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This week’s R&D is on the war in Afghanistan. In 2001, the United States helped the Northern Alliance overthrow Afghanistan’s Taliban regime due to the Taliban harboring 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Now, the United States is withdrawing its forces from the country and the Taliban has captured nearly a dozen of the country’s provincial capitals. International observers question whether the Afghan government can fight on its own and worry about how a restored Taliban regime will treat the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and political dissidents.
The West may want to forget about Afghanistan, but that won’t be possible. Of the many bad options Biden faced, he chose perhaps the worst. https://t.co/9jjZaUy8Zh
— World Politics Review (@WPReview) August 12, 2021
Ideally, America would not be withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan at all. Its rush for the exit has allowed the Taliban to drop the pretence of negotiations https://t.co/vTAszVNlFi
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 12, 2021
The Islamist group was in power in Afghanistan until the US led invasion in 2001https://t.co/ittpBn3iSI
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 12, 2021