Category: Afghanistan

Biden Administration Strategic Errors Led to Afghan Debacle

Commentary Credit Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) with posing the critical question during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Sept. 14 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. After declaring he was not speaking on a partisan basis and that “there is not enough lipstick in the world to put on this pig (the Afghanistan withdrawal),” Risch…


Afghanistan Watchdog to Investigate Unanswered Questions

What happened to the weapons, fuel, drones, planes, and other resources the United States provided to the now-defunct Afghanistan government? What happened to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police officers who abandoned their posts? What happened to the women and girls, and the others who supported the failed nation-building project? These are just…


EU Says It Has No Option but to Talk to Taliban

BRUSSELS—The European Union has no option but to talk to Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers and Brussels will try to coordinate with member governments to organize a diplomatic presence in Kabul, the top EU diplomat said on Tuesday. “The Afghan crisis is not over,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the European Parliament in Strasbourg….


Afghan Female Youth Soccer Players Reach Pakistan, Will Seek Asylum

LAHORE, Pakistan—Players from Afghanistan’s female youth soccer teams have arrived in Pakistan and will seek political asylum in third countries amid concern over the status of female athletes under the new Taliban regime in Kabul. Some 81 people, including female players of several youth teams, their coaches, and family members reached Pakistan through the Torkham…


Taiwan Serves as ‘Sea Fortress’ to Thwart China’s Expansion in Pacific, Taiwan Minister Says

TAIPEI, Taiwan—The self-ruled island is a “sea fortress” blocking Beijing’s expansion into the Pacific, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Sept. 15. Wu made the remarks during a keynote speech at an online symposium organized by the Washington-based nonprofit Global Taiwan Institute (GTI). The event, which focused on Taiwan-U.S. relations, was attended by U.S….


Biden Administration Details Plan to Relocate Afghan Refugees Across the Country

In a special briefing Tuesday, the Biden administration detailed its plan and efforts to relocate and settle Afghan refugees across the country in the near future. The teleconference was held by the spokesperson office of the Department of State. “The Department of State works with nine resettlement agencies and their networks of more than 200…


Taliban Seeks Mining Cooperation With South Korea, China Upset

Afghanistan’s newly ensconced Taliban regime has been looking to China for major economic support, but the Taliban’s lithium-mining invitation to South Korea has displeased the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). To keep Beijing happy, the Taliban offered it copper mining rights. Enduring 20 years of war, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world….


GOP Senators Urge Biden Administration to Designate the Taliban as a Terrorist Organization

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a military veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with a number of her Republican colleagues are urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to take into full consideration the Taliban’s violent actions since seizing complete control of Afghanistan in August and have the United States officially designate the…


Blinken Says US Doesn’t Know Who Was Killed in Kabul Drone Strike, Review Forthcoming

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that he doesn’t know at this stage whether a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, last month killed a suspected member of the ISIS-K terrorist group or an Afghan aid worker and his family. “The guy the Biden administration droned, was he an aid worker or an…


CDC Advises Against Travel to Afghanistan, Other Countries Over COVID-19

Washington—The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday warned against travel to Afghanistan, Albania, Serbia, Belize, Lithuania and four other destinations because of COVID-19 concerns. The CDC raised its travel recommendations to “Level 4: Very High” for nine destinations, telling Americans they should avoid travel to the locations. The destinations also include Grenada,…