"stanley mcchrystal"
1 episodes tagged with this keyword
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Frank Whalen returned from a two-week break to discuss major news stories, primarily focusing on CIA Director Leon Panetta's June 27, 2010 comments about Afghanistan. Panetta stated that Al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan numbers only 50 to 100 people at most, yet the U.S. maintains 93,000 troops and 130,000 contractors there at enormous cost. Whalen argued this reveals no legitimate military objective in Afghanistan and discussed how private security contractors pay millions weekly in bribes to Taliban and insurgent groups to move supplies. He also covered Panetta's comments on the Taliban's current weakness, Osama bin Laden's presumed death since the early 2000s, and Iran's uranium enrichment. Caller Andrew from Michigan contributed discussion on lithium mining in Afghanistan, heroin production, and the broader resource extraction agenda.