AFGHANISTAN WAR - The Last Day

"Final Troops Withdraw from Afghanistan, Ending Evacuation -- and the War" by Stephen Losey and Steve Beynon, Military.com 8/30/2021

The U.S. military's evacuation from the main airport in Kabul has ended -- along with the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan.

U.S. Central Command head Gen. Frank McKenzie said Monday the last C-17 Globemaster III took off minutes before midnight Kabul time -- the beginning of Aug. 31, which was the United States' deadline for withdrawal.  For the first time since late 2001, weeks after the Sept.  11 attacks, there are now no U.S. service members in Afghanistan.

"There's a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure," McKenzie said.  "We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out, but I think if we'd stayed another 10 days, we wouldn't have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out."

Reports of celebratory gunfire from the Taliban surfaced online after the final C-17 took off from Kabul.

The final weeks of the war were among the military's hardest, as thousands of troops rushed in to hold Hamid Karzai International Airport as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed with shocking speed and the Taliban rapidly filled the void.

The unprecedented airlift effort to rush to safety Americans and Afghan allies -- the largest noncombatant evacuation operation in U.S. military history -- saw some 123,000 people evacuated in all.  Since Aug. 14, more than 79,000 civilians were ferried out by the U.S. military on one flight after another -- primarily C-17s, their massive cargo bays at times packed with hundreds of refugees.

The evacuation effort saw the last flag-draped coffins from the war arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.  The final U.S. casualties came Aug. 26, when a suicide bomber struck at the airport's Abbey Gate, packed with U.S. troops and many Afghans trying to get through.  The bomber killed 13 troops -- 11 Marines, a sailor and a soldier, wounded more than 20 other troops, and killed or wounded hundreds of Afghans.

It marked one of the deadliest days of the war for the U.S., with less than a week to go, and brought the final toll of service members killed there to 2,461.  There were also more than 20,000 troops wounded in Afghanistan.

"My heart is broken over the losses we sustained three days ago," McKenzie said.

The Islamic State's Afghanistan branch, ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the attack.  The U.S. responded with two drone strikes: one on Friday that killed two people the military claimed were ISIS organizers, and one on Sunday it said targeted a car in Kabul carrying explosive material intended for another attack.  The latter airstrike may have resulted in up to 10 civilian casualties, according to reporting by The New York Times that was not immediately disputed by the Pentagon.

ISIS-K and the Taliban are in the midst of their own war, prompting a pseudo-alliance between the U.S. and the Taliban, who have been killing one another for 20 years.  McKenzie described the Taliban as "pragmatic," saying the terror group had a vested interest in the U.S. leaving quickly, thus motivating it to try and facilitate a smooth withdrawal by securing areas outside of the airport.

He added that diplomatic efforts to help remaining U.S. citizens and eligible Afghans who want to leave will continue, though the military's role in the evacuation process is done.

Just as the evacuation began, the desperation of some Afghans hoping to escape impending Taliban rule caused an accident that pushed the White House to send in more troops to secure the airfield.  On Aug. 16, many desperate Afghans ran onto the airport's grounds and surrounded a C-17 that had just landed to unload equipment.  The C-17's crew, concerned about the crowd of people approaching the aircraft, opted to take off again.  Afghans ran alongside the plane and clung to its sides, some falling to their deaths, and the body of one Afghan was later found in the aircraft's landing gear.

Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, and U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson were among the last U.S. officials to leave Afghanistan.  They departed on the final C-17 flight, covered by what McKenzie described as "overwhelming U.S. airpower overhead, should there have been any challenge to our departure."

At the peak of the airlift last week, C-17s were taking off roughly every 45 minutes, and more than 19,000 people were flown out on a single day.  On average, the military evacuated more than 7,500 civilians per day, McKenzie said.

The U.S. military evacuated more than 6,000 American civilians, which the Pentagon said represented the majority of those who wanted to leave.  The military estimated that only a few hundred wishing to leave remain.

McKenzie said the civilian evacuation ended about 12 hours before the final withdrawal.  Some equipment was brought out on the final flights, but other equipment -- such as the Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar, or C-RAM, system and various aircraft and vehicles -- was left behind permanently disabled.

The sudden collapse of Afghanistan's American-backed government, and the emergency evacuation triggered by the deteriorating security situation, have drawn both political attacks for opponents of the Biden administration, and finger-pointing within.  Roughly 2,500 U.S. troops had remained in Afghanistan when the Trump administration left office, a number the Biden administration reduced to about 650 before the Taliban easily conquered Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden quickly mobilized 6,000 troops, including the 10th Mountain and 82nd Airborne Division, to secure the airport and aid in the evacuation that followed.

"No words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who serve, nor the emotions they're feeling at this moment," McKenzie said.  "But I will say that I'm proud that both my son and I have been a part of it."

OPINION - Gerson and Capehart 8/20/2021

"Gerson and Capehart on Afghanistan, school mask mandates" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2021

SUMMARY:  Washington Post columnists Jonathan Capehart and Michael Gerson join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the politicization of mask mandates in Florida’s schools, and around the country.

Judy Woodruff (PBS NewsHour):  Americans watched this week as troubling scenes unfolded in Afghanistan and the Delta variant continued its deadly sweep across the country.

