Threats
The US Is Helping the Taliban Fight ISIS, CENTCOM's Top General Says
Gen. McKenzie turned heads with testimony about “very limited support” for an enemy who is also an enemy of an enemy.
Policy
Afghanistan Withdrawal Begins Amid Taliban Attacks on US Allies
Critics say the withdrawal deal puts too much faith in the Taliban.
Ideas
No One Has Tried This Kind of US-Taliban Deal
A study of nearly 200 modern peace accords shows what has worked. The list doesn't include "negotiate withdrawal, then negotiate peace."
Policy
As Taliban Attack, Esper and Milley Downplay 'Mixed' Results of Peace Deal
Joint Chiefs chairman argued before Congress that the Taliban’s “small low-level” attacks on Afghan forces don't violate their four-day-old agreement with the United States.
Policy
Explainer: The US-Taliban Deal in Afghanistan
What's in the recent agreement between the United States and the Taliban? What might still derail it?
Threats
US' Afghanistan Drawdown Will Continue Amid Taliban Violence, Pentagon Says
“I would caution everybody to think that there’s going to be an absolute cessation of violence in Afghanistan — that is probably not going to happen,” Milley said.
Ideas
Beware a Peace Deal That May Spell War
There are important questions still to be answered about Afghanistan and the United States.
Policy
Will Trump’s Afghanistan Peace Deal Win Him Votes?
"I would not say that Afghanistan looms over American politics now the way that Iraq did,” said one analyst.
Threats
US Agrees to Reduce Forces in Afghanistan ‘If Taliban Live up To Their Commitments’
The tests will begin with a seven-day ceasefire to start “very soon,” a senior U.S. administration official told reporters.
Ideas
To End America’s War in Afghanistan, US Troops Can’t Leave Yet
Walking away out of frustration — especially during peace talks — is as empty a strategy as doubling down out of optimism.
Ideas
We Can End Our Endless Wars
America should end its military involvement in conflicts in the Middle East and bring our troops home.
Ideas
Who Gets to Tell the Story of the Afghanistan War?
The Washington Post’s ‘Afghanistan Papers’ is the latest contribution to a growing argument over whether the conflict — or any of the ‘forever wars’ — was worth the cost.
Ideas
Ep. 62: Wagner and Russian private military contractors
How much do we understand about what these groups are up to? And how much should the U.S. and its allies be concerned?
Policy
Why Trump and Biden Can’t Cut Troops in Afghanistan Much More
Even ‘bare minimum’ counterterrorism forces require critical intelligence only U.S. personnel can provide, officials warn.
Policy
Top US General Defends Afghanistan War
CJCS Mark Milley denied that officials “lied” to the American public about the 18-year conflict.
Ideas
The Lessons of the Afghanistan Papers
Americans need leaders who can tell them how and when they will decide to pull the plug.
Ideas
Can Military Leaders Handle the Truth About Afghanistan?
Our recent poll suggests that public confidence in the military is high, but that it may be on shaky ground.
Ideas
Nixon’s Leniency After My Lai Hurt Veterans. Trump’s May, Too.
A president’s actions in 1971 helped turn public opinion against those who fought the Vietnam War.
Ideas
If Ukraine Is Impeachable, What’s Afghanistan?
A misguided war that drags on inconclusively for more than 18 years is, I submit, a great crime.
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