghanistan. To do so, we're joined by Dr. Carter Malkasian, author of The American War in Afghanistan: A History, and James Cunningham, a senior analyst with SIGAR—the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. The discuss whether, in the year following the US withdrawal, the United States and its allies have sufficiently reflected on lessons learned from the war. They then describe various reasons why the intervention in Afghanistan failed, based on their extensive research and on-the-ground experience—to include multiple lessons from SIGAR reporting and Dr. Malkasian’s argument that the Taliban won because it fought for values close to what it means to be Afghan, including religion and resistance to occupation. Our guests conclude with policy implications we can draw from twenty years of strategy that ultimately resulted in failure. Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
In 2019, through FOIA requests and lawsuits, the Washington Post obtained hundreds of interviews conducted by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) for its Lessons Learned Program. The interviews showed that behind the scenes, U.S. military and government officials in Afghanistan presented a far gloomier picture of the war and reconstruction efforts than was presented to the American public by officials in Washington. Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock, author of "The Afghanistan Papers," joins us to talk about the Post's efforts to obtain the SIGAR interviews, the war in Afghanistan, his reporting on the U.S. Navy's "Fat Leonard" scandal, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, known by its initials as SIGAR, released an interim report last week on the reasons for the collapse of the Afghan army. To break down the report's findings, Bryce Klehm spoke with Dr. Jonathan Schroden, the research program director at the Center for Naval Analysis. Dr. Schroden is a longtime analyst of the Afghan military and has deployed or traveled to Afghanistan 13 times since 2003. He is quoted and cited several times in the latest report. They spoke about a range of topics covered in the report, including the U.S.'s efforts to build an Afghan army, the Afghan government's decisions that contributed to the collapse and the Taliban's highly effective military campaign.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Taliban fighters last year swept through Afghanistan and seized the capital in a matter of weeks. How they were able to do so and why the Afghan military collapsed so quickly has been debated ever since. A government watchdog on Wednesday released the first U.S. report on what happened. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko joins Nick Schifrin to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders
Taliban fighters last year swept through Afghanistan and seized the capital in a matter of weeks. How they were able to do so and why the Afghan military collapsed so quickly has been debated ever since. A government watchdog on Wednesday released the first U.S. report on what happened. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko joins Nick Schifrin to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders
The office of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery was created with the passage of 2020's CARES Act. A few months later, Brian P. Miller was confirmed to lead the office and has since overeen the United States Department of the Treasury's implementation of the CARES Act. As part of her reporting around the two-year anniversary of COVID-19 oversight, Courtney Bublé spoke to Miller about his time in the office and oversight of CARES Act money. In this episode, you'll hear their conversation. *** Join GovExec Daily on Clubhouse! https://www.clubhouse.com/club/govexec-daily-group?utm_medium=ch_club&utm_campaign=vlrzJwsaX-VcmRCrWGPctA-103059
The CARES Act was passed in March 2020 during the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis. With trillions of dollars at stake, the law established three entities tasked with overseeing the money going out: The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, the Congressional Oversight Commission and the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé has a package of stories on our site right now looking back at the two years of CARES Act oversight by these and other entities. She joined the show to talk about her reporting and COVID-19 oversight since early 2020. *** Join GovExec Daily on Clubhouse! https://www.clubhouse.com/club/govexec-daily-group?utm_medium=ch_club&utm_campaign=vlrzJwsaX-VcmRCrWGPctA-103059
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), John Sopko, tells us what he's investigating, and what we should do about taxpayer money we're sending to that country now that it's controlled by the Islamic extremist enemy we fought for two decades.Subscribe to my two podcasts: “The Sharyl Attkisson Podcast” and “Full Measure After Hours.” Leave a review, subscribe and share with your friends! Support independent journalism by visiting the new Sharyl Attkisson store.Order “Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism” by Sharyl Attkisson at Harper Collins, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, IndieBound, Bookshop!Visit JustTheNews.com, SharylAttkisson.com and www.FullMeasure.news for original reporting. Do your own research. Make up your own mind. Think for yourself.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The post-holiday omicron wave seems to have crested as case totals in states across the nation are beginning to fall. COVID-related deaths, however, are still high, totaling approximately 2,000 a day.The Democrats failed in the Senate to pass voting rights reforms and end the filibuster. Now there are questions of what's next for President Joe Biden's agenda.Reports indicate that in 2021 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko alerted the Department of Defense before the U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan that the Afghan air force would not survive once the military had left.And the western world is watching the border of Ukraine and Russia as Valdimir Putin continues to threaten invasion. In a press conference this week, President Joe Biden warned Russia against moving against Ukraine, but said the U.S. would not send troops in the event of invasion.Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.
