Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera Arabic reports that ISIL-K (the so-called “Islamic state group” of Iraq and the Levant in Khorasan) claimed responsibility for the horrific bombings in Kabul on Thursday near Baron Hotel and at Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport. According to AP, the bombings killed 60 Afghans and wounded […]
Perfect Storm: Hunger stalks 14 mn Afghans, 2 mn Children, from Taliban, War, climate-driven Drought, and Covid
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) announced a few days ago that 14 million people in Afghanistan are at risk of acute food insecurity in a matter of weeks. That is about a third of the population. It is up from 11 million last spring, when the WFP and […]
Biden tells G-7 he accepts Aug. 31 Kabul Airport Deadline as Taliban, fearing Flight of Capital and Skills, Forbid Evacuations Thereafter
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Taliban have further foreclosed U.S. options in the current effort to evacuate any remaining Americans and eligible Afghans from the country. President Biden said Tuesday that he was accepting the August 31 deadline laid down by the fundamentalist group for the US to be out of the Kabul Airport […]
Former Leaders, Women, Plead with Taliban for Inclusive Afghanistan Government
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The privately owned Afghanistan news service Tolo reports that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid affirmed that the movement intends to form a new government quickly. On Monday, the Taliban Politburo met with former co-president Abdullah Abdullah, former president Hamid Karzai, and former prime minister Gulbadin Hikmatyar. Abdullah Abdullah described the meeting […]
Climate Emergency v. Afghanistan: Why do TV Cable News, Pols ignore the greatest Terror Threat to the US in History?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – American cable TV news has been on an Afghanistan jag since the Taliban rapidly advanced in the country, with wall to wall coverage and expressions of dismay and umbrage directed at President Biden not just on Fox but also CNN and even MSNBC. Afghanistan is an important story, to be […]
What Future Awaits Afghanistan? Arirang interview with Juan Cole, Experts (Video)
Arirang Interview with Juan Cole and other Experts: Islamic militant group Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan on August 15th. As soon as the U.S. withdrew its troops from the country, the Taliban swept the nation and reclaimed the Afghan government for the first time in twenty years. President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly fled the […]
Juan Cole Explains How The #Taliban Returned To Power In #Afghanistan So Quickly (David Feldman Video)
Professor Juan Cole explains the rise of the Taliban and the rapid fall of the American supported Afghanistan government in this conversation with Professor Adnan Husain. Professor Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan as well as the editor of Informed Comment (juancole.com). Professor Adnan Husain is […]
Top 6 Ways Trump forced Abrupt US Departure from Afghanistan; and that Time Trump said Taliban would take over War on Terror
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. in December, 2018, Trump ordered that half of the then 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan be brought out. The decision so angered then Secretary of Defense James Mattis that he abruptly resigned his position. Then Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Joseph Dunford said he had not recommended […]
Biden: After Trump-Taliban Treaty, Draw-down, Staying in Afghanistan would have Required a New War
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden on Friday gave some further insight into his decision to leave Afghanistan, and refuted some of his critics’ talking points concisely and convincingly. Let me back up and explain that the Military-Industrial Complex spokespersons, like Gen. (ret’d) David Petraeus, criticized Biden for being unwilling to stay in […]