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The Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, and Pakistan went hard at Mohammad Najibullah’s government. After aid from the Soviet Union dried up in 1992-1993, the Najibullah regime fell, leading to the Afghan Civil War. This set the conditions for Benazir Bhutto and Maj Gen Naseerullah Babar (retd.) to fuel the rise of the Taliban. Sudarshan Garg joins me to talk about the conditions that resulted in the rise of the Taliban. Previous episodes in this series If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast, please share it with your friends, and consider subscribing to Espionage& for free using the button below. You might also enjoy reading my spy novels: Let Bhutto Eat Grass & Let Bhutto Eat Grass: Part 2 deal with nuclear weapons espionage in 1970s India, Pakistan, and Europe. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit espionage.substack.com

The Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan by 15 February 1989, with their commander General Boris Gromov leading the last units across the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya river. What they left behind was an Afghan government of Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai. The ISI and the CIA expected it to fall within weeks. It didn’t. Continuing from where we left off during the previous episode — Panjshir, Afghanistan: Resistance then and now — this week Sudarshan and I take a look at the last days of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and its immediate aftermath. Suggested reading If you’d like to find out more about this period, Sudarshan and I recommend the following books: Massoud an intimate potrait by Marcella Grad The Bear went over the mountain and its companion piece, the other side of the mountain both by Lester Grau The great gamble by Gregory Fiefer Ghost Wars by Steven Coll On Afghanistan's plains by Jules Stewart (on the British wars in Afghanistan) If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast, please share it with your friends, and consider subscribing to Espionage& for free using the button below. You might also enjoy reading my spy novels: Let Bhutto Eat Grass & Let Bhutto Eat Grass: Part 2 deal with nuclear weapons espionage in 1970s India, Pakistan, and Europe. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit espionage.substack.com

Sudarshan Garg (@SudsG5 on Twitter) joins me for a freewheeling, historically grounded discussion about Afghanistan. We look at the anti-Taliban resistance led by Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh in the Panjshir Valley today and compare it with Ahmad Shah Massoud’s legendary resistance, first against the USSR and then against fellow Mujahideen Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the 1980s and early 1990s. Next week’s episode will see the discussion continue into the mid-1990s when the Taliban emerged from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan and became Massoud’s main foe. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit espionage.substack.com

I am back in conversation with an experienced intelligence professional in this episode of Espionage&. You can listen to Part One of the conversation here. Is it easier to spy on democratic states as compared to authoritarian ones? Are defections relevant in today’s day and age? How do professionals feel about the term ‘Intelligence Failure’? How are Art Galleries facilitating corruption? And if he had to recruit Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Science and Technology, how would he go about doing it? Tune in to a freewheeling discussion that seeks to answer these questions. If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast, consider subscribing to Espionage& using the button below. You may also enjoy reading my spy novels: Let Bhutto Eat Grass & Let Bhutto Eat Grass: Part 2 deal with nuclear weapons espionage in 1970s India, Pakistan, and Europe. The third and final part is expected mid-2021. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit espionage.substack.com

I am delighted to present the first ever podcast episode of Espionage&. This episode is part one of a freewheeling, two-part conversation about the art of Espionage with an experienced Intelligence Professional. Happy listening! If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast, consider subscribing to Espionage& using the button below. You may also enjoy reading my spy novels: Let Bhutto Eat Grass & Let Bhutto Eat Grass: Part 2 deal with nuclear weapons espionage in 1970s India, Pakistan, and Europe. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit espionage.substack.com