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Afghanistan



  • It's Wrong for Biden to Punish Afghans for 9/11

    by H.A. Hellyer and Farid Senzai

    It's unconscionable to punish ordinary Afghans, who were themselves victimized by the Taliban, by seizing frozen bank funds as restitution to the families of 9/11 victims. 



  • Never Having to Say You're Sorry

    by Karen J. Greenberg

    Numerous players with large and small roles in creating the expansive War on Terror have issued mea culpas; the major architects and the interests who profit from war have not. 



  • Abandoning Afghans From the Start

    by Christian G. Appy

    The Washington Post's Afganistan Papers present an opportunity to avoid the mistake of blaming military defeat on bad judgment and focus on the inherent problem of America's imperial ambitions, says historian Christian Appy.



  • Why Didn't We Leave Afghanistan Before Now?

    by Carter Malkasian

    Above all other considerations, America's interminable military presence in Afghanistan was driven by politicians' fears of blame for a future terrorist attack. 



  • After Afghanistan: Will Peace Get a Chance?

    by William Astore

    "Here’s the rest of my message to my fellow citizens. Stop rewarding the Pentagon and its failed generals and admirals with yet more money."



  • The Winner in Afghanistan? China

    by Alfred McCoy

    While the similarities between the American exits from Vietnam and Afghanistan are superficially obvious, the differences are more significant, and signal a steep decline in America's ability to influence world affairs. 



  • The Decline and Fall of the Roman… Whoops!… American Empire

    by Tom Engelhardt

    A hubristic choice to refuse a negotiated surrender from the Afghan Taliban in favor of establishing American military supremacy now haunts both nations as the costs of war undo domestic "nation building" in the US. 



  • The New Era of American Power

    by Adam Tooze

    The dominant position of American financial interests and the still-escalating Pentagon budget, focusing on technological dominance over China, mean that it's too soon to celebrate the end of American interventionism abroad. 



  • Comparative Reflections on the Fall of Kabul

    by Ben Kiernan

    In their rush to compare the fall of Kabul to the 1975 victory of the Vietnamese communists, observers neglect the more relevant comparison between the Taliban and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. 



  • How Previous Presidents have Ended American Wars

    With the U.S.'s longest war coming to an end, Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, to look back at how other U.S. presidents have handled ending conflicts.


  • Words of Warning: Many Opposed the Afghanistan Invasion in 2001

    by John Bodnar

    "Today Americans worry over the humanitarian crisis at the Kabul airport.  But they mostly forget the one that transpired over a period of two decades and led to the death of some 150,000 Afghans in a war to eliminate evil from the world."