Here to talk about the implications of this are Jonathan Capehart and Michael Gerson.  That is Jonathan Capehart and Michael Gerson, both columnists — I had to repeat myself — both columnists for The Washington Post.

(LAUGHTER)

Judy Woodruff:  It's very good to have both of you.  David Brooks, we should say, is away.

Welcome to you, Michael.

Michael Gerson, Washington Post:  Thanks.

Judy Woodruff:  But, Jonathan, let me start with you.

Afghanistan all over the news this week.  We just keep watching these heartbreaking, disturbing pictures of people outside the Kabul Airport.  We have now heard from the President several times this week.  What do you make at this point of how the President and his team are handling this?

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post:  It seems as though the President and his team are trying to do a better job of explaining and also a better job of explaining and handling the situation in Kabul than they did in the opening hours of this.

It is horrifying to see people so desperate that they would hang on to a roaring Air Force jet down the runway.  The video I woke up to this morning of I guess it was a Marine pulling a baby out of the crowd and over the barbed wire, heart-wrenching.

But I think what we saw on Monday with the President's speech, what we saw today in the East Room with the President's remarks and taking questions from the press is a President who is resolute in the decision that he made, the horrifying images and the news that we keep getting notwithstanding.

And when I look at the President and listen to him, two things come to mind.  One is, he is where the American — unfortunately, he is where the American public is and has been for years, which is, they have long wanted the United States out of Iraq, despite polling…

Judy Woodruff:  Out of Afghanistan.

Jonathan Capehart:  I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  Out of — yes, thank you, Judy.  ....Out of Afghanistan.

So that's one.

Two, when he speaks as — about this issue, most people look at him as a commander — the commander in chief.  But when I look at him, I see a commander in chief who is the father of late service member.  So this is not foreign to him.  He has a child who went to war.  And, as commander in chief, he has to send men and women, sons and daughters, into war.

And the last point I will make on this, that's important, because only 1 percent of the U.S. population is involved in some way in the military.  This is something that former Secretary of Defense Bob [Robert] Gates used to hammer away at…

Judy Woodruff:  Right.

Jonathan Capehart:  … that we — more people need to be involved in defending this country.

And so I put all of that out there as a way of trying to at least, in some way, put the President's — I call it resoluteness — I think a lot of other people might call it stubbornness — on this issue into some context.

Judy Woodruff:  How do you piece together what you see this week?

Michael Gerson:  Well, I was kind of collecting the historical analogies that people were using this week.

And you had the Bay of Pigs by Leon Panetta, the former head of — White House Chief of Staff.  I heard the fall of Saigon, obviously, Dunkirk, which would be a little better outcome.  Also, from the British, the Suez crisis, in which Eisenhower really abandoned his allies.

There's a deep feeling of abandonment.  So, it's not a — when you have those examples, it's not a great week.  And some of the attributes, the best things about who this President is, his empathy, his competence, his way with our allies, seemed inoperative at the first part of this week.

In fact, I think that there's some damage done here to the President's reputation, basically because he was elected as a steady hand.  The purpose was to be a contrast to the constant drama of the Trump years.  These were people that are supposed to be a highly professional team, highly effective group of people.

And when you squander something that's central to your public identity, I think that it hurts.

Judy Woodruff:  And no question what you're saying about the President.

At the same time, Jonathan, as we heard from Sarah Chayes in her interview a few minutes ago with William Brangham, there's a lot more to this story.  There's a lot of history here.  We're going to be dissecting this for a long time.

And yet we still have to explain to ourselves, how did it happen?  How did it happen?

Jonathan Capehart:  Right.  How did it happen?

Craig Whitlock, our colleague at The Washington Post, in 2009 wrote a story that's now a book called "The Afghanistan Papers," where he happened upon transcripts of a series of interviews that were done with service members with the — I think it was the Office of Inspector General, where they never — they weren't talking to a reporter.

They were talking to colleagues, where they were perfectly blunt about the mismanagement, how horrible things were going, how the generals were saying one thing to the American public, a rosy picture, painting a rosy picture, and yet what was happening on the ground was the complete — was the complete opposite.

What we're finding out today, The Wall Street Journal had a story about this cable that came from State Department employees in Kabul saying directly, in the dissent channel, hey, this is not going well.  The situation is deteriorating.

And the State Department spokesperson said, yes, the secretary of state saw it.  He took it under advisement.  He may have made comments on it.

So the idea that they did not see this coming, I think to Michael's point….

Judy Woodruff:  Yes.

Jonathan Capehart:  …..  really dings the President on the competence issue, on the experience issue.

How could someone running for President on the record that Biden — that the President has, botch something like this so royally?

Judy Woodruff:  And picking up on that, Michael, I mean, Congress is going to be asking those questions, we think, as early as next week.

Michael Gerson:  No, that's absolutely true.  I think there are going to be a lot of questions about the how we got here, because this was a fiasco of planning.  And there were unforeseen elements here.

I would say one thing, though, having been in the White House in some moments like this, that I would like to maybe push back a little bit.  It's hard.  When you're in one of these moments — I saw in the interview with Stephanopoulos this week, where that…

Judy Woodruff:  With the President.

Michael Gerson:  Right — mentioned the example of the plane that you were talking about, the image.

