Taliban

(Tomdispatch.com) – Patches, pins, medals, and badges are the visible signs of an exclusive military culture, a silent language by which soldiers and officers judge each other’s experiences, accomplishments, and general worth. In July 2001, when I first walked through the gate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point at the ripe young age […]

Afghanistan

Why did Trump’s Negotiations with the Taliban Fail?

contributors

By Hizbullah Khan | – (Informed Comment) – US President Donald Trump has decided to cancel a secret meeting at Camp David with the Taliban and called the peace talks “dead” immediately after the consensus had made on a draft deal. The Taliban has mounted violence as Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from […]

Afghanistan

Trump-Taliban Talks like those with N. Korea– a Photo Op on the Deck of the Titanic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Afghanistan government has been miffed and apprehensive for some time that the Trump administration has been talking to the Taliban in Qatar without any representation from Kabul. Government officials were therefore happy about Trump’s abrupt cancellation of what he depicted as a summit with the Taliban at Camp David […]

Afghanistan

Trump may Want out of Afghanistan, but He’s setting Stage for Global Conflict

John Feffer

Afghanistan has long been touted as the “graveyard of empires.” The British and the Soviets certainly discovered that lesson to their great regret. Perhaps future historians will judge the failure of the United States to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan over a two-decade period as a critical factor in the loss of American hegemony as […]

Afghanistan

This is how America’s Afghanistan War ends– Not with a Bang but with a Mess

Danny Sjursen

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Could Donald Trump end the Afghan war someday? I don’t know if such a possibility has been on your mind, but it’s certainly been on the mind of this retired U.S. Army major who fought in that land so long ago. And here’s the context in which I’ve been thinking about […]

Afghanistan

Afghans are Caught between US Civil Law & Taliban Sharia: How can they get Justice?

The Conversation

By Ali Wardak | – Getting justice in Afghanistan is a complicated business. Two main justice systems – state laws based on the civil law tradition and Islamic jurisprudence – combine with non-state institutions, such as traditional village jirgas (circles) or shuras (councils), to resolve local disputes and deal with offences. Tribal members in a […]

Afghanistan

Once Again Pompeo Displays Hopeless Ignorance of Sunni & Shiite, Iran and Taliban

Juan Cole

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

By Shaun TANDON | – Washington, DC (AFP) – The United States and the Taliban appear closer than ever to a peace deal, but fears are mounting that President Donald Trump could accept a quick accord that pours fuel on — rather than douses — Afghanistan’s war. Negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, a key player in George […]

Afghanistan

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

Allison Jackson

With Thomas Watkins in Washington – Kabul, Afghanistan | AFP | – The move has stunned foreign diplomats and officials trying to end the 17-year conflict with the Taliban, which already controls vast amounts of territory and is causing ‘unsustainable’ Afghan troop casualties US President Donald Trump has decided to pull about 7,000 troops from […]