Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 31, 2021 By Raghav Sharma The current period in Afghanistan has drawn comparisons to the 1990s in the country. As the United States withdraws its remaining troops, the Afghan political elite continues to fracture, and the government loses territory to a Taliban bent on challenging the legitimacy of the republic, India
The American Conservative: To his credit, President Joe Biden decided to pull American troops out of Afghanistan by September. However, they aren’t out yet. And President Donald Trump’s struggle against his own staff and the military brass demonstrates the power of Washington, D.C.’s war lobby. If there is conflict anywhere in the world, the latter
Ashraf Ghani via Foreign Affairs: President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September represents a turning point for the country and our neighbors. The Afghan government respects the decision and views it as a moment of both opportunity and risk for itself, for Afghans, for the Taliban, and
Michael Hughes: The so-called “extended” troika after talks in Doha on Friday called on the Ghani administration to enter into negotiations with the Taliban in a bid to accelerate a political solution to the conflict. However, just as the troika was releasing its statement, top Afghan government officials accused the Taliban and Pakistan of collaborating
The Guardian (UK): The longest, most pointless and unsuccessful war that Britain has fought in the past 70 years – its intervention in Afghanistan – is to end in September. I doubt anyone will notice. Nations celebrate victories, not defeats. What has the US and UK intervention achieved? The military theorist Gen Sir Rupert Smith,
Michael Hughes: U.S. President Joe Biden and his brain trust seem uncertain about if, when and how NATO forces will leave Afghanistan a month before an exit deadline that, if missed, will see American troops come under Taliban fire. To be fair, Biden faced a no-win situation in Afghanistan and deep internal contradictions within the
Michael Hughes: The Afghan state will completely collapse if international donors pull funding due to concerns over corruption, which seems to be growing by the day. Predatory Afghan officials – often in league with warlords and transnational criminal organizations – are emptying government coffers as everyone seems to have their attention turned to whether or
By Said Sabir Ibrahimi Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 13, 2021 Public opinion around the world unanimously and rightly condemned the heinous assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the hand of his own government, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in Istanbul in 2018. The United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) conducted a thorough investigation that concluded, “Mr.
Michael Hughes: U.S. State Department envoy Zalmay Khalilzad faces a daunting task – persuading the Taliban not to launch an offensive against Western troops that are likely to stay beyond the withdrawal deadline set by the Doha pact. The reboot in talks with the Taliban comes as the insurgents vow to kill any U.S. forces that