Afghanistan

79% of Americans agree with President Obama’s plan to take a third of US troops out of Afghanistan over the next two years, and 59% think he should withdraw more, and more quickly. These views do not accord with those of the generals in the Pentagon, who felt that Obama’s timetable is “more aggressive” than […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: How will Taliban React to Obama Drawdown?

Juan Cole

Aljazeera English reports the Taliban have rejected President Obama’s plans for Afghanistan, but that President Hamid Karzai welcomed steps that would return the country to Afghan rule. Still, this report says that Mullah Omar himself has given his blessing to US-Taliban direct talks. Hard to know which one is right (both are unlikely to be). […]

Afghanistan

Cole/Goodman Interview on the Obama Drawdown and the Afghanistan War

Juan Cole

Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! interviewed me Wednesday on the significance of President Obama’s announcement of a significant drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan. Here is the video (it may display also the day’s headlines; if so, move the black line at the bottom about two-thirds over to find the segment on Afghanistan): And here is […]

Afghanistan

The End of the Beginning in Afghanistan

Juan Cole

Breaking news: CNN is reporting that President Obama has decided to take 30,000 troops out of Afghanistan over the next year eighteen months, including 10,000 by the end of this year. Military commanders had requested that he limit this first draw down to as little as 5,000, so this step was unexpected. There are 100,000 […]

Afghanistan

Gates: Winding down the Wars

Juan Cole

Outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley on Sunday, and he sees a diminished American superpower on the horizon. Gates foresaw the winding down of the Afghanistan War, a slow grinding ultimate victory for NATO in Libya, fairly deep cuts in the war department budget on […]

Afghanistan

Time to Begin Leaving Afghanistan

Juan Cole

Memorial Day, in my view, should be a time of reflection not only on the sacrifices made for the nation in war but on whether our wars are necessary and whether they are being fought in the right way. The Iraqi people and the parliament want the US out of Iraq, and the US public […]

Afghanistan

Congress: Yankee Come Home; Iraq, Pakistan: Yankee Go Home

Juan Cole

Between 70,000 and 100,000 members of the Sadrist Shiite political bloc rallied in Baghdad on Thursday, demanding that the some 47,000 US troops still in Iraq leave altogether. Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr says that if the troops remain, he will reactivate his Mahdi Army militia. It is a powerful threat. But in some ways, his […]

Afghanistan

12 Killed in Big Anti-NATO Demonstration in Afghanistan

Juan Cole

The LAT reports that a night-time raid by NATO forces that left 4 dead provoked a big demonstration in Taloqan in northern Afghanistan, the repression of which killed 12 and wounded 70. Taloqan is the capital of Takhar Province, population about 200,000 and people of Uzbek ethnicity are the single largest group. The area was […]

Afghanistan

Taliban, al-Qaeda Flee N. Afghanistan as Morale Collapses with al-Qaeda admission of Bin Laden’s Death

Juan Cole

While Usamah Bin Laden’s passing will not destroy al-Qaeda altogether, it is a horrible blow to their morale, despite the bravado in al-Qaeda’s message acknowledging Bin Laden’s death at American hands. (By the way, for those who insisted that President Obama had to release the photos of Bin Laden’s corpse for the reality of his […]