State Department's IG launching investigations into Biden's Afghanistan withdrawalState Department IG to probe Biden admin's chaotic Afghanistan withdrawalThe State Department's inspector general is launching a series of investigations into the Biden administration's last diplomatic moves in Afghanistan.The reviews will focus on the State Department's Special Immigrant Visa program, Afghans processed for refugee admission into the U.S., resettlement of refugees and visa recipients, and the emergency evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, according to an Oct. 15 memo to Secretary of State Blinken first reported by Politico and confirmed by Fox News.Diana Shaw, the acting inspector general at State, told Congress that her office was launching "several oversight projects" related to the end of the U.S. military and diplomatic missions in Afghanistan. "Given the elevated interest in this work by Congress and the unique circumstances requiring coordination across the Inspector General community, I wanted to notify our committees of jurisdiction of this important work," Shaw wrote in a letter to the foreign affairs and intelligence committees of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.Other inspector's general offices, including those at the Department of Defense and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, are also likely to launch similar probes of the withdrawal, Politico reported.https://www.spreaker.com/user/9922149/state-departments-ig-launching-investiga#GoRight with Peter BoykinGoRightNews.com
The Taliban raided an ISIS-affiliated hideout in the Afghan capital Kabul killing several insurgents, hours after a deadly bombing outside the Eid Gah mosque on Sunday that left at least five people dead. No one has taken responsibility for the blast, but the rival ISIS group has ramped up attacks against the Taliban, including the Aug. 26 bombing that killed more than 169 Afghans and 13 US military personnel outside Kabul airport.Related: Former adviser Sarah Chayes: The US failed to understand how Afghans wage warThough many people dread the harsh elements of Taliban rule, the group does not bring with it a reputation of being corrupt — a stark contrast to the government it ousted — which was notoriously rife with bribery, embezzlement and graft.Related: The Taliban want international recognition. Countries are debating.The US has invested some $2 trillion in Afghanistan. Corruption and mismanagement plagued the efforts from the start.One US government agency charged with overseeing money used to rebuild Afghanistan is called SIGAR, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.John Sopko, who has led SIGAR since 2012, joined The World's host Marco Werman from Washington to discuss the years of mismanagement in the country.Marco Werman: Inspector general, your job is to sound the alarm when funds are being misused. Tell us in brief what your agency actually does.John Sopko: We're one of the independent inspectors general created by Congress. And we have audit and criminal investigative authority. And our job, as you rightfully noted, was to ferret out waste, fraud, abuse in the money spent in Afghanistan, as well as to give advice to Congress on any administration on the problems we found and how to fix them.So, knowing what you knew over the years in Afghanistan, tell me about your reaction when you saw the Taliban take over the country in August.I have to be honest, although we had predicted problems and major problems for the 10 years I'd been there with the Afghan military and the government, I think we were surprised, just like everybody else, at the speed to which the government and the military collapsed. And not only surprise, but also shock and sadness, because we knew what it meant for a lot of Afghans we had worked with over those years.In the report, SIGAR talks extensively about corruption. Can you highlight what was going on and could the US have done more to prevent it?I think the US, and we highlighted the US could have done a lot more, and actually the US contributed a lot to the corruption in Afghanistan, because we spent too much money, too fast in too small a country, with too little oversight. So, the corruption was really endemic, and we're not talking about corruption like you may see in the United States or Europe or elsewhere. We're talking about corruption that's actually baked into the system there. Money was being stolen from us and from all the other allies who contributed for years from the top, all the way down to the bottom. So, what was the attitude of the Afghan government to this kind of thing that would inevitably lead to dysfunction?The Afghan government did not take an active response to our criticism on corruption. And I think, in part, because the corruption was so endemic. They were very good at checking the box. They would create an organization, hold a conference, rename something. We were really upset, and repeatedly talked about this in our reports, with not only the [Ashraf] Ghani government, but the [Hamid] Karzai government before that. Now, this doesn't mean there weren't some honest cops — Afghan cops and prosecutors and parliamentarians and judges who tried to do something — but overall, it was a pretty pathetic response to fight corruption in that country.And what impact did that have on the government's ability to repel the Taliban ultimately?Well, ultimately it contributed to the Taliban's success, because what happened is, the Afghan people saw how corrupt and incompetent their government was, and they saw it wasn't improving. So, they lost respect for the government and support for the government. They also saw that our government was giving that money to those corrupt officials and those corrupt contractors and those corrupt warlords. So, we lost support. I imagine, John Sopko, calling this stuff out over the past decade has not made you the most popular man in Washington. How have administration officials and members of Congress responded to your reports?A lot of members of Congress responded positively and have been very supportive of us and have actually recognized, over the years, what we were doing and the warnings we were giving. Some people in the administration have done that and been very responsive. But once you start a war, it's hard to stop, and once you're in there for 20 years, then it's like changing a ship in the water, trying to slowly move it. We had some successes, but obviously, a lot of things were not taken to heart by some of the administration people. And there there was a groundswell of opposition to some of the ideas we came up with. When we first highlighted the problem of ghost soldiers and ghost police, there were a lot of nameless, faceless bureaucrats who whispered to congressmen and senators and staffers that, "Oh, SIGAR was exaggerating." Well, turned out, we weren't. And it turned out, even the Afghans admitted, for example, right before the collapse, that over 50% of the police in Helmand and other provinces never existed. So, the first US mission in Afghanistan was to get rid of al-Qaeda, then came the nation building, then came the surge and a strong desire to leave, but nothing happened until this year. How much do you think that constant pivoting led to a lack of mission focus and more corruption?I mean, the report we came out with, we've been working on summarizing all of our work in what happened over the last 20 years. We've been working on it for a year and it came out, ironically, just a day or two after the collapse of Kabul. That highlighted a number of lessons. We didn't really have a clear, articulated strategy and goal. And so, a lot of things collapsed as a result. So, instead of fighting a 20-year war, doing 20 years of reconstruction, we did it one year at a time. We really never focused our resources on the target. And that also contributed, although I think it's an equal problem, was just a lack of understanding of the political and cultural context of Afghanistan. I mean, we basically empowered the warlords who the Taliban had successfully beaten with the support of the people when we came in. And again, not understanding the context, not understanding the corrupting influence, not understanding how the Afghans hated these people, we empowered them. And, lo and behold, when you go to sleep with dogs, you wake up with fleas. And what we did here is, we made our bed with some very evil, corrupt, powerful individuals in Afghanistan who were hated by the people. So, John, Congress has called for a review of the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and its military. How do you think Congress will react to its own findings? Will officials be more likely to listen this time around?Well, I hope they will. I mean, Congress has asked us to answer a number of critical questions to do these. I mean, they've asked us to explain, "Why did the Afghan military collapse so quickly? Why did the Afghan government collapse so quickly? What happened to all the money that we were shipping over there? Particularly, when did we shut off the spigots of money flowing to Afghanistan? What happened to all the weapons? What is happening to all of the women and girls who we supported and all those programs?" I think they're reaching out to us because we have a track record of speaking truth to power. We have a track record of being non-partisan. We've criticized Democrats, we've criticize Republican administrations. We just state the facts. I think a lot of people in Congress actually think we may be the best organization out there to answer those type of questions. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report.