And the President's response was, that was four or five days ago.  It was two days ago.  But it feels like four or five when you're in that kind of environment.

You have limited information, have to make real-time decisions.  So I respect people that do this job as well.  It's not — it's not hard — it's not easy.

Judy Woodruff:  There's going to be a lot of dissecting and questions asked and demanding of answers.

I also want to turn to the story that we just saw John Yang reporting on, Jonathan.  And that's this raging debate around the country about mask mandates.  You have got the Delta variant out there.  You have got parents worried, educators worried about teachers and students.  You have got a number of governors, Republican governors, who are starting to impose mandates.

But then you have got governors in Florida and Texas, Arizona, Republicans, saying no.  And they're getting into fights with school boards.

Explain the arguments here.  I mean, who's got the right argument at this point?

(LAUGHTER)

Jonathan Capehart:  I think that's a leading question.

(LAUGHTER)

Jonathan Capehart:  Look, the Republican governors, Governor Abbott [Texas] and Governor DeSantis in Florida, should be ashamed of themselves, what they are doing.

They are playing with people's lives.  They are playing politics with people's lives.  When you have teachers saying, please let us make the decision, don't stop us from making — requiring children to wear masks, it's not a matter of just the children's health.  It's the teachers' health as well.  It's the health of the school community.

And the idea that these governors are actually getting in the way, and the President not naming them, but saying, if you're not going to do the right thing, then at least get out of the way.  And, instead, they are hurling themselves in the middle of this, playing politics.  Maybe there's 2024 ambitions out there, but while they're playing politics with the lives of the people in their states and with children's lives, and it's outrageous.

Judy Woodruff:  And you do have parents, as we heard in John Yang's report, Michael, who are resisting.

Michael Gerson:  No, I think that's true.

I mean, Republicans have a very difficult circumstance here.  Basic public health measures, things like masking and this — vaccine requirements, these are not absurd or great violations of individual liberty — they're just the normal way that you oppose disease — have become deeply controversial in a significant portion of the Republican coalition.

It's as though you have — an important part of your coalition is just saying, well, we think that trash collection is a socialist plot, and, therefore, we oppose it.

It's a an extraordinary circumstance.  These people are responding to very weak real social pressures, the Republican governors, or political pressures.  They're making absolutely terrible decisions.  But I think the Republican coalition has some serious issues here, when that's what your demand is, that it's treated like a culture war issue, when in fact it's a public health issue.

Judy Woodruff:  And you do have Republican governors, Jonathan, like, what, Asa Hutchinson…

Jonathan Capehart:  Right.

Judy Woodruff:  … in Arkansas, who has changed his mind.  I mean, he's openly said I should have done this sooner.

Jonathan Capehart:  Right.

And he's the only one really we can name, when it should be more than just Governor Hutchinson.  It should be — President, former President Trump should come out there and say, get the vaccine, wear a mask.  If you love me, I need you to hang around for whatever I might do, but at least to be a part of the solution, and not continue to be the problem, because one of the reasons why masks have become such an issue, vaccine — getting the vaccine has become such an issue, is because Donald Trump made it a political issue.

Judy Woodruff:  And then you have members of Congress, Michael, who have made a big deal out of the fact they have been required in the House of Representatives to wear masks.

And a number of them are saying:  I won't do it.

You now have senators, prominent — three prominent — well, they're all prominent.

(LAUGHTER)

Judy Woodruff:  All three — but three United States senators have — who have been vaccinated have come down with breakthrough infections.

Michael Gerson:  I think some of it is a fundamental misunderstanding of what public health is.

I mean, this is the kind of issue where we all succeed or fail together.  You know, the goal here is the aggregate good.  And talking about rights-based language in this context is really a misunderstanding of what the issue is.

Judy Woodruff:  Well, it's hard to believe some of what we're seeing out there.

Michael Gerson, Jonathan Capehart, thank you both.

Jonathan Capehart:  Thanks, Judy.

Michael Gerson:  Sure.  Thank you.

AFGHAN WAR - The Bad Ending

BACKGROUND:  The War in Afghanistan was a conflict that lasted from 2001 to 2021 following the United States invasion of Afghanistan, when the United States and its allies drove the Taliban from power in order to deny al-Qaeda a safe base of operations in Afghanistan after the '9/11' Attack.  It was the longest war in United States history, surpassing the Vietnam War by roughly five months.  After the initial objectives were completed, a coalition of over 40 countries (including all NATO members) formed a security mission in the country called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF, succeeded by the Resolute Support Mission (RS) in 2014) of which certain members were involved in military combat allied with Afghanistan's government.  The war mostly consisted of Taliban insurgencies fighting against the Afghan Armed Forces and allied forces; the majority of ISAF/RS soldiers and personnel were American.

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban, then-de facto ruling Afghanistan, hand over Osama bin Laden.

COMMENTS:  The problem with this war started in 2003 when George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and other military officials took their eyes off the ball, Afghanistan, and focused on their paranoid obsession with Iraq and Saddam Hussein and shifted American military effort Iraq.

G.W.'s father, George H. W. Bush, conducted the Gulf War (Kuwait) against Iraq, with Arabs as part of the coalition, because he listened to the Arab nations that Saddam Hussein's war with Iran kept Iran occupied and prevented them from taking actions against Arab neighbors, including Afghanistan.

