By Solaiman Fazel | (Informed Comment) | – – Despite the campaign promise to distance himself from Afghanistan, President Trump has now publically taken ownership of America’s Longest War, 2001-Present. Trump’s decision not to completely withdraw the armed forces or subcontract the warfare to Blackwater (a private military company) are clever choices for the wider […]
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Afghanistan
Trump flip-flops on Afghanistan, opts for Years-long Quagmire
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The 16-years-long Afghanistan War has bedeviled Washington decision-makers since the US invasion of fall, 2001, which came in response to the attacks of September 11. In his speech on Monday night, Trump was primarily attempting to manipulate American domestic politics. He was trying to look presidential […]
ISIL in Afghanistan Resilient despite Kabul Offensive
By Frud Bezhan. | ( RFE/RL) | – – A relentless air-and-ground campaign against the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan does not appear to have radically diminished that militant group’s ability to inflict deadly attacks or prevented it from expanding its geographical reach in the war-torn country, analysts asked to assess progress […]
Trump’s Mulligan in Afghanistan: Mercenaries
By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – Donald Trump loves to play golf. So far, he has teed off twice as many times as Barack Obama had at the same point in his term. Indeed, Trump has spent as much as 20 percent of his presidency at various golf clubs. […]
Trump in a Firing Mood; is US Commander in Afghanistan Next?
Wochit News | (Video News Clip) | – – “U.S. officials said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s doubts about the war in Afghanistan has led to a delay in completing a new U.S. strategy in South Asia. Trump’s skepticism included a suggestion that the U.S. military commander in the region be fired. During a […]
Not Winning in Afghanistan: Why?
By Solaiman M. Fazel | (Informed Comment) | – – Candidate Trump in his dynamic public rallies repeatedly criticized the former U.S. president for not winning anymore. Trump also mentioned, “If I’m president, we’ll win so much, you’ll get bored with winning.” Well it has now been a little over six months since the presidential […]
Top 6 Things Trump didn’t know about Herat when he barred Girl robotics Scientists from US
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US embassy in Kabul has denied a visa to 6 Afghan high school students from Herat to accompany their invention in robotics to the United States for a demonstration. The girls made the 500 mile journey from the western city of Herat to the capital […]
Back to Quagmire: Beware endless US Troop Escalations in Afghanistan
By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – We walked in a single file. Not because it was tactically sound. It wasn’t — at least according to standard infantry doctrine. Patrolling southern Afghanistan in column formation limited maneuverability, made it difficult to mass fire, and exposed us to enfilading machine-gun bursts. Still, in 2011, […]
Trump to Send 4,000 More US Troops to Afghanistan as Mattis admits ‘Not Winning’
TeleSur | – – The Trump adminstration plans to deploy 4,000 more troops, extending the nearly The official says troops will train Afghan soldiers, and fight Taliban and Islamic State group forces. The Pentagon is planning to send almost 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, an official said anonymously Thursday. There are already around 8,400 U.S. […]