Matthew Hoh discusses the extraordinary difficulties in resolving the complex political and ethnic tensions in Afghanistan, something that the U.S. military has been trying to do for going on 20 years. Hoh says that during his time there he saw lots of practices by the Kabul government that clearly weren’t any better than tribal or Taliban rule, like bribery, extrajudicial killings, and women treated as second-class citizens. It’s no wonder that the Afghan people, particularly Pashtuns, are less than thrilled with the American-backed central government. Hoh also shares some of the difficulties in attracting a coalition of principled antiwar activists across left and right in America.

Discussed on the show:

• Life under the Taliban shadow government
• “The Shattered Afghan Dream of Peace” (The New Yorker)
• Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

Matthew Hoh is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and formerly worked for the U.S. State Department. Hoh received the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling in 2010. Hoh is a member of the Board of Directors for Council for a Livable World and is an Advisory Board Member for Expose Facts. He writes on issues of war, peace and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery at matthewhoh.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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