G.W. Bush should have totally focused on Afghanistan and left Iraq alone, all our military effort in Afghanistan would have been concentrated where it should have been.  My 'crystal ball' is no better than anyone else's, but I would guess America would not have been fighting a 20-year war in Afghanistan if this mistake hadn't been made.

 

 

"Inside the desperate, dangerous scramble to evacuate Kabul as Taliban seizes control" PBS NewsHour 8/16/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban and the frenzy for Afghans and diplomats trying to flee the country reached a fever pitch Monday.  Additional U.S. troops are on their way to help with evacuations as the Taliban retake power 20 years after the American invasion.  Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul, and congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports on the U.S. response.

 

 

"Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is an ‘American catastrophe,’ H.R. McMaster says" PBS NewsHour 8/16/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  To examine the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and how it impacts U.S. interests, Judy Woodruff speaks to retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.  He was National Security Advisor during the Trump administration and also served as a military officer in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012, heading up a task force focused on combating corruption.  He is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

 

 

"Does the fallout in Afghanistan hurt American credibility?" PBS NewsHour 8/16/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  To examine the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and how it impacts U.S. interests and credibility, Judy Woodruff speaks to Laurel Miller, former deputy and then acting U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2013 to 2017.  She's now director of the Asia program at the International Crisis Group.

 

 

"Taliban leaders promise softer rule, but their actions send a different message" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As the Taliban cemented their hold on Afghanistan Tuesday and spoke in detail about plans for the country, evacuations resumed.  The top American general in the Middle East visited the Kabul airport to observe U.S. operations, now with nearly 4000 troops on the ground.  But there is still fear about what the future may bring.  With support from the Pulitzer Center, Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul.

 

 

"Can the Taliban be trusted to keep their promise of reasonable rule?  Two experts weigh in" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  To make sense of the Taliban's plans for Afghanistan, Lisa Desjardins speaks to Ali Jalali, a former Minister of the Interior who served in the Afghan National Army.  He's now a professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.  And Torek Farhadi, an analyst and former advisor to the governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, ex-senior economic advisor to former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

 

 

"Despite Taliban promises, Afghan women fear losing their freedoms and lives" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, many of whom gained new freedoms over the past 20 years, is now among the most important priorities now that the Taliban have taken over.  With the help of author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Stephanie Sy tells us the story of a woman who persevered under the Taliban, flourished over the last 20 years, and escaped the Taliban's return just 48 hours ago.

 

 

"Chaos, cries for help outside Kabul airport as Taliban crack down on protesters" PBS NewsHour 8/18/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Protests against the Taliban turned deadly as the insurgents-turned-rulers of Afghanistan shot into crowds in two cities.  In Kabul, the airlift of American, allied and Afghan civilians continues as more American troops land at the airport and desperate crowds remain outside.  Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul — with the support of the Pulitzer Center — about the fear and hopelessness in Afghanistan.

 

 

"Taliban interrogating women activists, creating a ‘climate of fear and intimidation’" PBS NewsHour 8/18/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  William Brangham discusses the future for Afghan women under Taliban rule with Rina Amiri, who focused on conflict resolution in Afghanistan for the United Nations and the U.S.; now a senior fellow at New York University's Center for Global Affairs.  And Nura Sediqe, a public policy fellow at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and member of the Afghan-American coalition.

 

 

"Thousands of Afghans can’t access the airport.  Those who can recall Taliban threats, abuse" PBS NewsHour 8/19/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As more American and allied flights leave the capital of Afghanistan Thursday, an ever-growing panic descends on the city.  More American troops and marines arrived, but despite U.S. efforts, Taliban fighters are hindering movement toward the Kabul airport, leaving thousands of civilians trapped.  With support from the Pulitzer Center, Jane Ferguson reports on the situation in Kabul.

 

 

"Evacuating Afghans who helped U.S. a ‘high priority,’ national security official says" PBS NewsHour 8/19/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  For a senior perspective from the Biden administration on the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and U.S. response and support of evacuation efforts, Judy Woodruff is joined by Jon Finer, the Deputy National Security Advisor.

 

 

"What went wrong in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan?  Two lawmakers weigh in" PBS NewsHour 8/19/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As more American and allied flights are leaving the capital of Afghanistan Thursday, an ever-growing panic descends on the city.  More American troops and marines arrived, but despite U.S. efforts,Taliban fighters are hindering movement toward the Kabul airport, leaving thousands of civilians trapped.  With support from the Pulitzer Center, Jane Ferguson reports on the situation in Kabul.

 

 

"Frustrated by ill-prepared evacuation plan, anxious Afghans rush airport gates" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The U.S. says it has assurances from the Taliban that evacuations of Afghans who want to leave the country can continue after the withdrawal deadline of August 31st.  But the Taliban continues to harass and impede passage throughout Kabul.  Even with more evacuation flights out, throngs of people desperate to flee keep trying.  Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul, with support from the Pulitzer Center.

 

 

"The U.S. ignored corruption within the Afghan government.  Did that lead to its fall?" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As the Taliban faces protests and dissent across Afghanistan, William Brangham explores the collapse of the country's government — built and supported by the U.S. and allies for 20 years.  For a deeper perspective, Brangham speaks with Sarah Chayes, who covered the fall of the Taliban after 9/11 for NPR and served as advisor to several senior U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan.

