Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine Andrew Cockburn returns to the show to discuss his latest article “Mobbed Up: How America boosts the Afghan opium trade.” Cockburn explains how Trump’s major contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been to take the existing restraints off the air force so they can, Cockburn says, “try to pacify Afghanistan from 20,000 feet.” Cockburn and Scott then discuss the war on drugs in Afghanistan and Cockburn outlines why the narrative that the Taliban relies on opium for its power is overblown. Finally Scott and Cockburn discuss what Trump once got right about Afghanistan and why things went wrong.
Andrew Cockburn is the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine and the author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmcockburn.
Discussed on the show:
- An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict, by Mike Martin
- Ahmed Wali Karzai
- Gul Agha Sherzai
- “Afghan leaders in Helmand criticize U.S. airstrikes on Taliban drug labs” (Washington Post)
- Sher Mohammad Akhundzada
- Out of Control: The Story of the Reagan Administration’s Secret War in Nicaragua, the Illegal Arms Pipeline, and the Contra Drug Connection, by Leslie Cockburn
- “Trump’s CIA Has Set Up Teams To Kill Terrorists,” by Aram Roston (BuzzFeed)
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.
Check out Scott’s Patreon page.
Podcast (thescotthortonshow): Play in new window | Download
