Afghanistan War Continues, 16 Years And Counting

46:27

January 31, 2018

A member of Afghan security personnel stands guard at the site of an attack at the Marshal Fahim academy in Kabul, Afghanistan Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Insurgents attacked an Afghan army unit guarding the military academy in the capital of Kabul on Monday, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

With guest host Anthony Brooks.

America’s war in Afghanistan has been raging for 16 years, and a new spate of violence could deal a blow to peace prospects there. Is there any way to win or get out?

Highlight From This Show: 'We've lost the war of the story in Afghanistan, and we can't recover.'

Guests:

Pamela Constable, Pakistan and Afghanistan bureau chief for the Washington Post. (@pamconstable1)

Johnny Walsh, senior expert on Afghanistan at the US Institute of Peace.

Thomas Johnson, professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School and the director of the program for Culture & Conflict Studies there. Author of "Taliban Narratives: The Use and Power of Stories in the Afghanistan Conflict." (@ThJohnsonNPS)

From The Reading List:

Washington Post: Afghan Peace Prospects Dim As Outrage Grows Over Taliban Violence — "President Trump’s comment on Taliban “atrocities” was followed by Afghan leaders’ calls for revenge on the battlefield."

Excerpt of Taliban Narratives:

America has been at war in Afghanistan for 16 years – and the situation on the ground is a chaotic, deadly mess. Just in this week, a string of brazen insurgent attacks killed more than a hundred people. The Afghan capital is a war zone. Western aid groups are under threat or gone. President Trump says no negotiations with the Taliban, and more American troops are on their way. This hour, On Point: Is it an unwinnable stalemate? --Anthony Brooks

This program aired on February 1, 2018.