• August 16, 2021

Britain faces new questions about Afghanistan

The UK government faces mounting questions about its handling of the Afghanistan conflict, which is being labeled one of the country’s biggest foreign policy disasters since the Suez crisis of 1956. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the select committee on foreign affairs, criticized the UK for its “abject failure” on Afghanistan. Writing for The Times, Tugendhat…

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That 70’s show, getting darker

Say this for Jimmy Carter: It took him more than three years for his presidency to fully implode. At the end of 1979, we had high inflation, an energy crisis, American hostages in Iran, a geopolitical rival who despised us and thought he had the wind of history at his back, sparking dangerous adventurism (even,…

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Marines prepare to evacuate Kabul embassy

US soldiers descend from a Chinook helicopter in the village of Jegdelic, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, December 24, 2004. (Ahmad Masood / Reuters) The Pentagon is preparing for a possible evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, amid fears that the Taliban may invade the compound in the coming days, the New York Times…

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Billions of dollars later, what happened to the Afghan military?

There should have been plenty of time for US-funded military and political leaders in Afghanistan to develop a strategy to defend the country. What went wrong? Afghan army soldiers at a military training center on the outskirts of Kabul (Image: AP / Anja Niedringhaus) The fighting forces are dissolved in a heated battle. The United…

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The Afghan friends we left behind

Afghan security personnel inspect a damaged building after an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 (AP Photo / Rahmat Gul). In 2018, a 26-year-old video journalist named Abadullah Hananzai, working for the US-funded Radio Azadi of RFE / RL, was killed in a double suicide bomb attack in Kabul. The second attacker…

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Australian diplomats may return to Kabul, but Afghan aides amid the fog of war

Australia is considering reestablishing a diplomatic presence in Kabul, a disturbing indication that its hasty withdrawal was “a complete fiasco”. Foreign Minister Marise Payne (Image: AAP / Lukas Coch) Months after closing its embassy in Afghanistan, Australia is considering reestablishing its diplomatic presence, the latest move in a quiet but confused withdrawal from a country…

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John Howard Picks ScoMo Political Awareness On Afghan Aid

The latest voice calling for humanitarian visas for Afghans who assisted the ADF? A former prime minister. Former Prime Minister John Howard (Image: SBS News) Days after the last Australian troops left Afghanistan, the man who first sent them there 20 years ago says the government must grant visas to Afghans who assisted the defense…

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Joe Biden Will Not Back Down On Withdrawing From Afghanistan War Even As Taliban Violence Increases – Mother Jones

Tom Brenner / Bloomberg / Getty Let our journalists help you understand the noise: subscribe to the Mother jones daily newsletter and get a summary of important news. When Joe Biden defended the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, he was careful to point out that “no nation has unified Afghanistan.” “Empires have…

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