Conflicted Community: Jihadis for Hire

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to U.S. Navy veteran Shawn VanDiver, founder of AfghanEvac, about the fate of Afghans who worked alongside American forces during the U.S. occupation, and how the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions are increasingly freezing them out. Shawn explains: Who America’s Afghan allies were and the risks they took The complex tragedy of the National Guardsmen shooting in Washington D.C. The Special Immigrant Visa system and why it failed Trump’s first travel ban and the dismantling of refugee pathways The Doha Agreement and the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan The creation of AfghanEvac and cooperation with the U.S. government How Trump’s second term is closing the door on Afghan allies Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm Follow AfghanEvac: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfghanEvac Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afghan_evac X: https://x.com/afghanevac TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@afghanevac LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/afghanevac BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/afghanevac.bsky.social Truth Social: @AfghanEvac Follow Shawn VanDiver: X: https://x.com/shawnjvandiver Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnjvandiver LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnvandiver/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/shawnjvandiver.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shawnjvandiver TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnjvandiver Find Conflicted on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod And YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a tragic shooting in Washington, D.C., Thomas and Aimen trace the story back to Afghanistan and to the CIA-backed Zero Units that carried out some of the coalition’s most clandestine kill-or-capture missions. They discuss: The November 2025 D.C. shooting and the alleged link to a former Zero Unit operative What the Zero Units were designed to do and why they were so controversial Afghanistan's geography of terrorism and counterterrorism The lifelong psychological damage caused by black ops How the Doha Agreement sidelined the US’s Afghan partners The halfway house vetting pipeline through German The problem of PTSD, monitoring, and support for both Afghan allies and U.S. veterans Whether America can fight future wars if local allies believe they’ll be left behind Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. Produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to veteran Singaporean diplomat Prof. Kishore Mahbubani about his thesis that the 21st century will be remembered as ‘the Asian Century’, and how the West can prepare peacefully and optimistically for China's return as the fulcrum of world history. Drawing on his books Living the Asian Century, Has China Won?, and Can Asians Think?, Prof. Mahbubani explains: Why the 21st century will be the Asian century and why this need not require Western decline How colonialism shaped Asian self-perception, and the need for intellectual decolonisation How other countries can adopt Singapore’s model for success His meeting with Fidel Castro, Hafez al-Assad, and Yasser Arafat The hypocrisy of Western power and diplomacy How the United States keeps the UN weak on purpose Why Pres. Trump’s China realism has been a good thing The threat of war in Asia Follow Prof. Mahbubani on X: https://x.com/mahbubani_k Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this semi-emergency episode, Aimen helps Thomas unpack the last eight months of escalating tension and threats between the US and Iran, and explains why it’s now unlikely the American ‘armada’ President Trump sent to the Gulf will be going to war with Iran anytime soon. Thomas and Aimen discuss: How the 12-Day War changed Iran Why Israel’s Doha strike jolted the Gulf and accelerated a ceasefire The Saudi–Pakistan defence pact and the Abraham Accords fallout How the region became more militarized and less diplomatically aligned Iran’s protest wave and the regime’s unspeakably brutal crackdown How Trump’s promises were empty from the start Why this may be Trump’s ‘Obama red line’ moment What this latest example of TACO signals to China Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod And YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ConflictedYoutube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. Produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Thomas talks to distinguished BBC journalist Paul Kenyon about his new podcast series Two Nottingham Lads. Paul recalls highlights from his remarkable career, which has taken him from Iran to Libya to Ukraine to Stockport —as he watched, in real time, America lose its grip on the international order. Paul talks about: How two Nottingham lads ended up on opposite sides of the Ukraine War The time he was detained by Iranian secret police Watching anti-Gaddafi tribesmen ride into Benghazi on horseback Accompanying unarmed Ukrainian guards as they marched uphill toward Russian troops Getting to know the notorious ISIS brides in the Midlands Being the only BBC journalist in Liverpool who witnessed the outbreak of the riots there in summer 2004 Listen to Two Nottingham Lads here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ntm9  Follow Paul on X: https://x.com/paulkenyonTV  And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulkenyontv/ Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm  Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices