Podcasts about trump administration

“We maintain the peace through our strength, weakness only invites aggression. This strategy of deterrence has not changed. It still works. But what it takes to maintain deterrence has changed. “ - President Ronald Reagan ." On day one, the Biden Administration dismantled the Trump Administration's policies to secure and protect the integrity of our southern border.  As a result, we have seen the number of encounters at the border rise to unprecedented heights, making this a humanitarian, public health and national security crisis.  As Texas Senator Ted Cruz stated, there are three decisions that instigated this crisis: The cancellation of the construction of the Border Wall The reinstatement of the failed Catch-and-Released policy   The termination of the international Remain in Mexico agreement  The Department of Homeland Security is anticipating the release of up to 400,000 illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico Border in this month alone. The Catch-and-Release numbers rose by a shocking 430,000% in August 2021 compared to August 2020.  Though much time has passed, Reagan's statement holds true: “we maintain the peace through our strength, weakness only invites aggression.” We hope that you tune in to hear more about the crisis on our southern border, as well as the thoughts of our grassroots army.  --- The Code Red Podcast explores critical national security issues through engaging discussions with experts, story telling of past events, and conversations with Legislators. We investigate the issues that threaten our sovereignty with in-depth analyses on how the decisions of our leaders impact America's safety. Today's Episode: Hear updates on the Southern Border Crisis and sentiments from our grassroots army. The Code Red Podcast is a publication of Secure America Now, the largest national security digital platform in the country. Since the early 2010s, Secure America Now has been fighting to bring critical security issues to the forefront of the American debate. Learn more at https://www.secureamericanow.org/   Help support future episodes by giving a small donation at https://donate.secureamericanow.org/code-red-podcast

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky is the Dean of Berkeley Law at the University of California. Prior to joining Berkeley Law as the Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, Dean Chemerinsky was the founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, and Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law, at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Before that, he was the Alston and Bird Professor of Law and Political Science at Duke University. He is the author of 14 books including his new book "Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights." During this podcast, Dean Chemerinsky examines the new term Supreme Court term that began this month with three new conservative justices appointed during the Trump Administration and considers whether landmark rulings such as Roe V Wade will be overturned. He also discusses police powers, police brutality, and the George Floyd murder in the context of the Supreme Court rulings.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy Tuesday from YOUR KC Morning Show!Tuesdays on The KCMS, Hartzell and Professor Harvey Kaye Take Back America in their weekly conversation reclaiming our Radical American history.On the show today, we take a look at one of the final executive orders from the Trump Administration, The 1776 Commission. Send in your questions for next week with Professor Harvey Kaye! A Good Day To Be A Kansas Citian. Always. xoxo - @hartzell965, @harveyjkaye, & @holeyhearts

Writer Jonathan Thompson's new book, Sagebrush Empire, details the fight over public lands in Southeastern Utah. Today on the news, we speak with Thompson about the roots of this conflict, and what to expect after a restoration of Bears Ears National Monument. Plus, our radio partners highlight the beavers helping a watershed survive after wildfire. Show Notes: Photo: The Valley of the Gods area lost monument status in 2017 under the Trump Administration. After President Biden's proclamation last week, it's back under the Bears Ears National Monument designation. Credit US Bureau of Land Management

On this week's "60 Minutes," Bill Whitaker reports on a technology that the U.S. government has grown increasingly concerned about due to its potential to be used to spread disinformation or commit crimes: deepfakes. The Biden Administration estimates “somewhere between 1,000–1,500, maybe more,” of the children separated from families during the Trump Administration remain apart. Sharyn Alfonsi reports, Finally, Jon Wertheim's report on Deep Springs College, where a select group of students labor and learn for two years, on a working ranch in the remote California desert. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vince Coglianese speaks with Gordon Chang, Author of The Coming Collapse of China, and The Great U.S.-China Tech War; Lila Rose, founder and president of the anti-abortion organization Live Action, author of Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change in a Wounded World; John Zadrozny,  Director for the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at  America First Policy Institute and worked for DHS for the Trump Administration; and Joe DiGenova, Legal Analyst Fmr US Attny to District of Columbia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vince Coglianese speaks with John Zadrozny,  Director for the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at  America First Policy Institute and worked for DHS for the Trump Administration. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 -  Nick Reed talks about a variety of topics in the news, including: A new TikTok trend has students slapping teachers. The trend has made it's way to Springfield Public Schools. Should we just remove phones from the classroom? Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham released her book bashing the Trump Administration. Nick and Sarah talk about previous Trump press secretaries.

On the 15th anniversary of Wikileaks, Freddy Gray speaks to its Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson about the recent Yahoo article that exposed the fact that the Trump Administration along with the CIA was working on plans to either kidnap or kill Julian Assange while he was still in hiding at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. 

On the 15th anniversary of Wikileaks, Freddy Gray speaks to its Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson about the recent Yahoo! article that exposed the fact that the Trump Administration along with the CIA was working on plans to either kidnap or kill Julian Assange while he was still in hiding at the Ecuadorian embassy in […]

Steve and Jim are together again in the Cleveland Studio to discuss the Congressional fight over the debt ceiling and infrastructure bills. We also discuss the Stephanie Grisham book about her time in the Trump Administration; new video relating to Nikkita Brown being mistreated by a Chicago policeman; Joe Rogan comes under fire from Cenk Uygur and a potential legitimate treatment for COVID...Enjoy. @whiskeycongress on IG and Twitter

56% of voters in Berlin approved a measure for the government to purchase 240,000 apartments from major landlords. We review the plausibility of this happening in the United States. We analyze policy makers and provide political commentary on how policy negotiations are won. 

This week a rush of new stories and allegations came out about Donald Trump with the publication of two new books. Jonathan Freedland talks to Richard Wolffe about why it's important to keep talking about the former president. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod

TELEMEDICINE AND MEDICATION ABORTION "Telemedicine abortion combines medication abortion, which uses pills to end a pregnancy, with telemedicine, which allows health care providers meet with patients via videoconferencing or telephone consultations. Medication abortion, approved by the FDA for use during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, uses two different medicines: mifepristone, which interrupts the flow of the hormone progesterone that sustains the pregnancy; and misoprostol, which causes contractions. Misoprostol alone is 80-85 percent effective, and in combination with mifepristone is 95 percent effective. Medication abortion is an extremely safe way to end a pregnancy in the first 12 weeks of gestation. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2017 medication abortion accounted for approximately 40 percent of all recorded abortions and 60 percent of abortions performed up to 10 weeks gestation. (The actual rate is likely higher because of the growing number of people who are self-managing their abortions using medication purchased on the internet or obtained in other ways.) The growth of medication abortion has dovetailed with the expansion of telehealth to provide new opportunities for accessing abortion health care. As abortion restrictions have increased over the last several years and harassment of people entering health clinics persists — even during the COVID-19 crisis — people are increasingly turning to medication abortion and telehealth to increase their safety and privacy when obtaining abortion care." "In light of COVID-19, and the need for increased social distancing, advocates are increasingly challenging the FDA's REMS restrictions on the abortion pill. This effort is supported by recent research on the safety of a no-test medication abortion protocol that allows doctors to screen patients by phone or video and then mail abortion pills directly to them. On March 30, 2020, a coalition of 21 state attorneys general led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent a strongly-worded letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), urging the Trump Administration to waive or utilize its discretion on enforcement of its REMS designation. In addition to the attorneys general letter, reproductive health groups are pressuring the government to remove the REMS restriction on the abortion pill. In July of 2020, a federal judge in Maryland issued a ruling temporarily suspending enforcement of an FDA restriction on abortion pills during the pandemic." --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

