♪ [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now. >> in the coming days, i will speak with the russian prime minister lavrov for the first time since the war began and we will raise an issue that is top priority, the release of americans who were wrongly detained and must be brought home. amy: as secretary of state tony blinken says he expects to talk

soon with his russian counterparts we will take an , in-depth look at the war in ukraine which has entered its sixth month. we will speak to a ukrainian feminist sociologist who has , fled to germany with her children as well as a russian , historian who left his home in moscow after the war. then don't cancel russian culture, that's the headline to a new article by nina khrushcheva, the granddaughter of the former soviet premier nikita khrushchev. and we will look at the devastating economic and humanitarian crisis facing afghanistan. >> the international community -- i will ask the international community not to forget the people of afghanistan. since the taliban takver, the cotry has faced an economic font -- economic, financial, and humanitarian crisis. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman. west virginia senator joe manchin has agreed to a deal with democratic leaders on a major domestic policy bill to combat climate change and lower health-care costs, while paying down the national debt. the agreement caps nearly two years of negotiations that saw manchin repeatedly foil efforts by fellow democrats in the narrowly-divided senate to pass president biden's legislative agenda. the emerging deal seeks to slash u.s. emissions by nearly 40% by the end of the decade and will cost $400 billion with tax crits and bates for me insulation, solar panels, electric vehicles and more. the bill would also place a $2,000 cap on seniors' annual out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and would for the first time, allow medicare to negotiate the price of drugs. the agreement with manchin does not include a tax increase on wealthy americans and instead it seeks to raise about

, three-quarters of a trillion dollars over the next decade through a 15% minimum tax on corporations. it's not known whether another conservative democrat arizona's , kyrsten sinema will support the deal. on capitol hill, progressive democrats joined climate activists wednesday to demand president biden declare a national climate emergency. this is ashley engle, an activist with the absentee shawnee tribe of oklahoma. >> as you may know, okloma is firmly situated on the front lines of the climate crisis. we are the epicenter of the nation's heatwave. we've experienced nearly a month straight of temperatures well over 100 degrees with only hotter days ahead. wild fires, droughts and man-made earthquakes brought about by fracking that are destroying our already neglected infrastructure, with depdence on an industry that endangers us

it is clear we need a transition now. amy: this comes as parts of north america and europe continue to experience record temperatures. meteorologists now say scorching heat in the pacific northwest is expected to last longer than expected, with triple digit highs forecast again today. the federal reserve voted wednesday to raise interest rates by three quarters of a percentage point. it is the second time the fed has raged its -- raised its benchmark as inflation has surged. fed chair jerome powell dismissed the concerns of economists who say aggressive moves to raise the cost of buyer and -- borrowing will lead to more economic pain for working families. >> i do not think the u.s. is currently in a recession. there are too many areas of the economy performing too well. amy: a former top advisor to

president trump's chief of staff has recently cooperated with the justice department investigation into the events of january 6. that's according to abc, which which broke the news of cassidy hutchinson's wednesday as the justice department signaled it's investigating former president trump as part of its criminal probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. also on wednesday, the justice department said it has obtained warrants to search the phone of trump lawyer john eastman. eastman was among speakers at the infamous rally near the white house on january 6 where trump encouraged his supporters to march on the capitol, even though he knew many were armed. russia's military has launched strikes on ukraine's capital regionor the firstime in week a ukrainian military officials said six russian crews missiles struck a military base north of kyiv overnight. there were competing claims over

whether russia had seized a massive cold fight -- coal-fired power plant in ukraine's east. the biden administration revealed its estimate of the number of casualties russia's military has suffered since invading ukraine, saying 75,000 russian troops have been killed or injured in the violence. cnn reports the biden administration has offered to exchange jailed russian weapons dealer victor boot for u.s. citizens brittney griner, the nba star and paul whelan. , boot is an infamous arms trafficker known by u.s. authorities as the merchant of death. in 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in a u.s. prison for conspiracy to commit terrorism. in washington, d.c., secretary of state tony blinken said wednesday, he expects to speak soon with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov for the first time since the war began and will raise the cases of wheeling and wnba star greiner.

