Taliban's capture of Herat could threaten critical dam

+ America's supplement obsession; how the US ends its wars US Edition - Today's top story: Taliban seize Herat and assault nearby dam that provides water and power to hundreds of thousands of Afghans [View in browser]( US Edition | 13 August 2021 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair The Taliban took over Herat, Afghanistan’s third largest city, yesterday after weeks of furious fighting in which both men and women took up arms to defend their city. Two scholars – Elizabeth Hessami and Asef Ghafoory – had been tracking the assault on Herat for a story I assigned them on the nearby Afghan-India Friendship Dam, the main source of electricity and water for hundreds of thousands of people in western Afghanistan. Ghafoory, a journalism professor from Herat, said the dam had been under mortar fire – attacks that Afghan government officials blame on the Taliban. But Afghan security forces seemed to be holding off the insurgents from taking over the dam and the city. Until yesterday. “Herat city and governor office has fallen to the Taliban just one hour ago,” Ghafoory wrote to me at around 1 p.m. Eastern time, saying Taliban fighters were “shooting for celebration” in the streets. Herat had fallen to the Taliban. Ghafoory and Hessami rushed to get their story finished as the insurgents celebrated this major military victory. Here’s [their story on Herat](, the Afghan cultural heritage that’s now in danger there, and the major dam that’s at grave risk. Also today: - [Cuomo, Activision Blizzard cases show #MeToo movement is progressing]( - [Parts of the web are disappearing every day – archivists are fighting back]( - [The often silent suffering and stress of firefighters]( Catesby Holmes International Editor | Politics Editor Afghan security forces stand guard on a roadside in Herat on Aug. 12, 2021, as the Taliban seized the city. AFP via Getty Images [Taliban seize Herat and assault nearby dam that provides water and power to hundreds of thousands of Afghans]( Elizabeth B. Hessami, Johns Hopkins University; Asef Ghafoory, Kardan University (Afghanistan) Herat is home to an India-built dam that provides water for drinking, irrigation and bathing for much of western Afghanistan. If the Taliban control that water, they control the population. Arts + Culture - [How religious fervor and anti-regulation zealotry laid the groundwork for America’s $36 billion supplement industry]( Conor Heffernan, University of Texas at Austin The FDA has largely lost its ability to regulate the myriad pills, powders and potions that promise to grow muscle, shed body fat and improve your focus. 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