 

 

"Afghans desperately try to flee; U.S. evacuation continues" PBS NewsHour 8/21/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Chaos at Kabul airport continued as thousands of Afghans desperately tried to flee the country.  At the same time, at least 17,000 people have been evacuated from the country, 2,500 of them American nationals.  The Taliban came a step closer to taking over officially as the group’s co-founder and political leader Mullah Baradar arrived in Kabul to begin talks about forming a new government.  NewsHour Correspondent Jane Ferguson reports with support from The Pulitzer Center.

 

 

It is a sad day for America and a tragic day for Afghans.  Ala be with them.

AFGHANISTAN - Biden Proposes to Leave US Troops Behind

"Biden wants to leave some US troops in Afghanistan.  The Taliban isn’t happy" PBS NewsHour 6/25/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Friday at the White House, President Joe Biden met with Afghanistan’s leaders, just weeks before the U.S. completes withdrawing almost all of its forces.  There was a lot on the agenda: finalizing plans on how many U.S. troops to keep in the country, how to continue training Afghan troops, and how to safely evacuate Afghans who worked for the U.S.  Nick Schifrin reports.

 

 

"The security and humanitarian issues at stake in Afghanistan, US-Mexico border" PBS NewsHour 6/25/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Amna Nawaz joins Judy Woodruff to discuss President Joe Biden's meeting Friday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House, and Vice President Kamala Harris' first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

 

"An Afghan official on the tough love from Biden during White House meeting" PBS NewsHour 6/25/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Judy Woodruff speaks to the man at the center of negotiations for Afghanistan — both with the U.S. and the Taliban — Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation.

THE ABANDONMENT OF AFGHANISTAN - Taliban Expansion

"Taliban gains Afghan territory, may seek ‘complete return to power’ amid US withdrawal" PBS NewsHour 6/21/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The U.S. military will soon complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.  But the Afghan government is under constant attack from the Taliban and is struggling to hold onto its territory.  This past weekend saw some of the militants' largest gains yet.  Nick Schifrin and Scott Worden, director of Afghanistan and Central Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace think tank, explain.

OPINION - Brooks and Capehart 4/16/2021

"Brooks and Capehart on police shootings, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan" PBS NewsHour 4/16/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including police shootings of people of color, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  And to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.  That is New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Jonathan Capehart, columnist for The Washington Post.

Hello to both of you.  Very good to see you on this Friday night.

But I want to start out with something that has been less than uplifting this week.  And that is more gun violence, in particular, two more police shootings of young Black men, different circumstances, one in Minneapolis, just 10 miles from the man who is accused of murdering George Floyd is on trial, the other one in Chicago.

Jonathan, my question is, we keep seeing this happen.  What do we make of it?  And is it something that is going to require a change in law?

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post:  It's going to require a change in a lot of things, Judy.  It's going to require a change in law, certainly, but a change in attitudes among the American people as a whole and among police.

You know, when I leave my home, when I leave my apartment, I know that, when I am no longer at home, I'm viewed with some level of suspicion, even as a threat, simply because I'm Black, and certainly because I'm a Black male.  And that is something that I have to deal with.

And I have said often and I will keep saying it, there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop when you're African American, and particularly when you're an African American man.

And I think attitudes need to change, particularly among police, because, more often than not, we are viewed as threats.  We saw that in the video of Army Lieutenant Nazario in Virginia that happened in December, but came to light last week.  We saw that in the video of the initial encounter with George Floyd.

When they tapped on the window of George Floyd's SUV with a flashlight, he turns around, and what does he see?  A gun in his face.

With Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, the police officer said "I will Tase you,"  "Taser, Taser, Taser."

Instead, she had a gun in her hand and shot him.

Now, as you said, Judy, these are all different circumstances, but the overall mood is the same.  Black people feel under threat.  They feel under siege.  And until the rest of America changes its attitude, and until law enforcement somehow changes the way it views the people they are sworn to serve and protect, nothing is going to change.

Judy Woodruff:  David, why does this keep happening?  And what do you think about what needs to change?

David Brooks, New York Times:  Well, the first thing that needs to change is, we do need to accept that there is racial bias in policing.

There are still too many people, and especially too many people in the police force, who think it's — that it's not there.  But it's not only Jonathan's experience and almost every experience of every African American person I know.  There's just dozens of studies that show, in traffic stops, car searches, drug arrests, there's just vast disparate policing that still goes on.  And that's just about attitude.

The good news is, if you do take some reforms, you can make some progress.  There's been a sharp drop in the number of shootings of unarmed people.  Armed people, it's still pretty stable, but unarmed people, we have made some progress.  So, there are things that can be done.

And those are things like removing choke holds.  Those are things like — a little idea that I kind of like is, you have to have written permission to search a car, these things called pretextual stops, where they stop a car on the pretext of one thing, when they're really looking for something else.

Data is very poorly collected.  So, which parts of which police forces are having the most disparate arrests or the most desperate searches?  That data is not collected.  There are these things called police officers bill of rights which are in a lot of state legislatures that police unions have instituted that create all these artificial barriers to investigating an incident, that a cop has to be punished within 30 or 100 days, and if it's too late, then he's off.

