Afghanistan

This week, Donald Trump unveiled plans to expand US military intervention in Afghanistan by sending up to 4,000 more soldiers to the region. How are the media covering the 16-year US invasion and its impacts on the civilian population?

On this week’s media roundtable, we’ll discuss coverage of Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon’s plan to privatize the war in Afghanistan by handing it over to Erik Prince, founder of the mercenary army Blackwater, and Stephen Feinberg, the owner DynCorp, the largest US contractor in Afghanistan.

On Thursday, the US military dropped a massive 22,000-pound bomb in eastern Afghanistan. How are the media covering the human cost of the “war on terror” in Afghanistan?

  On the April 26th edition Your Call, we’ll have a conversation with Sonia Kennebeck about her new documentary National Bird, which weaves together the chilling stories of three whistle blowers who break the silence around the secret US drone program.

On the October 2nd edition of Your Call, it’s our Friday media roundtable. This week, the war in Syria dominated discussions at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York and Russia became the 13th country to bomb Syria.

On July 3rd edition of Your Call, it’s our Friday media roundtable. This week, we’ll have a conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario about her memoir It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War.

Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the link between the two countries has been undeniable. Fremont, in the East Bay, has the largest Afghani community in the U.S. Local Children’s author Naheed Senzai is married to Afghan American political scientist Fareed Senzai, who has an incredible story of fleeing Afghanistan with this family as a boy, and ending up in Fremont, where he has lived ever since. 

Since 2001, about 2.5 million people have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, at least a third of them more than once. When they return, many veterans need long term physical and mental care. But they often don't get it.

On the next Your Call, it’s our Friday media roundtable. This week, we’ll discuss coverage of the NATO Summit and protests. Much of the focus was on the future of Afghanistan. On Sunday, 50 veterans threw their medals toward the summit, saying no amount of medals or flags can cover the amount of human suffering caused by the occupation. We’ll be joined by Truthout’s Yana Kunichoff, The Indypendent’s Arun Gupta, and the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

I. Spring rain has been sweeping the Bay Area. At this time last year, the world watched as revolutions swept across the Arab world. The uprisings ended decades-long dictatorships in the Middle East in what was called “the Arab Spring.” 

Jeremy Profitt lives with his family in an East Bay suburb about 45 minutes outside of Oakland. He’s in his weekend uniform when he greets me at his door: white t-shirt, jean shorts, flip-flops.

They’ve just moved in, and his wife is unpacking the kitchen as Profitt picks up his baby daughter, Reiland. He gently cradles her in his lap as he starts to tell me his story.

“It felt gratifying,” Profitt says of his time in service. “I felt I was able to do my part.”

On today’s Your Call, it’s our Friday media roundtable. This week, we’ll discuss coverage of the massacre in Afghanistan. A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant allegedly killed 16 people in villages near Kandahar. How are the media covering this tragedy? What questions should reporters be asking? We’ll be joined by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul Mcgough and independent journalist Anna Badkhen and The Times’ Jeremy Kelly.Join us at 10 or email feedback@yourcallradio.org. Where did you see the best coverage of Afghanistan this week? And what was your story of the week?