What is the future of work? It's a question that's important to Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. Today's workforce is more mobile, transparent, collaborative, and inclusive than ever before, making leadership a challenging and crucial priority for HR professionals.Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.cxotalk.com/subscribeRead the complete transcript: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/how-prepare-future-workIn episode #720 of CXOTalk, Taylor discusses how business leaders, government policymakers, and HR professionals can navigate the evolving future of work.We discuss the following topics:-- SHRM and the book “Reset”-- Future of work trends: What are the key issues?-- HR, innovation culture, and talent strategy-- How to create a culture of innovation?-- Who can be an organizational change agent?-- How to create a culture of empathy?-- Equality, equity, and fairness-- Diversity and inclusionAbout Johnny C. Taylor. With over 300,000 members in 165 countries, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world, impacting the lives of 115 million workers every day.Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm, and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He was appointed chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and served as a member of the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board during the Trump Administration. He is a Trustee of the University of Miami, Governor of the American Red Cross, and member of the corporate boards of Guild Education and iCIMS. He is author of the book Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval.

Former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo has responded to a recent Yahoo News investigation detailing Trump Administration plans to kidnap or kill Wikileaks founder Julian Assange that he makes "no apologies" for whatever measure his agency planned to take to safeguard "sensitive information." Also today: new public opinion data carries some bad news for President Biden.

General Milley gave many interviews at the end of the Trump Administration to reporters  as well as had direct communication with counterparts in China regarding deescaltion but the question remains who authorized these communications?  

Charlie is joined by American economist and the former Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy during the Trump Administration, Peter Navarro, for an exclusive discussion on his firsthand experience inside the Trump White House during the "year of the plague" and the ensuing election integrity battle that rages on in Arizona and other states. Navarro gives his insights into what it was like working directly with Anthony Fauci during the onset of the pandemic, what the warning signs were that Democrats would attempt to "stuff ballot boxes," and much more. This is a can't miss, firsthand witness to history. You can pre-order Peter's book "In Trump Time: A Journal of America's Plague Year" by clicking here: https://bit.ly/intrumptimeck Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/support See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Collectively the Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board play a pivotal role in almost every dimension of employment in the nation. This inaugural panel discusses recent developments in the regulatory regimes of each and grades their performance over the four years of the Trump Administration. Greg Jacob moderates the discussion and presses our speakers about the fairness and accuracy of their grades.Featuring:- David Fortney, Co-Founder, Fortney & Scott LLC, and former Chief Legal Officer, U.S. Department of Labor- Leon Sequeira, Former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor- Glenn Taubman, Staff Attorney, National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation- Gregory Jacob (Moderator), Partner, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, and former Counsel to Vice President Pence and Deputy Assistant to the PresidentVisit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.

"Treason!" cry former President Trump and supporters, criticizing calls made by General Mark Milley to his counterparts in China and other countries during the waning days of the Trump Administration. This episode considers the validity of that claim, both under the Constitution's definition of "treason," as well as general principles about civilian-military relationships in the United States. 

This is the full show for September 17, 2021. Off the Top, Louis talks about how Gen. Mark Milley's potentially treasonous actions in the last months of the Trump Administration is just one more example of how Democrats believe the ends justify the means. We Ask the Mamas about the backlash Nicki Minaj has gotten over questioning the vaccine. We'll Dig Deep and find out if America already taxes the rich or not. Plus, it's Fake News Friday, and we'll finish up with a Moment of Whoa that wishes you a Happy Constitution Day!

Today on News Du Jour, we cover the Taliban requesting involvement in the UN General Assembly, court documents come out proving the Trump Administration's communication's team knew the election rigging claims were false, and Biden seeks to put protections in place for those working out in the heat. — BECOME A PATRON OF OUR PODCAST: www.patreon.com/sugarfreemedia Wear our merch! www.sugarfreemedia.co/shop Connect with us: + EMAIL: team@sugarfreemedia.co + WEBSITE + SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: www.sugarfreemedia.co + INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/sugarfreemedia.co + TIKTOK: www.TikTok.com/@sugarfreemedia + TWITTER: www.twitter.com/sugarfree_media ☕️ News Du Jour is a short daily news recap. We condense each day's stories into a 10-15 minute format and always relay the stories in a calm, digestible format. We cover everything from politics, to fashion, to art, to business, to tech, to celebrity, to world news and more. Be sure to subscribe so you to stay up to date with day-to-day unfolding news stories. ☕️ If you enjoy the News Du Jour, be sure to leave us a review/rating! We would also REALLY appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends/ family/ colleagues or via all your favorite social media platforms.You can also always READ the News Du Jour on our website at: https://sugarfreemedia.co/category/news-du-jour/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newsdujour/support

In 2018, Miles Taylor anonymously authored a New York Times op-ed titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration”. At the time, Miles worked in a senior role in the Department of Homeland security.  Eventually, after Trump asked him and other officials to break the law, Miles quit. He decided to author a book, again anonymously, titled A Warning, which described in detail the morally gray, and sometimes blatantly illegal orders that came from the President. In the lead up to the 2020 election, Miles felt it was important to reveal himself as the anonymous author of both the op-ed, and the book. Now, he's created the Renew America Movement, an organization dedicated to giving a voice to the ‘rational' republicans who won't subscribe to the right-wing extremism of Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doctor Paul Alexander was Senior Covid advisor to President Trump. Since the end of the Trump Administration, he's been warning that thousands upon thousands of children could be harmed directly by having this vaccine forced into their arms. The pandemic has brought a lot of changes to America, and it's also changed a lot of individual people. Belinda Blease is a nurse, and she is no exception. She told me in an email that in March of last year she was a liberal atheist who hated Trump and hated America. Now, she calls herself a patriotic, Trump-loving conservative Christian. That sounds like a story nearly as interesting as the one she has to tell about Covid.  Vernon Jones is a lifelong Democrat running as a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia. Jones joins Stew today on the show! We've spoken to two Democrats turned Republicans so far today, but you all know that one of the biggest problems in the Republican Party is the opposite: People who are lifelong Republicans but don't put America first and just see the base as a bunch of cattle to be manipulated.   And we have a remarkable example of this, courtesy of a left-wing source. Rolling Stone magazine has put out a lengthy, heavily-researched article detailing how Congressman Kevin McCarthy was given a “MAGA makeover” by donors and establishment party operatives to make him appealing to the Trump-loving base. Quote: “At a critical moment in McCarthy's ascent, a network of swampy operatives mobilized in his defense and a mysterious dark-money group carpet-bombed the airwaves to position McCarthy as the heir apparent to lead the Trump-era Republican Party. And when you follow that money, you discover a campaign of deception that's even phonier than McCarthy's rebirth as a right-wing MAGA congressman.”   Lobbyists tied to the petroleum lobby and other traditional deep-pocketed business concerns funded a fake astroturfed conservative group named State Tea Party Express. The group popped up in 2018, ran a bunch of ads promoting McCarthy as an immigration hardliner, just long enough for McCarthy to fend off a GOP leadership challenge from Jim Jordan. Once Jordan was beaten, the group folded up shop and vanished. Mission accomplished. I have to say, thank you to Rolling Stone for doing the investigative reporting that Fox News, National Review, and all the other well-funded “conservative” outlets are too lazy or too corrupt to actually do.    Lauren Witzke is a former Senate candidate. She joins me to discuss this article.

