Latest in Afghanistan
In testimony before the House, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction offered a sobering portrait of the challenges confronting U.S. reconstruction efforts, and called for more vigorous and proactive congressional oversight of those efforts.
What explains the general lack of interest in the Afghanistan Papers? Why didn’t this trove of declassified documents catch fire like the Pentagon Papers during Vietnam?
On Jan. 15, 2019, at 10:00 a.m., the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing titled “U.S. Lessons Learned in Afghanistan.” The Committee will hear testimony from Mr. John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The livestream is available here and below.
In our last episode of 2019, Dana, Jamil and Lester welcome special guest Elisa Catalano, former Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council and former Senior Policy Advisor at the State Department, to the podcast.
The Post's claim that successive administrations deliberately lied to the American people goes too far.
Afghan intelligence officials reportedly captured a deputy leader of the Islamic State-Khorasan (the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, also referred to as ISK) near the city of Herat in September. Herat is more than 1,000 kilometers west of ISK’s stronghold in Nangarhar province, and much of Herat province and the surrounding region is contested by the Taliban.
Editor’s Note: Afghanistan is America’s longest war, and recent attempts to negotiate an end with the Taliban appear to have failed, at least for now. Many Americans are asking whether it is worth staying in Afghanistan as the war drags on. Carter Malkasian, one of America’s premier Afghanistan experts, examines the most important argument for staying—that Afghanistan might again be a haven for anti-American terrorist groups—and from there raises questions that should guide policymakers considering a withdrawal.
Daniel Byman
Editor’s Note: To the surprise of many observers, the al-Qaeda core under Ayman al-Zawahiri has not launched a major terrorist attack in the West for years, and the rise of the Islamic State seemed to signal the group’s further decline. Asfandyar Mir of Stanford argues that this lack of focus is a mistake. He contends that al-Qaeda remains resilient and that the group continues to pose a major terrorism threat.
Daniel Byman
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Editor’s Note: Americans are weary of the war in Afghanistan, and peace talks between the United States and the Taliban are raising hopes that this forever war might finally end. Jessie Durrett, a graduate student at Princeton University, argues that the current structure of negotiations is a mistake. She contends the Taliban are not likely to make good on many promises, and excluding the Afghan government further weakens a key U.S. partner.
Daniel Byman
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On Friday, a panel of three International Criminal Court judges rejected the request of the court's Prosecutor to investigate "the situation" in Afghanistan, including alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. military and CIA.