>> we put a proposal on the table weeks ago for the release. our governments have communicated directly and repeatedly on that proposal. there was a conversation to follow up. amy: north korean leader kim jong-un said thursday his nation is ready to respond with nuclear weapons if provoked by the united states or its allies. kim's remarks came during a massive ceremony in pyongyang marking the anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended hostilities in the korean war. >> our armed forces are thoroughly prepared to respond to any crisis's in our state nuclear war detrent is lly prepared to mobilize, accurately and promptly to its mission. amy: kim also blasted south korea's new president yoon suk-yeol, saying he was pushing the korean peninsula to the brink of war. his comments came as u.s. and south korean officials said the north was preparing to carry out its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.

president biden says he has recovered from covid-19 and will resume his normal schedule. biden spoke from the rose garden wednesday, where he encouraged people to get vaccinated and boosted, and to wear masks in public, indoor settings. president biden: here's the bottom line. when my predecessor got covid, he had to get helicopter to to walter reed medical center. he was severely ill. thankfully, i -- he recovered. when i got ill i worked from the offices upstairs for that five day period. the difference is vaccinations, of course. amy: nearly all u.s. states have seen steady increases in daily covid-19 cases and hospitalizations over the past two weeks. judges in north dakota and wyoming wednesday temporarily blocked the enforcement of trigger bans on abortion, enabling reproductive health providers in those states to resume services after the supreme court's decision in june

striking down roe v. wade. meanwhile, the west virginia house of delegates has approved a bill to ban nearly all abortions. the bill passed with the support of three-quarters of lawmakers. it now moves to west virginia's state senate for consideration. a bill that would enshrine the right to same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law, the respect for marriage act, is nearing a vote in the senate. the legislation would repeal the 1996 defense of marriage act, or doma, and requires states to extend full faith and credit to a marriage between any two people regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. house lawmakers approved the measure last week. among those voting against it was pennsylvania republican congressman glenn thompson, whose no vote against same-sex marriage came just days before he attended his gay son's same-sex wedding. a grand jury in illinois has indicted the man accused of opening fire on a fourth of july

parade in highland park, killing seven people. 21-year-old robert crimo is charged with 117 felonies over the attack, which also left more than 30 people wounded. the indictments came as democrats on capitol hill grilled the ceos of u.s. gun makers daniel defense and ruger firearms over their role in u.s. mass shootings. house oversight chair carolyn maloney said an investigation by her committee found major gun manufacturers have raked in over $1 billion in revenue from selling military-style assault weapons to civilians. >> our investigation also found that gun manufacturers used bargaining tactics to sell assault weapons to the public, including marketing to children, praying on young men's insecurities and appealing to a violet white supremacist. we found that -- violent white supremacist. we found that those companies do

not take even basic steps to monitor theeaths and injuries caused by their products. amy: and in minnesota, a federal judge has sentenced former minneapolis police officers alexander king and tou tao for violating the civil rights of george floyd. king received a three year sentence while tao was given a three and a half year prison term. both officers were convicted in february of failing to come to floyd's aid as their colleague derek chauvin kneeled on his neck for over nine minutes, killing him. king and tou still face minnesota state charges of aiding and abetting murder in a trial scheduled for january. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracynow co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: welcome to viewers and listeners across the world. amy: secretary of state tony blinken has announced he expects

to talk soon with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov for the first time since russia invaded ukraine five months ago. blinken said the call will focus on a possible swap to free two jailed americans, the basketball superstar brittney griner and paul whelan. cnn reports the biden administration has offered to free jailed russian apons dealer victor boot. the kremlin says no deal has yet been reached. blinken said the call will focus on the possible prisoner swap, not the war in ukraine. >> the phone call with mr. lavrov will not be a negotiation about ukraine. any negotiation regarding ray crane for its people. nothing about ukraine without ukraine. amy: on the battlefront ukraine , is preparing to launch a counteroffensive to retake the southern city of kherson, which has been occupied by russia for months. in recent days ukrainian forces

