Joe Biden Will Have to Address the War in Afghanistan—Again

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The New Yorker, 20 January 2021

On the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration as president of the United States, Steve Coll looks at what he might do in Afghanistan. Assessing the war in the wake of the US’ deal with the Taleban, signed on 29 February 2020, Coll quotes AAN’s Kate Clark at length:

Since last February, it has become evident how the U.S.-Taliban deal “has tipped the balance of power in the conflict in the Taliban’s favor,” Kate Clark, a former BBC journalist who co-directs the independent Afghan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based research organization, wrote late last year. By removing U.S. troops from the battlefield and providing for the release of five thousand Taliban prisoners, among other things, Clark noted, the deal has “sharpened the Taliban’s military edge and heightened their confidence.” She added, “There is little sign that this particular peace process has blunted the Taliban’s eagerness, in any way, to pursue war.”

The quote is taken from the AAN report “Behind the Statistics: Drop in civilian casualties masks increased Taleban violence”, published on 27 October 2020.