Intelligence Squared

The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson on Afghanistan: An American Catastrophe (Part Two)

February 23, 2026

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  • Anderson's decades of reporting reveal that the US involvement in Afghanistan was characterized by a fundamental distancing from the local culture, resulting in an American experience rather than a deeply integrated one, which ultimately led to the failure to build anything lasting. 
  • The US approach to the war lacked the necessary long-term, total commitment required for prevailing, contrasting sharply with the Russians' total war strategy during their occupation. 
  • The withdrawal under President Biden was perceived by Anderson as cavalier and irresponsible, failing to acknowledge the moral and political capital expended over two decades before handing the country back to the Taliban. 

Segments

Journalist’s Role in Narrative
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(00:01:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Journalists are tangible players in the drama of foreign reporting, not just impartial observers.
  • Summary: The interviewer noted how Jon Lee Anderson included small personal incidents, like shouting at a shopkeeper or reclaiming a Pepsi, illustrating that Western reporters are tangibly involved in the events they cover. Anderson confirmed that escaping one’s ‘Westernism’ is impossible in such environments. He recounted a battlefield incident where he physically defended himself after being grabbed, highlighting the full-body, non-impartial nature of the experience.
Afghanistan’s Enduring Wildness
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(00:03:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Afghanistan is an emotionally charged place characterized by inherent danger and a wild, unsettled nature.
  • Summary: Anderson described Afghanistan as an emotional place where encounters of borderline hostility were frequent, even behind the lines. He detailed an incident where his convoy narrowly escaped a town renowned for highway robbery, illustrating the historical danger travelers face. This ‘wildness,’ exemplified by local blood sports like fighting scorpions, is what kept drawing him back to the dynamic environment.
Critique of Embedded Journalism
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(00:08:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Embedded reporting created a detached, American-centric view of the war, failing to capture the reality on the ground.
  • Summary: Anderson contrasted his independent reporting with the ’embed’ experience, which he found isolating, comparing it to being on Mars due to the thick glass and armored vehicles. He felt so detached during one embed that he initially asked The New Yorker to kill the resulting story, feeling it did not reflect Afghanistan. He later revived the piece, realizing it illustrated the real distancing between the US forces and the local culture.
Failure of American Nation-Building
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(00:14:54)
  • Key Takeaway: The US failed to build anything permanent in Afghanistan, unlike the Soviets, relying on temporary structures and free-market concepts.
  • Summary: Anderson observed that American and NATO bases felt temporary, as if they could be ‘blown away in the wind,’ indicating a lack of purchase on Afghan soil. He noted that the Soviets invested in housing and education, whereas the US approach emphasized the free market, resulting in few tangible, lasting American contributions. The $600 million embassy, while large, was ultimately unable to secure the outcome.
Post-Withdrawal Taliban Dynamics
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(00:18:50)
  • Key Takeaway: The Taliban leadership post-takeover is an amalgam of repressive ‘primitivists’ and former Al-Qaeda figures acting as reluctant ‘reformers.’
  • Summary: Anderson reported that the generation who experienced the 20 years of relative freedom saw all their progress end abruptly with the Taliban takeover. He interviewed former suicide bomber commanders, one of whom was running Kabul airport, noting the visible repression in the city. He identified two factions within the Taliban: the Kandahar-based ‘primitivists’ and the former Al-Qaeda linked figures who appear more reformist, suggesting future conflict is inevitable.
Western Inconstancy in Afghanistan
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(00:27:43)
  • Key Takeaway: The West exhibits a pattern of intense intervention followed by collective amnesia and subsequent re-engagement.
  • Summary: Anderson highlighted the cycle where the West intervenes intimately in Afghanistan, then ignores the country for a generation or more after leaving, only to return later. He pointed to the 12-year gap between the Soviet withdrawal (1989) and 9/11 as an example of this collective amnesia. He predicts that a new war will eventually erupt in Afghanistan as the only known way for factions to resolve issues of hegemony.
ISIS-K Conflict and Factions
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(00:29:27)
  • Key Takeaway: ISIS-K is composed of disgruntled Taliban elements targeting Shiites and operating strongly near the Pakistan border.
  • Summary: ISIS-K, the Afghan franchise of ISIS, consists of Taliban members who view the current leadership as too soft, leading to indiscriminate bombings, often targeting Shiites. This group is particularly strong in the eastern provinces along the Pakistan border. The Haqqani network, surprisingly, is now viewed as the moderate faction within the Taliban leadership structure.
Hypothetical 9/11 Response
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(00:33:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Initial military action against Al-Qaeda was globally supported, but the subsequent strategy lacked cohesive, long-term planning.
  • Summary: Anderson stated that the initial police action to apprehend those responsible for 9/11 had global support, but the execution suffered from a lack of tactical and strategic planning due to the US having ignored Afghanistan for 12 years prior. He argued that if one engages in war, one must fight to prevail, suggesting the US could not commit to the ’total war’ necessary for success.