Speaker 1: And we are back with another edition of the Federalist
Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle, Senior Elections correspondent at the
Federalist and your experienced Shirpa on today's quest for Knowledge.
As always, you can email the show at radio at
the Federalist dot com, follow us on x at FDRLST,
make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcast, and
of course to the premium version of our website as well.
Today we are joined on the Federalist Radio Hour by
Lieutenant General Sammy Saddat, the Last Commander of the Afghan Army,
who's compelling new book, The Last Commander, The Once and
Future Battle for Afghanistan, offers a detailed look inside the
war in Afghanistan and the United states disastrous withdrawal three
years ago. Today, thank you so much for being here, Sir,
I really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Matt. I'm very glad to join your show
for today.
Speaker 1: On August fifteenth, twenty twenty one, just two weeks before
US troops were set to officially withdraw from Afghanistan, Taliban
leaders entered the capital city of Kabal and swept back
into power with little resistance. The Afghan government collapsed, the
country's president, Ashrafghani, fled, and many desperate Afghan civilians were
left behind. We're going to talk about that more, but
I want you to take us through those final days
before the Taliban swept back into the capital city.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Matt. So we have to go a little
bit back to April one, where President Biden announced the
go to zero order for all the US troops up
until that time. Of course, the Doha deal was bad.
We didn't like it, but we still have hoped that
the US will reconsider as the situation continues to deteriorate.
But Present Biden, when he came to power, he disregarded
the recommendation by his generals, by the CIA, recommendation by
Partner Force, even by NATAL leaders who told him to
stay and continue to support the Afghan government. But he
pulled out unconditionally, uncoordinated, and he had no regard for
the previous agreements that the African government have signed with
the United States. This put us on a very peculious situation.
As the US military pulled out, then the contractors were
also you know, evacuated, the people who would maintain the
air force, the ground forces. Like this, we had some
somehow somewhat of a sophisticated technology, and there were all
US technologies, so we couldn't hire contractors from elsewhere. This
put a put a major challenge in our war fighting capability.
On the other side, the Talban got a free check.
The government of Qatar was paying them hundreds of millions
of dollars. Pakistan and Iran continued to train Talibans in
large thousands uh and they continued to pour in as
we struggled on the ground without the an active Afghan
Air Force and the US Air Forces support. Furthermore, the
the ammunition supply from the US completely dried up for
the Afghan forces. So we continued to fight, although we
were struggling, but we fought. You know, we didn't want to.
We didn't want the Talban to take over. But what
ammunition without the Afghan Air Force and without the US
Air Force's support, where by our opponent, the Taliban, had
all the support in the world. Then you know, things
started going very very bad, and districts started falling, and
then cities started falling, and ultimately Kobble fell on the
fifteenth of August. Because Cobble is no military guration Kabble
is the capital of Afghanistan, and there was no fortification
system for Kabble. As you know, nobody would want to
think that, you know, the war would arrive in Kobble.
I think there is a strategic trouble that caused the
collapse was the agreement with the Taliban, but also the
mismanagement of Afghan leaders, particularly our president and our top
brass political leaders inside Cobble, who were very divide at
the end of the war, as well as the United
States disregard to stand with us the middle of this
vicious war.
Speaker 1: I have my own opinions on this collapse, watching it
as I did from the safety of my home or
office that day three years ago today. But let me
ask you, do you feel like what the Biden administration did,
What President Joe Biden did three years ago today and
actually leading up to that, was an absolute betrayal of
the Afghan Army, the Afghan people, and the cause of
liberty from an absolute oppressive regime the Taliban.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. And as I watched when President Biden announced made
the announcement, I was in Hellman Province fighting in southwestern Afghanistan.
As I watched the way he talked the way he
delivered that message that were leaving no matter what, he
sounded like an absolute tyrant. He didn't sound like a
friend or like a strategic ally and it was a
blank check for the Taliban. President Biden not only betrayed US,
but the President Biden betrayed the American military. The single
most strategic glow to the American military interventions globally aised
the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and it would never have happened
if the order didn't come from the White House. So
the White House single handedly not only defeated the Afghan military,
but also defeated the US military in Afghanistan as well.
