Podcasts about us taliban

1/2:  #AFGHANISTAN: Al Qaeda training camps and the folly of the 2020 US-Taliban deal. Bill Roggio, FDD. Husain Haqqan iHudson Institute https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2024/05/architect-of-doha-agreement-wrongly-claims-al-qaeda-in-the-indian-subcontinent-has-been-dismantled.php 1878 KYBER ROAD

2/2:  #AFGHANISTAN: Al Qaeda training camps and the folly of the 2020 US-Taliban deal. Bill Roggio, FDD. Husain Haqqani, Hudson Institute https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2024/05/architect-of-doha-agreement-wrongly-claims-al-qaeda-in-the-indian-subcontinent-has-been-dismantled.php 1895 PAKISTAN

The US is grappling with at least 64 large active fires, including one crossing the Canadian border. A suspect fired at a Jewish school in Memphis, before being shot by authorities. President Joe Biden is poised to sign off on a bill that could help the thousands of people waiting for organ transplants. US officials met with Taliban officials in Qatar - we'll tell you what they talked about. Lastly, “Euphoria” actor Angus Cloud has died.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

For today's show, I wanted to catch up on a handful of news items I collected throughout the week. The first item is a threat from Dave Rubin of the Rubin Report, detailing a two-day visit to Twitter. Having been in the IT industry for many years before my career change, I understand the issues Musk is facing. I also understand users of the tool lack that understanding coupled with having no patience. The code underlying Twitter has been kludged from so many people and in so many different ways, it's not something that can be fixed overnight. Sometimes it will run better and some days, one fix will end up breaking something else. We have to give them time to get Twitter sorted out properly. Next is an item I found jaw-dropping. Thanks to the protracted conflict we are helping to fund in our proxy war with Russia via Ukraine, it seems Joe Biden's Afghanistan debacle just got even worse. Vladimir Putin is in negotiation with the Taliban to buy some of the billions of dollars in equipment we abandoned in our disastrous retreat. State-of-the-art US equipment may not be used by Russia to fight the country we are supposedly wanting to win. It's bananas! Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is requesting a classified briefing over the content ot the classified documents retrieved thus far from Joe Biden's home and private office. Cruz wants to make sure none of the content matches up with emails or conversations Hunter Biden had regarding Burisma, Ukraine or energy policy in that part of the world. This goes along with my show from earlier this week when I asked, did Hunter have access to Joe Biden's classified information? In true Schiff-show fashion, Adam Schiff took to the CCP owned social media platform, TikTok, to cry about being kicked off of the House Intelligence Committee. Could have done anything worse to validate Speaker McCarthy's fears than to use the one tool the government has banned it's employees from using? And, at the end of the video, Schiff asks for money. Turns out, on the heels of making his whining video, he's decided he wants to run for the US Senate. In a related topic, I play a sound bite from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and you will be surprised, I agree with her! She said Schiff, Swalwell and Omar have a lot of expertise. Correct! Their expertise in lying, cheating and demonstration poor judgment is hard to top. Governor Ron DeSantis weighed in on the debate over who should chair the RNC. Much like your host, he believes a change is necessary. Rona McDaniel has had three failing election cycles (plus two failed run-off cycles) and should not be rewarded with returning as the head of the RNC. And, like DeSantis, I would much prefer to see Harmeet Dhillon in that position. I then move on to a soundbite of Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) interviewing a judge for an appointment to the appellate court system. Her inability to answer basic questions about our Constitution should scare us all. We are not teaching American Civics anymore and the Ivory Tower of higher education would prefer it's graduates are more familiar with Marx and Lenin, than our own Founding Fathers. Finally, to end on a lighter note, my buddy, Jim Gossett, who is a parody artists and a wonderful satirist, put out a song dedicated to both Schiff and Swalwell. Set to an immediately recognizable tune from Old Blue Eyes, Gossett issues a fond farewell to the two disgraced, former member of the House Intel Committee. Take a moment to rate and review the show and then share the episode on social media. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GETTR and TRUTH Social by searching for The Alan Sanders Show. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page!

General Curtis Scaparrotti and Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison talk about how they tag teamed to engage with NATO during the Trump Administration: pressuring NATO members to boost defense expenditures, expanding the US military presence in Europe, training the Ukrainian military, talking to Russia, traveling to Afghanistan with key partners and keeping them informed of the US-Taliban negotiations. They stress the importance of NATO to the US and explain membership requirements which permit some countries (Finland/Sweden) to join more easily than others.

Facts & Spin for September 20, 2022 top stories: Biden declares the pandemic 'Over', Biden reaffirms that the US would defend Taiwan if China attacks, the Taliban and US agree on a prisoner swap, Zelenskyy promises no 'lull' in Ukraine's war effort, the EU proposes suspending billions in Hungary funding, New York's Mayor supports a bill granting non-citizens voting rights, Palestinian schools strike over alleged Israeli censorship, the UN denounces the exclusion of Afghan girls from school, Yeshiva University suspends all clubs in response to SCOTUS ruling, Hurricane Fiona knocks out power to Puerto Rico, and cheetahs are reintroduced to India after 70 years. Sources: https://www.improvethenews.org/ Brief Listener Survey: https://www.improvethenews.org/pod

An American kidnapped in Afghanistan more than two and a half years ago has been released in a prisoner swap with the Taliban. Queen Elizabeth II's coffin has reached Windsor Castle, where her family will bury her later today. Hurricane Fiona continues to pummel the Caribbean while Puerto Rico grapples with the fallout caused by heavy rain and dangerous flooding. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have shelled another nuclear power plant in the country's southern region. Plus, President Joe Biden reassures Americans about the economy, and isn't firm on running again for president. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Queen Elizabeth II buried at Windsor Castle where Britain's longest serving monarch was laid to rest after a private service. It's been a day of immense pageantry and also of reflection -- for the monarchy, for the United Kingdom. Also in the programme: spreading unrest in Iran over the death of a woman being held by the morality police; and a US-Taliban prisoner swap. (Photo: Pall bearers carry the coffin of the late Queen, with the Imperial State Crown resting on top to St. George's Chapel in Windsor. Credit: Reuters)

A United Nations waiver allowing 13 Afghan Taliban officials to travel abroad expired on Friday, as the Security Council failed to reach an agreement on whether to extend the travel exemptions. China and Russia have called for an extension, while the United States and Western nations have sought a reduced list of Taliban officials allowed to travel to protest against the Taliban's rollback of women's rights and failure to form an inclusive government as it promised. The US proposed reimposing the travel ban on seven of the 13 Taliban officials and keeping the exemption for six others, but limiting their travel only to Qatar, where US-Taliban talks have taken place, council diplomats said.

When the US-Taliban accord was signed that led to the abrupt pullout of the US from Afghanistan, there were 4 annexes that were signed but were not released. Was one meant for Zawahiri? #AlQaeda #zawahiri #taliban #alzawahiri #afghanistan #pakistan #imfloan References: 1. https://twitter.com/AmrullahSaleh2/status/1554324643774976000

In this episode, A'ndre and Ryan are joined by Javed Ali to discuss the recent U.S. strike that killed AQ leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.  Javed provides a background on Zawahiri and how he came to lead al Qaeda. The conversation then turns to the operation itself, noting the significance of Zawahiri being in Kabul, Afghanistan. Javed assesses the significance this strike may have on the terrorist organization and US-Taliban relations, as well as  broader takeaways for US counterterrorism operations. 

La raison pour laquelle je me suis tournée vers l'art conceptuel, ce n'était pas mon amour pour l'art, mais parce que c'était pour moi un moyen de faire entendre les voix de milliers de femmes afghanes qui étaient éliminées de la vie sociale et forcées à rester sans éducation pendant le premier régime taliban dans les années 90, à cause de l'interminable guerre par procuration des américains en Afghanistan. Parce que les femmes afghanes n'avaient pas de tribunes pour s'exprimer et faire entendre leurs aspirations pour leurs vies et leur avenir. nom de la photo Et, devant l'absence des voix des femmes afghanes, les journalistes internationaux n'ont fait que parler à leur place en racontant leur propre version, à leur manière. La presse internationale s'est gavée d'images de femmes afghanes en burqas bleues, battues, violentées, avec des enfants malades. Plus tard, les mêmes images ont servi à justifier la guerre contre la terreur. En 2001, la guerre a aussi été appelée guerre de libération des femmes afghanes, sans se poser la question de savoir si les faits de guerre et les bombardements pouvaient vraiment apporter la liberté à une nation. Et la guerre contre le terrorisme a continué dans plusieurs provinces, dont Kaboul, sous la forme d'explosions et d'attaques ciblées durant les vingt dernières années en Afghanistan. Avec tous ces défis bravant le conservatisme, les idéologies anti-femmes se sont profondément ancrées dans la société, les femmes afghanes ont profité de la paix et de la liberté relatives comme d'un bénéfice collatéral de la guerre contre la terreur pour progresser, apprendre et se construire un avenir, pour ne pas laisser la guerre nous faire revenir aux années 90. les risques Être une femme n'a jamais été facile pour les afghanes, mais nous avons pris tous les risques possibles pour nous construire nos propres récits, pour institutionnaliser notre présence dans tous les domaines , de l'art à la politique, et pour ne pas laisser quiconque prendre des décisions à notre place. Les femmes afghanes revendiquaient de pouvoir faire valoir leurs propres voix et de ne laisser aucun journaliste ou homme politique parler à leur place. Depuis 2001, malgré la présence militaire de 46 pays en Afghanistan, nos écoles ont été attaquées, mais nous les avons reconstruites nous-mêmes. Nos centres de formation ont été bombardés par des terroristes soutenus par le Pakistan mais nous les avons relevés de leurs cendres. Nous, les femmes afghanes, n'avons jamais cessé de nous instruire pour ne pas permettre à l'histoire de se répéter. Quand les États-Unis ont accepté autour de la table de négociation les chefs d'un groupe terroriste, les Talibans, en leur promettant la moitié du pays sans égard pour ce que souhaitait le peuple afghan, nous avons élevé nos voix, et interpellé les Nations Unies et d'autres instances internationales pour qu'ils soutiennent les femmes afghanes, afin que ne soient pas compromis leurs efforts de 20 années de prise de risque. Nous, le peuple afghan, avons élevé nos voix quand le gouvernement afghan a été forcé de relâcher plus de cinq mille terroristes comme Haqqami, aujourd'hui ministre de l'Intérieur de ce groupe terroriste, qui a organisé plusieurs explosions partout dans le pays et tué des centaines d'afghans. Nous avons élevé nos voix Nous avons élevé nos voix en clamant que mettre un groupe terroriste dans les médias nationaux et internationaux, sans considération pour les victimes et les aspirations du peuple afghan, est contre les valeurs humanistes et les droits humains. Nous avons exposé nos craintes et notre grande inquiétude de perdre nos acquis quand le si injustement dénommé Traité de Paix a été signé entre les USA et les Talibans en l'absence du gouvernement afghan à Doha le 29 février 2020. Nous avons élevé nos voix quand les leaders afghans étaient à Doha pour entamer les discussions sur la paix en Afghanistan, en excluant les femmes des débats. Nous avons affiché nos lignes rouges après que l'accord de paix US-Taliban nous ait été imposé : écouter les victimes d'attaques des Talibans et leurs familles, prendre en considération nos 20 années d'acquis et de respect de toutes les minorités, y compris les droits des femmes et des personnes LGBTQ. Et enfin nous avons élevé nos voix quand les provinces afghanes sont tombées les unes après les autres aux mains des Talibans avec le soutien militaire du Pakistan. Nous avons manifesté haut et fort, mais malheureusement nos cauchemars sont devenus réels et les gouvernements et les médias internationaux ont une fois de plus fait des récits de ce qu'ils supposaient être notre réalité sans prendre en compte notre parole, parce qu'ils ne faisaient qu'écouter les Talibans qui promettaient de changer, et qu'ils s'appliquaient à essayer de persuader les afghans sans prendre en compte que les Talibans n'ont jamais cessé de massacrer le peuple afghan depuis 1996 et jusqu'à nos jours. Texte et photos : Hanifa Alizada

