At The Federalist, Gil Barndollar explains that America “doesn’t need an Afghanistan deal. We just need to leave.” There are now Americans eligible to fight in Afghanistan who weren’t even born on 9/11/2001. Barndollar writes (abridged): Some foreign policy officials openly want American forces to remain in Afghanistan indefinitely for a host of reasons, including […]
Potential Huge Breakthrough with the Taliban
Negotiations for a cease fire and peace process could be nearing a breakthrough as the U.S., Russia and China are preparing to put pressure on the Taliban to hold direct talks with the sitting Afghan government. Reuters reports (abridged): KABUL (Reuters) – Russia, the United States and China will this week try to press Afghanistan’s […]
Donald Trump Sides with The Realists and Restrainers
At The American Conservative, foreign policy analyst, Daniel R. DePetris, explains the negative effects of unending wars in far away places, and the insanity of continuing them. He writes (abridged): The byproducts of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, and all the rest have often been weapons proliferation and terrorism rather than the […]
Should the Afghan War Be Privatized?
President Trump seems increasingly intent on fulfilling his campaign promise to end American involvement in Afghanistan. An informal adviser to the President’s campaign, Erik Prince (founder of the security contractor formerly known as Blackwater, and current chairman of Frontier Services) has a plan that could replace U.S. government forces in Afghanistan with private security. Prince […]
Surely American Authorities are Joking on this Taliban Deal
Writing in the National Review, Jack Crowe reports on the administration’s pending cease-fire deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The U.S. has agreed to the outlines of a peace deal with the Taliban that includes the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in exchange for a guarantee that terrorist groups will not be permitted to […]
The Afghanistan War is “Another No Win Situation”
In The American Conservative, Pat Buchanan writes that the war in Afghanistan, America’s longest, “has become another no-win situation.” Now, he continues, it looks as if Pentagon war-planners are preparing to involve American forces more deeply in Ukraine. Pat writes (abridged): “It is time for this war in Afghanistan to end,” said General John Nicholson […]
Time For Afghanistan to Go Its Own Way
At The American Conservative, Robert W. Merry wonders what it will take for U.S. leaders to wake up to the reality that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are a fool’s errand? He writes (abridged): There is no hope of victory in the war against the Taliban today. Another verdict on prospects for U.S. victory […]
How Many Conflicts Can the U.S. Sustain?
Pat Buchanan, writing at The American Conservative, asks readers just how many conflicts can the United States sustain? With America heading into year 17 of the Afghanistan conflict, troops will soon be heading into war against the Taliban who weren’t even alive on September 11, 2001. Pat goes on to wonder about the many other […]
Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq: Withdraw Military and Terminate Economic Aid
The former head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit, Michael Scheuer, suggests that now, as the fighting in Syria winds down and a peace agreement in Afghanistan lies within sight, is a good time for America to pull back from the “interventionist political meddling, military invasions, and hectoring cultural incursions in the Islamic world.” He […]
What’s the Benefit of Fighting in Afghanistan?
In The American Conservative, Scott Horton writes that America’s war in Afghanistan does more to endanger Americans than it does to keep them safe. He writes (abridged): In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan and quickly smashed the Taliban government. It also killed hundreds of members of the al Qaeda group […]