Australia will pull out its remaining 80 troops from Afghanistan by September, marking the end of its longest involvement in a war.
Long time there: U.S. troops maneuver around the central part of the Baghran river valley as they search for remnants of Taliban and al-Qaida forces on Feb. 24, 2003.
Aaron Favila/Pool/AP Photo
The Afghanistan War now has an end date: 9/11/21. Experts explain the history of US involvement in Afghanistan, the peace process to end that conflict and how the country’s women are uniquely at risk.
Taliban militants and Afghan civilians celebrate the signing of a peace deal with the United States on March 2.
Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)
Because the Taliban’s insurgency is so well financed, the Afghan government must spend enormous sums on war, too. A peace accord would free up funds for basic services, economic development and more.
Afghan security forces gather near the site of an attack in Jalalabad in August 2020.
AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
Pulling out roughly half the U.S. troops in Afghanistan is part of an effort to find peace, but may unbalance a precarious stalemate.
Marines at Camp Post, Afghanistan, Sept. 11, 2020, on the 19th anniversary of the terror attacks that began the U.S. war there.
Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images
Investigations of the 9/11 attacks show that a short, unstable transition between two presidents can weaken US security. Trump’s sweeping staff changes compound the risk, experts say.
University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Director of the Institute for Governance & Policy Analysis, Dr Laine Dare discuss the week in politics.
The government is setting up a special investigator office to examine the findings of the inquiry into alleged misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
President-elect Biden promises a new White House agenda and style.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Scholars of race, foreign policy and the Supreme Court give their informed predictions of what to expect under a Biden administration.
Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of the peace talks with the Afghan government, Doha, Qatar, Sept. 12, 2020.
Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images
In February, the US signed an accord with the Taliban to end the Afghanistan War. Now Taliban insurgents are meeting with the Afghan government – but peace remains an uncertain outcome.
Afghan security personnel inspect the rubble of Afghanistan’s intelligence services building after a car bomb blast claimed by the Taliban killed at least 11 people, July 13, 2020.
AFP via Getty Images
In February, the US signed an historic accord with the Taliban to end the Afghanistan War. Now violence in the country is up and peace talks with the government are delayed yet again.
There are many hurdles to a successful prosecution of individuals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. But trying to seek justice is not a futile exercise.
On Tuesday, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force tabled a report, detailing an inquiry into 55 separate incidents, dealing predominantly with the killing of “non-combatants”
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign an agreement ending the US’s 18-year war in Afghanistan, Doha, Feb. 29, 2020.
GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images
A peace deal with the Taliban has been signed. But rebuilding Afghanistan after three decades of conflict will take much more than an accord, says a scholar of peacebuilding.
A memorial procession for Sgt. James Johnston, who was killed in Afghanistan in June, passes through Trumansburg, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.
AP/David Goldman
Gordon Adams, American University School of International Service
US officials have consistently lied over decades about progress in the Afghanistan war. The lies are no surprise, writes a foreign affairs scholar – but they have profound consequences.
A market in the Old City of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 8, 2019.
AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
Building a lasting peace in Afghanistan will take much more than an accord with the Taliban. In post-conflict nations, economic development and job creation are critical to national security.
More than 32,000 civilians have been killed in the Afghanistan war between 2009 and 2018 - most of them by anti-government forces.
AAP/GHULAMULLAH HABIBI
An official inquiry is underway to examine if New Zealand troops committed war crimes in Afghanistan during an event known as Operation Burnham, when six civilians were killed.
The US, Afghanistan and Taliban are engaged in peace talks to end the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan.
Sayed Mustafa/EPA
A ceasefire and peace agreement in Afghanistan may mean that the Taliban would have to lose their “terrorist” classification and turn from despised outlaws to legitimate powerbrokers.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is seen in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in 2018.
(Bas Czerwinski/AP)
International law has deep connections to structures of power and inequality. Thankfully, committed jurists like Fatou Bensouda are fighting oppression through their unapologetic acts of resistance.