VOTT: US, Taliban recalibrate relations | Oct. 12, 2021Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tuneinSoundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud #TheManilaTimes#VoiceOfTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://afghannewswire.com/2021/10/09/us-taliban-secret-deal-and-the-fight-for-leverage/

Taliban Victory ovrer the United States in Afghanistan in a 20 year war as they preape for a Seat at the UN amid victory , lessions in trauma from deadly force encounters

How are we supposed to comprehend all the craziness that is going on, all over the world? Once upon a time, things were much simpler, life was good with the normal ups and downs. But now, things seem much crazier. No? You don't want to miss how I explain all this craziness going on around us. And hopefully, you will be pleasantly surprised, with a deeper sense of hope, by my explanation!

This episode focuses on Afghanistan's future prospects given Australia's recent closure of its embassy in Kabul, and the withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan after 20 years. We'll discuss the implications of the US withdrawal, the ‘peace process' that was supposed to flow from the US-Taliban agreement, and what scenarios could play out should the Taliban regain control.

On COI #122, Kyle and Will break down a controversy centered on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who landed in hot water after suggesting that the United States, Israel, Hamas and the Taliban all commit atrocities alike. While she was accused of equating "democratic countries" with "terrorists," Will and Kyle explain that the backlash was overwrought, and that Washington and Tel Aviv are, in fact, responsible for war crimes. The Pentagon is sounding alarms over two Iranian military vessels transiting the Atlantic Ocean, a first for Tehran's navy. Nobody knows for sure what the ships intend to do or where they're headed, and the US military appears to not believe its own hype, having no plans to intercept the vessels or even monitor them more closely. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the two ships pose a serious threat to the entire Western Hemisphere, though declined to explain how, saying nothing about the massive arsenal of US naval power stationed in Iran's backyard. The White House has released its war powers report to Congress, outlining the status of US forces around the world and the legal justification for their deployment. The report comes as several bills introduced in the House and Senate aim to claw back war-making authorities from the executive branch. Will and Kyle explain that many deployments are based on outdated authorizations that have nothing to do with the current realities. Odysee Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Subscribe Star – Conflicts of Interest  YouTube – Conflicts of Interest Facebook – Conflicts of Interest Twitter – Conflicts of Interest Apple Podcast – Conflicts of Interest Support Our Sponsor Visit Paloma Verde and use code PEACE for 25% off our CBD

On COI #122, Kyle and Will break down a controversy centered on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who landed in hot water after suggesting that the United States, Israel, Hamas and the Taliban all commit atrocities alike. While she was accused of equating "democratic countries" with "terrorists," Will and Kyle explain that the backlash was overwrought, and that Washington and Tel Aviv are, in fact, responsible for war crimes.  The Pentagon is sounding alarms over two Iranian military vessels transiting the Atlantic Ocean, a first for Tehran's navy. Nobody knows for sure what the ships intend to do or where they're headed, and the US military appears to not believe its own hype, having no plans to intercept the vessels or even monitor them more closely. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the two ships pose a serious threat to the entire Western Hemisphere, though declined to explain how, saying nothing about the massive arsenal of US naval power stationed in Iran's backyard. The White House has released its war powers report to Congress, outlining the status of US forces around the world and the legal justification for their deployment. The report comes as several bills introduced in the House and Senate aim to claw back war-making authorities from the executive branch. Will and Kyle explain that many deployments are based on outdated authorizations that have nothing to do with the current realities.  Odysee Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Subscribe Star – Conflicts of Interest  YouTube – Conflicts of Interest Facebook – Conflicts of Interest Twitter – Conflicts of Interest Apple Podcast – Conflicts of Interest Support Our Sponsor Visit Paloma Verde and use code PEACE for 25% off our CBD

Will US forces leave Afghanistan in 2021? Will the Afghan people finally experience a peaceful resolution to the decades of conflict?In this episode, Ayesha Malik, team lead at Conflict Law Centre at the Research Society of International Law, sits down with Fahd Humayun, who is a Ph.D Candidate at Yale, to  discuss the background, current status and the future of the 'Agreement to Bring Peace to Afghanistan', commonly known as the US-Taliban Deal or the Afghan Peace DealWatch this episode in video

On COI #88, Connor Freeman returns to the show with updates on Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen.  As the Biden administration signals that it won't meet the May 1 troop withdrawal deadline set out in the US-Taliban deal signed last year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered an alternative "peace plan" to a recently unveiled US proposal, rejecting any interim government arrangement and calling for fast-tracked elections. The Taliban is reportedly considering the US plan, but has nonetheless vowed to retaliate should foreign forces remain in the country beyond May 1.  A senior Iranian official recently said Iran should boost its uranium enrichment to 60 percent to pressure Washington into dropping sanctions and reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Biden is in no hurry to do either, even as his top Iran envoy admits the ongoing "maximum pressure" campaign has been a failure.  The US-backed Saudi coalition bombed a grain port in the town of al-Salif on Yemen's Red Sea coast, part of a flurry of strikes carried out in recent days against the Houthis. The attack carried on a trend in the coalition's bombing campaign, which throughout the war has targeted farms, factories, schools, hospitals, mosques, funeral processions and wedding parties. Despite the air raids, the Saudis have put forward a ceasefire proposal, but the Houthis have insisted any deal must include an immediate end to the Saudi naval blockade.   LBRY Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Subscribe Star – Conflicts of Interest  YouTube – Conflicts of Interest Facebook – Conflicts of Interest Twitter – Conflicts of Interest Apple Podcast – Conflicts of Interest Support Our Sponsor Visit Paloma Verde and use code PEACE for 25% off our CBD

Today, the AEI Podcast Channel presents a conversation between the director of AEI's Critical Threats Project, Fred Kagan, and General David H. Petraeus on the http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/isws-overwatch-podcast-series (Overwatch) podcast. Civil war and an unrestrained al Qaeda are all but certain should the US withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in May per the US-Taliban deal signed over a year ago. American disengagement will only embolden revisionist powers and create an even more dangerous security situation for the region and beyond. On this episode of Overwatch, Frederick W. Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, and General David H. Petraeus sit down to discuss the US-Taliban agreement, the consequences of a US withdrawal, and a sustainable way forward that protects not only American interests, but also advances those of the Afghan people. You can learn more about the Critical Threats Project https://www.criticalthreats.org (here).

Civil war and an unrestrained al Qaeda are all but certain should the US withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in May per the US-Taliban deal signed over a year ago. American disengagement will only embolden revisionist powers and create an even more dangerous security situation for the region and beyond. On this episode of Overwatch, Frederick W. Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, and General David H. Petraeus sit down to discuss the US-Taliban agreement, the consequences of a US withdrawal, and a sustainable way forward that protects not only American interests, but also advances those of the Afghan people.

On COI #67, Scott Spaulding, host of Why I'm Antiwar podcast, returns to the show to discuss Biden's plan to back out on the US-Taliban agreement and keep US troops in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan has continued for almost two decades, yet critics of withdraw continue to say the leaving now would be "too soon" and lead to war. Scott and Kyle argue that the war in Afghanistan is ongoing and staying longer will not assist a post-withdraw peace. Scott and Kyle break down recent development in Yemen and Myanmar. Scott expresses his optimism for the US ending support to Saudi's war in Yemen. Kyle explains why he is skeptical that Biden take meaningful steps to end the war. In Myanmar, the military officially seized power and arrested top members of the government. The US is looking at sanctions in response. Scott's Twitter @MdVet4 Scott's Website  LBRY Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate BitcoinCash qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Subscribe Star – Conflicts of Interest  YouTube – Conflicts of Interest Facebook – Conflicts of Interest Twitter – Conflicts of Interest Apple Podcast – Conflicts of Interest Support Our Sponsor Visit Paloma Verde and use code PEACE for 25% off our CBD

Welcome to the Afghan Affairs podcast with Said Sabir Ibrahimi. This podcast brings you a variety of perspectives on Afghanistan. I am joined by Professor Thomas Johnson to discuss the US-Taliban deal and the Afghan peace process. Professor Johnson is a faculty member of the National Security Affairs Department at the Naval Postgraduate School as well as the Director of the Program for Culture & Conflict Studies. He has written extensively on South Asia and Afghanistan. Thank you for listening. If you like this podcast, please help us grow and support through Patreon and Pay Pal. afghanaffairs.com/podcast/

