Afghanistan

The Taliban have been on a relentless and sleek campaign to cast themselves as legitimate political players and peace partners in Afghanistan.

President-Elect Joe Biden will inherit a long-awaited drawdown in both countries, with American rivals waiting in the wings to fill the power vacuum.

Whether the ICC decides to investigate Venezuela could determine its future.

Sen. Rand Paul objects to part of the defense bill he says will make it harder for the president to reduce U.S. troops from the Middle East.

Wyoming Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney said Thursday that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's opposition to the bill was "inexcusable."

The alliance condemned violence "especially driven by Taliban attacks" as risking the talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

The very same members of Congress who aren't comfortable with voting to send Americans in uniform into harm's way seem more than willing to vote to keep them there.

The road to Afghan peace is ensuring that moderate political leaders in Afghanistan, the ones that have social capital with their constituencies in various parts of Afghanistan, are empowered in the peace process.

H.R. McMaster warned about potential threats to U.S. security that could arise after reducing military presence in Afghanistan early next year.

Dozens were injured in the attack on a residential area in Kabul which has been claimed by a local Islamic State group.

The Delaware senator said he was "gravely concerned" about an "abrupt" withdrawal from the countries at a think tank event in 2019.

Delaying a final U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will only increase the cost to Americans in uniform.

A spokesperson for the Taliban's political office in Qatar told Newsweek the move would be "a practical step towards ending Afghanistan's nearly 20-year war and toward the country's independence."

"It is absolutely the right thing to do and is grounded on clear fundamental military realities, and is going to help the country," Daniel L. Davis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and military expert, told Newsweek

A withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan "would be broadcast around the world as a symbol of U.S. defeat and humiliation and of victory for Islamic extremism," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday.

Newly appointed by President Trump, Christopher Miller wrote in a memo: "Now it's time to come home."

GOP senators added $69 billion for "overseas operations" as part of their $696 billion Pentagon spending bill for 2021.

"We understand the fatigue in America, but withdrawal must be measured and strategic in order to preserve the gains that Americans and Afghans have sacrificed so much for," Afghan ambassador Roya Rahmani told Newsweek.

The U.S. and Taliban signed a peace deal in February that has already seen thousands of American soldiers return home, but a full inter-Afghan agreement remains elusive.

Many Trump critics on social media have said that the president is supported by the two violent extremist groups.

On Thursday Trump surprised many by saying troops should be out by Christmas, a plan military officials described as "ridiculous."

The Doha agreement struck in February between the Taliban and the U.S. was intended to allow the drawdown of foreign forces by May 2021.

According to court documents, a VA nurse allegedly used private information to harass the wife of late retired soldier Christian H. McCoy.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the military is on track to completely withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by spring 2021.

The Taliban and the Islamic State remain adversaries, but for the United States to rely so heavily on the Taliban as a cornerstone of its counterterrorism strategy seems a risky proposition.

Results of a new national survey, which collected antibody tests from thousands of people across Afghanistan, suggested as many as 10 million could have contracted COVID-19 at some point during the outbreak.

The group's Afghan affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack on a prison in Jalalabad and said it had freed hundreds of inmates.

The Russian government has been accused of offering Taliban fighters bounties for U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan.

Pompeo said Wednesday that Russia had been supplying weapons to the Taliban for 10 years, putting American lives in danger.

One Pentagon official described Russia's behind-the-scenes Taliban ties as an "influence operation against U.S. interests," another called it "a covert support program with layers."