Speaker 1: Let's examine the reality of the situation on the ground
and what was happening, of course, in the hearts and
minds of US citizens when all of this started, and
you have to go back, you know, twenty years. This
all started, of course because of what happened the events
of nine to eleven September eleven, twenty twenty one, and
the fact that Afghanistan, through the Taliban, was harboring agents
of mass terrorism, and so the United States in October
of two thousand and one declared war or went to war,
I should say, with Afghanistan, the American people were totally
behind that operation. That had changed over the years, of course,
because the years mounted, the casualties mounted, and the resources mounted.
But there was still a good number of Americans who
understood that if you're going to eventually leave Afghanistan, you
have to leave the Afghan Army, the Afghan people, who
have now been under a generation of freedoms that they
had never experienced or had not experienced in a very
long time. You have to leave them with some sense
of security. And that absolutely did not happen when the
Biden administration, i think, pushed by political polling, decided that
that's it, We're out. Was there any communication to you?
How was the communication to you as an army officer
to the Afghan Army when all of this was going down.
Speaker 2: So we had communication with the US Army, But the
US Army was absolutely not ready for hearing this order
because they knew that the Doha agreement was conditions based,
as President Trump mentioned at times and times again, and
the conditions have not changed, and the Taliban broke all
the articles of the Doha commitment to the US. So
we needed to go back to war and continue to fight.
President Biden not only didn't coordinate or communicate or consult
with US, but he also completely disregarded what Pentagon and
the CIA was recommending. So it was just one sided,
very vindictive order, if I can put it this way,
to just pull out no matter what happens. I'm glad
you mentioned October two thousand and one, and remember Matt
when nine to eleven happened, the US, you know, announced
the war, and I still remember reading this President Bush's statement,
we will not waiver, we will not tire, we will
not falter, and we will not fail. Peace and freedom
will prevail, you know. I mean we have grown up
with that for the last twenty years, and the US
military belief that, we believe that that we will work
together the Afghan the Afghans joined the US going after
al Qaeda. And remember, by the time the Taliban were
posted out of power the there was around three hundred
US Special Forces and there was around one hundred thousand
Afghan soldiers on the ground fighting on the side of
the Afghanistan United Front. At the time they joined the
US coalition and went after the Taliban. Of course, it
was in our best interest to get rid of the Taliban.
We wanted to do that anyway. We just found a friend.
But we went beyond that. We went after al Qaeda.
We went after every single entity, individual or country that
was fighting the United States at that corner of the world.
So in a way, you know, we kind of feel
like we were doing something good in that part of
the world, preventing terrorism from coming back and heading not
only the United States but actually at the global stage.
And the US and Afghan military did a wonderful job
preventing terrorism and you know, putting Taliban and al Qaya
and other groups on their knees. And for twenty years
there has been any significant terrorist rise in Middle East
and Africa, in Europe, or there not been any significant
attacks inside the United States. And this was all because
of the engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia.
Speaker 1: Well, there certainly were a lot of Afghans who assisted
the United States, with the United States and the Afghan
army working together to beat the forces of the Taliban,
pushed them back, never beaten, certainly, but pushed them back
so they could not be in a position of power
and authority that obviously changed over the years and would
EBB and flow. But I think about the people left behind,
tens of thousands upon thousands of people, people who assisted
the United States, you know, put their lives on the
line for the United States. I was talking to you
before we began the podcast that you know, I have
have met a wonderful family from Afghanistan, assisted by someone
very close to me who works in pro bono service
to bring those Afghans who were so dedicated to the
cause of liberty in Afghanistan, worked alongside US nngos and
US governments. A family whose father you know, did just
that for years, and when everything collapsed, they were absolutely
left behind. They were terrorized and brutally tortured at times
from Taliban agents. They spent their lives on the run. Ultimately,
in February of this year, they were able to get
to the United States after a lot of bureaucratic hurdles.
But it just all brings to mind this family is
definitely not an s I mean, this family is among many,
but so tragically, so many are still behind enemy lines.
Speaker 2: That is so true, Matt. So after the folder has
been like three major fallouts of the collapse of the
Afghan government and also the withdrawal of the US and
troops is The first one is the mass migration of
the Afghans that are forced under the Taliban torture to
leave the country and run away for their lives, especially
those who worked with the coalition forces and the US forces.
They are absolutely number one target and they continue to
die in high numbers. Even today, there's thirty thousand former
Afghan soldiers in the Taliban prisons. In thousands of women
are being imprisoned, which is absolutely unpreced unprecedented in our history.
