Whistleblower Daniel Davis returns to the show to discuss his latest article, “Trump Wants You To Write Him A Blank Check For War in Afghanistan. Don’t.” Davis explains why military victory in Afghanistan is impossible, and how current U.S. presence in Afghanistan appears to be indefinite. Danny discusses the differences during his two tours of duty in Afghanistan 2005 and 2010-11 and how much worse the situation is today than it was a decade ago. Davis goes back down memory lane and explains the process of his decision to blow the whistle on David Petraeus’s lies. Scott and Danny slam Donald Trump’s rhetoric about why the U.S. is remaining in Afghanistan and how candidate Trump has been betrayed by president Trump. Davis makes it clear that no matter when the U.S. finally pulls out of Afghanistan the work being done there will be nullified. Scott and Danny discuss why there hasn’t been more blowback from the Afghan war; Davis warns that there’s an incubation period and that we’ll still be suffering from the consequences for the next decade-plus.
Retired lieutenant colonel Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He writes a weekly column for National Interest and is the author of the reports “Dereliction of Duty II: Senior Military Leaders’ Loss of Integrity Wounds Afghan War Effort” and “Go Big or Go Deep: An Analysis of Strategy Options on Afghanistan.” Follow Davis on Twitter @DanielLDavis1. His website is www.daniel-l-davis.com.
Discussed on the show:
- “Trump’s challenge: A wall of public skepticism on Afghanistan War” (Politico)
- Helmand Province
- Nangahar Province
- Green Berets
- Afghan National Army (ANA)
- Camp Leatherneck
- Abdullah Abdullah
- Jalaluddin Haqqani
- Abdul Rashid Dotsum
- Mazar-i-Sharif
- Tajiks
- Uzbeks
- Hazaras
- “Truth, lies and Afghanistan,” by Daniel Davis (Armed Forces Journal)
- H.R. McMaster
- Karl Eikenberry
- “Trump’s National Security Advisor Challenged Over Human Rights Record” (Libertarian Institute)
- “The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual” (University of Chicago)
- Joseph Dunford
- Erik Prince: “The Taliban are operating inside our decision loop” (YouTube)
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