# Civil Servant Dons Body Armor

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-diplomat-9204/civil-servant-dons-body-armor
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-diplomat-9204/civil-servant-dons-body-armor.md
Podcast: [American Diplomat](https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-diplomat-9204)
Published: 2026-08-20T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://americandiplomat.libsyn.com/civil-servant-dons-body-armor
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/americandiplomat/Ken_Handelman_Afghanistan_Aug_2026.mp3?dest-id=590599
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/american-diplomat-9204/episodes/civil-servant-dons-body-armor
Duration seconds: 2285

## Resource

In the second of our short series on Afghanistan five years after the US exit, Ken Handelman, former senior civil servant in the Department of Defense, reflects on the beauty, the weirdness and the tragedy of our 20 years in that country. What three institutions' failings led him to believe that it was time to leave? Listen and find out.

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## Transcript

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