The Honorable David M. Walker joins T.J. O'Hara, host of Deconstructed, to discuss a myriad of issues that are impacting the United States' economy. Mr. Walker is the former Comptroller General of the United States and CEO of the United States Government Accountability Office under Presidents Clinton and Bush (43). Most recently, he served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics at the United States Naval Academy. Having worked for presidents of both major parties, Mr. Walker is positioned to provide a nonpartisan assessment of what our nation is doing right and what it is doing wrong with respect to the economy. The discussion begins with the debt ceiling. What is the potential impact of the debt ceiling, which has become a recurring crisis? Should there even be a debt ceiling, or is there a more intelligent way to address the challenge? Mr. Walker clarifies the issue and offers insight into what could be done to address it in a rational way if our federally elected officials were willing to surrender using it as a political pawn. He also highlights the significant difference between our nation's funded and unfunded liabilities and provides an example at just how much “debt” each of us technically carries in that regard. Mr. Walker also examines our interest rate vulnerability and the potential inflationary spiral of the multi-trillion-dollar bills that are pending in the Legislative Branch. He shares his perspective of the pros and cons of the Infrastructure Bill and the Spending Bill that are coming up for votes. Then, the conversation turns to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Walker talks about the way the vaccination issue has been managed and offers insights into the actual statistics. He also offers suggestions for what might be a more equitable approach that would benefit everyone. Finally, T.J. asks about Afghanistan within the context of the SIGAR Reports that have been generated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. While the Special Inspector General was not a direct report to the Government Accountability Office during Mr. Walker's tenure as CEO, he did have visibility to the reports from 2003 to 2008. He reveals the disconnect between the initial mission in Afghanistan versus the untenable mission into which it evolved. He also evaluates the orchestration of the recent evacuation, including underreported elements such as the “pallets of cash” that were left behind. He also suggests the United States' international failures predate Afghanistan (beginning with Iraq). Listen to Mr. Walker's candid, inside assessment of our nation's economic challenges: those that occur naturally… and those that the Government manufacturers on our behalf. (Note: This interview was prerecorded. Prior to publication, Congress may have acted on some of the issues that were discussed.)
In 2019, through FOIA requests and lawsuits, the Washington Post obtained hundreds of interviews conducted by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) for its Lessons Learned Program. The interviews showed that behind the scenes, U.S. military and government officials in Afghanistan presented a far gloomier picture of the war and reconstruction efforts than was presented to the American public by officials in Washington. Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock, author of "The Afghanistan Papers," joins us to talk about the Post's efforts to obtain the SIGAR interviews, the war in Afghanistan, his reporting on the U.S. Navy's "Fat Leonard" scandal, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We welcome Kate Bateman, @katebatemandc), senior expert in the Afghanistan program of the United States Institute of Peace (https://www.usip.org/regions/asia/afghanistan), formerly in the Lessons Learned Program at Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (www.sigar.mil) Quarterly report by SIGAR: https://www.sigar.mil/quarterlyreports/index.aspx?SSR=6 Corruption lessons learned report : https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-16-58-LL.pdf Building the ANDSF lessons learned report: https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-17-62-LL.pdf most recent Lesson Learned report “What We Need to Learn,” distilling the insights of previous reports: https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-21-46-LL.pdf Books by Sarah Chayes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Chayes#Books_and_other_works Previous Kickback Episode on the role of Corruption in Afghanistan: https://soundcloud.com/kickback-gap/59-jodi-vittori-on-corruption-and-the-us-military-operation-in-afghanistan Recommended Podcast from Kate: https://www.cna.org/news/podcast Episodes 96 and 97.
