Politico: Seligman: Why did they collapse? We spent so long training the Afghans and then as soon as we were gone, they fell. How did that happen? McKenzie: I believe the proximate defeat mechanism was the Doha negotiations [on a peace deal]. I believe that the Afghan government began to believe we were getting ready to leave.
NPR: Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie: I will tell you, I don’t believe Afghanistan is ungovernable. I believe Afghanistan is ungovernable with the Western model that will be imposed on it. And so I think that’s sort of what draws out to me. We lost track of why we were there, and
David Robinson via The Hill: In fact, Afghanistan has little strategic significance for the United States and offers scant leverage for U.S. regional priorities. Geography alone is not sufficient reason to exaggerate its importance and there is nothing to be gained by trying to expiate national guilt for abandoning, once again, friends and partners who
Mustafa Sarwar Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 10, 2022 The head of a U.S. government watchdog says he is concerned that money sent by the United Nations to Afghanistan for humanitarian and economic aid will end up in the hands of the Taliban government. In a wide-ranging interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, John Sopko, the U.S. Special
The Dispatch: Experts and ex-Afghan government officials agree. “The moment the United States opened talks with the Taliban, it telegraphed to the average Afghan villager that we are about to leave your country and abandon it, and the guys who are going to be in charge are the ones we are talking to,” Husain Haqqani,
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 18, 2022 ISLAMABAD — An official U.S. agency report has blamed the sudden demise of Afghan security forces in August 2021 mainly on Washington’s decision to rapidly withdraw the American military, leading to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), tasked to monitor events in
The Hill: The brutality and persecution of women and girls shown by the Taliban are unmatched. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are banned from school and where women are not allowed to leave the house without a male chaperone. And so it is easy for people outside the country to
The Atlantic: America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan added moral injury to military failure. But a group of soldiers, veterans, and ordinary citizens came together to try to save Afghan lives and salvage some American honor. Click here to read more (external link).
NYT: Commandos who played a key role in helping American forces are waiting for visas in the United Arab Emirates, and are among the last of the evacuated Afghans to get a chance to reach the United States. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Biden suggested Wednesday there was nothing else that could have been done to bolster Afghan allies. “Raise your hand if you think anyone was going to be able to unify Afghanistan under one single government,” he said. “It’s been the graveyard of empires for a solid reason. It is not susceptible to unity.” Click