- Social:
Afghanistan Analysts Network
Kate Clark is a senior analyst at the Afghanistan Analysts Network. She was the BBC's Kabul correspondent in 1999 and the only western journalist based in the country at the time.
PROFILE
Kate Clark
Guest
FROM Kate Clark
To the Point
President Trump and America's 'forever war' In the past, President Trump has called the War in Afghanistan "a disaster," and — like Barack Obama before him — he told primary rallies that he'd pull out at last. In his first prime time speech to the nation last night, he reversed last year's campaign pledges and conceded that he's learned a lesson. He endorsed a slight change from Obama Administration policies with a modest increase in US troop strength. He took ownership of America's longest war with the promise that "we will win" -- without saying what that would mean or how it might happen. We hear what he said — and what he left out — in his first prime-time speech to the nation.
To the Point
Is the US fighting a permanent war in Afghanistan? Sixteen years after September 11th, the Trump Administration is divided over America's longest war. Since the peak of 100,000 American soldiers their number is now just 8500 soldiers — at a cost of $3.1 billion a month. Now the Pentagon wants to send 5000 more. But the Trump White House is divided . Advocates of continued US involvement say it's all about the Taliban gaining strength and even more extreme groups now involved in the country. Skeptics point to massive financial corruption and ask if there's any plan for ending a conflict that's killed and wounded so many American soldiers for so long.
Recommended
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Left, Right & Center
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.