Taliban

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Washington Post reports that when US Secretary of State “Benghazi Mike” Pompeo gave his breathless news conference last Thursday to finger Iran for the oil tanker explosions in the Gulf of Oman, he indicted Iran for another act of violence at the same time. Mary Papenfus at HuffPo notes […]

Afghanistan

Trump & Taliban Close to Deal on US Withdrawal, but Risk of Free For All

AFP

Trump decided last month to pull half of the 14,000-strong force from Afghanistan

Afghanistan

With US Troop Pull-Out, Afghans Fear Return to Taliban Era

Allison Jackson

President Ghani said last month nearly 30,000 Afghan security forces had been killed since the start of 2015

Afghanistan

Parade! How Trump Redefined Victory in Afghanistan as “Attacking our Enemies”

Nick Turse

New York (Tomdispatch.com) – 4,000,000,029,057. Remember that number. It’s going to come up again later. But let’s begin with another number entirely: 145,000 — as in, 145,000 uniformed soldiers striding down Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s the number of troops who marched down that very street in May 1865 after the United States defeated the Confederate […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Taliban Advances Cast Doubt on Trump’s Double-Down Policy

AFP

By Thomas WATKINS | – Washington (AFP) – A year since President Donald Trump unveiled his strategy for Afghanistan, a fresh wave of violence and bloodshed has assailed the war-torn nation and overshadowed some small glimmers of progress. Each successful attack represents a massive setback not just for the Afghanistan government, which is pushing for […]

Afghanistan

If US Special Ops are Winning War on Terror, why have they lost 1/2 of Afghanistan?

Nick Turse

New York (Tomdispatch.com) – A U.S. drone strike in Yemen. (I could be talking about 2002 or 2018.) Missions by Green Berets in Iraq. (I could be talking about 2003 or 2018.) While so much about the War on Terror turned Global War on Terrorism turned World War IV turned the Long War turned “generational […]

Afghanistan

On Memorial Day, US Troops still Dying in Afghanistan but 1/2 the Country is Lost

Juan Cole

The Afghanistan government controls only about half of Afghanistan, 229 of 407 districts. Maybe because it is a bad news story, our Afghanistan War, the longest in our history, keeps slipping our minds, along with thoughts of the Americans still fighting there. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has issued a report […]

Pakistan

To Fight Talibanism, Pakistan finally gives Rights to People in Tribal Areas

Sajjad Tarakzai

Pakistan’s restive tribal areas may finally be allowed to enter the political mainstream

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: How a Shrine Bombing in Kabul tells us Trump’s Surge won’t Succeed

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – This year, the merriment of Now-Ruz in Kabul was marred by a suicide bombing that killed at least 33 persons and wounded 68, according to the Afghani Ministry of Health. The perpetrator was allegedly a member of ISIL (which really needs another name, since it isn’t […]