Episode
Don’t Let Iran Become Another Afghanistan w/ Former Inspector General John Sopko
- Podcast
- Shane Smith Has Questions
- Published
- May 7, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3684
- Processing state
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Summary
What happens when America never learns the lessons of its longest wars? Former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko joins Shane Smith for a brutally honest conversation about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, corruption, contractors, the military-industrial complex, and the trillion-dollar cycle of endless war. After overseeing more than 700 investigations into waste, fraud, and abuse during the 20-year war in Afghanistan, Sopko explains how America spent trillions, empowered corruption, radicalized populations, and repeated the same mistakes over and over again — while contractors, bureaucracies, and political interests kept the machine running. The conversation dives into: The real legacy of Afghanistan Why “nation building” failed How war spending fuels the contractor economy Why Iran could become another endless conflict The “Iron Triangle” between Congress, the Pentagon, and defense contractors Ukraine, Gaza, AI warfare, and drones Why America struggles to stop wars once they begin The dangerous consequences of weak oversight and bad advisors Sopko also warns that future wars will look nothing like Iraq or Afghanistan — and says the U.S. government is dangerously unprepared for the realities of drone warfare and artificial intelligence. This is one of the clearest insider accounts yet of how modern wars actually work — and who benefits from them. Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Check out VICE News for more: http://vicenews.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices