WORLD Radio Rewind

LEIGH JONES: This is WORLD Radio Rewind: a 10-minute review of some of our news coverage and features from the past week on WORLD Radio. I’m managing editor Leigh Jones.

First up: acknowledging the past. Recent investigations into boarding schools for Native children in Canada made some shocking discoveries. Hundreds of children buried in unmarked graves at several different schools. As Canada grapples with its painful past, Native tribes in the United States are starting their own investigations into boarding schools here. On Tuesday’s program WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg reported on the federal government’s pledge to help.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: Jeff Yellow Owl grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation in Northwestern Montana. He had a big family, but he loved spending time with his two grandmothers more than anyone else.

One day, when he was about 10, he sat with one grandmother in her living room. She was poor. Her house didn’t have a foundation or electricity. She asked him for a foot massage.

YELLOW OWL: And so I start pressing her feet... I was like...What are these?...And she goes, those are bunions...When I was in boarding school in Genoa... there were some that were trying to run away. And what they did was they took shoes that were too small for us, and forced us to wear them. So we couldn't run. And so she goes my feet ended up getting these big bunions with that.

Federal authorities sent Jeff Yellow Owl’s grandmother to a federal boarding school in Genoa, Nebraska when she was just a little girl.

Deb Haaland heads the Department of the Interior. She’s the first Native American to lead the department. In June, Haaland ordered an investigation into the lasting consequences of residential boarding schools. It will also identify the locations of student burial sites.

Samantha Williams is a historian who specializes in Native American boarding schools. She says starting in the 1860s, the federal government opened about 70 boarding schools across the country.

WILLIAMS: The guiding idea was kill the Indian to save the man, which is to basically… remove anything indigenous about these children, and force them to accept...the type of white culture and customs and values that were being taught to them.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

LJ: Up next, crisis at the southern border. The Biden administration admits it’s dealing with an unprecedented surge of migrants. And many of them don’t fit the profile of what most Americans think of as the typical immigrant.

On Wednesday’s program, Mary Reichard talked with Victor Manjarrez. He’s a former sector chief with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol who now teaches at the University of Texas El Paso. He explained the changing trend in immigrant demographics.

MARY REICHARD: Three in 10 migrants crossing the border last month were from places other than Mexico and Central America. Many were from South America, the Caribbean and even from countries in the Eastern Hemisphere.

What’s fueling the changing demographics in border traffic? And what does that tell us?

MANJARREZ: The changing demographics is really interesting. It used to be about 97 percent of the individuals were Mexican nationals, and about 2.5 percent were from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, and the rest of that percentage was from the rest of the world. And so what we're seeing now is 30 percent to 35 percent of individuals other than Mexico. And so part of that you've seen lately has been, one is economics. We've really seen not only in the United States during the pandemic, have we seen, you know, the economy take a hit. It's taken big hits worldwide, and it's very impactful when you start looking at the countries in Central America and South America. So the primary driver really have seen—in terms of the Mexican nationals—have been economics. And secondly is messaging from the U.S. government has a big part of the play in terms of those surges and who comes to the United States.

MR: We will stay attuned to this story. Victor Manjarrez was sector chief for the U.S. Border Patrol and now is Associate Director of the Center for Law and Human Behavior at the University of Texas El Paso. Sir, thank you.

LJ: Our last two stories come from Thursday’s program. Both deal with the fallout from the U.S. exit from Afghanistan. First, geopolitical consequences. Correspondent Jill Nelson explained five possible ripple effects of the Taliban’s takeover. Here are the first two...

JILL NELSON, REPORTER: First, an increase in global jihadist activity. Husain Haqqani is a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

HAQQANI: The extremist jihadis are seeing this as a moment of triumph. They now have a narrative. The narrative is that jihad was successful in bringing down one super power, the Soviet Union, and now jihad has forced America out of Afghanistan. So Jihad is the way forward.

That leads into the second global consequence: Pakistan could become less stable and more isolated.

Haqqani says Pakistan is in a difficult position. The West sees Islamabad as having supported the Taliban for the last 20 years. But at the same time, Pakistan can’t fully rein in the Taliban. And its success in Afghanistan could embolden a related group of Pakistani militants.

HAQQANI: There is a group called the Pakistani Taliban, which after the Afghan Taliban’s success will try and put pressure inside Pakistan for a similar system that they have or want to establish in Pakistan. So Pakistan will come under a lot of pressure from the international community over having supported the Taliban and from the Taliban over not being Islamic enough in its own conduct.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jill Nelson.

LJ: And finally, weapons of war. Myrna Brown talked to retired Army Special Forces Colonel Steve Bucci about the U.S. military equipment now under the Taliban’s control.

MYRNA BROWN: How will this change the threat that the Taliban poses?

BUCCI: Well, the main thing it will do is the Taliban will now be—or are—the most well-equipped and well-funded militant group in the world. I would say they're probably close to competing with Hezbollah, who have a direct pipeline from the country of Iran. But, it's, first of all, going to play heck for the people in Afghanistan, who will be the direct recipients of the violence that the Taliban can now use. But I'm afraid some of it is going to start getting exported as well.

MB: What is the propaganda value of this to the Taliban?

BUCCI: Well, the propaganda value is tremendous. Remember, these folks portray themselves as servants of God, that they are doing this because God wants them to. And any victory for them is a validation to their followers, to people who might be on the fence, that they are indeed blessed by God. And now they've got a bunch of totems that they can hold up or ride around in to show people just how awesome they really are. You know, I don't believe any of that. But that's the way they will spin it and it'll have some resonance around the third world—particularly in the Muslim communities—that these guys are now the big dogs on the block. So they're going to leverage this heavily, both to show our weakness and to show their strength.

MB: Okay, Steve Bucci with Heritage Foundation has been our guest. Colonel, thanks so much!

LJ: That’s it for this edition of WORLD Radio Rewind.

We’ve posted links to each of the stories we highlighted today in our transcript. You can find that on our website.

Here are some of the stories we’re working on for next week: vaccinations versus natural immunity. Which is better when it comes to protection against the delta variant? And the president could soon have new limits on his ability to send troops to battle. We’ll tell you about a new bipartisan bill amending the War Powers Act.

For the latest news, features, and commentary from WORLD News Group, visit wng.org. For WORLD Radio, I’m Managing Editor Leigh Jones.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.