Dozens of Democrats have moved to investigate and perhaps subsequently remove a number of GOP members from Congress.Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, joins us to discuss a move by House Democrats to investigate and perhaps remove a number of GOP legislators from Congress. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has co-sponsored a resolution that would investigate House Republicans who sought to overturn the results of the presidential election ahead of last week's pro-Trump protest that ended in violence at the US Capitol. The freshman congresswoman argued in a statement that those found to have supported overturning the election should be removed from Congress and held accountable "for their role in this insurrection." The opposition argues that the members were legally voted in by their constituents and, absent any criminal convictions, should be allowed to serve. Ajamu Baraka, former US vice-presidential candidate for the Green Party, joins us to discuss the flurry of foreign policy moves by the outgoing Trump administration. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is taking actions against Iran and Cuba that seem designed to hamstring the incoming Biden administration's ability to maneuver after US President Donald Trump exits the world stage. Some believe that the moves against Iran are coordinated with Israel and anti-Iranian Gulf states who are concerned about the US returning to the Iran nuclear deal. However, the actions against Cuba seem to be more ideological and part of a broader war against the anti-imperialist bloc forming in Latin America.Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the antiwar organization Code Pink, returns to The Critical Hour to discuss Victoria Nuland, who has been nominated by US President-elect Joe Biden for under secretary of state for political affairs. A group of 25 organizations including Code Pink has penned a letter opposing the nomination of the infamous anti-Russia war hawk. They argue that Nuland "played a key role in facilitating a coup in Ukraine that created a civil war costing 10,000 lives and displacing over a million people" and that it would be extremely dangerous to include her in the US foreign policy decision-making process. They close their letter by stating, "Some US military officials say this demonizing of Russia is all about weapons profits and bureaucratic power, no more fact-based than the Steele Dossier that was given to the FBI by Victoria Nuland."Author and activist Miko Peled joins us to talk about Israel's COVID-19 vaccine program, which has had remarkable success for free Israelis but has not provided inoculations to Palestinians in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. Palestinian rights activists argue that this is a blatant example of apartheid policies, but Israeli officials counter that "these Palestinians don't fall under their jurisdiction under the terms of the Oslo accords and that it is the job of the Palestinian Authority to procure and distribute vaccines in the occupied territories," the Washington Post reported Tuesday.Ted Rall, political cartoonist and syndicated columnist, joins us to discuss the worldwide response to Trump's removal from Twitter. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released a statement warning of the "unchecked power" of tech companies, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel finds the Trump Twitter ban "problematic," according to a spokesperson. Noted libertarian Ron Paul has also written an article in which he argues that the latest social media purge is an example of the War on Terror coming home.Nicholas Ayala, editor at the Anticonquista media collective, joins us to discuss Latin America's response to the events at the US Capitol last week. A recent article in the Orinoco Tribune is headlined "The United States Suffers the Same Thing that it has Generated in other Countries with its Policies of Aggression." The article points out that Venezuela recently seated a new National Assembly after a peaceful and successful election in which over 100 parties participated, as the US political system lies in obvious ruins. James Carey, editor and co-owner of Geopolitics Alert, joins us to discuss Afghanistan. The Trump administration continues to reduce troop numbers in the Central Asian country, despite the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) including an amendment that seeks to block planned troop drawdowns. The US-Taliban peace deal signed in February 2020 paved the way for all US troops to leave Afghanistan by spring 2021, but it's not clear if Biden will follow through with the plan.Dr. Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss an interesting article in Asia Times which argues that China is now "well on track to challenge the US as the world's financial center" while still serving as the leader in manufacturing. It also says that the US losing 140,000 jobs in December 2020 was the "clearest sign yet" that the American economy is in the throes of another COVID-related crash.