And there's other educated doctors, engineers, anyone who has been
to a proper college is the enemy because they don't
want the local people to get education, to learn about freedom,
to learn about, you know, life and prosperity in progress.
The second fallout really is the comeback of terrorism. You've
seen al Zawahiri being killed in Kabbal, the al Qaida's leader. Today,
as I'm speaking to you, there is fifty thousand Al
Qaeda and al Qaida affiliate members in Afghanistan. These are
some of them are commanders, other sort of fighters training
for overseas operations. They are done with Afghanistan. Now they
are taking the fight to the Middle East against the
US military basis, and they have had plans to blow
up the US embassies in Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia.
I believe the Saudi Arabian plan is still on and
they're continuing to figure it out. They have joint forces
with Iran, so there is the triangle of terrorism between Iran,
Taliban and Al Kaida. We're working together to you know,
push the US out of the Middle East and control
the trading routes and the energy hubs and also top
all the Arab monarchy regimes that they believe or the
pro Western governments in the Middle East. And this is significant,
This is serious. This will have strategic impact on everybody
on global earth, if not in a deadly way, but
definitely it will affect the economy, it will affect the
energy flow, and it will bring you a clash of
different civilizations. As we can see, the classes have already
the increase. And the third one really is the you know,
the comeback of China and Russia. As the US left.
China has now signed contracts worth of twenty billion dollars
with the Taliban to get minerals from Afghanistan. And what
does China do with these minerals. They develop rockets, supersonic rockets,
defense technology to compete with the United States in any event,
in any way you want to measure this. This is
absolutely against the interest of the United States. It's absolutely
against the global security and stability.
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned that the Taliban could not have done
what they did on August fifteenth, twenty twenty one alone.
They had lots of support from some of the world's
biggest terrorist actors, Iran in specifically, how significant a role
do these terrorist activist active nations continue to play in
Afghanistan today.
Speaker 2: So Taliban have joined in the access of resistance as
you're on call it. So, in an event of war
with the US or in the Middle East against Israel,
the Taliban agreed to send thousands of their suicide bombers
and forces in support of and al Qaeda has already
al Qaida's leadership is in Iran right now, and they
have joined forces with Iran. Al Qaeda and the pro
Iranian terrorist groups in the Middle East broker the piece.
So all of them are now working under the Iranian
regime under the direction to say from the houties to
you know, Alcaida members in Syria, to Hesbela and Lebanon,
and to other like little terrorist groups in Iraq. All
of them are now working together as you can see.
You know, their footprint has significantly increased after the fall
of Afghanistan because one of the things that happened is
the Taliban victory in Afghanistan provided motivation and also inspiration
for many other terrorist groups saying that we continue to fight.
The US is gonna leave and we will take our
countries and control the power and the resources.
Speaker 1: You were a very young man at the time of
the September eleven, twenty twenty one attacks on America, and
you still cite and I'm hearing it, you cite this
from your heart, from memory. You know what the call
was at that time to take on the forces of evil,
the terrorist forces, the extremist Islamic forces that had gripped
Afghanistan for years, and then you know, we're involved in
horrific terrorist activities. What was it like being a young
man and then obviously you got involved militarily at that time?
What was it like at that point after the attack
on America and the game chain.
Speaker 2: So when America was attacked, I didn't know where America was.
I thought New York was America and it was a country.
I had no idea it was a town in America
and thought like and I really didn't. And my father
was fighting against the Taliban and the resistance, and he
called me in Cobbol. At the time, we didn't have
telephone lines. We were using satellite phones in the public
call offices. So I went there and I spoke to
my dad. We didn't know what was happening. So he said,
my son, something incredible is going to happen in Afghanistan.
