Threats

Taliban Could Lose Power Amid Governance Struggles, Experts Say

The Afghan people could rise up if food shortages, access to medical care and unemployment worsen without international help.

Threats

Almost Hijacked? Officials Dispute Scare Amid Ongoing Afghanistan Evac

While the chaos at HKIA is over, the effort to evacuate Afghans is not. Here’s how the U.S. is still getting people out.

Ideas

Keep Your Eyes on Afghanistan’s ISIS-K

The Taliban’s victory was local. ISIS still wants the world.

Threats

Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan Is Inspiring Americans Online, FBI Says

“That’s where they see this rallying cry and their opportunity. Now it’s ‘time to buy a gun, run people over with a car,’ do whatever they’re going to do,” an FBI official said Tuesday.

Policy

The Forever War is Over. Its 2001 Authorization Lives On.

Pentagon says “over the horizon” strikes in Afghanistan will be conducted under the AUMF passed two decades ago.

Policy

One Senator’s Plan to Cut Through the Politics and Get Answers on Afghanistan

Sen. Tammy Duckworth says a nonpartisan commission could compile lessons without the “political theater.”

Policy

Austin, Milley Say White House Was Advised to Keep US Troops in Afghanistan

The Afghanistan evacuation that resulted was “a logistical success but a strategic failure,” Milley said.

Threats

‘Horrible Mistake’: Pentagon Admits Drone Strike Killed Children, Not Terrorists

After just eight hours of surveillance and a tip about a “white Toyota Corolla,” the U.S. fired a Hellfire missile on Aug. 29 at the wrong target.

Ideas

The Taliban PR Campaign Has Not Ended, But Transformed

Messages of liberation and inclusiveness have given way to ones that serve the consolidatation of power.

Business

Five Ways 9/11 Changed the Defense Industry

More outsourcing, more services contracts, more generals on corporate boards—and that's just for starters.

Policy

Congress’ Afghanistan Oversight Marred By Politics

Lawmakers overwhelmingly postured instead of asking America’s top diplomat real questions.

Policy

Will Congress Ever Repeal Its Post-9/11 War Authorizations?

The passage of two decades since the Sept. 11 terror attacks might be a “wake-up call” for lawmakers.

Science & Tech

How Equipment Left In Afghanistan Will Expose US Secrets

Even rendered inoperable, equipment now in the hands of the Taliban will yield troves of information about how the U.S. builds weapons and uses them.

Ideas

Between Then and Now, They Did Not Die in Vain

I was among the first to parachute into Afghanistan in 2001. This is how I will remember the war.

Threats

Army Chief Calls for Afghanistan Review: ‘Let the Cards Fall Where They Fall’

McConville says lessons must be learned because “terrorism is not going away.”

Ideas

Seven Movies Worth Watching About 9/11

Some of these films are fictional. Others are inspired by, or based on, actual events. Each tries to provide insight into what the events of that day unleashed.