Month: September 2021

Corporate boards, consulting, speaking fees: How U.S. generals thrived after Afghanistan

Washington Post, 4 September 2021 An often-overlooked aspect of Afghanistan’s political economy, ‘back home’ in the States.

4 Sep 2021

As they did on the battlefield, the Taliban outlasted the U.S. at the negotiating table

Washington Post, 4 September 2021 In this analysis, looking back at the causes for the recent Afghan government meltdown, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted as saying: “For me, the mistakes were made very, very early,” as the Americans tried to find solutions that “took it out of the hands of the Afghans,” said Thomas Ruttig, […]

4 Sep 2021

Anti-Taliban under heavy assault

AFP/Daily Express, 4 September 2021 The new agency quotes from AAN’s Martine van Bijlert recent report about the anti-Taleban resistance in th Panjshir: But the conflict appears to be escalating, Martine van Bijlert, of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, warned. “Taliban forces have been massing around the entrance to the valley but have been hit in ambushes […]

4 Sep 2021

“Fehler des Westens verhalfen Taliban an die Macht”

Freie Presse, 3 September 2021 Full interview (in German) in the Chemnitz-based daily with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, looking at the reasons for the collapse of the western-bakced Afghan government, saying that the West’s mistakes were key.

3 Sep 2021

Afghans With Ties to U.S. Who Could Not Get Out Now Live in Fear

The New York Times, 3 September 2021 AAN research on the situation of new appointments in Taleban-controlled areas is quoted here: “Caretaker appointments at various levels — provincial, district, department and ministerial — have so far been drawn (almost) exclusively from the Taliban’s own ranks, with no sign of non-Taliban appointments,” the Afghanistan Analysts Network […]

3 Sep 2021

Hamid Karzai is back in the thick of Afghan politics but a long way from power

Washington Post, 3 September 2021 AAN’s Ali Adili is quoted here on the whereabouts of former president Hamed Karzai after the takeover of the Taleban in Kabul: “I’m not sure if it’s a kind of house arrest, but it shows the space for them is really shrinking,” said Ali Adili, a researcher with the Afghanistan […]

3 Sep 2021

Taliban Press Last Afghan Resistance Fighters in North

Wall Street Journal, 3 September 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted here on alleged Taleban abuses after taking power in Kabul: “There are abuses going on,” said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. “It’s not clear whether these are Taliban or they are people running around with guns and garb pretending to be […]

3 Sep 2021

The Moment in Between: After the Americans, before the new regime

Martine van Bijlert •

Monday night, Centcom Commander General Kenneth McKenzie announced the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan as complete, while the Taleban declared the country once again a “free and sovereign nation.” After the last American soldier left Afghan soil, Taleban forces giddily moved into the last part of Kabul airport that had still been in […]

1 Sep 2021