This newsletter is really a weekly public policy thought-letter. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought-letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. It seeks to answer just one question: how do I think about a particular public policy problem/solution?PS: If you enjoy listening instead of reading, we have this edition available as an audio narration courtesy the good folks at Ad-Auris. If you have any feedback, please send it to us.Matsyanyaaya: Constraining the Pakistani Military-Jihadi ComplexBig fish eating small fish = Foreign Policy in action— Pranay KotasthaneAfter a long time, India-Pakistan talks were back making the headlines last week. Moeed Yusuf, Special Assistant on National Security and Strategic Policy Planning to the Pakistani PM, hinted in an interview to The Wire that backchannel discussions about a political dialogue are in the works. We don’t think political dialogues between India and Pakistan at the highest levels are useful. To the contrary, talks, especially at higher levels of the political spectrum, have a close correlation with terrorist attacks engineered by the Pakistani military-jihadi complex (MJC). MJC is a framework we use to describe Pakistan’s seemingly duplicitous behaviour. That’s because Pakistan is not one geopolitical entity, but two. The first is a putative state which has all the paraphernalia that gives it a veneer of a normal state. However, this putative state competes with a multi-dimensional entity comprised of military, militant, radical Islamist and political-economic structures that pursues a set of domestic and foreign policies to ensure its own survival and relative dominance: something we refer to as the military-jihadi complex (MJC).The status of the talks aside, I wrote a paper analysing the impact of some major recent political developments on the MJC and its India policy. I take stock of four developments, and analyse the risks and opportunities arising out of these developments for the MJC, and hence to India.Development #1: The MJC’s External Benefactors Have ChangedEarlier, the MJC’s adventures were bankrolled indirectly by the US and directly by Saudi Arabia. Those days are long gone. The most important financier for the MJC now is China. Risks and opportunities for IndiaThe most prominent risk is that because the MJC is dependent on PRC like never before, and both are adversarial to India, it will continue to hurt Indian interests in order to prove its relevance to PRC. The opportunity for India is that as PRC and MJC come closer, it will be easier to expose the structural flaws in their unequal relationship. As PRC increases its influence in Pakistan’s economy, nationalist forces (and even sections of the MJC) are likely to create fault lines between the two countries. Countermeasures and Preparedness India should prepare to face a diplomatic offensive of the MJC-PRC combine at various multilateral fora over Kashmir. Closer ties with the US, Japan, Australia and France are important to tackle this offensive. India also needs to be prepared for a rise in infiltration attempts and terrorist activity in Kashmir. As a countermeasure, India’s messaging should aim to accentuate the underlying cultural, social, and economic differences between China and Pakistan in order to reduce the flow of capital from PRC to the MJC. The weaker the MJC’s external benefactor, the more constrained it will be. Development #2: The US-Taliban Peace AgreementThe MJC has played a major role in steering and pressuring the Afghan Taliban to sign this agreement. In the process, it managed to partially repair flailing ties with the US. More importantly, it made major headway in its long-cherished aim of installing a pliant government in Kabul. Risks and opportunities for IndiaThe acceptance of the Taliban as a legitimate political force by the US is a moral and material victory for the MJC. The US-Taliban peace agreement is a tangible result for its policy of sustained terrorism in Afghanistan. Even a partial withdrawal of the US on the Taliban’s—and by extension, the MJC’s—terms will reaffirm the MJC’s faith in using terrorism as state policy. It might then apply this lesson to double down on terrorism against India as well. India’s economic and diplomatic footprint will reduce in the short term. A case in point is the MJC’s attempt to designate four Indian nationals in Afghanistan under the UN 1267 Sanctions List accusing them of spreading terrorism in Pakistan.Another risk is the MJC relocating its terror networks to Loya Paktika in eastern Afghanistan, a hotbed of anti-India activities in the past. This would allow the MJC to use terrorism against India while claiming that it has driven terrorists out of Pakistan. The long-term opportunity for India is that as the US reduces its presence, Pakistan will be left with the unenviable task of managing the volatile situation in Afghanistan. It will be drawn into the seemingly irreconcilable differences in the Afghanistan polity. If a civil war-like situation erupts, the MJC will be left with more problems in its hands. Countermeasures and Preparedness India needs to be prepared for a scenario in which the MJC attempts to eliminate all Indian presence in Afghanistan. India must act to help its friends, not just in northern Afghanistan but also in the anti-Taliban forces in the south. At the same time, India would need to look at opening links, if not already done, with sections of the Taliban that do not want to be beholden to the MJC’s control. Finally, India’s focus in Afghanistan over the long-term should shift towards eliminating Pakistan-backed terrorist outfits’ relocation to eastern Afghanistan. Development #3: India’s Revocation of the Special Status of Jammu and KashmirGiven how invested the MJC has been in fomenting trouble in J&K, it is unlikely to take the abrogation of Article 370 lying down. Any action in Kashmir helps the MJC prove its relevance to the Pakistani society in the short-term. Hence, it would be eager to use this situation to further destabilise J&K and spread unrest elsewhere in India citing India’s move as the reason. Risks and opportunities for IndiaThe MJC is likely to continue with its policy of abetment of civil disobedience and violent protests. It will continue to support cross-border terrorism and might even resume a new insurgency against the Indian State by creating new outfits. The MJC would also want to revive insurgencies in other parts of India. Finally, India will face diplomatic offensive from PRC and Pakistan in the coming months over this move. The opportunity for India arising out of this development is a chance to change the nature of the social contract of Kashmiris with the Indian state once and for all. Previous attempts at growth and prosperity in Kashmir were opposed by fundamentalists who saw these as attempts to change the demographic character of the Kashmir valley. The change in the special status of J&K allows India to ignore such calls and bring economic opportunities to Kashmir. Preparedness and countermeasures One, India needs to shift to a surgical and “smart” Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) approach whose provisions can be limited in time and space. A change in the AFSPA will signal New Delhi’s bona fides and invite Kashmiri political leaders to reciprocate. Second, the Government of India should opt for marginal, and not maximal response. It should reverse the damage done to the morale of the J&K police. It should lift the communications blockade and allow public protests and demonstrations to resume as these outlets are key to reducing the importance of the MJC as the prime influencer. Third, India can consider deploying a Special Task Force of highly capable middle-level civil servants from across India for a period of three years to restore broken governance delivery systems. With COVID-19, the tourism economy of Kashmir has been severely hit. This could make the young more vulnerable to the MJC’s machinations. Hence it is important for India to find livelihood alternatives. One way to do that is to create Priority Development Areas for the promotion of agro-processing, premium bottled water, and premium handicrafts. In the Jammu plains, the government could invite investors in contract farming. Bringing in international expertise in this space would also be a positive step. Next, India needs to develop a strategic communication plan to defeat false and competing narratives generated by the MJC. Finally, conducting local and assembly elections in the medium term to restart the political machinery and reverting J&K to a full state under the Republic of India after announcing elections will take off the edge from the MJC’s misinformation campaigns. As a direct countermeasure, India should draw the world’s attention to the atrocities the MJC has unleashed in FATA. The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) — a protest movement poses a unique challenge to the MJC because of its mass support base and a nonviolent character. This movement has the potential to seriously challenge the MJC and India’s efforts in Pakistan should be to align with the Pashtun cause. The Baloch insurgency by itself is too weak to change the power equations in Islamabad. Development #4: Pakistan’s economic downturnThis weak domestic economy, coupled with the MJC’s diminished inability to extract from its external benefactors, also affects the MJC’s fortunes. It is now forced to look inwards and corner more resources for itself. Risks and opportunities for IndiaA weakened economy reduces the range of options available to the MJC and makes some elements of it risk-averse. This means that the MJC will continue to rely on low-cost asymmetric options such as terrorism to hurt India. Abetting and sponsoring terrorism in areas with active insurgencies, both in Afghanistan and India are likely to continue. The opportunity for India is that a weak economy puts the MJC squarely against forces opposed to it. For instance, the Pakistani Army has been opposing a reform for a fair division of financial resources between the federal and provincial governments. This offers an opportunity for India because this fight over economic resources has a powerful ethnic dimension. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan — all three provinces that stood to gain from the 18th constitutional amendment see this controversy as another attempt by the overwhelmingly Punjabi Pakistani Army to amass resources at their cost. Preparedness and countermeasures Whenever the MJC’s popularity declines in Pakistan, tensions with India allow it to regain lost ground. So, India should be prepared to face new asymmetric warfare attempts. To further constrain the MJC, India should utilise the FATF mechanism and press upon the member countries that Pakistan still remains a hotbed of institutionalised terror activity. FATF grey-listing will make capital inflows difficult in an already investment-starved economy. Finally, studies to expose how the MJC corners economic resources of the Pakistani state might also help manufacture a public opinion within Pakistan that questions the MJC. The lynchpin of the MJC, the Pakistani Army, is still the most trusted institution in Pakistan. To get the two Pakistans to lock horns with each other, a public narrative needs to be built exposing the extractive nature of the MJC. After discussing these four developments, I end with the warning that the extent to which India can deploy these countermeasure options is limited by its own domestic situation. For one, a weak economy means that India will become cautious in exercising options that demand considerable resources. Secondly, the communally charged domestic narrative that the Citizenship Amendment Act has unleashed allows the MJC to reciprocally exploit fissures in Indian society. Conversely, a fast-growing economy and a stable, peaceful society will allow India to exploit a wider range of options to tackle the MJC. The full paper can be read here. India Policy Watch: That Tanishq AdInsights on burning policy issues in India— RSJTanishq, a Tata company, withdrew its latest ad for its new collection titled ‘Ekatvam’ (“oneness”) after #boycottTanishq trended on Twitter. The ad featured a pregnant Hindu woman being surprised by her Muslim mother-in-law who had organised an elaborate traditional Hindu baby shower ceremony for her. This was a generic feel-good ad that’s a staple during the festive season. The Hindu-Muslim angle is one of the more tried and tested variants of this genre. No one was shown in any bad light and Suraj Barjatya would have been proud of its cloying storyline. Yet, There Was Outrage There were three reasons for the outrage depending on the sophistry of people being outraged. First, the ad was seen as an attempt to normalise ‘love jihad’ – a belief that Muslim men are being trained and supported by forces inimical to India to woo Hindu girls and marry them in a ‘fresh’ attempt to colonise India. The government in parliament has denied its existence. It doesn’t require a lot of common sense to see through the lack of logic of this notion. That Muslim men will organise themselves to colonise India one Hindu girl at a time seems like a lot of effort with many low probability events to come through. Love in India doesn’t bloom easily even among the young of the same caste and community. ‘Love marriages’ still account for less than seven per cent all marriages. There’s no proof that Muslim men are being trained on some kind of finishing school that specialises in wooing techniques. Importantly, this assumes Hindu girls to be devoid of any agency of their own to decide who to fall in love with and marry. Despite these obvious logical flaws, the narrative around ‘love jihad’ has built up over the years. The Muslim stars of Bollywood who have Hindu wives are often indirectly cited as role models for Muslim boys. As an aside, generations of Muslim female actors have married Hindu men over the years in Bollywood (from Nargis, Mumtaz, Zarina Wahab to Sonam). Any incident of a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim boy is used as an example of ‘love jihad’ and played up. The parents of girls in India live with multiple anxieties regarding their safety, well-being and marriage even in this day and age. This is unfortunate. To such paranoia, it isn’t too difficult to add ‘love jihad’.   The second lot of outragers followed good, old whataboutery. Their contention: if the ad was serious about Hindu-Muslim amity, it should have reversed the roles. The girl should have been Muslim in a Hindu household. Apparently, this would have triggered massive Muslim protests, violence and liberal outrage about Hindus cornering the minorities and obliterating their identity and customs. This is all too easy to puncture. There have been films galore in the past two decades that have stereotyped Muslim jihadi villains without much of an outrage. In fact, Indian popular culture is replete with stereotypical Muslims – from a do-gooder neighbour, to a pir or, of late, a radical or a jihadi – without much of a reaction from the community. It is a bit specious to believe a reversal of roles would have meant trouble.Lastly, there are those who have accused Tanishq of being too ‘woke’ for their own good. The argument is they should focus on selling jewellery and stay from ‘social causes’ that they don’t have an idea about. These aren’t compelling arguments. Consumer brands draw from the society to shape their communications. They research behaviour pattern, track changing social mores, and take stock of the attitudes and values prevalent in the society on an ongoing basis. No wonder advertisements often capture the zeitgeist earlier than other forms of popular culture – from yeh dil maange more to kitna deti hai. To accuse them of not understanding ground realities is rich. The point on being too ‘woke’ doesn’t merit any discussion. Any decent or noble thought can be dissed as one these days. Despite the flimsy outrage, Tanishq withdrew the ad:"This film has stimulated divergent and severe reactions, contrary to its very objective. We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well being of our employees, partners and store staff," That a group like Tata, a model corporate citizen with long years of service to the nation under its belt, could capitulate to online trolls and withdraw an ad that promoted harmony triggered another cycle of outrage. Well, a day in the life of India on Twitter.  This Is DifferentThe outrage, Tanishq’s reaction to it and its aftermath represent a distinct shift from the past. There’s something to learn from them about where we are as a polity now. In this instance, we are in what can be termed the post-narrative phase engineered by the so-called cultural right-wing. Something nebulous like ‘love jihad’ has been crystallised over the past few years through multiple stories, myths and fake outrage. It even turned into a minor election issue in UP sometime back. Now this myth is so firmly established that its veracity isn’t in question. The reason for outrage instead is the ‘normalisation’ of it. That it is the ‘truth’ is already established. We are in the world beyond it. This will give a fillip to other such myths (multiple wives, high fertility rates to name two) that abound in this space. Sudarshan TV had recently run a programme titled UPSC jihad that alleged a conspiracy by the same elements who ran love jihad to now infiltrate the civil services in India. The Supreme Court had to intervene. But the seed has been sown. Now every time a Muslim candidate clears the UPSC test, expect UPSC jihad conspiracy theory to be revived. The trajectory for the future has been established.  This apart, the outrage will deepen the ‘chilling effect’ in media and popular culture. The takedown of the Tanishq ad represents a win for a modus operandi that’s become common across the world – employ numerous bots to get the flywheel of outrage going, the flywheel then attracts others with imagined grievances or hate, it soon trends on social media that in turn creates fear of repercussions for the brand or the individual. Soon, they capitulate. From cancel culture on the left to right-wing conspiracy theories, this approach is a winner. It will take enormous courage for a brand or a film director to contemplate an inter-faith script in future.  Lastly, there is something particularly odious about this outrage. There have been protests against ads, books or films in the past because of the alleged disrespect shown to a religion or a community. From banning The Satanic Verses, renaming a film Padmavat to not using Chattrapati Maharaj before Shivaji, the grievance is always about an insult – real or mostly imagined. This is the first case where the grievance is about harmony. It is about the alleged sinister machination underpinning this harmony. This is new and a significant step in the process of ‘othering’ where even coming together of communities cannot be countenanced. Something to reflect on for every right-thinking Indian.PolicyWTFs: The Tax Base ProblemThis section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?— Pranay KotasthaneTax Revenue = Tax Base * Tax RateThis simple equation implies that when revenues need to be raised, governments can do three things: raise the tax rate, increase the number of people paying the tax, or do both. However, in low state-capacity democracies like India, governments always seem to pick the first option. After all, it is always easier and faster for the governments to charge the same people more by increasing the tax rate than get more people to pay by increasing the tax base.Following on, be prepared for calls to raise tax rates across the board. State and city government finances have gone for a toss due to COVID-19 and the union government’s chicanery on GST. They now have no other option but to raise their own revenues. Enter the dragon: tax rate hikes.For instance, in Bengaluru, the local government is contemplating an increase of 15 to 30 per cent in property tax rates. On the surface, targeting property tax collections is prudent. The Economic Survey 2016-17 claimed that Bengaluru was collecting just a fifth of its property tax potential. Moreover, property taxes are paid by residents and hence this tax has a higher linkage compared to other taxes, between those who pay, those who benefit, and those who decide. Where the government is getting it wrong is that instead of increasing the property tax base, tax rates are being hiked. Even if we ignore the ethical dimension given the pandemic, hiking rates is counterproductive. There is a negative correlation between tax rates and tax base i.e. high tax rates disincentivise people from paying taxes and create a parallel tax-avoidance economy in turn. The tax-avoidance economy is lucrative for the revenue collectors as well — higher the rates, higher the number of evaders willing to pay a lower amount bribe to them.Whether it’s property tax rates or GST, the same policyWTF is repeated: first, a new tax gets levied with a low tax-base but a high tax rate. Next, the already high tax-rate is increased steadily because the tax base is low and finally, when increasing rates is no longer enough, raising the tax base is contemplated.The approach should be the reverse. Every new tax should aim to cover the largest number of people first through extremely low tax rates. Once that’s done, technology should be used to prevent underpayment. Finally, tax rates can be revised incrementally. We are a long way off this ideal and we don’t seem to be learning even in this crisis. HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Article] David French writing for the Persuasion on The Hate at the Heart of Conspiracy Theory. The lede sums it up: Liberty can survive intense disagreement. But it cannot survive pure hate.[Article] Govinda Rao on why the GST saga is terrible for the future of federalism in India.[Podcast] India’s armed forces still don’t operate under unified theatre commands. Why is ‘jointness’ beneficial and how should India’s theatre commands look? The latest episode of Puliyabaazi with Lt Gen Prakash Menon has the answers. Get on the email list at publicpolicy.substack.com

Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at The Wilson Center, and Scott Smith, Senior Expert for Afghanistan Peace Processes at the U.S. Institute of Peace, discuss the US-Taliban pact that paved the way for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha, Qatar, which are designed to end the almost two-decades long civil war. They talk with host Carol Castiel about the role of Washington and daunting challenges to attaining a permanent ceasefire and lasting peace.