A former student at Francis Parker School in Linda Vista went public Friday about a lawsuit filed against school administrators. The student claims the school ignored signs of inappropriate behavior by a former teacher. Meanwhile, there's a new push by the federal government to reunite children who were separated from their parents at the border during the Trump Administration. Plus, an archive details the rich history of San Diego's craft brew industry.

The Trump Administration's antitrust enforcers were active in challenging mergers on competition grounds. But what were the key drivers in choosing which matters to challenge? Katie Drummonds and Peter McCormack, authors of a recent article in Antitrust Magazine on the Trump Administration's merger enforcement record, join John Roberti to discuss their retrospective and insights on whether politics, populism or other factors may have played a role in merger enforcement. Listen to this episode to learn more about the evolution of merger enforcement policy in the Trump Administration and beyond. Related Links: Andrea Murino, Peter McCormick, Katie Drummonds and Emily Hsu, Populist Instincts: A Trump Administration Antitrust Merger Retrospective, Antitrust Magazine Summer 2021 FTC and DOJ, Annual Hart Scott Rodino Report 2019 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines 2017 Merger Remedies Report 2020 Comments on Merger Guidelines Hosted by: John Roberti, Allen & Overy LLP

During the Campaign of Two Thousand Twenty, Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior presented himself as the grown-up in the room. He held out the promise that he would restore order after the so-called chaos of the Trump Administration. His knowledge, seasoned by over four decades on the national stage, would guide us out of the twin disasters of Covid and the urban violence that dominated news during the summer of Two Thousand Twenty. Now that he is President, a very different picture emerges. He has allied himself with the most extreme left wing of his party. At the same time, he has presided over what may be the biggest foreign relations disaster in American History – perhaps even eclipsing the calamity of the War in Vietnam. This episode of The Return to Order Moment assesses aspects of both the revolution and the disaster. To read the articles, follow these links: https://www.returntoorder.org/2021/09/with-the-fall-of-afghanistan-we-enter-a-dangerous-new-world/, https://www.returntoorder.org/2021/08/why-does-the-right-wing-media-ignore-the-major-issue-behind-bidens-eviction-moratorium/, and https://www.returntoorder.org/2021/08/drafting-women-into-combat-spells-the-death-of-chivalry/.

Kelsey Bolar from the IWF talked about the consequences General Milley could face if the rumors about his interactions with his Chinese counterpart during the Trump Administration turned out to be true. Mike Gonzalez appeared on the program to discuss his newest book "BLM: A Marxist Revolution" and explain that this communist ideology has infiltrated our way of life in 2021. Shelley Goldberg talked about ways the entire family could handle the daily stresses in an easier and more productive way.

K.T. McFarland, former Deputy National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, joins the Dom Giordano Program to break down the situation involving General Mark Milley. An upcoming book by Bob Woodward alleges that Milley tipped off our Chinese adversaries to any potential movement by the Trump administration. K.T. McFarland, who worked with Milley, gives her thoughts on why he chose to make such a decision. McFarland explains why she believes that Milley was hoping to make an impression with the incoming administration, and tells how this ties to the situation unfolding in Afghanistan. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TREASON & TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, COVID TREATMENTS, CALIFORNIA RECALL, REFUGEES, BORDER & IMMIGRATION, POLITICS & BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman (Ret.) is the former director for European Affairs at the National Security Council during the Trump Administration. Vindman was one of several government staffers who were tasked with listening in during President Trump's infamous phone call to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky which was at the center of President Trump's first impeachment. Vindman, who earned a Purple Heart during the Iraq War, became a key witness in the Trump impeachment. He writes about it in his new book "Here, right matters: An American Story."During this podcast. Vindman reveals what compelled him to report President Trump's comments to his superiors as inappropriate. He also recounts what he experienced from the weeks leading up to the fateful phone call, through the days and weeks that followed including being escorted out of the White House and forced out of his position on the National Security Council after testifying to House lawmakers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, in the Hot Notes: the Select Subcommittee on the COVID crisis has released Trump Administration email evidence of failures to heed early pandemic warnings; Woodward's new book Peril drops more too late bombshells; the California recall election is over; a witness for the prosecution against Bibi Netanyahu dies in a plane crash; plus Allison and Dana deliver your good news. Follow our guests: Sonaar Luthra https://twitter.com/sonaar His TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/sonaar_luthra_we_need_to_track_the_world_s_water_like_we_track_the_weather Don't let congress abandon our water infrastructure. Tell Joe Manchen and Kristen Sinema why you won't accept an infrastructure bill that neglects our water infrastructure and leaves us unprepared for climate change: https://www.sinema.senate.gov/contact https://www.manchin.senate.gov/contact-joe Follow AG and Dana on Twitter: Dr. Allison Gill (@allisongill) Dana Goldberg (@DGComedy) Follow Aimee on Instagram: Aimee Carrero (@aimeecarrero) Have some good news, a confession, a correction, or a case for Beans Court? https://www.dailybeanspod.com/confessional/ Want to support the show and get it ad-free and early? https://dailybeans.supercast.tech/ Or https://patreon.com/thedailybeans Promo Codes If you're interested in taking a deep dive to really learn more about 9/11, then you've got to listen and subscribe to Nine Twelve. Follow Nine Twelve wherever you get your podcasts, or you can binge all seven episodes right now on Amazon Music or with Wondery Plus. Download Best Fiends FREE today on the App Store or Google Play. That's friends, without the r—Best Fiends. With Allform you can customize your own luxury furniture using premium materials, and at a fraction of the cost. Allform is offering twenty percent off all orders for our listeners at http://Allform.com/DAILYBEANS. Get your new favorite tees at american-giant.com today and use promo code DAILYBEANS for 15% off your first order. To experience an entirely new standard of comfort, visit bollandbranch.com. Get 15% off your first set of sheets with promo code dailybeans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of Unplugged With Michael Caputo: Michael Caputo, an American political strategist, lobbyist and the former Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, speaks with host Richard Levick of LEVICK in one of only two exclusive interviews he provided since the Politico profile – “It Nearly Killed Me”  – on his life fighting for Donald Trump, rolling out the Covid-19 response and post-presidency, simultaneously fighting head and neck cancer and multiple death threats against him and his family. This is the rare show that hardly touches on politics and instead is a conversation about two apparently diametrically opposed people who have become good friends and have developed a deep trust – a crossing the aisle moment all too infrequent in Washington -- and our country -- these days.

Unplugged With Michael Caputo: Michael Caputo, an American political strategist, lobbyist and the former Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, speaks with host Richard Levick of LEVICK in one of only two exclusive interviews he provided since the Politico profile – “It Nearly Killed Me”  – on his life fighting for Donald Trump, rolling out the Covid-19 response and post-presidency, simultaneously fighting head and neck cancer and multiple death threats against him and his family. This is the rare show that hardly touches on politics and instead is a conversation about two apparently diametrically opposed people who have become good friends and have developed a deep trust – a crossing the aisle moment all too infrequent in Washington -- and our country -- these days.