, have fired u.s.-provided long-range artillery to damage at least three bridges in kherson in an attempt to cut off russian troops. meanwhile russian launched , missile strikes from belarus today, targeting several regions of ukraine. this comes a week after russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said the kremlin is seeking to seize more land in ukraine than just the eastern donbas region. to talk more about the war in ukraine we are joined by oksana dutchak. she is a ukrainian feminist and marxist sociologist. co-editor of the left-wing ukrainian journal common. she fled her home in kyiv with her children the day russia invaded and joins us now from leipzig, germany. her husband remained. thank you for joining us. can you talk about the situation in ukraine and why you left and what you understand is happening? oksana: yes, good morning i think.

i am glad to be here. the situation in ukraine is of course very complicated. i am among those who left the country and a number of internally displaced people and refugees from ukraine. i am seeing -- the original situation, i left for various reasons, of course for the life of me and my children. and the inability to live under the constant pressure here which you have with the daily strikes and daily sirens and warnings about the possibilities of strikes. i am trying to b engaged in numerous ways to be helpful from a distance and my comrades back

in ukraine are doing all they can for the resistance. some of them are doing volunteer fighting and civilians keeping them from dangerous zones and providing militarily. some of them are supporting military forces in ukraine by providing protection equipment. in any way, many people in ukraindo it but the majority have left. nermeen: could you comment on what you think -- what kind of support the international community, europe, the u.s. have been providing and what you would like to see more of?

oksana: of course we have seen the unprecedented swell of support for refugees which also raises a lot of questions about the level of support in the region. with civil wars and other disasters. ukrainian refugees, the support arrives from country to country because some say they cannot provide expenses. it is also the question of equality in the countries in the european union and the region. there is military support that should go on. there is support on the side of the economic sanctions on russia which is still a factor because

the question of export of russia, exporting fossil fuels, it is still under the big question whether the russian economy will be under the sanctions and when it will happen. that's what i see from the position and i know there are discussions between different groups. to this extent, it is not necessary order viable -- or desirable but being a ukrainian leftist and the self-determination of ukrainian society, i find the support necessary. nermeen: i want to go to an article you wrote. you co-authored a text earlier this month in the journal that you co-editor.

the article was really a manifesto called "the right to resist: a feminist manifesto." i will just read a short excerpt. "we feminists from ukraine call on feminists around the world to stand in solidarity with the resistance movement of the ukrainian people against the predatory, imperialist war unleashed by the russian federation. war narratives often portray women as victims. however, in reality, women also play a key role in resistance movements, both at the frontline and on the home front: from algeria to vietnam, from syria to palestine, from kurdistan to ukraine." could you talk about what prompted this statement and what feminists -- feminist solidarity would look like? oksana:his statement was a collective report of several ukrainian leftist feminists and we tried to get as much support

from ukrainian feminists and the international feminist community. some highly problematic statements by various groups -- explicit that was the reaction of one antiwar statement. if i remember correctly, about 150 people who called against the war and it was published in spring when the war started. we found it extremely problematic in its content and by the very fact that it was not signed by a single ukrainian person. we kind of felt that the ukrainian voice, e voice of the ukrainian feminists were not represented and listened to. for them to be listened to, at least there would be a possibility hear them, you ne to present the text of the

collective statements of ukrainian feminists that have heavy support. it is basically this statement criticized the position taken by many on the feminist movement globally which is that basically, ukrainian society, they are using this general notion that war and humanitarian is something that we don't have to do anything with it as feminists. you can easily see they need a safe place in the life of your family and cmunity is not affected by the war, but it is affected by the war. the very insistence of this community and people, you cannot

say we won't do anything and just stop the war. it doesn't make sense. what does it mean to stop the war? how should be stopped? there are questions that should be in the center if you want to give a political answer to the challenges society is facing and the region in general, not ukrainian society. we decided to draft this paper under the model of the right to resist that ukrainian society, or and activists, -- ukrainian activists and feminists have the right to assist -- resist against the russian federation. an international and global feminist movement to support and express solidarity and voice

