Afghanistan

The Pentagon is helping State identify Afghan interpreters for evacuation

Operation Allies Refuge will start evacuating Afghan interpreters and fixers by the end of the month, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday, but it remains to be seen how many of the tens of thousands who aided U.S. troops over the past 20 years will be able to complete that …

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U.S. to begin evacuating Afghan helpers this month

U.S. officials will begin evacuating Afghan allies by the end of this month to a safe third-country while their visa applications are being processed, an administration official confirmed on Wednesday. President Joe Biden is expected to formally announce the effort, dubbed “Operation Allies Refuge,” later on Wednesday. Tracey Jacobsen, former …

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After 20 Years and $2.26 Trillion, the US has Lost Its Longest War in Afghanistan

Another lost war! Another denial! The US actually began its war on the people of Afghanistan back during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who foolishly followed the advice of his Russia-hating, rabidly anti-Communist Polish emigre National Security Director Zbigniew Brzezinski. Brzezinski, in mid-1979, successfully convinced the gullible Carter to launch …

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Top US commander exits Afghanistan amid Taliban surge

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan handed over his command at a ceremony in the capital of Kabul on Monday, as America winds down its 20-year military presence and Taliban insurgents continue to gain territory across the country. Gen. Scott Miller transfered authority to Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head …

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Will Turkey use Syrian mercenaries in Kabul?

Turkey is allegedly planning to use Syrian fighters in its proposed mission to guard and run Kabul’s airport, but this time recruitment is expected to proceed via private security firms. Turkey’s government appears to have learned little from the troubles it has faced for deploying Syrian fighters in the wars …

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Can the Afghan government draft a new constitution with the Taliban?

The country’s long journey of competing political visions begins in 1964, and right now, the future seems up for grabs. The Taliban are making rapid territorial gains in Afghanistan’s countryside while Afghan security forces coalesce around urban centers. But the only sustainable path that will bring peace is a political …

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The Forever War in Afghanistan is Far From Over

Over the last week, I have been watching the Taliban sweep across the map of northern Afghanistan, capturing places that I first visited in 2001 at the beginning of the US-backed war. Taliban fighters have seized the main bridge to Tajikistan on the Amu Darya, a river that I crossed …

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Taliban renews demand that Turkey leave Afghanistan

American and Turkish officials are still ironing out the last details on how to secure Kabul’s airport. The Taliban on Monday reiterated its demand that Turkey’s military forces leave Afghanistan along with NATO and US forces departing the country this summer. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Turkish forces would be …

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America’s Afghan War Is Over, So What About Iraq – and Iran?

At Bagram air-base, Afghan scrap merchants are already picking through the graveyard of U.S. military equipment that was until recently the headquarters of America’s 20-year occupation of their country. Afghan officials say the last U.S. forces slipped away from Bagram in the dead of night, without notice or coordination. The …

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