And so there are lots of little things that can be done to hopefully reduce these kinds of tragedies.

Judy Woodruff:  And, Jonathan, are these the kinds of things that you think can make a difference?  Should we — what can we be trying that hasn't been tried before now?

Jonathan Capehart:  Well, actually, all of those things that David just mentioned are pieces of what is known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

And I think that if that does become law, that it will start to put us on a road of ameliorating this very severe problem.  But, also, it's a problem that is not just now, part of contemporary America.

Generations of African Americans have been talking about this and complaining about this.  And the one thing that is different is that a lot of this has been caught on video.  And so, if you do have things like ending racial profiling, collecting data, ending qualified immunity, which makes it possible for people to hold police officers and police departments accountable when they get it wrong, those are all things that will improve policing — excuse me — but will also improve the relationship between communities and police.

Because anyone who thinks that African Americans don't want protection from crime and don't want police to actually be there to serve and protect, they are suffering under a very wrong notion.

Judy Woodruff:  And, David, I should say, I misspoke.  I said the shooting of two young Black men.  One was a young Black man.  The other was a young — a teenager, Latino, who was 13 years old.

But, David, do you think these measures can make a difference?

David Brooks:  Yes, I think they have.  I think our policing has improved from where it was.

I was briefly a police reporter on the South and West Side of Chicago.  And there was an atmosphere then — maybe there still is, but I think it's probably less — of:  It's us vs. the world, that we cops are the good guys and the world is an awful place.

And so there was almost a military attitude.  And that military culture is something experts talk about in the training of policing.  And that's just not the right attitude.  And the hard part about this is, there are like, I think, 18,000 police forces in this country.  It's hyperlocal.  A lot of them are under-resourced.  A lot have their own cultures.

But changing that culture, so that people are out in the neighborhood, I think, has helped.  And getting diverse work forces has helped a bit.  So, I'm — this has been awful to watch these things, but it's not like it's something we haven't made some progress toward.

Judy Woodruff:  Something else I want to ask both of you about, the decision by President Biden, Jonathan, to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by September 11.  It will have been 20 years since the United States was attacked, of course, by al-Qaida.

The President's argument is that this was never meant to be a war that lasted this long, in his words, a multigenerational war.  And he also made the argument we don't need — the threat has metastasized around the world, and we can't fight it any longer with boots on the ground in one country.

What do you make of his argument and of the decision?

Jonathan Capehart:  I — excuse me — I think his argument is one that we should we should take seriously and one that we need to deal with.

Yes, the threat has metastasized around the world.  And it isn't just coming out of Afghanistan.  And it does make sense to remove our troops and have them nimble enough to respond to those.

And let's keep in mind, when there are 10,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, 2,500 of them are U.S. troops.  So, we're not talking about the 100,000 troops on the ground as we had in 2011.  So, this is an easier lift.

But the other thing to keep in mind is the number of people who have cycled through there.  I have some stats here, 30,000 — 2,300 dead, 20,000 wounded; 30,000 U.S. service members have been deployed to Afghanistan at least five times.

And we're talking about not a broadly shared sacrifice.  We're talking about a narrowly shared sacrifice, and not even shared at all, when you have 1 percent of the American population serving in the military.

So this was not an easy decision, I would think, for the President, but the fact that he made it and said — and set a deadline, which is very controversial, but he wants the United States out.  And I give him credit for making a very tough decision.

Judy Woodruff:  And, David, what's your thinking on this?

David Brooks:  Yes, I disagree.  I think it's a grave mistake.

I think every expert that I read, or at least most of them, seem to believe that the Taliban will take over Afghanistan, will take over Kabul and the major cities.  And that's not going to be good for girls who want to go to school.  That's not good for people who want to enjoy a life of freedom.

That's a return to something pretty ugly.  We have only 2,500 there, but they're protecting the 10,000 — the other NATO troops, who are doing most of the training.  Our men and women in uniform are not on front-line combat, by and large, anymore.

And so it's not as onerous a lift as it was before.  And to preserve a somewhat free society, I think, is the right thing to do.  If the U.S. pulls out all, the other NATO forces are expected to pull out, and then we will be back.

And I understand the impatience.  It's been 20 years, but we have been in North Korea a long — or in South Korea a long time.  We have been in Europe a long time.  I think these things can sometimes serve a use.  And I say that while saluting the sacrifice of the people go over there.

Judy Woodruff:  Just briefly, Jonathan, what's — what do you say to this argument it's leaving a lot of people in the lurch in Afghanistan?

Jonathan Capehart:  Well, no, I understand that argument.  And David makes a — makes a very good point that we — Afghan women and girls probably face danger.  Afghanistan could collapse, but could and might, not assured.

And so, like I said, this was not an easy decision.  In some ways, it's a gamble.  But I think it's one that the President felt he had to make.

Judy Woodruff:  David?

David Brooks:  Yes, listen, we're not going to be the world's policemen anymore.  We're not going to be the kind of superpower we were in the aftermath of World War II.

But we still are the biggest power in the world.  And I think with that comes opportunities to try to preserve civilization when you can.  And that doesn't mean going to war.  That doesn't mean putting our men and women in combat, but guarding people who are training the Afghan soldiers to go into combat, that seems to me a right balance to strike.