The war in Afghanistan is over. In this episode, we document how and why the Biden administration finally admitted defeat in our 20 year attempt to create a new government in Afghanistan and we take a hard look at the lessons we need to learn. Afghanistan is a country in a far away land, but there are disturbing similarities between the Afghanistan government that just collapsed and our own. We'd be wise not to ignore them. Executive Producer: Rachel Passer Executive Producer: Anonymous  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 Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD236: January 6: The Capitol Riot CD218: Minerals are the New Oil CD210: The Afghanistan War CD124: The Costs of For-Profit War How We Got Here Craig Whitlock. The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War. Simon and Schuster, 2021. Patrick Tucker. August 18, 2021. “Trump's Pledge to Exit Afghanistan Was a Ruse, His Final SecDef Says.” Defense One. Eugene Kiely and Robert Farley. August 17, 2021. “Timeline of U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan.” FactCheck.org. Eric Schmitt and Jennifer Steinhauer. July 30, 2021. “Afghan Visa Applicants Arrive in U.S. After Years of Waiting.” The New York Times. Craig Whitlock, Leslie Shapiro and Armand Emamdjomeh. December 9, 2019. “The Afghanistan Papers: A secret history of the war.” The Washington Post. Mark Landler and James Risen. July 25, 2017. “Trump Finds Reason for the U.S. to Remain in Afghanistan: Minerals.” The New York Times. John F. Harris. October 15, 2001. “Bush Rejects Taliban Offer On Bin Laden ” Washington Post. The Evacuation: Those Left Behind William Mauldin. September 2, 2021. “Afghanistan Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Staff Left Behind.” Wall Street Journal. Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Annie Karni. August 29, 2021. “Series of U.S. Actions Left Afghan Allies Frantic, Stranded and Eager to Get Out.” The York Times. Sami Sadat. August 25, 2021. “I Commanded Afghan Troops This Year. We Were Betrayed.” The New York Times. Marjorie Censer. August 18, 2021. “US contractors rush to get former employees out of Afghanistan.” Defense News. Siobhan Hughes. August 18, 2021. “Afghanistan Veterans in Congress Trying to Prevent ‘a Death Warrant' for Helping America.” Wall Street Journal. Alex Sanz and Tammy Webber. August 18, 2021. “US friends try to rescue brother in arms in Afghanistan.” AP News. Seth Moulton. June 04, 2021. "Moulton, Bipartisan Honoring Our Promises Working Group to White House: Evacuate our Afghan Partners.” Contractors in Afghanistan Matt Taibbi. August 18, 2021. “We Failed Afghanistan, Not the Other Way Around.” TK News by Matt Taibbi on Substack. Jack Detsch. August 16, 2021. “Departure of Private Contractors Was a Turning Point in Afghan Military's Collapse.” Foreign Policy. Matt Stoller. July 15, 2021. “‘A Real S*** Show': Soldiers Angrily Speak Out about Being Blocked from Repairing Equipment by Contractors.” BIG by Matt Stoller. Lynzy Billing. May 12, 2021. “The U.S. Is Leaving Afghanistan? Tell That to the Contractors.” New York Magazine. Oren Liebermann. March 29, 2021. “Pentagon could open itself to costly litigation from contractors if US pulls out of Afghanistan this year.” CNN. Lucas Kunce and Elle Ekman. September 15, 2019. “Comment Submitted by Major Lucas Kunce and Captain Elle Ekman.” [Regulations.gov(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulations.gov). Aaron Mehta. Oct 25, 2016. “30 Years: William Perry — Reshaping the Industry.” Defense News. Jared Serbu. August 22, 2016. “DoD now awarding more than half its contract spending without competitive bids.” Federal News Network. 41 U.S. Code § 3307 - Preference for commercial products and commercial services. Money: Lost and Gained David Moore. August 23, 2021. “Lawmakers Benefit From Booming Defense Stocks.” Sludge. Lee Fang. August 20, 2021. “Congressman Seeking to Relaunch Afghan War Made Millions in Defense Contracting.” The Intercept. Anna Massoglia and Julia Forrest. August 20, 2021. “Defense contractors spent big in Afghanistan before the U.S. left and the Taliban took control.” OpenSecrets.org. Stephen Losey. April 16, 2021. “The Bill for the Afghanistan War Is $2.26 Trillion, and Still Rising.” Military.com. Eli Clifton. February 16, 2021. “Weapons Biz Bankrolls Experts Pushing to Keep U.S. Troops in Afghanistan.” Daily Beast. Open Secrets. 2021. Defense: Lobbying, 2021. Open Secrets. 2021. Defense: Money to Congress. Laws S.1790 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 Sponsor: Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) Status: Became Public Law No: 116-92 on December 20, 2019 H.R. 3237: Emergency Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 Sponsor: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) Status: Signed into law, 2021 May 20 House Vote Breakdown Congressional Budget Office Score Law Outline TITLE IV: BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF THE AFGHAN SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM Sec. 401: Amends the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to expand eligibility to include Afghans who worked not only for the US Government for more than 1 year but also our allies as an off-base interpreter or if they performed "activities for United States military stationed at International Security Assistance Force (or any successor name for such Force). Increases the number of Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) to Afghan partners by 8,000, for a total of 34,500 allocated since December 19, 2014. Sec. 402: Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary of state to jointly waive for 1 year (maximum 2 years with an extension) the requirement that Afghan partners eligible for SIVs get a medical exam before they can receive their visa. The Secretary of Homeland Security has to create a process to make sure Afghan SIV holders get a medical exam within 30 days of entry into the United States. Sec. 403: Allows the surviving spouse or child or employee of the United States Government abroad to be eligible for immigration into the United States if the employee worked for our government for at least 15 years or was killed in the line of duty. It also expands entry permissions for Afghan SIV applicants in addition to those who have already been approved. This is retroactive to June 30, 2021. Policies for Visa Processing: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual, Chapter 9: Certain Afghan Nationals U.S Department of State -- Bureau of Consular Affairs. “Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans - Who Were Employed by/on Behalf of the U.S. Government.” Audio Sources Gen. Mark Milley: "There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days." August 18, 2021 General Mark Milley: The time frame of rapid collapse that was widely estimated and ranged from weeks to months, and even years following our departure, there was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. Central Command submitted a variety of plans that were briefed and approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense and the President. These plans were coordinated, synchronized and rehearsed to deal with these various scenarios. One of those contingencies is what we are executing right now. As I said before, there's plenty of time to do AARs(After Action Reviews) and key lessons learned and to delve into these questions with great detail. But right now is not that time. Right now, we have to focus on this mission, because we have soldiers at risk. And we also have American citizens and Afghans who supported us for 20 years also at risk. This is personal and we're going to get them out. President Biden on Afghanistan Withdrawal Transcript July 8, 2021 Sound Clips 01:30 President Biden: When I announced our drawdown in April, I said we would be out by September, and we're on track to meet that target. Our military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31. The drawdown is proceeding in a secure and orderly way, prioritizing the safety of our troops as they depart 3:40 President Biden: Together with our NATO allies and partners, we have trained and equipped nearly 300,000 current serving members of the military, the Afghan national security force, and many beyond that are no longer serving. Add to that hundreds of thousands more Afghan national defense and security forces trained over the last two decades. 04:04 President Biden: We provided our Afghan partners with all the tools, let me emphasize, all the tools -- training, equipment -- of any modern military. We provided advanced weaponry, and we're going to continue to provide funding and equipment and we'll ensure they have the capacity to maintain their Air Force. 5:54 President Biden: We're also going to continue to make sure that we take on Afghan nationals who worked side by side with US forces, including interpreters and translators. Since we're no longer going to have military there after this, we're not going to need them and they'll have no jobs. We're [sic] also going to be vital to our efforts. they've been very vital, and so their families are not exposed to danger as well. We've already dramatically accelerated the procedure time for Special Immigrant Visas to bring them to the United States. Since I was inaugurated on January 20, we've already approved 2,500 Special Immigrant Visas to come to the United States. Up to now, fewer than half have exercised the right to do that. Half have gotten on aircraft and come commercial flights and come and other half believe they want to stay, at least thus far. We're working closely with Congress to change the authorization legislation so that we can streamline the process of approving those visas. And those who have stood up for the operation to physically relocate 1000s of Afghans and their families before the US military mission concludes so that, if they choose, they can wait safely outside of Afghanistan, while their US visas are being processed. 8:13 President Biden: For those who have argued that we should stay just six more months, or just one more year, I asked them to consider the lessons of recent history. In 2011, the NATO allies and partners agreed that we would end our combat mission in 2014. In 2014, some argued one more year. So we kept fighting. We kept taking casualties. In 2015, the same, and on and on. Nearly 20 years of experience has shown us that the current security situation only confirms that just one more year of fighting in Afghanistan is not a solution, but a recipe for being there indefinitely. It's up to the Afghans to make the decision about the future of their country. Others are more direct. Their argument is that we should stay with the Afghans and Afghanistan indefinitely. In doing so they point to the fact that we we have not taken losses in this last year. So they claim that the cost of just maintaining the status quo is minimal. 9:19 President Biden: But that ignores the reality, and the facts that already presented on the ground in Afghanistan when I took office. The Taliban is at its strongest militarily since 2001. The number of US forces in Afghanistan had been reduced to a bare minimum. And the United States and the last administration made an agreement that they have to with the Taliban remove all our forces by May 1 of this year. That's what I inherited. That agreement was the reason the Taliban had ceased major attacks against US forces. 9:55 President Biden: If in April, I had instead announced that the United States was going to go back on that agreement, made by the last administration, the United States and allied forces will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, the Taliban would have again begun to target our forces. The status quo was not an option. Staying would have meant US troops taking casualties, American men and women back in the middle of a civil war, and we would run the risk of having to send more troops back in Afghanistan to defend our remaining troops. Once that agreement with the Taliban had been made, staying with a bare minimum force was no longer possible. 10:34 President Biden: So let me ask those who want us to stay: how many more? How many 1000s more Americans' daughters and sons are you willing to risk? How long would you have them stay? Already we have members of our military whose parents fought in Afghanistan 20 years ago. Would you send their children and their grandchildren as well? Would you send your own son or daughter? After 20 years, a trillion dollars spent training and equipping hundreds of 1000s of Afghan National Security and Defence Forces. 