Max BootCuenta verificada

‘A Taliban spokesman urges women to stay home because fighters haven’t been trained to respect them.’https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/world/asia/taliban-women-afghanistan.html …

Biden's gamble in #Afghanistan is predicated on the presidential projection that the Taliban feel an "existential crisis," and crave international recognition and legitimacy. There is little evidence that they do. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-23/biden-says-taliban-are-in-existential-crisis-but-whose-existence-exactly?sref=am1wYMj6 … via @bopinion

Even if Biden is right to withdraw, is this really the message he wants to send: “What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al-Qaeda gone?” he said. my column @post opinionshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/24/justifying-one-blunder-biden-may-commit-another/?tid=ss_tw …

"By asking for Putin’s blessing, Biden implicitly conceded that these three countries' affairs are decided in Moscow. And he gave the impression that he underestimates or misunderstands the kind of opportunistic antagonist Putin has decided to be."https://www.thebulwark.com/bidens-please-putin-moment/ …

A very instructive piece by General Sami Sadat, who was, I'm told by an American officer with multiple tours in Afghanistan and whose judgment I trust, one of the best generals the Afghans had.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/opinion/afghanistan-taliban-army.html?smid=tw-share …

“The US presence was doing far more than providing conditions for girls to be educated, minorities to be free of persecution, and all to live in a non-medieval state. The troops were also preventing Afghanistan from reverting to being a base for al Qaeda”https://www.thebulwark.com/nation-building-was-not-the-point/ …

The U.S. must not leave Kabul without the students from the American University of Afghanistan, Charles Lane writeshttps://wapo.st/3sKA0M6 

A nuclear-armed North Korea is a security nightmare for Washington even if the regime never uses its arsenal, and the years ahead could prove a turning point for the region. My Sept/Oct @ForeignAffairs article on how we got here and where we’re headed.https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-korea/2021-08-24/north-koreas-nuclear-family …

1. “A de facto U.S.-Taliban alliance against Islamic State extremists was outlined to me more than two years ago by Gen. Austin ‘Scott’ Miller, the last U.S. commander in Afghanistan.” - David Ignatius writes. ISIS-K has a persistent presence, but...https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/24/can-us-work-with-taliban-afghanistan-thats-central-question/ …

Read @elliotackerman on how Americans have been anesthetized to the costs of the nation’s two-decade war on terror.https://trib.al/cUEhP0A 

In 2016, J.D. Vance excoriated a candidate who played to the Republican base by scapegoating Muslims and immigrants. In 2021, he became such a candidate.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/24/jd-vance-has-become-politician-he-once-said-he-couldnt-support/ …

"I hope that what I’ve written will show people something about my songs and my life which they haven’t seen before" - @PaulMcCartneyhttps://www.nme.com/news/music/paul-mccartney-reveals-154-songs-featured-forthcoming-biography-the-lyrics-3026813 …

America might have lost its post-9/11 wars, but the SEALs won theirs — at least in their memoirs and at the movies. The reality as @David_Philipps shows in his excellent new book Alpha is a good bit uglier. My review:https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/are-the-navy-seals-actually-awful-at-their-jobs/2021/08/24/bf709610-f497-11eb-9068-bf463c8c74de_story.html?tid=ss_tw …