Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is pointing the finger at America for continued instability in his country. To America’s shock and dismay, Karzai claimed that the America and Taliban were colluding to continue the war beyond 2014 when US forces are set to withdraw by working together in series of recent bombings. His comments came as Chuck Hagel made his first visit to the country as Defense Secretary.

Based on a true story, The Black Tulip takes us to Kabul in 2001 after the Taliban has been routed, as the hope of freedom returns. Written, directed, and produced by our guest Sonia Nassery Cole, who stars as Farishta Mansouri, The Black Tulip follows Faishta and her family as they open a restaurant in Kabul in the building where her father had his bookstore, Poet’s Corner. As children, Farishta and her sister witnessed Taliban troops kidnapping her father and burning his shop. Now despite the worries of her mother, and concerns of her husband, Farishta hopes to honor his memory with poetry readings and hospitality. Poet’s Corner restaurant grows in popularity, becoming a place where both the military and those opposed to them can enjoy traditional food, music, and an open microphone.

A blog post published by Reuters reporter Myra MacDonald and on the internet today highlights a recent report from clinics at Stanford University and New York University and argues the “anti-drone campaign” is doing damage. It has been widely circulated on the internet yet makes a number of dubious or completely disingenuous arguments about critics of drones, which is why it deserves to be deconstructed and examined.

Today, The Guardian reports on the United Kingdom’s increased reliance on drones to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. More than 280 laser-guided Hellfire missiles and bombs have been fired at “suspected insurgents.” Additionally, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) claims that only four Afghan civilians have been killed. But neither the US nor the UK has any consistently applied, credible means to verify who the targets are, let alone determine who the victims are that are killed around them.

At least fifteen people were killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan when at least two missiles hit a compound in the village known as Hesokhel. Three people were killed by the first missile. Then, following the attack, twelve people arrived to rescue and bury the dead and were killed by a second missile.

The New York Times reported today on the killing of Mullah Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban minister and member of the Afghan High Peace Council. Though the Taliban denied involvement, they have allegedly threatened to assassinate members of the Peace Council and have done so in the past.

If the Taliban are behind this killing, their motive may have nothing to do with preventing peace, but rather positioning themselves for it – or at least for the inevitable departure of NATO.

Last week the President announced in a surprise visit to Afghanistan that the US signed a long-term agreement with the country that would more or less keep an American presence there for an indefinite period. And now we have an embarrassing admission, a bipartisan agreement from the heads of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, that the surge in Afghanistan, if its mission was to stop the advance of the Taliban in the country, completely failed its objectives.

Dayen’s news roundup from April 17, 2017, including stories you missed — because as usual, you waited until yesterday to file your taxes — about Barney Frank, EPA, not-Secret Service, postal reform, housing prices, Bowles Simpson, IMF, Mississippi, Mitt Romney, Seamus, Quebec students, Taliban, Bill Buckley, Tom Freeman, wanker of the decade.

The International Crisis Group has a new report out showing that the so-called reconciliation talks with the Taliban are actually going nowhere, and that civil war could result from a US continuing to lead those talks. The think tank believes that responsibility should shifted to the United Nations.

General Stanley McChrystal told journalist Michael Hastings that he wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone and so he was. The resulting story—describing an alcohol fueled dinner in Paris and the General’s staff mocking the Obama Administration—ended McChrystal’s tour as the commander of US forces in Afghanistan and his military career.