The Awkward Trumpy Truth About Afghanistan’s Likely New Taliban Leader

Rachel Maddow looks at how Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar went from being imprisoned in Pakistan to likely the next leader of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, thanks to some help from some typical Trump administration deal making.
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63 comments

  1. In the time between the signing of the Doha deal with the Taliban, how many Afghan translators and others who assisted US forces were granted US visas? The details of the deal and their ramifications for Aghanis were pretty clear so why didn’t Trump allow those people to come to the US?

    1. @susan mcivor Trumps net worth is smaller after is presidency…what about Clinton and Obama how did they do after there 400k a year gig in office.

    2. @Canick Smith
      Don’t worry. He’s the biggest racist in this country! No matter what he does or says! Everyone knows that about trump!

    3. @Jose Garcia How many troops were left in Afghanistan when Trump left office? How totally screwed up did he leave the immigration services in charge of processing visas? How many visas were granted to Afghans by Trump given that HE made the deal and should have known what was going to happen?

  2. Try to imagine Churchill telling Hitler, “Okay, you just leave us alone and you can stay in France.”

    1. @Don Lowther Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi. He was essentially an arms dealer for the Afghan War as well as contractor for base construction. He was never a prince in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda was formed in 1988, and Bin Laden was upset because of American support of Kuwait in the first Iraq War. Did the United States promise Osama Bin Laden that they would never support Kuwait if Iraq invaded them? No, they didn’t.
      In fact, Bin Laden was in Saudi Arabia until the World Trade Center bombings as well as interfering with a famine relief mission in Somalia. At this point, he fled because the Saudis no longer were willing to harbor him. He went to Afghanistan.

    2. @Don Lowther Sheesh, Don, do you trumpites actually think you’re scoring points with that cliche? You’re at the level of the Holocaust denier who says, “Prove to me that Hitler himself killed even one Jew.”

      Yes, Trump didn’t invent the Coronavirus, but he paved the way for it with his lies and mismanagement.

      Were you perchance throughwalking in the Appalachians when he told the nation it was like a mild flu, would “go away in April [2020] with the heat ” and children couldn’t catch it? BTW, this was months _after_ he shared with Woodward the medical briefing that it was deadly.

    3. @George Dunn you seem to be well indoctrinated in someone I could give to f@*ks about. I love it when people ASSUME. Unlike you I follow no one and have a mind of my own.

    4. @Don Lowther That mind of your own seems to have a Trumpublican commissar at its gate, deciding which information can come in.

      By the way…
      To — a preposition (“I’m going to the rally”)
      Two — a cardinal number (“I don’t give two f___s.”)

    5. @George Dunn whatever you want to believe. I’m not labeling and categorizing anyone. But I get it seems to be the thing now, talk over and demean. Real good traits hope it gets you far.

    1. @Mortac  You’re wrong. Biden lies and MSNBC lies. Did Trump attempt a deal with the Taliban, yes. Did they uphold their end, no and the deal was squashed.

      I was there in 2020 and was supposed to be part of the draw down in April. Well May came around they told us the Taliban aren’t cooperating so you’re staying.

      Over time he did decrease our presence, but never a point we couldn’t change course and still enough of a force to assist the Afghans in fending off the Taliban.

    2. @George Hollingsworth truth. Although I’d like to meet the supply sergeant who didn’t account for the M4’s they have.

      The Blackhawks the Afghans had I’m sure have absolutely no up to date technology or avionics and they’re likely going to deteriorate in days due to lack of or improper attempts at maintenance.

    3. @Mortac Wait isn’t Biden the president of The United States? You’re telling me this epic failure we just watched unfold was because of a former president who is no longer in power and our current president is powerless to affect a good outcome? Wow must be nice to be able to blame someone else for a completely botched execution. How long are we going to blame Trump for Biden’s complete incompetence?

    4. @George Hollingsworth oh good, only billions of dollars of our garbage tanks and helicopters and missiles. And our intelligence documents, let’s just leave those behind. Oh and those 5000 Isis and Al-Qaeda prisoners, I’m sure the Taliban won’t free them and put them back into rotation. I got it, let’s pull our military out first, then our military equipment and lastly our Americans and allies. This has been the ultimate example of Biden’s incompetence.

  3. Why is no one talking about Ghani’s cowardliness and thievery. How much of the Afghan nations resources did he take with him. United States played thier part in releasing key taliban leaders setting the stage for Afghans future.

    1. Ghani is the only person that evacuated quickly and safely, and denied the terrorists 169 million dollars. He should have been giving lessons to the US army and state dept. Ghani is a hero, compared with everyone else in the US govt.

    2. @R uss correction the afghan soldiers had an head ups and fled on couriers after making deals with devils. I respect musl traditions but come on its 2021 their living in the stone age mentally. Everybody wants to point at the USA but do not want to take destiny in thier hands

    1. You all are idiots, Trump was a godsend and now China is likely going to invade Taiwan because Biden is such a disaster

    2. @Please Do Tell They did not post the transcript of that delusional racist phone call with the Taliban like they did the Ukraine that “offended” that Vindiman guy. I think that vindiman has a TBI and the army dont want to pay. Danny Dietz. SAY HIS NAME!

    3. @LoneCub23 far worse than handing Afghanistan over to the Taliban which has given them billions of dollars of our military equipment and allowed them to release 5000 Isis and Al-Qaeda prisoners and leaving tens of thousands of Americans and allies stranded, oh and leaving behind our intelligence documents for the Taliban to look over, oh and gaining the distrust of our allies globally? Biden is completely incompetent and I think your assessment is a little off.

    1. @The Logic Party No I am not. Let’s touch base in two weeks and you will agree with me. If in two weeks Taliban do not hold to their promises of giving women their rights and allowing girls to go to school, then I will take back my words.

    1. Unless they fly our passenger planes into our buildings killing thousands of people, then it becomes our business.

    1. No the CIA. This is nothing more than deep state propaganda. They failed and are embarrassed. Giant complete 100% epic failure. Largest war machine largest intelligence system in the world FAILED. Brought down by Toyota’s and guys with AKs. Nothing they say anymore is to be trusted like this pandemic. Screw them. Their time in power is over. Respect is earned. Not given. They’ve lost our trust.

      Hello China and Russia.

    1. @LF313 A Taliban leader who reportedly helped orchestrate the group’s takeover of Afghanistan was released by former President Barack Obama in exchange for former U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in 2014.

      Khairullah Khairkhwa, who previously served as the Taliban’s interior minister in Afghanistan, was arrested after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and was held at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2014. Pentagon officials accused Khairkhwa of ​​being a close associate of Usama bin Laden and deemed him too dangerous to be released.

    2. the only story I’m seeing here is that the new leader of Afghanistan was a political prisoner for 8 years. This is direct evidence of American political repression against Afghans in the last 20 years.

    3. @LF313 racist much? And lol at “white supremacist” boogeyman comments. Q-anon much? Where are all of these “white supremacist” boogeymen? 😂🤣🤡

  4. I had to scroll through about 100 comments before I found a single one supporting the MSNBC opinion lol.

  5. Back where we started. “We shall not cease our exploration, and at the end of our journey we will arrive where we started and learn absolutely nothing”- T.S. Eliot

  6. Ha! What crappy reporting. Obama released him from GITMO for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in 2014 lol. What a joke.

  7. That being said Corn Pop still F’d up the exit plan because he had no plan. Stranding between 15,000 and 40,000 Americans. Biden’s not even sure of that number.🤦

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