Judy Woodruff:  Sobering stuff at the end of this week.

David Brooks, Jonathan Capehart, thank you both.

Jonathan Capehart:  Thanks, Judy.

David Brooks:  Thank you, Judy.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION - This Week's Roundup

"Biden’s bipartisanship: What we learned from the President’s meeting with lawmakers" PBS NewsHour 4/12/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Congress returns from recess this week, and as we reported earlier, the first stop for a bipartisan group of lawmakers was the White House — invited by the President as he works to sell his American Jobs Plan on infrastructure and climate.  Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins joins us for an update.

 

 

"Biden to remove remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September" PBS NewsHour 4/13/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Biden plans to announce Wednesday that all 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will leave the country by Sept. 11.  The troop withdrawal would be four months later than the previous deadline, and top Republicans immediately criticized the move.  Amna Nawaz joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

 

 

"Biden says U.S. will still ‘hold Taliban accountable’ after troops leave Afghanistan" PBS NewsHour 4/14/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Joe Biden formally announced Wednesday that the United States would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 20 years since the fateful day that led to the U.S. invasion.  More than 2,300 American soldiers have lost their lives in what's become the country's longest war.  John Yang begins our coverage.

 

 

"How the U.S. plans to address educational inequities, teacher burnout and school shootings" PBS NewsHour 4/14/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  More than half of public schools around the country are back to full time in-person classes.  But many school districts still are using distance or hybrid learning, and there are many questions ahead about what it will take to reopen more fully in the coming months.  Amna Nawaz looks at those questions and more with Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona.

 

 

"Biden flip-flops on refugee policy after blowback for keeping Trump-era restrictions" PBS NewsHour 4/16/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Friday saw the Biden Administration giving mixed messages on refugee admission.  After receiving blowback for keeping the historically low refugee cap set by President Trump, the White House quickly reversed its position, and said it will move to lift them.  Yamiche Alcindor has more on the flip-flop, and discusses it with Jenny Yang, the vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief.

AFGHANISTAN - The Longest War

"Will short-term deal between U.S., Taliban pave the way for Afghan peace?" PBS NewsHour 2/14/2020

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The U.S. has reached a short-term agreement with the Taliban that could pave the way for ending the war in Afghanistan that has endured for nearly 20 years.  Under the plan, U.S. forces and the Taliban agree to a temporary cessation of violence and a phased approach to the withdrawal of American troops.  But is the Afghan government on board?  Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff from Munich to discuss.

AFGHANISTAN - Without a Path to Peace

"Without a path to peace, Afghan forces constantly fighting to root out Taliban" PBS NewsHour 9/25/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Afghanistan, commando military units are kept busy chasing out the Taliban, then moving on to the next, inevitable advance elsewhere.  But after special forces retake an area, ill-equipped regular forces that replace them struggle to hold on -- the same problem American forces faced there for years.  Can Afghans find any peace?  Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports.

AFGHANISTAN - Peace Talks vs Attacks

"Amid peace talks, Taliban claims deadly explosion in Kabul" PBS NewsHour 9/2/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Afghanistan, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a massive explosion that rocked Kabul, killing at least five and wounding 50.  It targeted the heavily secured area that’s home to several aid agencies and international organizations, and came as the U.S. envoy briefed the Afghan government on a draft peace deal.  Special correspondent Jane Ferguson joins Judy Woodruff with the latest.

"In Afghanistan, the Taliban uses violence as leverage during peace negotiations" PBS NewsHour 9/3/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the Afghan capital of Kabul, 16 people died in a car bomb Monday night.  A compound housing mostly international workers was the target, and the Taliban claimed responsibility even as they participate in peace talks with the U.S.  Why has there been a “massive uptick in violence” recently, and what might the tentative peace deal include?  Special correspondent Jane Ferguson joins Judy Woodruff.

"What’s next for U.S.-Afghanistan peace talks?" PBS NewsHour 9/8/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump announced on Twitter on Saturday that he had canceled a secret Camp David meeting with the Taliban and Afghan officials, after the insurgent group “admitted” to a suicide attack in Kabul that killed 12 people, including a U.S. soldier.  The Wall Street Journal’s Kabul bureau chief, Craig Nelson, joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the road ahead in ending America’s longest war.

AMERICA'S LONGEST WAR - Afghanistan After 20yrs

"The brutal push for peace in Afghanistan after almost 20 years of war" PBS NewsHour 3/13/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The highest level of talks yet between the U.S. and the Taliban concluded Tuesday in Qatar.  With videographer Sebastian Rich's exclusive footage of American and Afghan operations in southern Afghanistan; Nick Schifrin reports on how both sides are trying to use battlefield gains to force peacemaking concessions, and gets insight from Nader Nadery a Senior Adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

AFGHANISTAN - Taliban Peace Talks

"U.S. and Taliban peace talks make progress toward ending war in Afghanistan" PBS NewsHour 1/28/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The draft framework of an Afghan peace deal: If the Taliban agree to a cease-fire, working directly with the Afghan government and preventing terror groups from using Afghanistan as a base for planning attacks, U.S. forces will withdraw.  John Yang talks to the International Crisis Group’s Laurel Miller and the Center on International Cooperation’s Barnett Rubin about this "complicated" process.

