Taliban

By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – More, more, more. I was guilty of it myself. Commanding a small cavalry troop of about 85 soldiers in southwest Kandahar Province back in 2011, I certainly wanted and requested more: more troopers, more Special Forces advisers, more Afghan police, more air support, more supplies, more […]

Afghanistan

Taliban Attackers Kill at Least 140 Soldiers at Afghan Base: Officials

contributors

TeleSur | – – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited the base on Saturday, and in a statement condemned the attack as “cowardly” and the work of “infidels.” At least 140 Afghan soldiers were killed by Taliban attackers apparently disguised in military uniforms, officials said on Saturday, in what would be the deadliest attack ever on […]

Afghanistan

“Dear Nasemi: ‘I’m Sorry.'” (ICE doesn’t Keep out Afghan-American Coffins)

contributors

By Jonathan S. Addleton | (Informed Comment) | – – Dear Nasemi – I’m sorry. It is hard to believe that it was almost four years ago that we walked together along a dusty Zabul road in southern Afghanistan. I was a few yards ahead of you when we heard the first of two explosions, […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: We Lost a long Time Ago, and are Still at War

Juan Cole

William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – America’s war in Afghanistan is now in its 16th year, the longest foreign war in our history. The phrase “no end in sight” barely covers the situation. Prospects of victory — if victory is defined as eliminating that country as a haven for Islamist terrorists […]

Afghanistan

The Misuse of American Military Power and Mideast Chaos

contributors

By Danny Sjursen | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – The United States has already lost — its war for the Middle East, that is. Having taken my own crack at combat soldiering in both Iraq and Afghanistan, that couldn’t be clearer to me. Unfortunately, it’s evidently still not clear in Washington. Bush’s neo-imperial triumphalism failed. Obama’s […]

Afghanistan

Afghan Women Take Up Arms Against The Taliban

contributors

By RFE/RL’s Afghan Service The leader of a fledgling women’s militia in northern Afghanistan says dozens of volunteers have joined the fight since a handful of women recently took up arms to rebuff a Taliban attack on their community. Women in the district of Darz-Aab, in Jowzjan Province, initially fought alongside local forces to prevent […]

Afghanistan

What did we buy with the $5 Trillion that the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars have cost us?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A Boston U. political scientist estimates that as of 2016, The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have cost the American taxpayers $5 trillion. That number isn’t important when we consider the human cost– Some 7,000 US troops dead, 52,000 wounded in action; hundreds of thousands of Iraqis […]

Afghanistan

US still in Conventional War in Afghanistan via . . . Drones?

contributors

By Jack Serle | ( Bureau of Investigative Journalism) | – – US drones hit Taliban more than terrorist networks despite end of Afghan war The majority of US airstrikes in Afghanistan in 2016 have been in support of ground troops including Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, rather than targeting suspected terrorists. An investigation by […]

Afghanistan

The Taliban Threat to Northern Afghanistan

contributors

By Bruce Pannier | ( RFE/RL) The security problems in northwest Afghanistan continue despite several trips to the region by Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former general who comes from the region. Dostum has led at last four offensives against militants there since the summer of 2015, but when he leaves the militants […]