Al-Qaeda and Iran: The Bond that Does Not Exist

by Nelly Lahoud As the U.S. government continues to escalate its policy towards Iran, it would be sensible to eliminate al-Qaeda’s historical ties to Iran from its list of grievances. President Trump cited these ties when, in May 2018, he… Continue Reading

It’s Time to Let Go of America’s 18-year Afghan War

by Aaron David Miller, Steven Simon, and Richard Sokolsky Reports that US and Taliban negotiators have reached a tentative framework for withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan have set the foreign policy establishment’s hair on fire. A former US ambassador described… Continue Reading

Blowback From U.S. Policy in the Greater Middle East

by Danny Sjursen He was shot in the back, the ultimate act of treachery. On September 3, a U.S Army sergeant major was killed by two Afghan police officers — the very people his unit, the new Security Force Assistance Brigade, was there to train. It was… Continue Reading

Misusing Intelligence to Sell Conflict with Iran

by Paul R. Pillar Although nobody knows exactly where Donald Trump intends to go with his campaign of seeking confrontation with Iran, his administration already has provided disconcerting parallels with the techniques an earlier U.S. administration used in selling its… Continue Reading

Osama Bin Laden’s America

by Tom Engelhardt Honestly, if there’s an afterlife, then the soul of Osama bin Laden, whose body was consigned to the waves by the U.S. Navy back in 2011, must be swimming happily with the dolphins and sharks. At the cost of… Continue Reading