Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi

How the CIA Defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan | Milton Bearden (Part 3) 23.05.2026 26min

In this third and final part of a remarkable conversation, Milton Bearden reflects on the aftermath of the anti-Soviet jihad, the collapse of Afghanistan into civil war, and the decisions that helped shape the world that followed.He speaks candidly about Pakistan’s uneasy relationship with the United States, arguing that Washington often treated Islamabad as a temporary necessity rather than a true ally. Bearden also offers blunt assessments of key Mujahideen figures, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom he describes as a deeply dangerous man, and reflects on the rivalries and corruption that consumed the movement after victory.The conversation explores the rise of the Taliban, the misreading of Afghanistan by American policymakers, and the wider failures that followed the Soviet defeat. Bearden recalls how many in Washington came to dismiss Afghanistan as a remote and alien place once the Cold War objective had been achieved, despite the warning signs emerging from the chaos left behind.He also reveals the extraordinary practical realities behind the covert war. From purchasing mules to arranging comforts for a deserting Soviet pilot, Bearden says he became involved in almost every aspect of the jihad. He challenges some of the mythology surrounding the war itself, discussing the realities of CIA and ISI cooperation, the flow of money and weapons, and the complicated personalities behind the anti-Soviet campaign.At times reflective and at times brutally direct, Bearden describes how former allies turned on one another, and how the consequences of those years continued to shape Afghanistan long after the world stopped paying attention.A striking conclusion to a rare firsthand account from the man who oversaw one of the CIA’s most consequential covert wars.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the CIA Defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan | Milton Bearden (Part 2) 26.04.2026 26min

In this second part of a remarkable conversation, Milton Bearden reflects on what came after the Soviet withdrawal and the decisions that helped shape Afghanistan’s next, far more chaotic chapter.He explains how the CIA shifted tactics in dealing with Ahmad Shah Massoud, funnelling cash rather than weapons into a war that had effectively become a vast arms marketplace. He offers a more measured assessment of Massoud himself, arguing that by the late 1980s he was already looking beyond the battlefield and positioning for the political struggle that would follow.Bearden also recounts the moment he sent a two-word cable to Washington, “We won”, as Boris Gromov crossed the Friendship Bridge. But while the Cold War was collapsing in Eastern Europe, Afghanistan slipped down the list of priorities. He is blunt. The United States lost interest, and it was a mistake. The episode challenges popular narratives around Osama bin Laden and the so-called “Afghan Arabs”, who at the time were seen as marginal players, valued more for the money they brought than their battlefield impact.Most strikingly, Bearden reveals that in the lead up to 9/11, Taliban contacts signalled they were no longer protecting bin Laden, a message passed to Washington but ultimately ignored. What followed, he suggests, was not inevitable.A sobering account of missed opportunities, strategic drift, and the long shadow of a war that did not end when it was won.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the CIA Defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan | Milton Bearden (Part 1) 03.04.2026 33min

Milton Bearden was the CIA officer tasked by Director William Casey in 1986 with using $1 billion and Stinger missiles to help drive Soviet forces out of Afghanistan, one of the most consequential covert operations of the Cold War.In this first part of a remarkable conversation, Bearden takes us inside the secret machinery of Operation Cyclone. He recounts how Washington shifted from simply "bleeding" the Soviets to pursuing outright victory, how the covert war was run through Pakistan's ISI, and how weapons and money were distributed among the fractious Mujahideen factions, none of them, by his own admission, above reproach.He describes training fighters in makeshift conditions in Rawalpindi: a white sheet, an infrared light, and a $200 room that outperformed the US Army's billion-dollar facility at Fort Bliss. He recounts the September 1986 Stinger strike outside Jalalabad that changed the course of the war overnight, and speaks candidly about his dealings with General Akhtar, a tense face-to-face with Hekmatyar, and the direct back-channel contacts with commanders that bypassed ISI oversight entirely.Bearden also reflects on corruption among commanders, the deliberate exclusion of the Hazaras, the Saudi dollar-for-dollar funding match that doubled the war chest, and why he believes the only measure that ever truly mattered was whether the Soviets left.They did. On February 15, 1989, General Boris Gromov crossed the Friendship Bridge and the war was won.A rare, unfiltered account from the man who helped run one of the most consequential covert operations of the Cold War.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inside The Secret CIA Mission that Toppled the Taliban - Justin Sapp (Part 3) 08.03.2026 40min

Former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and Team Alpha member Justin Sapp recounts his role in the clandestine CIA mission that landed behind Taliban lines immediately after 9/11. He describes working alongside General Dostum and later travelling to Bamiyan to meet Karim Khalili and help organise forces to retake the region.Justin details witnessing the aftermath of Taliban savagery against Hazara communities. After Team Alpha, he served multiple deployments in other theatres, and through personal stories and reflections looks back on how an early military success evolved into a far longer and more complicated conflict than anyone expected.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Urban: I Marched Into Kabul with Ahmad Shah Massoud (E34) 20.02.2026 1t 5min

