Category: Afghanistan War

State Department Report Blames Both Biden, Trump Admins for Bungling Afghanistan Withdrawal

The Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombings at Kabul Airport killed more than 180 people, including 13 members of the United States military, and marked an ugly end to America’s 20-year war against terror in Afghanistan. Republicans have clamored for analyses of the blundered withdrawal for nearly two years, although the GOP’s rhetorical chorus has conclusively…


The Ghazni Eight

Commentary We ran ammo bunker “missions” all the time. It was really more of a work detail. In the early days of 2003, the Afghan National Army (ANA) was still in its infancy, being stood up and mentored by the U.S. and NATO partners. Part of standing up was to stockpile equipment and ordnance for…


Afghanistan: We Gave You Our Dead, You Give Them Their Meaning

Commentary I write this today, not as an individual, but as a veteran of the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. I’ve compiled some thoughts of the community to share some of the more prescient points and the general feelings of Afghan War Vets, Wounded Warriors, Gold Star Families, and Afghans living in the United States….


Afghanistan: The Soundtrack to a War I Lost

Commentary I served in Afghanistan four times between 2005 and 2010 while assigned to various U.S. Special Operations units. During the time I spent there, and in all the years since, I felt like it was worth it, despite the loss of friends and the seemingly never-ending war, which for a long time not a…


Shedding Light on War Crimes “Keeps Democracy Healthy”: Aussie MP

Federal government MP and former soldier Andrew Hastie has defended his decision to blow the whistle on Victorian Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith, telling a court he wanted to shed light on alleged war crimes. The Assistant Minister for Defence gave evidence at the Federal Court hearing on Monday about speaking to the media about the…


Biden Calls for New Protections for Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits

President Joe Biden travelled to Texas on Tuesday to call for new measures to protect veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Burn pits were widely used on the bases and battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan as a means of disposing refuse—anything from daily trash, to tires, batteries, and plastics….


Soldiers Felt Like ‘Villains’ When Returning Home: Veteran Suicide Commission

Australian Lance Corporal Ryan Goodwin returned home from Afghanistan in 2012 with no welcome-home parade, no fanfare, and no support for the traumatic injuries he suffered. Tormented by the horrors of war and unable to seek help from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Goodwin took his own life in December 2019. Goodwin’s family told his…


Pentagon Says No Crime Committed in Airstrike That Killed Afghan Civilians

An investigation into a United States’ airstrike that killed 10 Afghan civilians has found that no war crime was committed in carrying out the attack, a top military official said Nov. 3. The probe into the Aug. 29 airstrike near the Kabul International Airport was directed by the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austen, and carried…


The Afghanistan Disaster Through Young Eyes

Commentary As a Generation Z journalist, I’m one of the few in the industry who can’t remember 9/11. Therefore, my perspective on the Afghanistan disaster differs from most voices in the media. Though I’m too young to recall the attack on the World Trade Center, I have felt its impact. Like any other American, I’ve…


Sen. McConnell on Total Withdrawal From Afghanistan: “One of the Worst Foreign Policy Decisions in American History”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to completely withdraw from Afghanistan, calling it “one of the worst foreign policy decisions” ever made in the nation’s history. “Now we are looking at the exit and over the next two days, our heroic military is doing the best they can with a…