Commentary on Afghanistan

The Afghan Diversion. Jill Aitoro, editor of Defense News, has penned an opinion piece about how Afghanistan caused the U.S. Department of Defense to take its eye off other pressing national security concerns. She believes that we need to re-focus our efforts back on technology and we need to regain our technological edge. Read "Afghanistan sucked the oxygen out of the room - at the worst time", Defense News, November 4, 2017.

Update on Afghanistan. Thomas Ruttig provides a good overall update on the conflict in Afghanistan. Read "Conflict Portrait: Afghanistan", PRIO Blogs, November 1, 2017.

U.S. and Pakistan - Spawned the Current Problems of Afghanistan. "Operation Cyclone" was the name given for the campaign against the Soviets in Afghanistan where the U.S. supported the Afghan Mujahadeen. Later, when the CIA and the US abandoned Afghanistan, the Pakistan ISI picked up the remnants of the Afghan resistance. Read an interesting editorial on this past history and current conflict in "The Warring Lovechildren of Cold War era", Deffan Chronicle, November 11, 2017.
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The Way Forward for Peace Talks. Abdul Rahman Rahmani is an Afghan Army aviation pilot who is currently a student at the Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. He outlines the past attempts by the Afghan government to engage in peace talks with the Taliban and offers some recommendations for future courses of action on this topic. See "A Peace Dilemma: Afghan Peace Talks Require a New Approach", Strategy Bridge, November 7, 2017.

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