Mark Urban is a British journalist, broadcaster, and best-selling author of many books, including War in Afghanistan and The Skripal Files. He has covered Afghanistan extensively since the late 1980s, witnessing firsthand the withdrawal of Soviet forces, accompanying Ahmad Shah Massoud as he took Kabul in 1992, and other key events. In this interview, he shares his stories of the country and his thoughts on its future, as well the impacts of the West's failure.📺 Watch on YouTube.Producer: Roh YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inside the Secret CIA Mission That Toppled the Taliban - Justin Sapp (Part 2) 16.02.2026 32min

Former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and Team Alpha member Justin Sapp recounts his role in the clandestine CIA mission that landed behind Taliban lines immediately after 9/11. He describes working alongside General Dostum and later travelling to Bamiyan to meet Karim Khalili and help organise forces to retake the region.Justin details witnessing the aftermath of Taliban savagery against Hazara communities. After Team Alpha, he served multiple deployments in other theatres, and through personal stories and reflections looks back on how an early military success evolved into a far longer and more complicated conflict than anyone expected.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inside the Secret CIA Mission That Toppled the Taliban - Justin Sapp (Part 1) 08.02.2026 28min

Former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) and Team Alpha member Justin Sapp recounts his role in the clandestine CIA mission that landed behind Taliban lines immediately after 9/11. He describes working alongside General Dostum and later travelling to Bamiyan to meet Karim Khalili and help organise forces to retake the region. Justin details witnessing the aftermath of Taliban savagery against Hazara communities. After Team Alpha, he served multiple deployments in other theatres, and through personal stories and reflections looks back on how an early military success evolved into a far longer and more complicated conflict than anyone expected.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Tugendhat: The pain and costs of our defeat in Afghanistan (E69) 10.01.2026 1t 2min

Tom Tugendhat is a British Member of Parliament and former Security Minister who served multiple tours in Afghanistan in various civilian and military capacities.In this exclusive interview, Tom speaks with unusual bluntness about the war’s outcome, rejecting euphemism and insisting that the West was decisively defeated. He argues that this was not the product of inevitability or fate, but of political choices, strategic incoherence, and a failure to take responsibility for loss. Alongside this analysis, he tells personal stories of people he served with and encountered in Afghanistan, explaining why he remains deeply fond of them and why their courage, loyalty, and sacrifice continue to matter to him. He also steps back to offer a broader strategic reading of the present moment, warning that Afghanistan reshaped how the world now judges Western resolve, credibility, and seriousness — with consequences that reach far beyond the country itself.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpodX: https://x.com/theafgpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlie Gammell: How I fell in love with Herat (E68) 20.12.2025 47min

Charlie Gammell is a former British diplomat, author and historian who has worked extensively in Afghanistan and Iran. Speaking fluent Farsi and Pashto, with Herati and Khosti accents, Charlie reflects on his time in Afghanistan, how he fell in love with Herat and its history, and why he wrote 'The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat'.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Cowan: From Helmand to HALO - a British Commander’s Remarkable Afghanistan Story (E67) 29.11.2025 46min

James Cowan has seen Afghanistan at its most intense: the frozen, “medieval” Kabul he first stepped into after the Taliban’s fall in 2001, the brutal peak of the NATO campaign in Helmand, and the country’s stunning collapse two decades later. He later took on a very different mission as head of the Halo Trust, working to clear the country of the deadly remnants of its wars. In this interview, he retraces that journey — from fighting the Taliban on the front lines to now negotiating with them so his teams can clear landmines and save lives. With rare candour, he reflects on the war, its cost, and the stark realities facing Afghanistan today.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Al Carns: Afghanistan captures your soul (E66) 01.11.2025 45min

In this profoundly personal and powerful interview, the UK's Minister for the Armed Forces, Al Carns MP, tells his story of Afghanistan from the eyes of a soldier who fought there. Al recounts his first tour as a 26-year-old commando in the hellish frontline of Helmand, from the dust of Camp Bastion and countless relentless gun battles in different parts of the country. He shares harrowing near-death experiences and the heavy responsibility of leading men in combat, offering a raw reflection on war, camaraderie, and the complex relationship soldiers form with a country of breathtaking beauty and brutal conflict. We discuss the mission's intent, the progress he witnessed, the painful 2021 collapse, and his unique perspective on whether it was all "worth it," and why Afghanistan is a place that "captures a bit of your soul."👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fred Smith: Songs, diplomacy and falling in love with Uruzgan (E65) 14.10.2025 57min

Fred Smith is an Australian diplomat, author, singer and songwriter who served alongside Australian forces in Uruzgan, as well as in Kabul. He didn’t just take his diplomatic skills to the country, but his guitar too. He wrote songs and held concerts there. He has released two albums, Dust of Uruzgan and The Sparrows of Kabul, and two books of the same titles, which tell the stories behind his songs, as well as his personal memoirs and reflections.In this interview, he shares his story and reflections on the complexities of Afghanistan, particularly Uruzgan — how he came to love the place despite his initial reservations about the campaign before accepting the assignment, and the grief he feels over what has happened to the country since.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Fred Smith & Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zalmay Khalilzad: My life, my story, my mission (From Bonn to Doha Talks) - Part 2 (E64) 27.09.2025 57min