You need to buy a lot of food at least
for three months, and make sure you guys have medicine,
food and lumber because the winter was coming. So I said, Dad,
what happened? He said, my son, I don't know how
to explain it to you, but the alban has awakened
a mega power that will swallow the Taliban and I
will see you soon. So I had no ideas, you know,
I had these you know images in my head. And
once we saw the fifty two's coming and these you
know wave and wave off after the fifteen's and if
fourteen's coming and bombing the Taliban, then I kind of
kind of made sense for me, it's like, oh, yeah,
that is a mega power beating the Taliban. We were
very happy, and initially we got very scared. We were
living in cobble. No, it was like these bombings. Usually
when there was war and bombing in Afghanistan, civilians got killed,
but this time around, there was zero civilian casualties. They
would come and directly hit the Taliban vehicles, the Taliban headquarters,
and very soon it became like our little how do
you say, gladiators show, So we'd just go on the
top or stand somewhere and see these be fifty twos
and American bombers come and bomb the Taliban positions to
take joy at It's like, yeah, you know, keep hitting
so and very soon, after a month and a half,
my father arrived with a very large army. They have
laborated Cobble with his you know, other friends and commanders,
and life has completely changed. We went to the best
schools in the world. We have seen the rest of
the world. We have worked with the American military, with
European militaries, and very quickly prosperity came to Afghanistan. There
was this incredible transformation of our infrastructure. But also throughout
the year mat an incredible transformation of our society. If
you meet an Afghan today and you equally meet somebody
else like an Iranian and somebody from Uzbekistan or from Pakistan,
I bet Afghans are very different. You would you would
see the difference. You would see the way they think,
the way they work, the way they you know, cherish
our values is very very different. And it's because of
this transformation in the past twenty years. That was the
freedom that was provided for afghan So we want to
have that again. We don't like the Taliban. We don't
want the Taliban to be our rulers. And today the
Afghan people absolutely refuse to accept the Taliban. According to
the United Nations, ninety five percent of the Afghans inside
Afghanistan do not want the Taliban, and this survey is
conducted inside Afghanistan. So although people are afraid of the Taliban,
but they have said it to the servioers that they
don't want the Taliban government.
Speaker 1: Our guest today on the Federalist Radio Hour, Lieutenant General
Sammy Saddan, the last Commander of the Afghan Army compelling
new book. The last Commander, the once in future. Battle
for Afghanistan offers a detailed look inside the war in
Afghanistan and the United states disastrous withdrawal three years ago today,
and therein lies the tragedy general. I'm thinking about a
generation of people who grew up with hope, with freedom,
with a chance, and just overnight it was automatically wiped
away from them. I think about those images, and there's
one story in particular that comes to my mind over
and over again. It's a young man, a teenager. I
don't know, maybe he's sixteen, seventeen years old. He is.
He has enjoyed the freedom and the passion of his
favorite game, soccer, for all of his life. He's known
only freedom, basically all of his life. And when Cobble collapses,
he is so desperate to continue his life and freedom
and his passion for soccer. As I understand the story,
that he ends up sneaking into the wheel well of
a plane departing Afghanistan, and there are images of him
and others falling from that plane to their deaths. They
were so determined to keep their freedom. That's heartbreaking, and
it's just one of many myriad stories on that front.
Speaker 2: That's true and this is all, you know, we should
remember this is all a man made disaster and it
couldn't have happened if you know politicians both in Washington
and in Kobble didn't make the mistakes they did. I mean,
the US and Afghan military fought courageously and bravely, but
we lost politically. Politically, we were defeated. And it was
our masters that you know, stabbed this from our behind,
and political masters that you know put us to where
where we are. But because it was a man made disaster,
it could be repaired and fixed. And we're dedicated now
and me and a couple of my friends, patriot generals,
general officers, governors, diplomats, we have established an organization known
as Afghanistan United Front, and we're working day and night
to mobilize our people, you know, get some political recognition
and legitimacy, and then go after the Taliban and fight
them and defeat them, so making the Taliban period a
brief interruption in our history. The Taliban will not remain
in power for too long, and they should not remain
in power for too long. We don't want the US
soldiers to come back and fight for us. We will
do the fighting ourselves. But what we want is political
and technical support. I think we can we can have
this much, you know, whiles stay in the US to
ask for that because of our previous you know, partnerships,
and also for because of the future. You know, things
are going very bad in the global South against Americans,
and it will be a good idea for America to
have a friendly government in Cobble that you know works
with American does not produce terrorists every day to go
after American diplomats and soldiers in the Middle East and
Europe and also come to America to attack Americans.
Speaker 1: But you must know that Americans are fatigued dwarf fatigue Afghanistans,
the involvement, the commitment there for twenty years, many many
years in Iraq, that that's not over by any stretch
of the imagination. In our involvement now in Ukraine and
the hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars there. You know,
it's a matter of treasure, certainly, But there is concern
that as the world becomes more and more inflamed, and
I believe the world becomes more and more inflamed because
of horrible leadership in Washington, DC, right now. But that
whole disastrous series of events that in many ways began
in August of twenty twenty one, playing out worldwide, and
Americans are absolutely concerned but fatigued about US involvement. Are
you concerned that there is not the will in America
to do what you just mentioned there is.
