Cut Wasteful Pentagon Spending, Starting with the War Budget
The announcement that half of the U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan will come home in the next year has been met with some criticism. Kimberly and Fred Kagan, noted proponents of extending the...
View ArticleAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Reported Drop in Taliban Attacks Proves Incorrect
The International Security Assistance Force is correcting a data error that showed a 7 percent drop in Taliban attacks over the past year. The number of attacks did not decline, officials said. The...
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Afghanistan War Distracting from Real Security Issues
The automatic budget cuts known as sequester went into effect last Friday. While it is still unclear how the cuts will be implemented, some defense programs are clearly at risk, and many federal...
View ArticleAfghanistan Weekly Reader: General Calls for 20,000 Troops to Stay in...
With post-2014 troop levels still undecided, the top American commander in Afghanistan recommends a force of 20,000, including 13,600 U.S. troops. Also this week, USAID’s decision to abandon a $266...
View ArticleAfghanistan Reconstruction and Lessons Not Learned from Iraq
The U.S. government watchdog that oversees reconstruction efforts in Iraq closed its doors last week. The final report from the Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction has a damning conclusion: the...
View ArticleAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Hagel Trip Highlights Afghanistan Woes
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s trip to Afghanistan was marred by insurgent attacks and the cancellation of a joint press conference due to an unspecified security threat in Afghanistan’s capital city....
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Afghanistan War Costs to Continue for Decades
U.S. combat troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan in 2014, but for U.S. taxpayers, the war won’t be over. Even after the troops come home, war costs will continue. One of the big drivers of future...
View ArticleAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Afghanistan Debates, Costs Continue
U.S. and Afghan officials reached a deal over the presence of U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan’s Wardak province this week, though other disputes continue. Senate Armed Services Chair Carl...
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Growing Support for Ending Afghanistan War
Last week, Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for a swift end to the war in Afghanistan in a letter to the president.“We urge you to heed the wishes of the...
View ArticleAfghanistan Study Group: U.S., Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Efforts Founder
Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to Afghanistan this week indicated an improvement in the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship. But tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan is rising, according to media...
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