A Conversation With an Afghan General

This episode contains strong language.Brig. Gen. Khoshal Sadat, a former Afghan deputy minister for security, has held some of the highest ranks in the Afghan security forces and government. From the moment Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, the United States has put much of the blame of Afghan security forces — a force that President Biden said gave up without a fight.“The reality is that we’re not cowards,” said General Sadat. “We did not lay our arms, we would not lay our arms based on military pressure.”We speak to General Sadat about growing up under the Taliban, his career in the military and the future of Afghanistan. Guest: Brig. Gen. Khoshal Sadat, a former Afghan deputy minister for security.Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: When General Sadat became the highest-ranking police official in Afghanistan, he tried to overhaul the country’s police with the American way of war. Read a profile of him from 2019. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.