Did corruption lose the war in Afghanistan? || A debrief from Sarah Chayes

Britain Debrief with Ben Judah

Did corruption lose the war in Afghanistan?

In the aftermath of the humiliating collapse of the Afghan government, I wanted to find out for this week's #BritainDebrief for the Atlantic Council why that government collapsed like a house of cards. I interviewed Sarah Chayes, who served for a decade in Afghanistan including as special assistant on corruption to Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as having advised David McKiernan and Stanley McChrystal, commanders of the International Security Assistant Force.

Was the Afghan government a vertically integrated criminal enterprise? Why did Washington turn a blind eye to corruption? What could the US and the UK have been done differently? And is America in danger of succumbing to its own corruption?