Ideas
How Would Reagan’s Defense Secretary View the New Afghanistan Strategy?
Caspar Weinberger’s six principles for using military force are a useful lens on Trump’s newish path in Southwest Asia.
Threats
How Many US Troops in Afghanistan? Pentagon Changes How It Counts Them
A new accounting method ups the official total in Afghanistan from 8,400 to “approximately” 11,000.
Threats
How the US Can Pressure Pakistan
Can anything stop the South Asian nation’s support for militants?
Threats
Are ‘Restrictions’ Keeping Us From Winning in Afghanistan?
An Army intelligence expert and retired special forces warrior lay out what red tape the President should cut in Afghanistan.
Ideas
Trump’s Path to Indefinite Afghan War
President Trump’s much-anticipated Afghan policy rightly avoids troop withdrawal timelines but offers little prospect for progress against the durable Taliban.
Ideas
When Will Enough Be Enough in Afghanistan?
At some point, a president might have to acknowledge to the military: We fought hard, but we have other, greater priorities elsewhere.
Policy
Tell Me What an Afghanistan 'Win' Looks Like
Campaign-trail rhetoric aside, his inability to define victory was the most troubling part of his speech.
Policy
Full Transcript: Donald Trump Announces His Afghanistan Policy
“No place is beyond the reach of American might and American arms.”
Threats
Will Anyone Care About Trump's Barely-Different Afghanistan War Plan?
Pull out. Stay in. Double down. It’s the military’s war until elected officials make it America’s war. And Americans won’t care by Wednesday, anyway.
Ideas
America Needs to Stay in Afghanistan
'U.S. Afghan policy for 15 years has not been nation-building, but exit-seeking.'
Ideas
It's Time To Make Afghanistan Someone Else's Problem
A full withdrawal of U.S. forces will force Iran, Russia, and others, to step up.
Policy
Are Mercenaries Really a Cheaper Way of War?
The founder of Blackwater says privatizing the 16-year war could save taxpayer money. History, both recent and farther back, suggests a different outcome.
Ideas
'Dunkirk' Should Remind Us What Wars Are Like (And That We’re Still Fighting Them)
After our veterans screened the movie's powerful and familiar portrayals of combat, we think Americans should be talking more about our endless presence in Afghanistan and the multi-front war against ISIS.
Ideas
A Mercenary-Led Surge Won’t Solve Afghanistan
Private military contractors have spotted an opportunity as America’s longest war grinds on.
Ideas
Educating Afghanistan's Youth Is the Only True Solution to Terrorism
Widespread illiteracy undercuts not only security, but also development projects that could help lift the country out of 16 years of war.
Ideas
Mattis’s Afghanistan War Plan: Be Patient, Convince Everyone
Roll back the Taliban. Tackle ISIS. Win over Washington. Build Afghan forces. Seek support from the American public. Sound familiar?
Policy
The Biggest Bills for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Are Yet to Come
Benefits for World War I veterans didn’t peak until 1969. Here’s a way to keep 21st-century vets’ expenses from eating the U.S. budget.
Ideas
The Longest War Fades Even at NATO
Cameras focused on Trump, but war commanders in Afghanistan wanted more troops from NATO, not promises.
Threats
NATO Laying Groundwork to Send More Troops To Iraq, Afghanistan
The bump could come with more alliance responsibility for fighting ISIS in Iraq.
Ideas