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The Afghanistan Papers, revisited
The Afghanistan Papers, revisited

Today on the show, we revisit the Afghanistan Papers: hundreds of secret interviews with top U.S. officials admitting in private what they never said in public — that the war in Afghanistan was not going well.

Friday, August 20, 2021
The Afghanistan Papers, revisited
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The Afghanistan Papers, revisitedPeople who fled Afghanistan board a French air force Airbus A330 at the air base of Al Dhafra, near Abu Dhabi. (Etat Major Des Armees/AFP/Getty Images)
This week, Americans watched in disbelief as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in a matter of days — and we wondered what Craig Whitlock was thinking. Two years ago he and a team at The Post published a prescient and ground-breaking project called “The Afghanistan Papers,” revealing hundreds of secret interviews with U.S. officials candidly discussing the failures of the war.

The interviews with some 400 people were part of a project called “Lessons Learned,” undertaken by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, and The Post obtained them after a three-year legal battle. These Afghanistan papers are a secret history of the war, Whitlock tells Martine Powers, and “they contain these frank admissions of how the war was screwed up and that what the American people were being told about the war wasn’t true.” 

“They really do bring to mind the Pentagon Papers, which were the Defense Department’s top-secret history of the Vietnam War,” Whitlock says. 

These recordings have new resonance this week. 

Read excerpts from Craig Whitlock’s new book, ‟The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War”.
Deceptions and lies: What really happened in Afghanistan

The grand illusion: Hiding the truth about the Afghanistan war’s ‘conclusion’
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The Afghanistan Papers, revisited
The Afghanistan Papers, revisited

Today on the show, we revisit the Afghanistan Papers: hundreds of secret interviews with top U.S. officials admitting in private what they never said in public — that the war in Afghanistan was not going well.

Friday, August 20, 2021
The Afghanistan Papers, revisited
Loading...
The Afghanistan Papers, revisitedPeople who fled Afghanistan board a French air force Airbus A330 at the air base of Al Dhafra, near Abu Dhabi. (Etat Major Des Armees/AFP/Getty Images)
This week, Americans watched in disbelief as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in a matter of days — and we wondered what Craig Whitlock was thinking. Two years ago he and a team at The Post published a prescient and ground-breaking project called “The Afghanistan Papers,” revealing hundreds of secret interviews with U.S. officials candidly discussing the failures of the war.

The interviews with some 400 people were part of a project called “Lessons Learned,” undertaken by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, and The Post obtained them after a three-year legal battle. These Afghanistan papers are a secret history of the war, Whitlock tells Martine Powers, and “they contain these frank admissions of how the war was screwed up and that what the American people were being told about the war wasn’t true.” 

“They really do bring to mind the Pentagon Papers, which were the Defense Department’s top-secret history of the Vietnam War,” Whitlock says. 

These recordings have new resonance this week. 

Read excerpts from Craig Whitlock’s new book, ‟The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War”.
Deceptions and lies: What really happened in Afghanistan

The grand illusion: Hiding the truth about the Afghanistan war’s ‘conclusion’
Previous Episode
Disaster on repeat in Haiti

Disaster on repeat in Haiti

Haitians face devastation after two natural disasters hit the island. And what the tragedies have exposed about the country’s preparedness.

Thursday, August 19, 2021
Disaster on repeat in Haiti
Next Episode
Is this a new Taliban?

Is this a new Taliban?

The Taliban insists it has changed. Afghanistan’s future hinges on whether that’s true.

Monday, August 23, 2021
Is this a new Taliban?
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