this manifesto. amy: have you been communicating with russian feminists that found common cause? i'm wondering if you could also comment on this number that has come out of the u.s., not confirmed by ukraine or russia, but about 75,000 russian soldiers dead in this war so far, which is just an astounding number, well more than the russians died in 10 years in afghanistan. oksana: you are -- communicating with russian feminists, the russian feminist movement is now may be the most russian antiwar existence. there are feminists against war initiative which is a horizontal network in various countries, in

russia, european countries and other countries. they are trying to make some kind of practical resistance to the russian invasion of ukraine. we are communicating with them. i also participated with some even with them and some discussions and presentations. we do communicate with them. unfortunately, i must say tt my hope for a position against the war in russia's fight -- it didn't happen. here comes the number of 75,000 soldiers killed on the russian side in the war. amy: 75,000 according to the u.s. oksana: of course we don't know

the exact number and we would not. the war should come to an end before some reliable figures will come out. it is possible, this figure. many are killed, many are injured. this shows it is precarious. a bigger number of casualties than containing afghanistan. i also have some hope that in the long run it can trigger some changes inside russian society, some changes and opposition to what's happening and what their government is doing. unfortunately for now, russian society is very demoralized. the aim of the putin regime was not support by society but to

demoralize so the government can do whatever it wants to. we all remember th story which was happening during th war -- 10 year war in russia. they were complaining and holding governments in that war. what will happen now, it is really hard to say. all the soldiers and all the death starts to accumulate. there is a trigger of something like that, like soldiers mothers, it is hard to say. on the one hand, of course such casualties cannot go unnoticed. it will trigger the only mechanism whic works in society

and this mechanism is to act on the ccern of families and friends and thinking about soldiers killed, of course they have families, friendsand communities. it can trigger some response. on the other hand, you should also understand the shift between the previous psychological war, the afghan war, the china war, those people, those soldiers -- the biggest difference was during the afghan war it was those who were involved in that war who were kild. this is the same difference in the context of the u.s. it can see if you compare the war in vietnam and the war in europe.

the war in vietnam was internationay opposed by a huge part of u.s. society. the war in iraq also a lot of opposition. those were mostly contractual soldiers fighting iraq. i think in the long run it will trigger some change in russian society. it won't necessarily be a sufficient level for opposition. amy: we are going to go to moscow in a minute with nina khrushchev as well as what's happening in russia. as i talked about the number of russian soldiers that died in afghanistan, far under that

75,000 number, one million afghan civilians died and it could be double that. oksana, thank you so much. i want to thank you for being with us. speaking to us from leap sick, germany, she has left her home in kyiv with her children the day russia invaded. we will speak with a russian historian who left his home in moscow after the war and also nina khrushchev. [♪♪] [music break]

amy: "something in the way" by nirvana. wnba superstar brittney griner was spotted wearing a nirvana shirt and her recent court hearing in russia, the focus of an international campaign to free her. this is democracy, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. as we continue to look in the war -- at the war in ukraine which is now in its sixth month,

, we are joined now by ilya budrytskis. he is a russian historian and political writer. he's the author of the award-winning book "dissidents among dissidents: ideology, politics and the left in pro-soviet russia." we first spoke to ilya from moscow in february three weeks prior to the invasion. he has since left russia amid vladmir putin's crackdown on russian civil society. if you can talk about why you left and what do you think will end this war and specifically, i talked to oksana about ukrainian and russian society response, your understanding of what russians are feeli. ilya: hello, thank you for having me. i left russia a week after the start of the war. inside this week, it was the moment when the biggest cities