For more than a week, residents of Lashkar Gah city in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, have been on edge.Some have been forced to flee their homes because of fresh fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces that erupted suddenly last weekend.Local authorities report that as many as 35,000 people may have been displaced and 200 people have been killed or injured.Photos and videos posted online show residents fleeing the city on motorbikes and in the backs of trucks. Not knowing how long they will be on the move, many can be seen leaving with their belongings — blankets, furniture and other goods — piled high up on car rooftops and trucks.Dr. Lia Harris, a pediatrician with medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said medical centers in the area have been treating casualties with bullet wounds and injuries from improvised explosive devices. Some of the injured are women and children.“Helmand province has been the focus of ongoing conflict for over a decade, but it really escalated on October 11,” Harris told The World over an unstable phone line. The recent attempt by the Taliban to take over Lashkar Gah last weekend — and the Afghan government’s response — comes as officials from the two groups meet in Doha, Qatar, to negotiate a US-brokered peace deal.The Taliban had previously made an agreement with the US in which the Americans agreed to withdraw their troops if the Taliban reduce fighting and sit down with Afghan government representatives.Related: Afghan peace talks set to start despite escalating attacks on politiciansThat agreement was signed in February. But since then, the Taliban have continued to carry out violence across the country, hoping that such provocations could increase their leverage in the negotiations. The group carries out near-daily attacks, killing Afghan forces and civilians.The World reached out to a Taliban spokesman for comment, but he did not respond.In the meantime, the roads and highways in Helmand are currently “dangerously impassable,” said Harris, who took up her post last month. Locals are cut off from life-saving medical care.Related: A newborn survived an attack at a hospital in Afghanistan. Now the long road to recovery begins.“A child or a pregnant woman who is in labor previously would have been able to come to Lashkar Gah and access our resources. At the moment, they can’t come,” Harris said.Marianna Cortesi, hospital coordinator at the MSF-supported Boost provincial hospital in Helmand province, described how one mother, seven months pregnant, lost her unborn child after a stray bullet hit her.Taliban and Afghan security forces face offShortly after the Taliban began their offensive last weekend, the Afghan government deployed its security forces to stop the group.Videos posted online showed security forces moving in during the early hours of the morning. They managed to push back Taliban fighters, but they also suffered painful losses.On Wednesday, two Afghan military helicopters were assigned to drop off new troops and evacuate soldiers who had been wounded. But the helicopters experienced technical issues and crashed, killing nine people.Among them was 31-year-old Captain Obaid Ahmadi.His former classmate, Kahkashan Koofi, told The World that Ahmadi was engaged and was getting ready to plan his wedding.“Every day, in every corner of this country, we watch as our loved ones get killed. Women bury their husbands, mothers are left to mourn and shed tears for their beloved sons.”Kahkashan Koofi, classmate of Afghan security forces Captain Obaid Ahmadi“Every day, in every corner of this country, we watch as our loved ones get killed,” Koofi said, taking a pause to compose herself because she was so distraught at the loss of her friend. “Women bury their husbands, mothers are left to mourn and shed tears for their beloved sons.”Koofi wishes the Taliban and Afghan government would come to an agreement soon.“I want to ask them if taking power is really worth inflicting all this pain on people? To kill so many young Afghans with hopes and dreams?” she said.On Thursday, US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted that after several meetings with the Taliban, the group agreed to “re-set actions” by “strictly adhering” to the US-Taliban agreement. “This means reduced numbers of operations. At present too many Afghans are dying. With the re-set, we expect that number to drop significantly,” Khalilzad wrote.Many Afghans are hoping that this time the Taliban are serious about launching fewer attacks.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thatsall For the first time since the start of America’s participation in the War in Afghanistan, the Afghan Government and the Taliban are meeting to negotiate a new constitution. With the US eyeing the exit, the clock is ticking for the Afghan government to negotiate a deal. Here’s exactly what’s happening.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Afghanistan Taliban spokesperson and US-Taliban negotiator Suhail Shaheen. He discusses the claims made in Western media that Russia has been paying the Taliban bounties to kill US soldiers, and why it is false. He also talks about growing poppy production in Afghanistan after the US-UK invasion, allegations that the Taliban is involved in the drug trade, sources of Taliban financing, the peace deal negotiated between the US and the Taliban facilitating a US withdrawal, and more! Finally, we speak to Leigh Phillips, author of ‘The People’s Republic of Wal-Mart.’ He discusses how crises have shown markets to be inefficient at meeting needs and demand, how capitalist corporations such as Wal-Mart and Amazon operate with central planning instead of market mechanisms, why central planning doesn’t lead to authoritarianism and how, instead, authoritarianism undermines central planning such as in the Soviet Union and China, how coronavirus is forcing capitalist economies to take a central-planning approach, the myth that free markets allow more risk-taking and innovation, and much more!

John Nesbitt international economist and private equity advisor on US Taliban agreement, Covid-Recovery & Israeli Annexation.

Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at The Wilson Center, and Mariam Wardak, political analyst and co-founder of “Her Afghanistan,” talk with host Carol Castiel about the status of the US-Taliban peace agreement in the shadow of Covid-19, including challenges to intra-Afghan peace talks designed to bring an end to the nearly two-decade long conflict.

In this episode of India Foundation Podcasts, Former Ambassador of Afghanistan to India Mr Shaida Mohammad Abdali elaborates on the US-Taliban peace deal and helps us better understand the situation in Afghanistan post this peace deal and the road ahead, particularly with regards to India

In this episode of India Foundation Podcasts, Former Ambassador of Afghanistan to India Mr Shaida Mohammad Abdali elaborates on the US-Taliban peace deal and helps us better understand the situation in Afghanistan post this peace deal and the road ahead, particularly with regards to India

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On FPF #488, I discuss the US-Taliban "peace agreement." While the agreement has brought a reduction in violence between the US and Taliban, overall the violence between the Taliban and US-supported Afghan government rages. In the first three months of the year, Taliban attacks are up and the Afghan government is killing children at twice the rate of the Taliban. However, there are some positive signs. The two men claiming the title of Afghanistan's president are close to making a deal to unify the two governments. 

On this episode of Going Underground, we firstly speak to John Ashton, the former president of the UK Faculty of Public Health. He discusses the recent revelations on Panorama which showed the government had been manipulating PPE figures to make them appear larger, the likely real current death toll and future death toll of coronavirus (Covid-19), the government’s £60,000 compensation scheme for NHS workers’ families whose lives have been lost due to Coronavirus, the failure of Boris Johnson’s government to achieve 100,000 tests a day by the end of April, the lack of pandemic preparation following Exercise Cygnus, and more! Finally, we speak to Dr Thomas Hegghammer, author of ‘The Caravan: Abdullah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad.’ He discusses the threat jihadism poses today in a pandemic world after the defeat of ISIS and the death of Osama Bin Laden, how the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was the springboard for the rise of jihadism, over-simplifications of the US-Taliban blowback theory, why jihadists and Islamists hated communism, causing the West to de facto ally with them against the Soviet Union, who Abdullah Azzam was and why he has a key role in the rise of global jihad that led to the 9/11 attacks among many other terrorist incidents around the world.

“Global Engagement” A Review of News and Issues in World Affairs Presented by the “Global Tennessee” project of the Tennessee World Affairs Council [www.TNWAC.org] April 7, 2020 With Amb Charles Bowers, USFS(Ret) LCDR Patrick Ryan, USN(Ret) This week in the news: 1 - Covid-19 Update 2 – United Kingdom 3 - US-Iran Developments 4 - Global Governance and Democracy 5 - Afghanistan and America’s Longest War Welcome to Global Engagement. This is a World Affairs Council global affairs awareness project that connects you with current events. We’re starting this during the “stay at home” period of the pandemic response especially as students are working from home and can find this conversation useful in knowing the world. Each week we’ll share five important topics from the news and provide background, context and analysis. And we’ll get you involved through the Webinar’s interactive features. Global Engagement will be broadcast live every Tuesday at 2pm Central Time as a Webinar on Zoom where you can participate with your questions and comments. The series will be archived by video on the Tennessee World Affairs Council’s Youtube Channel and by audio on our “Global Tennessee” Podcast. You can find links to all of the episodes on our web site, TNWAC.org. Timeline 00:30 Introduction. Ryan 02:01 Discussing TNWAC pivot to Webinars. “Going Zoom.” Bowers 04:50 Discussing TNWAC Educational Outreach Program: WorldQuest, Tennessee Global Scholar Certificate Program, “What in the World?” Weekly Quiz. Ryan 07:52 On to the news Japan – Olympics/Paralympics postponed Emergency conditions in some cities What are you doing in response to Covid? 15:45 Italy – European epicenter Infections “plateau” European Union not much of a union Universal healthcare responds to pandemic 20:15 What’s going on in Russia? What about China? POTUS dropped “China Virus” talk Which countries are doing well against Covid? 22:39 Stay Calm and Carry On – What about the UK? Queen Elizabeth talks to her nation PM Boris Johnson, an early Covid-denier, infected, in ICU Who’s going to pick the crops? Migrant issues. 25:40 New leader of the UK Labor Party “Competence vs Charisma” Who’s in charge? 28:20 Iran and the pandemic Distinguished leaders sign statement favoring easing limitations on medical supplies to Iran during pandemic Holy city of Qom epicenter of Covid infections 33:40 Reliability of data. How many actual infections? 35:46 Iran-backed militias in Iraq Trump will “go up the food chain” if more attacks on US forces Time for a humanitarian gesture to lessen tension? Tough sell 38:27 Global Governance and Democracy “You are living in historic times” Now in a fight to save our democracy… and how our way of life will be. Side note: take a look at think-tank newsletters and reports, good content in their studies and reports. e.g. CFR, CSIS, Carnegie Endowment Carnegie Report: “How will the Coronavirus Reshape Democracy and Governance Globally” Concern about breakdowns, civil wars, riots as people become desperate Bottom up pressure, top down pressure Pandemic as cover to seize power Viktor Orban in Hungary – indefinite rule by decree. End of checks/balances. 46:50 Brazil – Bolsonaro another Covid-denier Any countries remain without Covid? 48:40 Afghanistan Endgame Who are the Taliban? 9/11 terrorist safe haven America’s longest war Afghan government – two heads? US-Taliban agreement. Government not onboard. 53:05 Dick’s Book Picks “Prisoners of Geography” by Tim Marshall Pat’s Book Pick “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide“ by Samantha Power 55:40 Calendar of TNWAC video broadcasts Sign Off

COVID-19 statewide, US-Taliban talks stall, Olympics consider postponement, and more. Host: Josie Alameda Stories by: Glenda Villalón, Tara Mobasher, Salem Isaf, and Jackson Janes Support this podcast

Vanda Felbab-Brown, Michael Kugelman, and Marvin Weinbaum join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the recent US-Taliban agreement in Afghanistan, the political power struggle over the presidency, the challenges facing the intra-Afghan dialogue, and the effects of coronavirus.

