Taliban

(By Tom Engelhardt) Isn’t there something strangely reassuring when your eyeballs are gripped by a “mystery” on the news that has no greater meaning and yet sweeps all else away? This, of course, is the essence of the ongoing tale of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Except to the relatives of those on […]

Afghanistan

Ft. Hood & the True Cost of Iraq & Afghanistan Wars: Nearly 1 mn traumatized: PTSD by the Numbers

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Ft. Hood shooter who left 3 victims dead yesterday had been being assessed for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had served for 4 months at the tail end of the Iraq War in 2011 and suffered from anxiety and depression. A staggering 1 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have […]

Afghanistan

After Karzai: Do Afghanistan’s Presidential Elections Matter?

contributors

(By Julie Poucher Harbin for IslamiCommentary) March 19 Ashraf Ghani campaign rally in the Awden desert in northern Kunduz province, Afghanistan.Photo: Twitter feed of Habib Khan Totakhil (@HabibKhanT) Afghanistan Goes to the Polls First, the election timeline. While Karzai is due to step down – he’s limited by the constitution from seeking another term — […]

Afghanistan

Obama Plans for complete US Withdrawal from Afghanistan in December

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) America’s longest war may be over by the end of this year, and it is making Afghans and neighbors like Pakistan nervous. On Tuesday President Obama called Afghan president Hamid Karzai for the first time since last summer, saying that since Karzai had declined to sign a Bilateral Security Agreement, he had […]

Afghanistan

Taliban jump Shark, Kidnap alleged Spy Dog (Colbert Report)

Juan Cole

The Colbert Report on the Taliban Dognappers

Afghanistan

UN: Civilian drone deaths triple in Afghanistan

contributors

(By Alice K. Ross) Civilian drone deaths in Afghanistan tripled last year, according to a report by a UN agency. Forty-five civilians died in drone strikes in 2013. The report, by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), found that drone strikes accounted for at least a third of all civilian deaths in air […]

Afghanistan

Colbert: Christie Bridgegate a diversion from Obama’s Afghanistan War

Juan Cole

Stephen Colbert reports on Robert Gates’s criticisms of President Obama, noting that Gates said he though Obama made the right decisions, but was beset by second thoughts. He contrasted him to President George W. Bush in this regard. Colbert: Yes, Bush had no second thoughts. He had no first thoughts, either.

Afghanistan

Gatesgate: Why Obama was right to Distrust his Generals on Afghanistan

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Among the charges in former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s memoirs against Barack Obama is that the latter did not trust his generals, did not adopt the Afghanistan War as his own, and was skeptical of the Pentagon plan for a troop escalation and a big counter-insurgency push. It is now forgotten […]

Afghanistan

17% of Americans Support Afghanistan War: CNN (Video of the Day)

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) A CNN/ ORC International poll has found that only 17% of Americans support the war in Afghanistan. That is down from 52% in 2008. 82% of Americans are against the war. Other recent polls found that 57% of Americans think the US was wrong to go into Afghanistan in the first place, […]