Taliban

Trump may want out of Afghanistan, but this so-called “Peace Deal” with Taliban isn’t Likely to Succeed

By Madhav Joshi | – After 18 months of negotiations, the U.S. and the Taliban signed a peace deal on Feb. 29. It is expected that the deal will provide a plan for a comprehensive Afghan peace process. The deal addresses the security of foreign troops; the Taliban’s commitments to sever ties with terrorist organizations; […]

Afghanistan

Will Trump outreach to Taliban really bring Peace, or is this another Cheap Election-Year Stunt?

The Conversation

By Niamatullah Ibrahimi | – The US has signed an historic agreement with the Taliban that sets Washington and its NATO allies on a path to withdraw their military forces from Afghanistan after more than 18 years of unceasing conflict. It is now hoped the deal will lead to a more complicated process of negotiations […]

Afghanistan

Can the US-Taliban Truce Hold, Bringing Peace to Afghanistan after 40 Years of War?

The Conversation

By Elizabeth B. Hessami | – If a seven-day truce between the United States and the Taliban holds until Feb. 28, 2020, Afghanistan’s decades-long conflict may finally end. A peace deal could be signed as soon as Feb. 29, according to the State Department. The draft accord follows months of stop-and-go negotiations between the United […]

Afghanistan

The Global War of Error: and No, that is not a Typo

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com) – Yes, our infrastructure stinks, our schools are failing, this country’s a nightmare of inequality, and there’s a self-promoting madman in the White House, so isn’t it time to take pride in the rare institutional victories America has had in this century? Arguably, none has been more striking than the triumphal success of […]

Afghanistan

Trump threatens Armageddon on yet Another Country: Crimes against Humanity in Afghanistan

Nick Turse

(Tomdispatch.com) – On February 4, 2002, a Predator drone circled over Afghanistan’s Paktia province, near the city of Khost. Below was al-Qaeda’s founder Osama bin Laden — or at least someone in the CIA thought so — and he was marked for death. As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld put it later, both awkwardly and […]

Afghanistan

In Wake of “Afghanistan Papers” Scandal, Trump to Yank Out 4,000 Troops

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – VOA reports that Trump will pull 4,000 US troops from Afghanistan, leaving less than 9,000 in country. Of the 13,000 US troops now in Afghanistan, 8,000 are training the Afghanistan National Army, while 5,000 are actively engaged in counter-terrorism operations. Last week Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that any […]

Afghanistan

We didn’t Need the Documents: America’s Trillion $ Failure in the Afghanistan War has been Obvious All Along

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Craig Whitlock at the Washington Post brought out a blockbuster report Monday on the lies US government and military personnel have been telling the American people about the Afghanistan War since 2002. The Post also published 611 of the primary documents here. A lot of the reporting off Whitlock’s article […]

Afghanistan

Is American Exceptionalism Killing the Planet? The Many Abuses of Endless War

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com) – Ever since 2007, when I first started writing for TomDispatch, I’ve been arguing against America’s forever wars, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, or elsewhere. Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that, despite my more than 60 articles, American blood is still being spilled in war after war across the Greater Middle East and Africa, even […]

Afghanistan

Trump, who supports War Crimes, is losing War, and Wants to quit Afghanistan, Gaslights Troops in Kabul

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump showed up in Afghanistan, or rather on the US Bagram base in Afghanistan, on Thanksgiving, where he gave one of his typical Long Lies of a speech. Katie Bo Williams writes at Defense One that this year, 17 US troops have been killed and 124 wounded in action, the […]