Evening Standard (UK): Internal instability in the war-torn country is being made far worse by the unhelpful policies of its neighbours. President Trump’s three major security appointments all have a profound interest in the country, which separates them from President Obama’s. Defence Secretary James Mattis, National Security Adviser H R McMaster and Homeland Security chief John Kelly all
Al Jazeera: A resurgent Russia is making new inroads into Afghanistan, not in the way the former USSR did, but by aligning itself with some of the very extremists whose leaders were involved in the defeat of the Soviet Union’s decade-long invasion of Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Michael Hughes: Shortly after President Donald Trump drew national opprobrium for daring to suggest that the United States was not “so innocent” when it came to killing, military forces under his command – as if on cue – killed 18 noncombatants, mostly women and children, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. This latest episode of so-called collateral damage
Al Jazeera: Kabul has joined Moscow, Tel Aviv and a few other capitals in welcoming Donald Trump’s presidential administration. Although Trump has not yet elaborated on his policy towards Afghanistan, his harsh and blunt criticisms of Washington’s ills, of the opportunistic and duplicitous US allies and of the US’ failure to win wars resonate with many
DW: Hekmatyar’s chief negotiator, Amin Karim, told the Associated Press news agency that the warlord would return to the Afghan capital, Kabul, in “a matter of weeks, not months.” He is believed to be currently hiding in the eastern Kunar province, where he enjoys popular support. “More fighting will result in more bloodshed, and that is
Michael Hughes: Former President Barack Obama left behind for his predecessor a covert extrajudicial drone targeting program that affords the executive unchecked power to employ American military force anywhere in the world with little to no accountability or congressional oversight. The type of program that secretly makes Dick Cheney jealous. In other words, Obama left the
Afghanistan Analysts Network: As in most years, the feeling in January 2017 is that this will be another crucial year for Afghanistan. The AAN team has identified several key themes that we think it important to follow this year. They range from crises in the Afghan government and how changes in global politics, particularly the change
Aimal Faizi: For Afghanistan and the Afghans, Mr. Obama was a President of contradiction whose Afghan policy proved markedly disastrous. He wrongly believed that he would win the War on Terror militarily and by appeasing the military establishment in Pakistan. His successor, Donald Trump, should change course in Afghanistan. For Mr. Trump’s administration, it is imperative
Al Arabiya: In order to implement its long-term strategy in Afghanistan, Iran has increased its military support to Taliban and at the same time, counts on its own militia proxy, the Fatemiyoun Division which is made up of Afghan Shiites which was founded by Revolutionary Guards in 2013 to fight in Syria. This battle-experienced force is
Michael Hughes: The Pentagon announced on January 12 that 300 U.S. marines will return to Helmand province in a final reminder of President Barack Obama’s inability to make progress towards ending the so-called “good war” in Afghanistan. The current situation, however, is not surprising given Obama’s military and nation-building policies were designed to fail, driven as