- O’Hanlon: Afghan problem not just more US troops
- Michael O’Hanlon: The Asia-Pacific Rebalance and beyond
- Trump admin split on adding more troops to Afghanistan
By Michael O'Hanlon, The National Interest: “President Trump made clear in Sunday’s Riyadh speech that America stands by countries willing to fight Islamist extremism. A welcome opportunity to revisit our relationship with two ostensible allies, Turkey and Qatar.”
In the dark of night and amid a criminal investigation into rape accusations against him, Afghanistan’s embattled vice president, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, left for Turkey on Friday in what Afghan and Western officials suggested could be another long exile for the former warlord. – New York Times
When the fugitive warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned home to a lavish official welcome last month, abandoning his 16-year insurgency and forgiven for a history of wartime abuses, he was expected to quickly take up the cause of peace and set a conciliatory example for Taliban insurgents. Instead, the fiery Islamist leader has landed like a bombshell in the roiling world of Afghan politics, publicly insulting President Ashraf Ghani, reneging on a pledge to disarm several thousand loyal fighters, and leaving the stunned capital wondering if inviting him back was a huge mistake. – Washington Post