-- small or not so big, so important, antiwar demonstrations. it was the week and all the independent media which still was in the country for that moment were banned. it was the moment of the lack of any predictability. there were expectations that some general mobilization for the army will be possible, that the borders will close. so in fact, two months after the war, the government implemented

a huge wave of repression, was the aim to destroy any possible resistance, any possible antiwar public statements and sentiments in russian society. so for now, the situation is quite strange. because most of the people in russia were scared. they understand that any expression of disagreement with the war and the regime will put them at risk. and at the same time, they pretend that the situation

somehow will come back to normal because there was not such a huge degree of the russian economy as it was predicted -- decrease of the russian economy as it was predicted in the beginning of the war. also because just kind of conformist way of life, that is general for the modern society. but taking extreme forms in putin's russia where some few hundred kilometers from your home you have a full-scale war with the army of your country that started this war, and you pretend not to follow the news, not to disturb your normal way

of life with this terrifying information. nermeen: could you explain, you've said in a recent interview that effectively now, there is no possibility of an opposition in russia because its structures have been destroyed. if you could elaborate on that. and then the question of sanctions, the impact sanctions had on russia, you just said the economy has not been as weakened as anticipated. ilya: to the first question, in fact the recent years, -- the recent years were used by putin to prere society for this situation of silence, of conformist, of de-politicization and lack of resistance. if you remember in the beginning

of 2020, the amendments to the russian constitution were implemented and according to these amendments, putin has the right to stay in power. that was important despite a moment that was kind of the heat of the talk which in fact was from the talk of the russian state. and then in 2021, the main structure of the position, the movement of alexei navalny, of course was jailed for many years. others were arrested and forced

to police the country. in this way, you can say that the beginning of the war, the main element of the dictatorship -- elements of the dictatorship were already there. sanctions in the recent report by the imf, international monetary fund, the expection of the fall of the russian economy to the end of this year would be some 6% which is less than was predicted in the beginning of the war. in effect, the russian economy will of course lose a lot. a lot of workplaces will

disappear. a lot of people will lose their incomes because of inflation. in fact, the main element of the stability of the russian economy is still in place. that is the export of gas and oil, and we know the gas prices now are jumped. so they are as high as never before in the recent years. we sense russia will probably not be shaken politically because of the impact of the sanctions. i will say that probably the cost of human life, the cost of

the huge losses among the russian soldiers in this war, even more important reason for some protest feelings in russian society. nermeen: finally, we see the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov in africa meeting heads of state, trying to establish that russia has not been entirely totally isolated. drawing a distinction between the soviet union the cold war period and russia today, saying "during the cold war, it could at least be said the soviet bloc for all its faults, was a barrier for ideas of social liberation and struggles. we see the choice between the reactionary nato block and the even more reactionary russia-cna bloc."

could you talk about that with this respect -- with respect to this visit of lavrov where he is invoking this old soviet tendency or reputation for supporting anticolonial struggles in the countries where he is now, where he has been visiting. ilya: you are right that putin and lavrov and the russian regime in general are trying to promote this kind of anticolonial rhetoric. even before putin made a speech where he said that you have a so-called golden billion on the earth which provides some kind of unjust, unequal relations between the developed countries

and the west, and the aim of russian military operations in ukraine is to change this divination of the west. you have totally the same message behind lavrov's visit to the african states, but the main problem is at kind of alternates is russia trying to propose? definitely russia itself, it was kind of a role model to the west and to the nation. and the way in what russia is

trying to gain from african countries, for example for its size it is very cynical, commercial, and neoliberal. they are proposing some discounts for oil or so discounts for the weapons coming from russia. things like this, there is nothing about economic development. there is nothing about any real social and political alternative. amy: we want to thank you for being with us, author of "dissidents among dissidents: ideology, politics and the left in post-soviet russia." we are not saying where he is. he left russia after putin you crated -- invaded ukraine.

we are joined by nina khrushchev, professor at the international affairs new school . recently wrote a piece for project syndicate, "don't cancel russian culture." explain. nina: it goes with the theme of this program, that russia, outside of russia and inside of russia, i think we spoke about this even earlier, that if there is an onslaught on russians indiscriminately, if there is a dema to have collective responsibility, if there is a cancellation of concerts or now it seems to be getting better but taking off tolstoy's books or other russian writers books from the shelves. ukrainian authorities canceling

all russian culture including their own ukrainian born -- a great russian writer of ukrainian descent and was quite critical or very critical of the russian imperial system and corruption. it would be useful to read. when there is all of this cultural humanitarian onslaught and canceling athletes and sports men and others on russia, it actually epitomizes the regime because it does feel and it does appear that what he does say, i am trying to protect us from the others who want to cancel us, in fact it gives it vadity. my argument is don't cancel russian culture because it plays into putin's hands and publishes

