The Afghanistan Papers a Year Later: A Live Q&A with Washington Post Investigative Journalist Craig Whitlock

In December 2019, the Washington Post published a trove of confidential government documents on the conduct of the Afghan war over the preceding 18 years. ‘The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War’ revealed a pattern in Washington of hiding the truth and presenting overly optimistic assessments about the war that were detached from reality on the ground in Afghanistan. These documents included thousands of pages of notes from interviews with senior U.S. officers, diplomats, Afghan officials, and others. The magnitude of the attempts to cover-up a failing war effort and rampant corruption in the reconstruction effort sent shockwaves through the media.  Join us on Wednesday, March 24, from 12 to 1 pm ET, for a discussion with Craig Whitlock, award-winning investigative journalist with the Washington Post who broke the story. What is the impact of the Afghanistan Papers a year after their release? How were the documents uncovered, and what did they reveal — both about Afghanistan, but also about U.S. foreign policymaking and congressional and executive oversight? The conversation will be moderated by Adam Weinstein, research fellow at the Quincy Institute. Audience members who have registered for the webinar will have an opportunity to submit questions, some of which will be aired live.