Retreat or Con Job? The Afghanistan Withdrawal Explained [PREVIEW]

Empire Files

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4.8 • 754 Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2021

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In an exclusive new podcast for patrons, Abby Martin and Mike Prysner go beyond the headlines and give the facts about the major Afghanistan withdrawal that Biden announced this week, covering what it really means for the US empire in the country and the region, the Taliban's political future, as well as the true cost and legacy of America's longest war. After 20 years of occupation and 40 years of covert war, why is the US really letting go of the country's vast resource wealth? Donor submitted questions about the foreign policy pivot are also addressed in the episode. We hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for your support!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Empire Files podcast. This is Abby Martin here with producer Mike Prysner.
0:15.0	This is our patron only podcast, and we just wanted to remind everyone that this is how we fund our video content,
0:21.7	which is ad-free and accessible to everyone. We just published a short documentary we're
0:27.3	really proud of about U.S. imperialism in Uganda. And just last year, we did two short
0:32.9	documentaries about our topic today, the Afghanistan War, which I hope everyone checks out on our YouTube channel.
0:40.1	This week, President Biden made a major announcement to withdraw the remaining 3,500 U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan,
0:48.4	with 7,000 NATO soldiers expected to withdraw also.
0:52.9	The deadline Biden gave for the full withdrawal is on the 20-year
0:56.8	anniversary of 9-11, the same event that the U.S. Empire used to justify its criminal invasion
1:03.0	in subsequent 20-year occupation of the country in the first place. This is four months past the
1:09.6	deadline negotiated by the Trump administration and the Taliban.
1:13.2	Meanwhile, violence is on the rise in Afghanistan.
1:17.1	More than 1,700 civilians were killed or wounded in attacks in the first three months of 2021.
1:24.9	That's up 23% from the same period last year, according to the UN assistance
1:30.2	mission in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan war is America's longest war, jokingly referred to as the
1:37.5	forever war, because it's just been accepted as a constant reality for so long. So it's pretty
1:43.2	hard to believe it's really coming to an end,
1:46.6	especially given the empty rhetoric and unfulfilled promises from every administration,
1:52.0	including Biden, serving as VP himself back in 2014, declaring an end-to-combat operations there.
1:59.2	With Biden now president
2:00.9	in declaring that the troops
2:02.1	are finally coming home,
	...

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