Born to a mid-level government official and an illiterate mother in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Zalmay Khalilzad has a remarkable and, in many ways, inspiring story. As a teenager, he travelled to America through a cultural exchange programme in 1996 – an experience that had a profound, life-changing impact on him.After completing a PhD at the University of Chicago, he joined the US government and rose through the ranks, working for Reagan, the Bushes and Trump. The 9/11 attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan gave him the opportunity to become America’s all-powerful fixer in the country. He later served as US ambassador to Iraq, then to the United Nations, and returned to Afghanistan, where he negotiated America’s withdrawal deal with the Taliban – a deal that paved the way for the group’s recapture of power in August 2021.In this Part 2 of his tell-all interview, he recounts his story, covering his roles in Afghanistan from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks through to the Doha talks, and what has happened since. He end with a message for the younger generation of Afghan diaspora in the West. Did he aspire to become President of Afghanistan? Was he sympathetic towards the Taliban? These questions, and more, are answered.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zalmay Khalilzad: My life, my story, my mission (From Kabul to the White House) - Part 1 (E63) 18.09.2025 55min

Born to a mid-level government official and an illiterate mother in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Zalmay Khalilzad has a remarkable and, in many ways, inspiring story. As a teenager, he travelled to America through a cultural exchange programme in 1996 – an experience that had a profound, life-changing impact on him. After completing a PhD at the University of Chicago, he joined the US government and rose through the ranks, working for Reagan, the Bushes and Trump. The 9/11 attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan gave him the opportunity to become America’s all-powerful fixer in the country. He later served as US ambassador to Iraq, then to the United Nations, and returned to Afghanistan, where he negotiated America’s withdrawal deal with the Taliban – a deal that paved the way for the group’s recapture of power in August 2021.In this tell-all interview, he recounts his story. Part 1 covers his childhood, teenage years in Kabul, his falling in love with America, and his path into the US government.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexander Matheou: Afghanistan's humanitarian emergency (E62) 25.08.2025 50min

Alexander Matheou, Regional Director for Asia Pacific of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). In this interview he unpacks the scale of Afghanistan’s humanitarian emergency. In the past year, over two million people have been forced back from Iran and Pakistan - returning to drought, collapsing livelihoods, and shrinking international aid. Matheou shares first-hand accounts from the borders, the daily struggles of returnees, and why long-term investment, not just short-term relief, is vital for the country’s survival and dignity.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taliban anniversary special: Four years of madness | Fereshta Abbasi (E61) 14.08.2025 40min

On 15 August 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul, reclaiming power after 20 years of war. Despite promises to the contrary, they have imposed severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, ethnic minorities, free speech, and all civil liberties.Marking the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, shares her reflections and thoughts on the future.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heidi Meyer: Time to recognise the Taliban? (E60) 04.08.2025 1t

Heidi Meyer is a former NATO, Pentagon, and US State Department official with over a decade of experience in Afghanistan, including time spent working inside the Arg Palace. In this interview, she shares candid reflections on her time in the country — from witnessing widespread corruption and travelling across Afghanistan, to whether the Taliban should be recognised, along with some weird and wonderful stories.👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nathalie Paarlberg: A cultural history of Afghanistan (E59) 08.07.2025 48min

Nathalie Paarlberg is an art historian and the Chief Operating Officer at Turquoise Mountain. In this interview, she takes us on a journey through Afghanistan’s rich cultural history and art, as well as sharing her personal story of living and working in the country for several years. Her book, 'Je Ogen Zijn Mooi' (Your Eyes Are Beautiful), has been published in the Netherlands.Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friendsCover photo: © Jeanette Huisman📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Beard: Taliban, women and lessons from history (E58) 12.06.2025 41min

In this exclusive and gripping interview, acclaimed historian Professor Mary Beard explores how the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan reflects enduring patterns of patriarchal control throughout history. Drawing on examples and stories of ancient Greek and Roman history, Professor Beard examines how societies have historically silenced women, excluded them from public life, and regulated their behaviour through coercion, custom, and control.Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pascal Maitre: Afghanistan through my lens (E57) 05.06.2025 57min

Pascal Maitre is a world-renowned French photojournalist whose decades of work from around the world, particularly in Afghanistan, have produced some of the most iconic images of people, war, culture, nature, and more.He first travelled to Afghanistan in the 1970s and has since covered the Soviet–Afghan War and the Mujahideen civil war; he travelled through Bamiyan and Hazarajat, capturing breathtaking photos of the Buddhas in 1996, and spent two weeks with Ahmad Shah Massoud, during which he took some of his most iconic photographs. His lens documented the looting of the Kabul Museum in July 2000, the Pashtun communities of the east, Kabul in 2018, Buzkashi in northern Afghanistan, and life under the Taliban after the group's return in August 2021.In this interview he shares his and the stories behind his photographs. Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTubeProducer | Host: Roh YakobiAssistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat YakobiMusic ©: Dawood SarkhoshEmail: hello@rohyakobi.comInstagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobiX: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.