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How America's war devastated Afghanistan's environment

Jalalabad River. (Photo: Lynzy Billing)
Lynzy Billing
A boy jumps over a stream that flows out of the walls of the Bagram base. Credit: Lynzy Billing

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, award-winning journalist Lynzy Billing discusses her groundbreaking investigation about the impact of the United States' 20-year military occupation on Afghanistan's environment.

Afghans who lived near vast bases say the US military’s lack of even minimal environmental protections polluted their land, poisoned their water, and sickened their children. The consequences of the contamination may last for generations.

Guest:

Lynzy Billing, investigative journalist and photographer based between Afghanistan and Iraq

Carly A. Krakow, writer, journalist, scholar of international law and environmental and climate justice, and faculty member at the NYU Gallatin School

Web Resources:

News Lines Magazine: How America’s War Devastated Afghanistan’s Environment

ProPublica: The Night Doctrine: ProPublica’s First Animated Documentary Traces Reporting on Afghanistan’s Zero Units

Scientific American: U.S. Forces Are Leaving a Toxic Environmental Legacy in Afghanistan

Aljazeera: The US must compensate burn pit victims in Iraq too

The Washington Post: President Biden’s focus on environmental justice has a crucial blind spot

Malihe Razazan is the senior producer of KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.
Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.