Speaker 2: We have great friends and as you mentioned, like the
lawyers that are supporting the Afghan people. We're grateful to
the American people who stood by Afghans at a disaster
in August twenty twenty one. Some still continue to support
the Afghans. I am really grateful and we will never
forget that war is not a choice. Mat war will
come to you if you don't go, you know, go
back to it. Do you want us to go fight
the Taliban in kobbl and in Kandahar and defeat Al
Kaito over there, or do you want to wait for
them to arrive here and in the Middle East and
to fight your soldiers again? Fatigue, yes, fatigue or not?
This is a war. It's not over. The threat has
increased and they're coming after you. So you gotta even
if you're fatigued or tired or exhausted, you want to
be defending yourself actively. If you wait for them to
arrive and you think you're fatigued, you know, then you
know it will translate absolutely against you.
Speaker 1: Well, I think about the fatigue in America versus the
fatigue that's on the ground in Afghanistan.
Speaker 2: For that's right, let's compare that.
Speaker 1: Right, And I certainly understand, don't don't confuse my political
realities on the ground here with what is actually happening
in Afghanistan. And I know you're right. And beyond that,
I also know what you're saying is absolutely correct that
the war is in many ways coming to America. It's
again coming to America because of disastrous border policies here
and the terrorists that we're bunking in Pakistan, Afghanistan and
other parts of the world and the Middle East are
now and have in perhaps significant numbers enter the United States.
And the question is how long before another nine to
eleven hits here and then what happens. Afghanistan plays I
think a central role in all of that.
Speaker 2: Yet today absolutely absolutely I agree. I think there is
a mistake map and the way the administration sometimes explained
is absolutely misleading because they say, oh, the al Qaida
doesn't have the capability to conduct large scale attacks in
mainland US. US is a superpower. US is not only
in the mainland US. You have prisons in UAE, in
Saudi Arabia, in Africa, Indian Ocean. They can absolutely hit
that and they're hitting your soldiers every single day. Are
you telling me that those lives don't matter and only
if Americans are in the mainland then they matter. Are
you telling me that energy and global trade will not
affect the US superiority over other, you know, competitors. I
think this is very misleading. And al Qaida absolutely has
the power to challenge the I mean absolutely, al Qaida
and Iran right now has challenged the presence and the
influence of the United States in Iraq, in they god Yamen,
in Saudi Arabia and also across Africa. So you know
where do you think it will end? It started from Afghanistan,
you retreated. Now it's in the Middle East, and you
know if you keep retreating, then you know they will
be here very soon.
Speaker 1: So what is life like for the resistance? The people
like yourselves who are and you're not you know, we're
not talking to you from Afghanistan? Obviously there's a reason
for that. You had you had to get out of there,
your life was on the line. But I know that
there is as you mentioned before, there is a movement,
there is a resistance, but where does it stand right
now in terms of viably taking on the Taliban.
Speaker 2: So there is absolutely will to take on the Taliban
and defeat them. We have a lot of trouble politically
in the West because we get continuous pressure from Western
governments that we don't They tell us that we don't
want to support military action against the Taliban, although if
it's only the Afghanist themselves. And also in terms of politics,
they make it extremely difficult for some of our leaders
to move around and travel and conduct conferences and all that.
The United States is much better, and this is why
we have our political office here. So we are grateful
for that. We have safe and an open space here
to debate and discuss the future of our countries, but
other countries have been more and more difficult. We are
right now working on mobilizing assets and resources to go
after the Taliban. That's depending matter for us, and it's
absolutely a homework. But we're working day and night to
make sure we get assets and go back and fight
the Taliban. We wish that the United States support us
technically and politically. If not, then we will take on
the Taliban ourselves. Life for us has one purpose and
one meaning, particularly for myself, is to go back and
free our people. The US is a beautiful country, and
Europe is nice and people are friendly. There's absolutely peace,
and you can work and you can educate your kids.
But my country is Afghanistan. There's millions of people that
does not have the chances that my kids have, and
I want them to have the same chances. So the
way for that is to go and fight our way
into the freedom. And that's what we will do.