2,448 Americans killed, 20,722 more wounded, and untold 1000s coming home with unseen trauma to their mental health. I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome. 11:51 President Biden: Today the terrorist threat has metastasized beyond Afghanistan. So, we are repositioning our resources and adapting our counterterrorism posture to meet the threats where they are now: significantly higher in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. 12:07 President Biden: But make no mistake, our military and intelligence leaders are confident they have the capabilities to protect the homeland and our interests from any resurgent terrorist challenge emerging or emanating from Afghanistan. We're developing a counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed at any direct threat to the United States in the region and act quickly and decisively if needed. 12:38 President Biden: We also need to focus on shoring up America's core strengths to meet the strategic competition competition with China and other nations that is really going to determine our future. 14:58 Reporter: Is the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable? President Biden: No. It is not. Because you have the Afghan troops, 300,000. Well equipped, as well equipped as any army in the world, and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable. 15:45 President Biden: Do I trust the Taliban? No, but I trust the capacity of the Afghan military who is better trained, better equipped, and more competent in terms of conducting war. 18:07 Reporter: Your own intelligence community has assessed that the Afghan government will likely collapse President Biden: That is not true 18:53 President Biden: And I want to make clear what I made clear to Ghani, that we are not going to walk away and not sustain their ability to maintain that force. We are. We're going to also work to make sure we help them in terms of everything from food necessities and other things in the region. But there is not a conclusion that in fact, they cannot defeat the Taliban. I believe the only way there's going to be -- this is now Joe Biden, not the intelligence community -- the only way there's only going to be peace and secure in Afghanistan, is that they work out a modus vivendi with the Taliban, and they make a judgement as to how they can make peace. And the likelihood there's going to be one unified government in Afghanistan, controlling the whole country is highly unlikely. 21:30 Reporter: Mr. President, how serious was the corruption among the Afghanistan government to this mission failing there? President Biden: First of all, the mission hasn't failed yet. 22:00 President Biden: There were going to be negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan national security forces, and the Afghan government that didn't come to fruition. So the question now is where do they go from here? The jury is still out, but the likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. 23:20 Reporter: Mr. President, "speed is safety," as you just said in your remarks. Are you satisfied with the timeline of relocating Afghan nationals? Is it happening quickly enough to your satisfaction if it may not happen until next month at the end? President Biden: It has already happened, there have already been people, about 1000 people have gotten on aircraft and come to the United States already on commercial aircraft. So as I said, there's over 2500 people, that as from January to now, have have gotten those visas and only half decided that they wanted to leave. The point is that I think the whole process has to be speeded up -- period -- in terms of being able to get these visas. Reporter: Why can't the US evacuate these Afghan translators to the United States to await their visa processing as some immigrants of the southern border have been allowed to? President Biden: Because the law doesn't allow that to happen. And that's why we're asking the Congress to consider changing the law. President Biden Remarks on Afghanistan Strategy Transcript April 14, 2021 Sound Clips 00:38 President Biden: I'm speaking to you today from the Roosevelt -- the Treaty room in the White House -- the same spot where in October of 2001, President George W. Bush informed our nation that the United States military had begun strikes on terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. It was just weeks, just weeks after the terrorist attack on our nation that killed 2,977 innocent souls, that turned Lower Manhattan into a disaster area, destroyed parts of the Pentagon and made hallowed ground in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and sparked an American promise that we would never forget. We went to Afghanistan in 2001, to root out al Qaeda to prevent future terrorist attacks against the United States planned from Afghanistan. Our objective was clear, the cause was just, our NATO allies and partners rallied beside us. And I supported that military action along with the overwhelming majority of the members of Congress. More than seven years later, in 2008 weeks before we swore the oath of office -- President Obama and I were about to swear -- President Obama asked me to travel to Afghanistan and report back on the state of the war in Afghanistan. I flew to Afghanistan to the Kunar Valley, a rugged, mountainous region on the border of Pakistan. What I saw on that trip reinforced my conviction that only the Afghans have the right and responsibility to lead their country. And that more and endless American military force could not create or sustain a durable Afghan Government. I believed that our presence in Afghanistan should be focused on the reason we went in the first place: to ensure Afghanistan would not be used as a base from which to attack our homeland again. We did that, we accomplished that objective. I said, along with others, we would follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell if need be. That's exactly what we did. And we got him. It took us close to 10 years to put President Obama's commitment into form. And that's exactly what happened Osama bin Laden was gone. That was 10 years ago. Think about that. We delivered justice to Bin Laden a decade ago. And we've stayed in Afghanistan for a decade since. Since then, our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan have become increasingly unclear, even as the terrorist threat that we went to fight evolved. Over the past 20 years, the threat has become more dispersed, metastasizing around the globe. Al Shabaab in Somalia, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, on Al Nusra in Syria, ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq and establishing affiliates in multiple countries in Africa and Asia. With the terror threat now in many places, keeping 1000s of troops grounded and concentrated in just one country at a cost of billions each year makes little sense to me and our leaders. We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdraw and expecting a different result. I'm now the fourth United States President to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan: two Republicans, two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth. After consulting closely with our allies and partners, with our military leaders and intelligence personnel, with our diplomats and our development experts, with the Congress and the Vice President, as well as with Mr. Ghani and many others around the world. I concluded that it's time to end America's longest war. It's time for American troops to come home. 5:01 President Biden: When I came to office, I inherited a diplomatic agreement, duly negotiated between the government of the United States and the Taliban, that all US forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1 2021, just three months after my inauguration. That's what we inherited. That commitment is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government. And that means something. So in keeping with that agreement, and with our national interest, the United States will begin our final withdrawal beginning on May 1 of this year. 8:11 President Biden: You all know that less than 1% of Americans serve in our Armed Forces. The remaining 99%, we owe them. We owe them. They've never backed down from a single mission that we've asked of them. I've witnessed their bravery firsthand during my visits to Afghanistan. They've never wavered in their resolve. They paid a tremendous price on our behalf and they have the thanks of a grateful nation. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) High-Risk List Center for Strategic and International Studies Transcript March 10, 2021 Speaker: John Sopko - Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Sound Clips 7:40 John Sopko: But right now, that state is under threat. In the wake of the February 2020 withdrawal agreement, all is not well. Compromise appears in short supply on either side. Taliban attacks have actually increased since the agreement was signed. Assassination of prominent officials, activists, journalists, aid workers and others have also increased, including an unsuccessful attack on one of the female members of the peace negotiating team. And the Taliban offensive on Kandahar city last October, as peace negotiations were ongoing, may well have succeeded, were it not for U.S. air support. Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban have achieved little for Afghanistan so far, and only time will tell as to whether the new Biden administration initiative will bear fruit. And the Afghan people's fears for its own government survival are exacerbated by the knowledge of how dependent their country is on foreign military and financial support. 12:56 John Sopko: Another equally serious threat to Afghanistan's stability has also largely been ignored as we focus on the boots on the ground in Afghanistan. And that is the provision of last year's U.S.-Taliban agreement that stipulates that in addition to the departure of U.S. and coalition troops, or non-diplomatic civilian personnel: private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting service personnel also must leave the country by May 1. Should this come to passSIGAR and many others believe this may be more devastating to the effectiveness of the Afghan security forces than the withdrawal of our remaining troops. Why is that? Because the Afghan government relies heavily on these foreign contractors and trainers to function. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 there are over 18,000 Defense Department contractors in Afghanistan, including 6000 Americans, and 7,000 3rd country nationals, 40% of whom are responsible for logistics, maintenance, or training tasks. Now, it is well known that the Afghan security forces need these contractors to maintain their equipment, manage supply chains, and train their military and police to operate the advanced equipment that we have purchased for them. For example, as of December, the Afghan National Army was completing just under 20% of its own maintenance work orders, well below the goal of 80% that was set and the 51% that they did in 2018. So that's actually going down. The Afghan National Police were just as bad if not worse, undertaking only 12% of their own maintenance work against a target of 35% and less than the 16% that we reported in our 2019 high risk list. Additionally, and more troubling. The Department of Defense does train, advise and assist command air, or commonly called TAC air recently reported that since late 2019, they have reduced their personnel in Afghanistan by 94%, and that the military drawdown now requires near total use of contract support to maintain the Afghan Air fleet. They assess that quote “further drawdown in the associated closure basis will effectively end all in country aviation training contracts in Afghanistan.” Again, why is this significant? Why do we view this as a high risk? Namely because contractors currently provide 100% of the maintenance for the Afghan Air Force, UAE 60 helicopters and CE 130 cargo aircraft and a significant portion of Afghans Light Combat Support aircraft. TAC air this January gave a bleak assessment, namely, that no Afghan airframe can be sustained as combat effective for more than a few months in the absence of contractor support. 