Conflicts of Interest: After 2 Decades of War & Nation Building, the Afghan State Is Crumbling

 

by Conflicts of Interest Posted onAugust 13, 2021

On COI #148, Kyle breaks down some of the latest developments in Afghanistan. The Taliban continue their offensive, seizing major Afghan cities like Kandahar, Ghazni, and Harat. In response, the US is planning to reduce the staff at its embassy and possibly abandon it entirely. The State Department is calling on all Americans to leave the country and increasing the number of flights for Afghans seeking to flee. NOTE: After recording, the US announced it was deploying 3,000 troops to Afghanistan to aid the evacuation and the Taliban-seized Kandahar. 

Kyle discusses a new secretive NSA program code-named ‘WildandStormy.’ Little is known about the project other than that it is a new cloud program for the agency. Amazon Web Services is reported to have won a $10 billion contract to produce the system. Microsoft quickly sued, claiming the bidding process was unfair. 

Julian Assange had an important hearing as Washington continues to push for his extradition. The US had already won a limited appeal of the judge’s ruling that Assange could not be extradited to the US because mental distress and the cruel US prison system would cause him to commmit suicide. However, the US was able to score a larger victory, allowing a wider scope for their challenge to the judge’s decision. 

Kyle updates some of the latest US preparations for war with China. The Pentagon concluded a stress test on the USS Ford by detonating a 40,000-lb bomb in the ocean near the ship. The explosion caused some damage, but the US says it proves the ship could withstand an attack from Russia and China. The US is also conducting the SEACAT war games with 20 other nations in Singapore and planning naval war games in the Pacific next month. 

Signs of potential for diplomatic progress on the Korean Peninsula quickly came to a halt when South Korea announced the start of annual war games with the US. A few weeks ago, North and South Korea reestablished hotlines that had been dormant for over a year. After the war games kicked off, North Korea stopped answering the calls. 

Kyle talks about Israeli aggression in the Middle East. After bombing northern Lebanon a few weeks ago, Israel carried out heavy bombing in the country’s south, also recently striking Gaza. In all cases Tel Aviv claimed it was responding to attacks, however the rockets and incendiary balloons targeting Israel are themselves a response to its cruelty towards the Palestinians. 

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https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2021/08/13/conflicts-of-interest-after-2-decades-of-war-nation-building-the-afghan-state-is-crumbling/