Speaker 1: Are you concerned that the US and it's involvement in Ukraine,
the war between Russia and Ukraine, what is going on
in Israel, the Middle East? Always the threat of China,
particularly in Taiwan, other areas of the world, that the
US has so many financial and military commitments, but that
is ultimately going to continue to over share and take
away opportunities for the Afghan resistance.
Speaker 2: It actually did and practically Ukraine has caused a significant
shadow over the matter of Afghanistan. Ukraine actually covered up
the matter of international terrorism, and it, I mean international
terrorism is very happy that the United States is busy
in Ukraine and Russia is busy in Ukraine. So they're
you know, increasing their power. They're training in high numbers,
they're buying weapons, and they are recruiting all across the
world to increase their force because there is no surveillance
on the terrorist groups by the US. There is no
surveillance by Russia against terrorists, which you know, Russia used
to be an ally of the United States against the terrorists.
China has no interest on the terrorists because China thinks
that and terrorists soonly target the Western world and other places.
So it is a concern, but I think strategically it's
a mistake to let the terrorists rise into you know,
a level that will be very very difficult to stop,
you know, as soon as we start, and the better
it is. Look what happens in Africa. You've maybe seen
the news in Mali and Burkina Faso. Last year ka
appointed Abu Muhammad eal miicity al Kaeda's leader for Afghanistan
was reappointed in Africa, and as soon as he arrived
in Africa, we see like a large number of soldiers
dying in Mali, Burkina, Faso, in Nigeri, in Togo and
other places. And their leadership is in Afghanistan. They're supporting that.
So what happened as a flip side and reaction to
al Kaieda's rising in Africa, because the US is busy
in Ukraine, the Russians offered to help, you know, African
militaries and African countries. So right now you see increased
presence of Russia in Africa because of the opportunity that
is provided to help the local government. So it also
diminished the US influence and it forced the US out
of Niger already. And so these are all, you know, interconnected,
but somehow it gets left out or the administration absolutely
covers it up, and it's a little chance for people
like me to come into the media and explain like, hey,
wait a minute, wait a minute, this is absolutely the
wrong direction, and you know you need to redirect and
reevaluate where you are and who your opponent really is. Strategically,
China is your competitor in Global South, and in terms
of security, the security immediate, direct and strategic challenge for
the global West is absolutely terrorism. There is nothing more
dangerous for global West and than the matter of terrorism.
Speaker 1: Final question for even very generous with your time, I
very much appreciate it, and it is this. You know,
when you're fighting tyrants, there is always today, but it
is tomorrow that you are ultimately focused on, and tomorrow
can be a long time in fighting tyrants. What does
Afghanistan look like realistically in your vision ten years from today?
Speaker 2: So we have in our campaign. We have basically two
phases in the campaign. The first phase is the war
fighting phase to defeat the Taliban and get rid of them.
The second phase is basically the reconstruction and development and
consolidation of the Afghan powers. Ten years from now, Afghanistan
will be a free country. People will be able to
vote end their leaders. There will be prosperity, job opportunities, infrastructure,
so young men and woman does not have to flee
the country and get drowned in Europe and get stopped
in the borders, and you know, so we can live
at peace in our own country and the new generations
grow up as good global citizens instead of turning into
terrorists who would like to go out and kill the
Afghans and the rest of the world. It is all
possible if we stand united and if we continue to
focus on the task. It will not be possible. If
governments like the US government, European governments and others continue
to support the Taliban and continue to isolate and prevent
the opposition from standing up and mobilizing against against the
groups like the Taliban, it will be extremely dangerous. Then
you will have a terrorist super state joined with Iran,
al Qaeda and with other nefarious nations that is absolutely
fighting everything and anything you believe.
Speaker 1: And in terms of your values, God willing, a free
Afghanistan that you envision is in the future, in the
immediate future, more immediate future, Yes, if at all possible.
The work, the work is daunting, I understand, but I
certainly understand your passion as well for that. Thanks to
my guest today, Lieutenant General Sammy Saddat, The Last Commander
of the Afghan Army, is compelling new book, The Last Commander,
The Once in Future Battle for Afghanistan. You've been listening
to another edition of The Federalist Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle,
senior correspondent at The Federalist. We'll be back soon with more.
Until then, stay lovers of freedom. I'm anxious for the frame.
I heard the fame, voice the reason, and then it
faded away. M hm