Michael Hughes: Tehran is looking forward to enhancing trade ties with Afghanistan in the coming months once a railway project connecting the two countries is finalized. However, although the United States has refrained from interfering in the development of this endeavor, Washington may take action to ensure anti-Iranian sanctions are effectively isolating Tehran as tensions continue
The National Interest: It’s well past time to let Afghans decide Afghanistan’s future without foreign “assistance.” During the early days after the 9/11 attacks and the initiation of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, it was relatively common to reference the woeful Soviet experience in that country. Here was a clear paradigm of what not to do
Michael Hughes: The Washington Post’s Afghanistan Papers was met with deafening silence because most astute observers already knew the U.S. military had painted a false picture of the war, not to mention the fact the document dump was released to an indifferent American public. That said, the documents still shine a bright light on the incompetence and
Salon: If it disturbs us that the U.S. public was misled, shouldn’t we be even more disturbed by the way that the Afghans themselves were lied to? If the lies to the U.S. public are disturbing, wouldn’t the ones to Afghans be even more so? And, how is it that the cost to the U.S.
Michael Hughes: President Donald Trump during a visit to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving Day surprised the world by announcing that the United States had resumed talks with the Taliban and surprised the Taliban by suggesting that the implementation of a ceasefire was on the negotiating table. Shortly after Trump’s announcement the Taliban underscored that their stance has
Michael Hughes: It is quite baffling to continually hear American military leaders say U.S. troops must remain in Afghanistan to ensure the country will never again be used as a terrorist launching pad given that it is already is. For, despite years of airstrikes and counter-terror operations, the local franchise known as the Islamic State Khorasan
Michael Hughes: It is impossible to decipher the true motives that drove Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani to suddenly resign from his post although his allegiance to CEO Abdullah Abdullah, President Ashraf Ghani’s primary electoral opponent, is likely a factor. However, there are also other reasons to be considered including the reality that he was
Foreign Affairs: Iran wants to see stability in Afghanistan. The Soviet occupation and subsequent instability sent an estimated three million Afghan refugees into Iran, where their presence strained resources and public services in many towns and cities across the country. Moreover, Tehran fears that Saudi Arabia will exploit volatility in Afghanistan to cultivate proxies on Iran’s eastern flank. Click
Michael Hughes: A potential scandal involving a foundation Afghan President Ashraf Ghani established in the United States could affect voter sentiment during the likely presidential run-off. However, many questions remain open to determine whether the allegations amount to true corruption or run-of-the-mill conflict of interests. On Sunday, October 13, Tolo News reported that The Institute for
Foreign Policy: Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Afghan peace process, closing off for the time being a rare opening to resolve a long, stagnant, and unpopular war. Whatever one thinks of the specifics of the deal that the U.S. representative at the talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, had nearly finalized with the Taliban,