In this bonus "thank you" episode for producers, Jen starts off the episode with an addendum to Losing Afghanistan before thanking producers and filling everyone in on the magnificence of the new Raiders stadium. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Senator Rand Paul. “SEN. RAND PAUL asks on guy Biden Administration droned, was he an aid worker or a ISIS-K operative?” America News on Youtube. Christoph Koettl, Evan Hill, Matthieu Aikins, Eric Schmitt, Ainara Tiefenthäler and Drew Jordan. September 10, 2021. “How a U.S. Drone Strike Killed the Wrong Person.” The New York Times. Producer-recommended Sources Robert Bryce. September 6, 2021. “Franklin ‘Chuck' Spinney: Author of ‘The Defense Death Spiral.'” The Power Hungry Podcast. Vinay Prasad. September 2, 2021. “The Downsides of Masking Young Students Are Real.” The Atlantic. Glenn Greenwald. August 25, 2021. “The Bizarre Refusal to Apply Cost-Benefit Analysis to COVID Debates.” Glenn Greenwald Substack. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. August 2021. What We Need to Learn: Lessons from twenty years of Afghanistan reconstruction. World Health Organization. August 21, 2020. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Children and masks. March 7, 1983. “U.S. Defense Spending: Are Billions Being Wasted?” Time Magazine. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)
Even thought the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan is coming to an end, the need for oversight isn't. With billions of federal dollars still flowing into the country, The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction thinks it'll have plenty of work to do for a long time to come. But how the work gets done will need to change. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu has details.
Host Kristin Calve sits down with Neil Barofsky, partner with Jenner & Block and head of their COVID-19 response team, to discuss what he anticipates within the financial and regulatory ...
December 19, 2019 Watch us on BitChute instead: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/unsafespace Carter discusses the Washington Posts's investigation and Freedom of Information request regarding the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's (SIGAR) Lessons Learned report. Here's a link to the series of articles he discussed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/documents-database/ YouTube link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/F9YGxHA-j3Q
It's been a tough couple of years for the Combined Federal Campaign. The national capital region raised a little over 34 million dollars during last year's campaign which fell smack dab in the middle of the longest government shutdown in history. It's a stark contrast to the years where the region raised over 60 million dollars in one year. But the CFC is confident it can bounce back. Vince Micone is the CFC chairman for the national capital region. He's also the deputy inspector general for management for the Special Inspector General for the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. He spoke with Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko about the theme for this year's campaign.
Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, joins Christiane Amanpour to discuss his recent visit to El Salvador and his work to combat climate change. John Sopko, the Special Inspector General reflects on the U.S. war in Afghanistan, peace talks with the Taliban and the future of Afghanistan's women. Our Walter Isaacson sits down with his hero and nine-time Grammy Award winner, Wynton Marsalis, about his love of Jazz and his role as Executive Producer and Composer of new film "Bolden"To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy
Widespread insecurity and corruption, weak police, slow economic growth. Those aren't the ingredients for a strong nation. But that's what characterizes Afghanistan, with which the United States has a complicated and hard-to-extract relationship. John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with highlights from a new high risk list.
For going on 20 years, Congress and the public have read with a mixture of horror and fascination the reports coming out of the inspectors general, first for Iraq and then for Afghanistan reconstruction. They've detailed hundred of billions of dollars in spending and misspending. Now President Donald Trump has proposed making the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reports secret. He called it insane that they're routinely released publicly, but the idea isn't going down too well with at least one long time good-government group. Mandy Smithberger, director of the center for defense information at the Project on Government Oversight, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for her reaction.
USIP and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) presented and discussed how the United States can improve its private-sector development and economic growth efforts in Afghanistan and in other states emerging from conflict. Participants John F. Sopko, Keynote AddressSpecial Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Scott Worden, ModeratorDirector, Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace William ByrdSenior Expert, Afghanistan, U.S. Institute of Peace Paul FishsteinLead Research Analyst, Lessons Learned Program, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Mary Louise Vitelli, Esq.President, Vitelli & Associates, and former advisor to Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.usip.org/events/aiding-afghanistans-economy-lessons-us-experience
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