Featured Interview: Aftermath of US-Taliban peace deal Guests: Elizabeth Threlkeld, Fellow and Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center Dr. Jonathan Schroden, Director, CNA's Special Operations Program

0:08 – Coronavirus outbreak shuts down large events, how will it impact workers? Joelle Gamble (@joelle_gamble) is an economist and organizer. She is a principal at the Reimagining Capitalism initiative at Omidyar Network and is on the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Institute. Her latest piece in the Nation Magazine is “A Survival Guide for the Coronavirus Economy” 0:18 – Saru Jayaraman (@SaruJayaraman) is the President of One Fair Wage, Co-Founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door, a national bestseller. And her most recent book is Forked: A New Standard for American Dining. 0:34 – The US and the Taliban have penned a peace deal in Afghanistan, but the violence and political conflict continues. For more on the ongoing crisis, and how it impacts women in Afghanistan, we speak with Sonali Kolhatkar (@RUWithSonali), host and producer of Rising Up with Sonali now airing at 3 pm on KPFA Weekdays and co-director of the Afghan Women's Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). (Photo: Women line up in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2006 / Wikipedia ) The post Out of work: COVID-19 shuts down events and schools, what should be done to help workers?; Plus: The US-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan and impacts on women with journalist Sonali Kolhatkar appeared first on KPFA.

Paul Miller and Thomas Joscelyn of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies talk about the US-Taliban deal and respond to the Washington Post’s “Afghanistan…Continue reading23: Paul Miller and Thomas Joscelyn talk Afghanistan

Coronavirus update and explanation of why an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia is rocking the global economy. More crackdowns in Saudi Arabia, why Putin might be the Russian President for life, more holes in the US/Taliban troop withdrawal plan, and hopeful progress for abortion rights in Argentina. Then Zarlasht Halaimzai from the Refugee Trauma Initiative joins to offer an Afghan perspective on Trump’s troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

Tuesday is an important day for the Democratic presidential primary, and for candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in particular. "Voters are heading to the polls in Idaho, Mississippi, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington. On a day dubbed 'Super Tuesday II,' no contest looms larger for Sanders than Michigan, a state he won in the 2016 primaries against Hillary Clinton and which also is likely to play a decisive role in the general election," the Washington Post reported Tuesday. "Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is also competing for the Democratic presidential nomination, which is now unfolding amid mounting concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus." What does this mean for the upcoming Democratic convention and the party overall?Whitney Webb has a great piece in MintPress News entitled "How the New US-Afghanistan Peace Deal Rekindled a 'Business Friendly Taliban.'" She opens her piece with the following: “President Trump, who is up for re-election this year, has added another 'peace' deal to his credentials, a deal that the president, his re-election campaign and his supporters have promoted as proof that Trump is willing and able to resist the US foreign policy establishment and its ceaseless push to keep the US embroiled in 'forever wars.' Yet, not unlike the much-criticized Israel-Palestine 'peace' deal that was recently released by the Trump administration, there is more to the US-Taliban 'peace' deal than meets the eye.” First, lets put the deal into some context. Is this a “landmark agreement”?"President Donald Trump on Monday said he would propose a 'major' economic relief package, including a possible payroll tax cut and measures to help hourly-wage workers, in an effort to reduce the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak," the Financial Times reported Monday. What does it mean for the economy going forward?GUESTS:David Schultz — Professor of political science at Hamline University. Dr. Riley Emmitt — Political scientist and assistant professor of Africana Studies at DePauw University.Dr. Marvin Weinbaum — Scholar-in-residence and director of the Middle East Institute's Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies. Dr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of "Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression."

*)Italy on lockdown over coronavirus fears Italy is going under a nationwide lockdown in an effort to contain the coronavirus spread. The European country is the worst-hit outside China with at least 460 deaths and more than 9 thousand people infected. In the meantime, China reported 19 new cases of coronavirus infections on Monday. That’s 40 cases down from a day earlier. *)US begins troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, official says US troops have begun leaving Afghanistan for the initial troop withdrawal required in the US-Taliban peace agreement, a US official said. The troops will not be replaced as the US moves ahead with plans to cut the number of forces in the country from about 13,000 to 8,600. The pullout comes as Afghanistan's rival leaders were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday. *)Sudan's PM unharmed after assassination bid Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok escaped unharmed after a bomb and gun attack targeted his convoy in the capital Khartoum. The attack took place in the Kober district of northeast Khartoum when Hamdok was on his way to work. Sudan's official news agency SUNA said Hamdok was in "good health and a safe place". Facebook, Twitter place warning labels on altered Biden video Facebook and Twitter have added tags pointing out false or manipulated content to a video reposted by US President Donald *)Trump of his Democrat rival Joe Biden. The video which appeared to show Biden endorsing Trump, was marked "partly false" by Facebook and "manipulated media" on Twitter. Facebook said this case merited fact-checking because it had been posted before the president shared it. *)Pearl Jam postpones first leg of tour over virus concerns Pearl Jam is postponing the North American leg of its Gigaton world tour because of concerns over the coronavirus. “The levels of risk to our audience and their communities is simply too high for our comfort level," a band statement said. New dates will be determined and current tickets will be honoured for those dates, the band said.

Political Misfits was joined by Kathy Kelly, American peace activist and author, founding member of Voices in the Wilderness and co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, to discuss the prospects for peace in Afghanistan given the obscure terms of the US-Taliban peace deal, and where the responsibility lies for reconstruction in that country.

Zack, Jenn, and Alex talk about the historic US-Taliban peace agreement that was just signed as a first step toward ending the war in Afghanistan. They discuss the terms of the deal, the serious obstacles that remain to actually achieving peace in the country, and why, even if it is shaky and possibly already unraveling, the deal is still a really big achievement. Zack gets serious about the costs of war, Jenn geeks out on terrorism (again), and Alex talks about texting with the Taliban. References: You can read the text of the peace agreement here. Here’s an Afghan official saying the US is negotiating the terms of its “surrender.” This is a really great analysis of some of the major flaws in the peace agreement.  Here’s the video of Gen. Mark Milley explaining that the peace agreement calls for a reduction in violence, not zero violence.  We mentioned that the Taliban controls a village on the outskirts of Kabul. Here’s a great piece about that village and what it tells us about the US failure in Afghanistan. Here’s the photo of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shaking hands with the top Taliban negotiator at the deal’s signing ceremony.  President Donald Trump said he had a “good conversation” on the phone with the Taliban’s top political leader. Alex mentioned a piece from the Council on Foreign Relations about the peace deal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Emery joins the show to talk about the US Taliban peace effort and if it has any chance of successSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Her next big plan is TBD. Meanwhile, countries around the world are planning stimulus packages to help people and businesses recover from the economic hit of COVID-19. But economists aren’t convinced of their value. Also on the show: the US-Taliban peace deal is getting tested. And now the International Criminal Court is launching a formal investigation into possible war crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan.

Peter and Tom discuss media coverage of Candi CdeBaca and her re-tweet of a woman who said if she got the Corona virus she would go to Trump events.  Then Dr. Tim Furnish joins the show to talk about the US Taliban peace deal. https://stream.org/lets-leave-the-afghan-desert-and-just-call-it-peace/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, the primary is moving pretty quickly and we’ve seen the demise of the Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar campaigns. We obviously have no love for Pete, and we’re happy to see him go -- even if this means we’re likely to see him all haunting Democratic politics for the rest of our lives. But for now, he’s done. We also discuss the US-Taliban peace agreement and whether or not it will mark an end to the Afghan war. We certainly hope so, but there’s very little way of knowing at this point. Additionally, it seems the Marine Corps is trying to banish Confederate imagery and titles from its ranks and bases. This forces us to say something we very rarely even consider saying: well done, Marines. (source: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/02/27/all-confederate-related-paraphernalia-should-be-removed-from-marine-corps-bases-commandant-directs/) *SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here: https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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Today - Professor Andrew Bacevich - Is the US/Taliban agreement about to fall apart? Donna Brazile tells Republicans on Fox News to 'go to hell'. And a wide ranging consideration of the politics of the Democratic candidates for president.

We talk about the results of the South Carolina primary, our prospects for Super Tuesday, and the US/Taliban peace agreement. Follow State of the Revolution on Twitter: @sotrpod @_jangkoon @zjreinha1329 @caseyjonesmusic @ajsahouri @decoratedshed Subscribe to our podcast: RSS | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | GooglePlay | Pocket Casts | Patreon

A long-awaited peace deal was signed between the US and Taliban on Saturday. Conditions of the deal include a phased reduction of American troops in Afghanistan, prisoner swap and lifting of UN sanctions, among others. The question is will the Taliban to stick to the deal, and how would an eventual exit of US forces from Afghanistan affect India? 

The Afghan government has thrown a wrench in the United States' plan to negotiate peace with the Taliban.The US signed an agreement with the Taliban on 29 Feb, which hopes to end the US-Taliban war in Afghanistan that's gone on for nearly 20 years now.  But the peace agreement, which the US and Taliban entered on 29 Feb, has already hit a roadblock, from none other than the Afghan government. According to the deal, the US would remove its troops from Afghanistan and The Taliban was supposed to cut ties with Al-Qaeda and other terror outfits, which have terrorised Afghanistan and other countries for nearly two decades.  The Afghan government, which wasn't a part of this deal, was also SUPPOSED to release 5,000 taliban prisoners in exchange for around a 1,000 prisoners held by the militant outfit…. But barely 24 hours after the deal was signed with the world watching…..Afghanistan said it WOULDN'T release the prisoners as per the deal.In response, the Taliban said they will resume ops against Afghan forces. So what happens now? Will the US-Taliban agreement work? And what is the history of the conflict in Afghanistan over the past forty years? Let's find out.Voices: Donald Trump, US PresidentMike Pompeo, US Secretary of StateSubrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister Ashok Sajjanhar, Former Indian AmbassadorHost and Producer: Vishnu GopinathEditor: Shelly Walia

On Saturday, the US and Taliban signed an agreement which will enable the US and NATO to withdraw troops in the next 14 months, a historic deal which has been years in the making. Shubhajit Roy explains what the agreement sets out to achieve and how India will be affected by it. Next, Abhishek Saha details why simmering tension between "indigenous" and "non-indigenous" people in Meghalaya and the CAA, Inner Line Permit issue has contributed to the violence in Shillong over the weekend. Last, why the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) claims to be the first board to launch a ‘rap'.

