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    Is Afghanistan Ready to Negotiate With the Taliban?

    After more than a year of negotiations between US and Taliban representatives in Qatar, talks have now reached a critical point. The two sides are reportedly close to signing an agreement that will pave the way for intra-Afghan dialogue and the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. However, it is not yet clear who will […] More

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    Why a Troop Drawdown in Africa Is Exactly the Wrong Approach

    On December 24, 2019, The New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is weighing proposals for a major reduction — or even a complete pullout — of US forces from West Africa. This is the first phase of reviewing deployments that could reshuffle thousands of troops worldwide in an effort to prioritize […] More

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    Is Trump Making Space Great Again?

    With a stroke of a pen, Donald Trump created an entirely new branch of the armed forces last year. It’s the first new branch of the US military since 1947. The Space Force is not exactly a new idea. It’s a revival of a Reagan-era initiative that had been set up to oversee missile defense, […] More

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    Trump’s Anti-Politics and the Assassination of Iran’s General Soleimani

    The dust has settled for the time being in the US-Iran duel. Retreating from the conflict, US President Donald Trump tweeted “all is well” in response to Iran’s retaliatory strikes on airbases in Iraq hosting US troops on January 8. Shortly after, he went back to his “go-to” deterrent of choice: sanctions. Faced with the possibility […] More

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    Donald Trump’s War Crimes Confession

    In an article with the title, “’Maybe we will, maybe we won’t,” The Independent quotes US President Donald Trump’s latest boast made in an interview with Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham: “The only troops I have are taking the oil, they are protecting the oil.” It’s Time for America to Join the ICC READ MORE […] More

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    The American Quest to Kill

    It always seems to work here in America, no matter how many times it shouldn’t work and no matter how many times the only real outcome is more dead bodies. So, this time it was Trump’s turn. Run up the flag, kick off an armed conflict, send off the troops, wipe out the “enemy” to save […] More

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    The US in the Middle East: A Triumph of the Will

    In an article published by Fair Observer, political analyst Amin Farhad provides some much-needed clarity on the ambiguous situation concerning the US military presence in the Middle East after the strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on January 3.  Although there has been a lot of chatter about the US withdrawing from the region, […] More

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    Who Stands Up for Iran Standing Down?

    At his speech on January 8 following the Iranian missile attack on Iraqi bases hosting American forces, US President Donald Trump announced, with his usual tone of self-congratulation, that “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.” The rest of […] More