AFGHANISTAN - Confidence in Government

"Afghan confidence in government undermined by fresh attacks" PBS NewsHour 8/15/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Shia teenagers were killed by a suicide bomber at an education center in Kabul on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, residents of the city of Ghazni began to pick up the pieces after a five-day siege between the Taliban and the Afghan Army.  Nick Schifrin discusses the attacks and Taliban tactics with Sultan Faizy, Kabul bureau chief for IHA Network, and former Defense Department official David Sedney.

NEWSHOUR BOOKSHELF - "Directorate S"

"'Directorate S' traces Pakistan's role at the heart of the Afghanistan war" PBS NewsHour 3/8/2018

U.S. longest war.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The U.S. has been fighting in Afghanistan for more than 16 years, and mostly against the Taliban, a group that exists in large part due to the intelligence services of Afghan neighbor Pakistan.  Steve Coll's new book "Directorate S" is perhaps the definitive story of the war's aftermath and tense U.S. relations with Pakistan.  Coll joins Nick Schifrin for a conversation.

"The inside story of America's longest war" PBS NewsHour 3/8/2018 (full interview)

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Many books have covered the war in South Asia, but Steve Coll's “Directorate S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001–2016” reveals new information about military mistakes, missed diplomatic opportunities, failed negotiations with the Taliban and Pakistan's support for the Taliban.  Nick Schrifin talks to Steve Coll about his new book.

WOMEN'S MOVEMENT - Meaning for Afghanistan

"What more women in government would mean for Afghanistan" PBS NewsHour 3/5/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  War is a reality of life in Afghanistan, but it's not all-consuming, say a delegation of Afghan women leaders who recently visited Washington.  The country is also undergoing significant social and cultural shifts around gender and leadership.  Judy Woodruff talks with Shaharzad Akbar, a senior advisor to President Ghani, and Muqaddesa Yourish of Afghanistan's Civil Service Commission.

U.S. LONGEST WAR - Taliban's Top Mulla Dead!

"With killing of top mullah, what's next for the Taliban in Afghanistan?" PBS NewsHour 5/23/2016

COMMENT:  Yah, we are suppose to warn Pakistan about our attacks on the Taliban.  Just ignore the sympathy and support of some government officials, and some of their army.  Pakistan has a whole area/province where the Taliban rule and hide.  No, we are not about to warn the Taliban.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  On Saturday, a U.S. drone strike killed Mullah Mansour, the leader of the Taliban and architect of the group's bloody reconquest of Afghanistan this past year.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports on the killing, and Hari Sreenivasan talks to former Pakistani diplomat Riaz Mohammad Khan and former State Department official Barnett Rubin about what lies ahead for the Taliban.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  The man who led the Afghan Taliban for the past year was killed in a U.S. operation over the weekend.  The group had been gaining ground and waging a bloody war against the Afghan government.

So, what's next for the Taliban, and the countries who fight it?

Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner begins our coverage.

MARGARET WARNER (NewsHour):  Smoldering wreckage on a Pakistani roadside was all that remained of the Taliban commander's vehicle hours after he died in it Saturday.

Today, in Vietnam, President Obama officially announced a U.S. drone strike killed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  It has been confirmed that he is dead.  And he as an individual who, as head of the Taliban, was specifically targeting U.S. personnel and troops inside of Afghanistan.

MARGARET WARNER:  Mullah Mansour took over the Afghan Taliban last summer, after the group finally announced that longtime leader Mullah Omar had died in 2013.  The new leader faced down rivals, in part by rejecting Afghan- and U.S.-backed peace talks.

Under his direction, Taliban forces briefly seized the Northern Afghan city of Kunduz last September, and carried out a bloody assault in Kabul itself in April, killing 64.

Word of his death was welcomed by Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah:

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, Chief Executive, Afghanistan (through interpreter):  He was in charge of all terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, and he had direct contact with other terrorist networks.  This will bring a big change in the Taliban condition.  His death is a blow to their abilities in carrying out terrorist attacks against the Afghan people.

MARGARET WARNER:  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signaled that the Taliban leader's death could also open the door to renewed peace talks.  The drone strike that killed Mansour was the first by the U.S. inside Baluchistan, in Southwestern Pakistan.  It's long been a Taliban stronghold.

In London yesterday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying the U.S. gave no advance warning.

NAWAZ SHARIF, Prime Minister, Pakistan (through interpreter):  We are protesting strongly.  This is a violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan.

MARGARET WARNER:  But Afghanistan's government accuses the Pakistanis of harboring a veritable who's-who of most wanted terrorists.

GEN. DAWLAT WAZIRI, Spokesman, Afghan Defense Ministry (through interpreter): The Haqqani Network is in Pakistan.  Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden were in Pakistan, and now Mullah Mansour was killed in Pakistan's Baluchistan.  It would be better if Pakistan cooperated with Afghanistan and didn't give shelter to these people who are continuing the war in Afghanistan.

MARGARET WARNER:  Pakistani authorities say a passport found near the drone strike wreckage shows Mansour had just returned from Iran.  Officials there denied the claim.

Meanwhile, the already-fractured Taliban is scrambling to close ranks.  Senior leaders met today, and speculation over a successor centers on Mansour's deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, a warlord seen as even more brutal than Mansour.