-- punishes russians collectively. then they will blame the west more than the regime here in russia. i am in moscow now. nermeen: what about the fact, there have been several reports of russia itself canceling russian culture. there are theaters in moscow, all people theater directors who have been fired. other artists and musicians have been forced to flee the country, not able to perform. what are you hearing about that? ni: absolutely, and that goes hand in hand. when russiansre being canced by russians, your previous guest was talking about this, whatever semblance of opposition, it is in opposition that theater directors are being fired. a lot of theater directors who created the theaters they are being fired from, which even during the great times of the cold war, during khrushchev, for

example, even the opposition was allowed to exist. have been critics. they were screened by khrushchev himself but allowed to continue to do their work. now it has all disappeared. further russian state, it is problematic -- for the russian state, it is problematic becau they are being happily suppressed by the kgb state that is in full bloom, the repressive machine that probably can be compared to the soviet days and also canceled elsewhere, which by the way was the will of the cold war. then russian culture was welcome because it was understood it could be used as a tool against the soviet regime. so absolutely. it is the horrible doublespeak

of the authorities of the kremlin, for example, the jewish repatriation agency is now having difficulties and issues because they spoke against the war in ukraine. now they are being liquidated in russia. and yet, one of the reasons is because they are supposedly responsible for the brain drain. russia pushes t everybody who is the brightest and the most great and at the same time blames others for this kind of repression. it is a double whammy. between a rock and a hard place that russians are now finding themselves in. amy: you are in an unusual position. you are often in new york because you teach at the new school you are in moscow now,

great granddaughter and adopted granddaughter of nikita khrushchev. what has most surprised you that we don't get here that you are understanding as you spend time in moscow, of people's attitudes, including this latest astounding figure of the u.s. saying 75,000 russians have died in ukraine. ni: i am not often in new york , i am often in moscow. i actually live in new yk. unlike others, i decided i'm going to go the other way, come to russia and see indeed what is happening because we need a lot of how it is and how people are afraid. the russian foreign minister said, we will see them now reach out to the west because you spoke about it with previous tests, his trip to africa and other places. what i see is really remarkable

is the pivot toward the west or whatever russia is pivoting towards, it is the kremlin idea but it is the russians idea. i haven't seen any pivots because i've been looking for some cafe or restaurant or a sign of something, and it just continues to be western formulas that are part of russian history . the museums are everywhere. it is very strange reality that russia withdraws itself from its eupean history and at the same time, it is part of the european history. the bizarre experience which i thought i would see but to what extent i actually did see, is that the war is going on. people cite the war as the most reason for their depression and sense of being depressed and the

troops dying. at the same time, the they try to keep the ideal semblance of normalcy but the mood is of despair. i have never in my life -- and i grew up in the soviet union -- i have never felt such a dark cloud falling over russia. i know the great patriotic stories that come out on russian tv, they have the image of the enemies, i lived in doublespeak world. i lived in this kind of orwellian 1984. i just pinch myself every day thinking i need to wake up because it can't be real. amy: nina khrushchev, thank you for being with us, international professor at the new school and granddaughter of nikita khrushchev. a clarification, the u.s. is

estimating more than 75,000 russian soldiers have been killed or injured in ukraine. next up, we will go to afghanistan to look at the devastating economic and humanitarian crisis. stay with us. [♪♪] [music break]

amy: this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. as we turn to afghanistan, where a new amnesty international report documents a suffocating crackdown on women and girls since the taliban took control of the country, with widespread detention and torture of those who protest the crackdown. one taliban guard told a woman who was beaten in detention, "after protesting, you should have expected days like this." whistleblowers in taliban-run detentions -- detention centers say the taliban is also arresting women and girls on the charge of moral corruption for appearing in public without a male chaperone. the taliban has blocked most women and girls from access to education and the rates of child, early and forced marriage in afghanistan are now surging. a staggering amount of afghans are facing food insecurity.

