CERL Book Talk with Craig Whitlock

The Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL), affiliated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center at Penn, is a non-partisan interdisciplinary institute dedicated to preserving and promoting ethics and the rule of law in national security, warfare, and democratic governance. CERL draws from the study of law, philosophy, and ethics to answer the difficult questions that arise in domestic and transnational crises and conflicts.

Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at Penn

Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock in conversation with Mark Fallon

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

Join the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) for a conversation with Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock on his book, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War. The fireside chat will be moderated by CERL Interim Executive Director Mark Fallon, former NCIS special agent and expert on national security and counterterrorism. This IN-PERSON ONLY event will take place on Wednesday, March 16, from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time in the Agora, Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (202 S 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104). ABOUT THE AUTHORCraig Whitlock is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post. He has covered the global war on terrorism for the Post since 2001 as a foreign correspondent, Pentagon reporter, and national security specialist. In 2019, his coverage of the war in Afghanistan won the George Polk Award for Military Reporting, the Scripps Howard Award for Investigative Reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Freedom of Information Award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international reporting. He has reported from more than sixty countries and is a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.The Washington Post has built an unparalleled reputation in its coverage of American politics and related topics. The paper’s circulation, prominence, and influence continue to grow.ABOUT THE BOOKA Washington Post Best Book of 2021The #1 New York Times bestselling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America’s longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban’s recapture of Afghanistan, by Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock.Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives.Distracted by the war in Iraq, the US military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. But no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. Instead, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations sent more and more troops to Afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory.Just as the Pentagon Papers changed the public’s understanding of Vietnam, The Afghanistan Papers contains “fast-paced and vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. In unvarnished language, they admit that the US government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the US government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground.Documents unearthed by The Washington Post reveal that President Bush didn’t know the name of his Afghanistan war commander—and didn’t want to meet with him. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admitted that he had “no visibility into who the bad guys are.” His successor, Robert Gates, said: “We didn’t know jack shit about al-Qaeda.”The Afghanistan Papers is a “searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials” (Tom Bowman, NRP Pentagon Correspondent) that will supercharge a long-overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered—provided by publisher.COVID-19 Protocol: All attendees will be REQUIRED to wear a mask and must show either their Green <a href="https://pennopen.med.upenn.edu/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">PennOpen Pass</a> (Penn faculty, students, postdocs, staff, and badged contractors) or Green <a href="https://pennopen.med.upenn.edu/about-for-vendors-contractors" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">PennOpen Campus </a>(event participants, day visitors, vendors, and non-badged contractors). In alignment with policies of the University and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, all event participants, spectators, and visitors must also attest to being fully vaccinated.

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