What Obama Considers Diplomacy, the Taliban Considers Defeat

By Ahmad Majidyar November 7, 2011

As the Obama administration speeds up the drawdown in troops and rushes for the exit from Afghanistan, the Taliban has begun to celebrate the American withdrawal as a victory, and ...

The Taliban Mark Ten Years of War with the U.S.

By Ahmad Majidyar October 10, 2011

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Afghanistan war, President Obama said on Friday that the United States was “responsibly ending” the war in Afghanistan. “We’ve pushed the Taliban out ...

What Does Rabbani’s Assassination Mean?

By Ahmad Majidyar September 20, 2011

Suicide bombers on Tuesday evening assassinated Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former Afghan president and the chairman of the High Peace Council, at his residence in a high security area just 100 ...

Talking to the Taliban Has Backfired

By Ahmad Majidyar August 19, 2011

Last night, the British embassy in Kabul hosted an Iftar party on the occasion of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The guest list included senior ex-members of the Taliban ...

Pakistan Should Disband the ISI

By Ahmad Majidyar June 15, 2011

The New York Times reports that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has detained several Pakistani informants, including an army major, who assisted the CIA ahead of the May 2 raid ...

The U.S. Needs a Special Commission to Investigate Pakistan–Al-Qaeda Ties

By Ahmad Majidyar May 5, 2011

John Brennan, President Obama’s counterterrorism coordinator, told ABC television on Tuesday that Pakistan had launched an internal investigation to determine whether any individuals within the government or intelligence service (ISI) ...

Pakistan Tells Afghanistan: Expel the Americans

By Ahmad Majidyar April 28, 2011

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Pakistan’s leaders “bluntly” told Afghanistan’s president “to forget about allowing a long-term U.S. military presence in his country,” and urged him instead ...

Afghans React to the Taliban Prison Break

By Ahmad Majidyar April 27, 2011

The daring jail break in Kandahar Province on Monday that freed about 500 fighters indicates that the Taliban remains influential in the south despite setbacks they have faced, and calls ...

Afghanistan’s Too-Hasty Transition Plan

By Ahmad Majidyar April 7, 2011

On Wednesday, Pres. Barack Obama held a video conference with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and welcomed the Afghan leader’s announcement of the first seven areas to transition to Afghan forces ...

Karzai’s Reaction to the ‘Kill Team’ Photos

By Ahmad Majidyar March 31, 2011

On March 30, Afghan president Hamid Karzai strongly condemned actions of the “Kill Team,” a rogue U.S. military unit accused of deliberately murdering Afghan civilians. “I want the American people ...