17:51 John Sopko: Continued funding for U.S. reconstruction programs aimed at promoting economic development, rule of law, respect for human rights, good governance and security for the Afghan people may be more significant, because it may be the primary lever left for the US and other donors to influence that country. It appears that even the Taliban understand Afghanistan's dire need for foreign assistance. Because, as one of the few commitments that the US had to make last year was, “to seek economic cooperation for reconstruction, with the new post settlement, Afghan Islamic government.” Now how much the donor community wishes to stay involved will of course depend on what that government looks like and how it behaves. Numerous officials, including then Secretary of State Pompeo and Ambassador Halley, have stated that the US will be able to advance its human rights goals, including the rights of women and girls with the Taliban by leveraging or conditioning this much needed financial assistance. But unfortunately, as SIGAR has long reported, even when conditionality involved only dealing with the Afghan government, donors do not have a stellar record of successfully utilizing that conditionality to influence Afghan behavior. 27:19 John Sopko: Today our report suggests the donor community should realize the Afghan government is focused on a single goal, its survival. Afghanistan is more dependent on international support than ever before. It may not be an overstatement that if foreign assistance is withdrawn and peace negotiations fail, Taliban forces could be at the gates of Kabul in short order. Hearing: A PATHWAY FOR PEACE IN AFGHANISTAN: EXAMINING THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE AFGHANISTAN STUDY GROUP House Committee on Oversight and Reform: Subcommittee on National Security February 19, 2021 Testimony was heard from the following Afghanistan Study Group officials: Kelly A. Ayotte, Co-Chair; News Corp Board of Directors since April 2017 BAE Systems Board of Directors since June 2017 Blackstone Board of Directors Boston Properties Board of Directors Caterpillar Board of Directors Board of Advisors at Cirtronics General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (Retired), Co-Chair Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Obama and Trump presidencies. Lockheed Martin Board of Directors since February 2020 Nancy Lindborg, Co-Chair President and CEO of the David Lucile Packard Foundation Former President and CEO of the US Institute for Peace Former Assistant Administrator for the bureau for democracy conflict and humanitarian assistance at USAID During the mid-Obama years. Sound Clips 3:13 Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA): I'd also like to take a moment to thank the nonpartisan US Institute of Peace for the support and expertise they provided to the study group during the course of its work. 3:23 Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA): In the fiscal year 2020 omnibus bill Congress led by Senator Graham Senator Patrick Leahy and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee of state foreign ops and related programs. They tasked the independent and bipartisan Afghanistan study group to quote, consider the implications of a peace settlement or the failure to reach a settlement on US policy, resources and commitments in Afghanistan. After nearly nine months of review and consultation with current and former US and Afghan government officials, allies and partners and other key stakeholders, the Afghanistan study group issued its final report earlier this month. 15:12 Kelly Ayotte: We recommend that US troops remain beyond may 1. We believe a precipitous withdrawal of US and international troops in May, would be catastrophic for Afghanistan, leading to civil war, and allow the reconstitution of terror groups which threaten the United States within an 18 to 36 month period. 15:41 Kelly Ayotte: Let me be clear, although we recommend that our troops remain beyond may 1, we propose a new approach toward Afghanistan, which aligns our policies, practices and messaging across the United States government to support the Afghan peace process, rather than prosecute a war. Our troops would remain not to fight a forever war, but to guarantee the conditions for a successful peace process and to protect our national security interests to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a haven again, for terrorists who threaten the United States of America. 37:15 General Joseph F. Dunford: Do we need to increase forces if the Taliban don't accept an extension past the first of May, and if they then would re initiate attacks against US forces? and Chairman, we heard exactly what you heard. In the fall. What we were told by commanders on the ground in the department of fence was that 4500 US forces, in addition to the NATO forces that are there was the minimum level to address both the mission as well as protection of our forces in the context of the conditions that existed in the fall in as you've highlighted, those conditions have only gotten worse since the fall so in in our judgment 2500 would not be adequate. Should the Taliban re initiate attacks against the United States Hearing: Examining the Trump Administration's Afghanistan Strategy House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on National Security January 28, 2020 Witness: John Sopko - Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Sound Clips 48:54 John Sopko: We've almost created a system that forces people in the government to give happy talk success stories because they're over there on very short rotations. They want to show success. The whole system is almost geared to give you, and it goes up the chain of command, all the way to the President sometimes. He gets bad information from people out in the field because somebody on a nine month rotation, he has to show success, and that goes up. 54:24 John Sopko: Maybe incentivize honesty. And one of the proposals I gave at that time,be cause I was asked by the staff to come up with proposals, is put the same requirement on the government that we impose on publicly traded corporations. Publicly traded corporations have to tell the truth. Otherwise the SEC will indict the people involved. They have to report when there's a significant event. So put that onus, call it The Truth in Government Act if you want, that you in the administration are duty bound by statute to alert Congress to significant events that could directly negatively impact a program or process. So incentivize honesty. 1:10:25 John Sopko: Over 70% of the Afghan budget comes from the United States and the donors. If that money ended, I have said before and I will stand by it, then the Afghan government will probably collapse. Wartime Contracting Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs September 21, 2011 Witnesses: Charles Tiefer: Commissioner on the Commission on Wartime Contracting Clark Kent Ervin: Commissioner on the Commission on Wartime Contracting Sound Clips 1:11:30 Charles Tiefer: Our private security in Afghanistan appears to be a major source of payoffs to the Taliban. Our report has the first official statement that it's the second-largest source of money for the Taliban. Sen. Carl Levin: After drugs. Charles Tiefer: After drugs, that's right. 1:25:18 Clark Kent Ervin: It's critical that the government have a choice, and that means that there needs to be at least a small and expandable, organic capacity on the part of these three agencies to perform missions themselves, so the next time there's a contingency, the government has a choice between going with contractors and going in-house and the determination can be made whether it's more effective to do it either way, whether it's cheaper to do it either way. As we said at the inception, right now the government doesn't have an option. Contractors are the default option because they're the only option. President George W. Bush announces U.S. Military Strikes on Afghanistan October 7, 2001 President George W. Bush: Good afternoon. On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against Al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime. More than two weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands: close terrorist training camps, hand over leaders of the Al-Qaeda network, and return all foreign nationals including American citizens unjustly detained in your country. None of these demands were met and now the Taliban will pay a price by destroying camps and disrupting communications. We will make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits and coordinate their evil plans. ** International Campaign Against Terrorism Senate Foreign Relations Committee October 25, 2001 Witness: Colin Powell: Secretary of State Sound Clip 27:00 Colin Powell: Our work in Afghanistan though, is not just of a military nature. We recognize that when the Al Qaeda organization has been destroyed in Afghanistan, and as we continue to try to destroy it in all the nations in which it exists around the world, and when the Taliban regime has gone to its final reward, we need to put in place a new government in Afghanistan, one that represents all the people of Afghanistan and one that is not dominated by any single powerful neighbor, but instead is dominated by the will of the people of Afghanistan. Executive Producer Recommendations Elect Stephanie Gallardo 2022 Krystal Kyle and Friends. August 21, 2021. “Episode 35 Audio with Matthew Hoh.” Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Our guest today is John Lott. John is a world-recognized expert on guns and crime and the author of a number of books including “The War On Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies”. He is an American economist, who served in the Trump Administration as Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Justice Programs for the US Department of Justice and then the Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Legal Policy for the US Department of Justice. John is the President of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which is a research and education organization dedicated to providing an objective and accurate scientific evaluation of both the costs and benefits of gun ownership as well as policing activities. John's work gives those of us who are protecting our 2A Rights a solid foundation of precision-focused research. 1) You recently wrote an op-ed in Real Clear Investigations titled: “Despite What Biden Says, Guns Factor in Only a Small Percentage of Violent Crimes”, and that about 92% of violent crimes in America DO NOT even involve firearms. Could it be that the President is engaged in some political statistical trickery? - Although firearms were used in about 74% of homicides in 2019, they comprise less than 9% of violent crimes in America. - The vast majority of violent offenses – including robberies, rapes and other sex crimes – almost always involve other weapons or no weapons at all. - Over 50% of the murders take place in just 2% of the counties (60 of the 3,140 counties, the 60 making up 27.5% of the population), and even within those counties most murders occur within 10-block areas. These are overwhelmingly gang-related murders. They are surely important, but don't touch the lives of most Americans. Fifty-four percent of counties have no murders and another 15% have one. 2) Even with all of the statistical trickery going on from Politicians and members of the Media feeding us story lines designed to malign guns and those who own them, according to a July 202 Gallup poll only 1% of Americans named guns/gun control the most important problem facing the country. - And only 4% of Americans viewed crime/violence as the most important problem. 3) In a Rasmussen poll it appears that gun control has become a class issue, with affluent people being more in favor of control, while poorer populations are the freedom-lovers. From your experience, is this a surprising finding? - strongest opposition to gun control is among the poor, and the strongest support is among the highest income earners, those earning more than $200,000. 4) On the CPRC website there are a number of mentions of censorship you are experiencing. What is the nature of this censorship? 5) Over your career you have had many impressive accomplishments. And it hasn't been an easy road going up against all of the negative pushback from the Bloomberg financed gun control propaganda machine. What would you say is one of your most impactful and proud moments?