we go to an afghan journalist who has reported from afghanistan for 20 years and led the country after the taliban take away. welcome back to democracynow. if you can talk about while you are in exile, you've been reporting extensively about your country, we are approaching the first anniversary of the u.s. withdrawal and the taliban take away. what does your country look like? what is the dire situation it is facing? bilal: afghanistan under the taliban is facing a number of crises. the economy has collapsed obviously for a number of reasons. we are seeing natural disasters from earthquakes in southwestern -- southeastern afghanistan,

killing more than 100,000 afghans to flash floods, heavy rain for weeks, destroying pomegranate gardens. destroying grapes. these are some of the most remote areas in southern afghanistan so the economy is suffering. provinces in the east all the way up in the river valley, thousands of red goats as they are known, died simply because of having rain caused flash floods and landslides, also destroying important grazing land for animals. you have to simply feel heartbroken for the people of afghanistan. what we also see is an epic failure of the taliban as the de facto ruler's in terms of not stopping the crackdown against the afghan people.

the victims of such crackdowns, the afghan woman. the victims of such crackdowns, the afghan media. afghanistan has seen a situation where the best and the bright leave their country. the result, the taliban continues to paint a rosy picture of afghanistan under them. they continuously brag about how they defeated the united states, how they defeated the west, how they the victorious forces. and they don't rely hide this ambition as sort of an islamist style government from which militant groups in the region, if not far away, are taking great inspirations. nermeen: to what extent do you

think, if you could talk about the u.s. position in particular with respect to the effect of the american and european sanctions, and the $7 billion in assets that have been frozen by the u.s. since the taliban took over. bilal: we have to put this into the context. when the united states entered and exited with the taliban, they sidelined the previous government under the president. what in reality happened were efforts to start a peace process which never materialized. a cease-fire, for example, never took place. there was a famous quote by the former u.s. special -- "nothing is agreed and everything is agreed what happened was the opposite and the taliban had a

great victory. the united states did punish the afghan people by freezing the assets which contributed towards more problems. but it is also for the taliban to do more for the people of afghanistan, for the taliban to do well in the 21st century. the taliban cannot say, it is not our fault. we have to remember the taliban were a party to this destructive war which caused a lot of pain and suffering. you have to put the taliban as the defective rulers into the regional context. they have really failed to gain the trust of the regional countries and major patrons of e taliban are struggling. the reality is in that context, i think the region is also paying a price because they either allow a minute terry --

military takeover of afghanistan or they helped it, when you talk about pakistan and iran. nermeen: do you see any of that support waning? -- was ousted in pakistan, a key supporter of the pallet -- of the taliban. what is india's role in afghanistan? bilal: you have to look at the promises but the taliban has made to pakistan. i've been following that extremely closely. the ttp is adamant it wants a sharia system in pakistan, that it blames the pakistani establishment and intelligence for the violence. it does really appear that the taliban in afghanistan might not be able to deliver the pakistani taliban as was probably the expectation. it is also incredibly heartbreaking to witness the

assassination campaign in pakistan as the talks are underway. this is what we experienced in afghanistan where assassinations were taking place when talks in doha were taking place, and no one was taking responsibility. you spoke about india. india is afghanistan's traditional and historical friend but india did abandon afghanistan. there's a lot of anger and disappointment among many who are extremely close with india, especially the former officials, members of the former security forces. visas were not issued. amy: we have 10 seconds. i didn't mean to interrupt you. bilal: i think in that sense, the theme -- they are seen abandoning afghanistan but it is good that india is back in

afghanistan and continues to help the people whether it is with medicine or wheat. amy: we are going to do part two of this discussion on democracynow.org. also the latest news out of xx

announcer: this program was made possible in part by caesars entertainment, tom campion, utopia foundation, the cloobeck family, masimo foundation, mgm resorts, and nv energy.