by Ben Barber | 28 May 2020 | Asia, Eyewitness, Islam, Nationalism, Terrorism
I was in Afghanistan when mujahideen guerrillas fought Soviet invaders. Three decades later, security remains precarious and peace a distant dream. Men walking from the Pakistan border into Afghan territory abandoned by Soviet-backed Afghan forces in 1988 (All photos...
by Jim Wolf | 19 Dec 2019 | Asia, United States
The stark missteps recorded in the Afghanistan Papers recalled an historic about-face by an architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam. He was Robert McNamara, the Defense secretary who played a key role in escalating the conflict, only to end up wrestling with his...
by Jim Wolf | 19 Dec 2019 | Americas, Asia, Donald Trump, Islam, United States
The U.S. sends troops far from home on an ill-defined mission. Leaders lie. The conflict becomes a quagmire. That’s Afghanistan — or Vietnam redux. Family members of a U.S. soldier who died in Afghanistan look up as military helicopters fly over graveside...
by Ben Barber | 27 Sep 2019 | Americas, Asia, Globalization, Middle East, Nationalism
When the Cold War ended, many thought international relations had entered a new era. Now, resurgent nationalism is fanning old animosities. Indian Hindu nationalists at a training camp in Ahmadabad, India, 1 June 2019 (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) After the collapse of the...
by Atiq Rahimi | 19 Aug 2019 | Asia, Eyewitness, Youth Voices
In Afghanistan, people love to express themselves on their cars. The messages range from the personal to political to philosophical. In Afghanistan, people love to write messages on their cars. Messages about all sorts of things — love, politics, philosophy, you...