Abdi and Ahmed discuss the primaries the US/Taliban deal and the Syrian attack on Turkish soldiers. Ahmed makes a hilariously inaccurate prediction about the South Carolina race a few hours before the results came in which is fun for everyone but him.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview Sunday did not reveal any details of a potential historic meeting between President Donald Trump and leaders of the Taliban.Trump said during a news conference a day earlier that he would meet with leaders from the militant group "in the not too distant future" following the signing earlier Saturday of a historic agreement between the US and the Taliban which sets into motion the potential of a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and could pave the way to ending America's longest-fought war.Asked Sunday by CBS' Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" about when and where such a session will happen and whether it would be at Camp David, Pompeo said, "I don't know when. I don't know where. I'm very confident. President Trump wants to make sure that everyone in Afghanistan understands that the United States is committed to making sure that this conversation take place.""There's a better path forward. The Taliban now know this because of the work that we've done. And President Trump will be actively engaged in helping us get the conditions right and beginning this journey that the first step was taken in Doha yesterday," Pompeo said, noting that the US has been in Afghanistan "for an awful long time."Last September, a planned meeting at Camp David between Trump and Taliban leaders to conduct secret talks was canceled just days before it was scheduled to occur. It was scrapped after the Taliban claimed an attack that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier.Pompeo became the first US Cabinet official to ever meet with a member of the Taliban on Saturday while in Doha for the signing of the US-Taliban agreement. The secretary said he met with the senior Taliban negotiator during the trip.Asked during his CBS interview about his prior comments calling the Taliban terrorists and whether he still considered them that, Pompeo responded: "They have an enormous amount of American blood on their hands."He said he didn't automatically trust the Taliban to live up to its commitments in the agreement to break its relationship with al Qaeda, so the US will need to have verification of that."Don't trust anything. We're going to deliver. It's about actions. The agreement set out the conditions. It set out the space, but no this deal doesn't depend upon trusting anyone," he said. "It has a deep, complex, well-thought out, multi-month, negotiated, verification complex and mechanism by which we can observe and hold every member of the agreement accountable. We'll do that."The "Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan" outlines a series of commitments from the US and the Taliban related to troop levels, counterterrorism, and the intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about "a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire."Among other things, the four-page agreement states that the Taliban will take steps "to prevent any group or individual, including al-Qa'ida, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies." Those steps include commitments that the Taliban will instruct its members "not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies" and that it "will prevent any group or individual in Afghanistan from threatening the security of the United States and its allies, and will prevent them from recruiting, training, and fundraising and will not host them in accordance with the commitments in this agreement."

Coronavirus outbreak, US-Taliban military withdraw, Malaysia new Prime Minister, Hmong and Lao counter deportation campaign, ending Syria's war, Israel election and Middle East peace. - Cov kab mob coronavirus sib kis, Meskas-Taliban cov kev thim tub rog, Malaysia tus thawj pwm tsav tshiab, Hmong thiab Nplog cov kev yuav raug nom tswv Meskas xa rov qab, xaus Syria cov tsov rog, Israel cov kev xaiv tsa thiab kev thaj yeeb rau Middle East.

It's Podcassssssst Tuessdayyy! Host Ryan Weiss, Joined by Co-Host Nick Mancuso, Co-Co-Host Jesse Unk, Guest Cordell Parker, and Audience visitor Nick Roth, are in the chill zone to discuss a plethora of topics! The guys catch up on the past week, while Nick talks his new inject-able drug, which cost $4000.We hop right into Weekly Rewind where we discuss the PodCast Beard Poll, and Quad Kid donating his Disney money to charity.Let's Get Social we discuss more about the Corona Virus and Pence's role in preventing the virus from spreading, and how its effects are taking a toll on the economy and stock market. Cordell gives some insight to Bit Coin that even though stocks are doing bad, Bit Coin is doing well. What are preventative measures you can take to help prevent spreading? WASH YOUR HANDS!! We also briefly talk about the US Taliban peace talks and what that means. We transition into Hollywood Report and Ryan questions what effect violent documentaries have on society. Do they pose any good, or do they negatively impact us? Cordell gets his time to shine as we talk Made To Motivate and we talk about his past, present, and future. Cordell was Amber Rose's Personal Body Guard for 6 years. He talks about the wild journey that was, where it took him in his career, and what he is doing now! Lastly, we talk about the Astro's players getting whacked with balls in spring training in Locker Room Talk. Nick get's super worked up when Ryan and Cordell defend the Astro's using the calls to their advantage. Tune in for a fun filled show. And if you enjoyed, please share the link!Intro (0:00 - 6:10)Weekly Rewind (6:10 - 11:38) Beard Poll and Quad Kid UpdateLet's Get Social (11:38 - 54:15) Corona Virus Update and US Taliban Peace DealHollywood Report (54:15 - 1:12:40) Violent Documentaries and there effects. Made To Motivate (1:12:40 - 2:23:00) A Sit Down With A Celebrity Body GuardLocker Room Talk (2:23:00 - 2:36:20) Astro's Baseball Debacle Outro (2:36:20 - 2:39:07)Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/madetomotivatepodcast)

First, Jake sits down with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the first coronavirus death in the United States and what steps the administration is taking to combat the disease. Then, Jake talks to former Vice President Joe Biden about his big win in the South Carolina primary and his momentum heading into Super Tuesday. Then, the panel of former Sen. Rick Santorum, Rebecca Katz, Amanda Carpenter and Van Jones discusses their predictions for Super Tuesday. Finally, Jake gives his take on the United States agreement with the Taliban.

This episode is hosted by Hameeda Syed, who brings you news from Delhi, Doha, North Korea, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode is hosted by Hameeda Syed, who brings you news from Delhi, Doha, North Korea, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Update on the bullied kid story from Thursday-- The GoFundMe is close to $400k but with the good, comes the bad... internet trolls claiming the 9 yo boy with dwarfism is a con artist. The NY Times allowed a Taliban leader to write an Op-Ed piece leading up to US-Taliban "reduction in violence." Is this an attempt to be provocative or an attempt to understand our enemy to get our troops home? Fri 2/21: Hour 1 Photo by Clint Patterson (https://unsplash.com/@cbpsc1?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)

The US and the Taliban have agreed to a reduction of violence for the next seven days. It’s kinda like a test run to see if they can put down their weapons for good, and possibly end America’s longest war. But there’s still a lot that could get in the way and a long way to go. Meanwhile, Russian election interference is back in the news ahead of this year’s big vote. Also on the show: Nevada is crossing its fingers for a smooth caucus this weekend, and we remember the tech legend who gave us ‘copy and paste.’

On this episode of "By Any Means Necessary" hosts Jacquie Luqman and Sean Blackmon are joined by Ian Goodrum, senior editor of China Daily, to talk about the U.S. State Department's designation of his news organization as a "foreign mission" of the Chinese government, where the reclassification fits into the State Department's broader information war against China, what all this means for China Daily and other outlets, and how the proliferation of US government-funded media outlets abroad exposes a double standard between the networks labeled "publicly-funded" and those referred to as "state propaganda."In the second segment, Jacquie and Sean are joined by Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois, to talk about the escalations between Turkey and Russia in the Idlib province of Syria, the role of the U.S. government in fomenting the violent conditions currently facing the Syrian people, the historical precedent for Turkish territorial ambitions in that country, where international law falls on the issue, possible outcomes of the planned conversation between Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whether the US/Taliban 7-day reduction in violence slated to begin today truly represents a reason for optimism, and why US intentions in Afghanistan may actually be quite different from the those stated publicly. In the third segment, Jacquie and Sean are joined by Black Agenda Report editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberly to talk about her new book, "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents," why so little has changed in the treatment of Black people at the hands of the presidency, why the ruling class is so invested in whitewashing the racist records of virtually every US president, why moving past the inherently hostile capitalist duopoly necessitates the construction of a socialist movement, and why the Obama presidency was so insidious and so instrumental to manufacturing consent for maintaining the status quo among Black communities.Later in the show, Jacquie and Sean are joined by Leo Flores, a Latin American policy expert and campaigner with CODEPINK, to talk about why Elizabeth Warren is backtracking on her previous refusal to accept SuperPAC money, whether a self-declared capitalist can truly be considered "progressive," why the ruling class genuinely considers re-distribution of wealth to be "anti-American," why a Bloomberg presidency may not actually be preferable to Trump's from a progressive perspective, why the Embassy Protection Collective's recently delivered an 'Eviction Notice' to the faux Guaido government at Venezuela's embassy, why Bolivia's coup-borne government is invalidating the Senate candidacy of Evo Morales and his former foreign minister, and how certain governments in Latin America are exploiting the Venezuelan migration crisis caused by US sanctions for their own political gains.

In this segment, hosts Jacquie Luqman and Sean Blackmon are joined by Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois, to talk about the escalations between Turkey and Russia in the Idlib province of Syria, the role of the U.S. government in fomenting the violent conditions currently facing the Syrian people, the historical precedent for Turkish territorial ambitions in that country, why international law clearly comes down on the side of Syria/Russia instead of the Turkish army and their jihadi militias, possible outcomes of the planned conversation between Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin later, whether the US/Taliban 7-day reduction in violence slated to begin today represents a reason for optimism, and why US intentions in Afghanistan may actually be quite different from the those stated publicly.