Our executive director Carrie Jenks speaks with Kevin Poloncarz, a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling. Kevin co-chairs the firm's Environmental and Energy Practice Group, Energy Industry Group, and ESG Practice. Kevin and Carrie discuss what is at stake with the appeals to the Supreme Court of the D.C. Circuit decision to vacate the Trump Administration's Affordable Clean Energy Rule for the power sector. They also discuss advice to new litigators. Note: this episode was recorded on August 24th, the day the petitioners' replies were due. Here is a full transcript of this episode http://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/Carrie-and-Kevin-Discuss-ACE-Rule.pdf

Johnny Taylor, Jr.: Reset Johnny Taylor, Jr. is President and CEO of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. Johnny is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors a weekly column, "Ask HR," in USA Today. Johnny was chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and served as a member of the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board during the Trump Administration. He is the author of the new book Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval*. In this conversation, Johnny and I highlight the current challenges in discovering talent and the populations that have been historically overlooked. We discuss what SHRM's research and experience are showing to help leaders make better decisions on finding talent. Plus, we explore how to best handle incentives, so that we create the kind of culture that we will value inside our organizations. Key Points Both line managers in organizations and human resource professionals agree: finding a deep enough talent pool is a big problem. Historically, attracting overlooked talent felt right, but may not have been essential to be competitive. Those times are ending for most organizations. Studies show that organizations who discover talent in older workers, differently abled workers, veterans, the formerly incarcerated, people of color, and LGBTQ populations see positive, long-term results. The incentives for finding overlooked talent often are transactional. To ensure sustainability, leaders must establish this as a value in their organizations. Resources Mentioned Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval* by Johnny Taylor, Jr. Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301) Hire the Formerly Incarcerated, with Shelley Winner (episode 447) How to Support Women of Color, with Minda Harts (episode 506) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