Zack, Jenn, and Alex do a 2019 year in review — each one of them making a choice for biggest US foreign policy story of 2019, while the whole team debates just how important each of these events were. Then, after the break, they do the same for 2020 — making predictions about what the big stories will be. References: Here’s Alex’s great piece on how the Baghdadi raid went down:  Alex interviewed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó about his failed push to overthrow Nicolás Maduro  Vox's Umair Irfan explained Trump’s formal withdrawal from the Paris climate accords Here’s a phenomenal feature on what Afghans think about US-Taliban peace talks and the possible withdrawal of US troops Zeeshan Aleem explained the latest in the US-China trade war for Vox  Hosts: Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox Alex Ward (@AlexWardVox), national security reporter, Vox More to explore: Subscribe for free to Today, Explained, Vox’s daily news podcast to help you understand the news, hosted by Sean Rameswaram. About Vox: Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com  Newsletter: Vox Sentences  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dany and Marc interviewed Congressman Michael Waltz to hear his unique perspective on the collapse of the US-Taliban talks, how the US can succeed in Afghanistan, and what Congress and the president are getting wrong about America’s fight in the region. The post https://www.aei.org/multimedia/wth-is-going-on-with-the-collapse-of-us-taliban-talks-rep-mike-waltz-discusses-whats-next-in-afghanistan/ (WTH is going on with the collapse of US-Taliban talks? Rep. Mike Waltz discusses what’s next in Afghanistan) appeared first on https://www.aei.org (American Enterprise Institute - AEI).

Dany and Marc interviewed Congressman Michael Waltz to hear his unique perspective on the collapse of the US-Taliban talks, how the US can succeed in Afghanistan, and what Congress and the president are getting wrong about America’s fight in the region. The post WTH is going on with the collapse of US-Taliban talks? Rep. Mike Waltz discusses what’s next in Afghanistan appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

This week US President Donald Trump announced through Twitter that peace talks with Taliban were off and that he was still thinking about a troop drawdown from Afghanistan. So we find an answer to these questions: • Is the US Taliban deal really dead? • Did US President Trump actually plan to invite Taliban terrorists to Camp David, the official retreat of the President of the United States? • Is the Afghan government happy that the deal is now more or less cancelled? • Will the US government continue to send feelers to the Taliban? • What will the Taliban's reaction to all this be? • More importantly, should India be happy with the developments? Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

On the anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks on US soil, US President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a widely criticized secret meeting between Washington and the Taliban at Camp David, as well as ousted his national security advisor John Bolton, who was opposed to talks with the militant group. Former ambassador to Afghanistan, Ronald Neumann, now President of the American Academy of Diplomacy, and Scott Worden, Director of Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, discuss with host Carol what needs to be done on all sides to get talks back on track to pave the way for an end to the 18-year conflict. Listen for it on Encounter, this Saturday and Sunday on the Voice of America!

Afghans are bracing for a possible new wave of Taliban violence after President Trump abruptly called off talks with the insurgent group. The Taliban vows to continue its fight against what it calls “foreign occupation.” Trump’s surprise weekend announcement came shortly before a string of highly sensitive days in Afghanistan, including Monday’s anniversary of the killing of an anti-Taliban commander and Wednesday’s 9/11 anniversary. Syrian opposition activists say unknown warplanes have targeted an arms depot belonging to Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria, killing more than a dozen Iranian and pro-Iranian fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the airstrikes were in a town along the border with Iraq. The activists also report wide damage to the arms depot and vehicles. British Airways canceled almost all its flights for 48 hours Monday because of a pilots strike over pay. As many 195,000 travelers could be impacted.

Daily News Brief for Friday, August 30th: *) Hong Kong activists arrested Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to march in Hong Kong on Saturday despite the protest being cancelled by authorities. The cancellation follows the arrest of activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow. Both are under investigation for their role in a protest outside a police station in June. *) Former FARC leaders vow to rearm Colombia's peace tribunal has ordered the arrest of four FARC rebels who have vowed to rearm. The rebels say the government hasn't fulfilled its obligations since the historic peace deal was signed. The rebels are part of a group numbering 2,000 and will merge with another rebel group if their demands are not met. *) US-Taliban talks close to reaching deal The US plans to withdraw more than 5,000 of its troops from Afghanistan as part of negotiations with the Taliban. Donald Trump says they are close to finding a resolution to the nearly 18-year-old war. The Taliban say the only way the talks will be successful is if all US and NATO forces leave the country. *) Brazil taking action against Amazon fires Brazil has banned the use of fire for clearing land as it continues to fight the Amazon fires. It has also allocated 40,000 troops and nearly $10 million to help to stop the fires. The Amazon has seen its worst wildfires in decades, with over 6,000 reported just this month. *) Hurricane Dorian to bring disaster to US east coast And finally, Hurricane Dorian is expected to strengthen to a dangerous Category 4 storm as it heads towards Florida. Experts say it could prove to be the strongest hurricane in the region in over 30 years. Dorian is likely to make landfall on Monday. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our listeners who live in that region.

What the hell is going on in Afghanistan? Why is the United States making a deal with the Taliban? As the Trump administration and Taliban officials wrap up negotiations, many fear that a US withdrawal could return Afghanistan to the terrorist safe haven it was before the 9/11 attacks. On the brink of the deal’s […] The post WTH is going on in Afghanistan? Gen. Petraeus explains the US-Taliban deal appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

What the hell is going on in Afghanistan? Why is the United States making a deal with the Taliban? As the Trump administration and Taliban officials wrap up negotiations, many fear that a US withdrawal could return Afghanistan to the terrorist safe haven it was before the 9/11 attacks. On the brink of the deal’s […] The post https://www.aei.org/multimedia/wth-is-going-on-in-afghanistan-gen-petraeus-explains-the-us-taliban-deal/ (WTH is going on in Afghanistan? Gen. Petraeus explains the US-Taliban deal) appeared first on https://www.aei.org (American Enterprise Institute - AEI).

Listen to a panel of prominent Washington journalists as they analyze the latest top stories that include Beijing’s disinformation campaign against the popular Hong Kong democracy movement, US-Taliban peace talks as ISIS ramps up attacks in Afghanistan and US President Donald Trump’s reversal on background checks for gun safety legislation. Join moderator Michael Williams, Contributor to CBS Radio in Washington, Tom DeFrank—Contributing Editor to the National Journal, and Linda Feldmann—Washington Bureau Chief for the Christian Science Monitor, as they discuss these and other Issues in the News.

Diplomatic Brief: Bahrain becomes the first Gulf state to Join US, UK coalition against Iran and Colombia laments the lack of aid for growing Venezuela migration crisis and more

Diplomatic Brief: Iran Navy chief announces 'classified' deal with Russia and 329,000 people stopped from entering Makkah for lack of Hajj permit and more

PM-elect Mitsotakis vows to make Greece 'proud' after vote triumph Opposition New Democracy won Greece's general election with 158 seats in the parliament, winning nearly 40 percent of the vote. Party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the son of a former prime minister, will be sworn in as prime minister on Monday. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras conceded defeat, saying he respects the will of the people. Iran steps further from nuke deal, adding pressure on Europe Iran says it will increase its uranium enrichment beyond the 3.67 percent limit allowed by the 2015 nuclear deal which the US quit in 2018. Iran’s move, coupled with breaching the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, pressures Europe to bypass US sanctions on Tehran. Up to 5 percent enriched uranium can be used for power reactors, 20 percent for research reactors and 90 percent is considered weapons grade. Fresh clashes in Hong Kong after huge march to China station At least five people were arrested during overnight clashes in Hong Kong, police said. Police with batons charged protesters in Hong Kong to break up their demonstration against a controversial extradition bill. The proposed bill which sparked the demonstrations would mean criminal suspects could face trial in mainland China. Intra-Afghan peace dialogue under way in Qatar Dozens of powerful Afghans met the Taliban to discuss a ceasefire and the future of women and minorities after 18 years of war in Afghanistan. Stakes are high for the talks held in Doha, which follow a week of US-Taliban negotiations with both sides eyeing a peace deal. Washington said it wants a political deal with the Taliban ahead of Afghan presidential polls in September so foreign forces can start to pull out. US rejoices after women’s football World Cup win And finally, The United States won the Women’s World Cup for the fourth time after beating the Netherlands 2-0. Megan Rapinoe’s coolly taken penalty put the defending champions ahead in the 61st minute and Rose Lavelle’s goal made it 2-0 in the 69th. Shortly after the team's win in Lyon, France, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a parade on Broadway in the team's honour on Wednesday.

Shamila Chaudhary, Michael Kugelman, and Marvin Weinbaum join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the political situation in Afghanistan following the expiration of President Ashraf Ghani’s term in office, presidential elections in September, the state of US-Taliban talks and the intra-Afghan dialogue.

Madiha Afzal, visiting fellow at Brookings, and MEI’s Marvin Weinbaum join host Alistair Taylor to discuss Pakistan’s latest flare-up with India, the recent visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the US-Taliban talks, and the political and economic challenges facing the government of Imran Khan.

MEI’s Ahmad Majidyar and Marvin Weinbaum join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the US-Taliban negotiations in Doha and what a potential agreement could mean for Afghanistan and the wider region.

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. Is hypersonic flight the future of aviation? Are €1 homes in the Italian countryside worth the money? And will the US-Taliban peace ‘framework’ lead to a lasting deal? Arion McNicoll, Hollie Clemence and Cameron Tait reveal all

LISTEN TO RATIONAL RADIO LIVE ON WHIP | M/W/F 4-5PM EST Possible future shutdown! US and Taliban Peace! And Northern Ireland and Brexit! The world’s a busy place, and thanks to the internet, we witness a whole lotta’ stuff. Join Julius, Amelia and Valerie for a rational look at current events around the world - only on Rational Radio. DISCUSSION TIMES AND SOURCES: 02:00 - Trump Doubtful Over Border Deal, Says Another Shutdown “Certainly an Option” 15:20 - U.S. and Taliban Agree in Principle to Peace Framework, Envoy Says 30:41 - NORTHERN IRELAND BUSINESS LEADERS CLAMOR FOR BREXIT DEAL ATTRIBUTIONS: Live show edited to podcast format by Samantha Hughes Intro music: Chicago by [JCM] Canada, available on Soundcloud

U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has shared details of his recent talks with the Taliban with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other government officials. A January 28 statement quoted Khalilzad as saying he had held talks about a possible cease-fire, but nothing was agreed upon. Khalilzad also confirmed that no agreement had been made on the withdrawal of foreign troops, adding that any such decision would be coordinated with the Afghan government. The statement comes after both the Taliban and Khalilzad said "progress" was made in the latest set of talks in Qatar aimed at ending the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan. The Western-backed government in Kabul has struggled to fend off a resurgent Taliban and other militant groups, nearly two decades after a U.S.-led coalition drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001. The Taliban has so far refused to hold direct negotiations with the Afghan government officials, whom they dismiss as "puppets." Anchor- Frank Rausan Pereira Guest- Dilip Sinha, Former Ambassador Maj. Gen. Ashwani Siwach (Retd.), Foreign Affairs Expert Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times