From February 20, 2018: The military has been not been a refuge from the Trump administration's norm-defying nature. Jack Goldsmith speaks to Phil Carter, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, about the history of civil-military relations, episodes that highlight the Trump administration's departure from that tradition, and what that may mean for the future.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Pod, the United States of America ends its' 20-year war in another country: Afghanistan. We discuss the controversial maneuver set in motion last year by the Trump Administration, and the mixed feelings Americans have on the hottest topic to foreign policy this year. Recorded 08.18.21

Ken Cuccinelli, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump Administration, rejoins the Dom Giordano Program to discuss the quality of vetting of refugees as they flee war torn Afghanistan. Cuccinelli explains the history of the person that the Biden administration has put in charge of vetting, John Lafferty, who was removed from his post as head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services' Asylum Division while Cuccinelli was in charge. Cuccinelli explains what needs to be done to fully vet incoming refugees, and warns of the dangers of not securely screening said refugees. Cuccinelli further explains what should be done instead with everybody coming into the country from the crisis, and explains how governors can put a stoppage on the influx of refugees. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the podcast we will discuss the ongoing political, economic, and humanitarian crises stemming from the Northern Triangle. That term refers to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Why are tens of thousands of migrants fleeing those countries? How did the Obama and Trump Administration respond to this migration? And, what is the Biden Administration … Continue reading The Crisis of the Northern Triangle

In this episode of “Keen On”, Andrew is joined by Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., the author of “Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval”, to showcase a candid and forward-thinking vision for leaders to reimagine their company cultures in a time of global upheaval and presents data-driven strategies to make the necessary foundational reset of all things work. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. With over 300,000 members in 165 countries, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world, impacting the lives of 115 million workers every day. As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. He is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR." Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm, and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He was appointed chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and served as a member of the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board during the Trump Administration. He is a Trustee of the University of Miami, Governor of the American Red Cross, and member of the corporate boards of Guild Education and iCIMS. In 2020, Mr. Taylor received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and in 2021 was named Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C. Visit our website: https://lithub.com/story-type/keen-on/ Email Andrew: a.keen@me.com Watch the show live on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajkeen Watch the show live on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankeen/ Watch the show live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lithub Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LiteraryHub/videos Subscribe to Andrew's newsletter: https://andrew2ec.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Note:  This interview aired two days before the suicide bombing at Kabul airport in Afghanistan. Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke to Brian Kilmeade about the Biden Administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan and how the Trump Administration would have handled it. Pence says he never would have left Bagram Air Base and the Trump administration would have enforced the conditions agreed to by the Taliban.

Former Acting Secretary of the Veterans Administration, Peter O'Rouke, joins the show to talk about his founding of new group, Veterans 4 America First Institute. The group seeks to carry on the legacies of the Trump Administration's VA policies and looks to have veterans take them further into the next generation of veterans to serve, by having the VA, ‘make financial decisions… policy decisions, internal process decisions that are focused on and start with the veteran, not the organization.'See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're having a compelling discussion about pricing in healthcare. I'm joined by three thought leaders who are disrupting the status quo in both the business and policy arenas.  By popular demand, we've invited back my longtime friend and colleague, Professor Larry Van Horn.  Larry is a renowned expert and researcher on health care management and economics at the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management.  Larry served as an advisor to the Trump Administration on healthcare price transparency and on the Health and Human Services Quality Summit Panel.  I'm also joined by Patrick Quigley, co-founder and CEO of Sidecar Health, an innovative new health insurance model that gives consumers the ability to pay directly for care — often at steep discounts to the prices that patients would be charged through traditional insurance plans. And by Paul Ketchel, Founder & CEO of MDsave, a company whose unique bundling technology makes medical procedures price transparent, shoppable, and instantly transactable – ending surprise billing for consumers.   In our discussion today, we ask the tough questions regarding how to reform our healthcare system to make it more transparent and affordable and look at some solutions geared to better serve the patient.

In this hour, K.T. MacFarland, former Deputy National Security Advisor during the Trump Administration, joins Howie to discuss the Biden Administration's handling of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. Also in this hour, Howie listens and reacts to today's Chump Line!

Peter Elkind tells the story of the Enron financial scandal; it's a timely refresher on that corporate disaster as the Trump Administration rolls back financial regulations.

Sam and Emma tackle a major week in news, starting with the fall of Kabul to the Taliban and the Biden administration's lackluster, finger-pointing response. They start by taking a bird's eye view of the fall of Kabul by going back to the beginning, when Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) was the sole person to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Afghanistan, and how far, or how little, we've come since then. Afterwards, they turn to Biden's remarks he delivered yesterday regarding what's ensued in Afghanistan in the last few weeks, noting that Biden struck the right tone, but some of the substance, namely in terms of Biden's continued adherence to American empire, was lacking. They continue combing through some of Biden's remarks, where he states firmly that the objective was not to nation build in Afghanistan, but to prevent a terrorist attack like that of 9/11 from happening again and to locate and kill Osama Bin Laden, a contention that does seem to be maximize the supposed successes of the invasion while notably minimizing the severe civilian casualties and atrocities that befell the Afghan people as a result, as well as the notable incursion into the Afghan people's everyday life for over 20 years. Biden then went onto say that he had to adhere in part to the deal that the Trump Administration struck to draw down troops by May 1st 2021 at the earliest, or risk further escalation of the conflict, as well as conceding that, in an effort to supply candor to the American people, Biden and the Administration were startled by how quickly Kabul fell. Sam and Emma, while giving some credit to Biden for his delivery and his marginally less hawkish approach to the war than Obama while he was serving as Vice President, don't buy this excuse from Biden, given that there's seemingly no universe where he didn't know that this was coming, and to completely shift blame onto Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country as a result of the invasion, and the Afghan military, completely excludes the role of the American military in this debacle. They end on observing how some of the members of the media responded to the remarks, with Nicolle Wallace making a shockingly cogent point regarding how people and the members of the press might have disproportionate responses to the remarks, while Tucker Carlson pivots to his favorite thing: blaming the P.C. mob for literally any world event. And in the fun half, the gang is joined as always on Tuesday afternoons by Nomiki Konst. The whole MR crew discuss at length the tragic story of Leslie Laurenson, a 58-year old British man who died of COVID very recently, and who, due to numerous influences online, notably the commentary of Bret Weinstein, refused to get the vaccine and was actively skeptical of them as a result. Sam, Matt, Nomi, and Emma dissect the fraudulence and cowardice of Weinstein's positions, where him and his cohort essentially propagate lies and misinformation but, when push comes to shove in terms of real and tangible outcomes as a result of their rhetoric, they shy away from any semblance of accountability and crow that people should know better than to take them *that* seriously. And finally, the gang would be remiss if they didn't cover Chris Cuomo's return from vacation and his hasty inability to truly own up to his complicity in advising his disgraced brother Andrew while actively covering his tenure as Governor when ostensibly fawning praise was in order, but never when Governor Cuomo actually had to face the music. The gang discuss how CNN botched the handling of this and how they could've initiated a real recusal for Chris with some teeth, as well as Chris's dissembling on air basically amounting to "I NEVER advised my brother, but when I DID advise him, I was SORRY about it. He's my BROTHER after all." They end on the curious phenomenon of the younger Cuomo brother searching his name to lambast other reporters that say mean things about him, as he did to Tori Bedford of GBH in 2018 and to Nomi herself a while back as well. Plus, your IM's! Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here. 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