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Pashtun Paradise:
How Years of a U.S.-Led War in Afghanistan Helped Its Adversary Succeed
Americans tend to think of all their wars in a simplified way in which wars have definite beginnings and ends and in which good guys are clearly distinguishable from the bad.
- Paul R. Pillar
- The National Interest
The model was a poor fit for the long and messy Afghanistan conflict.
It appears that the U.S. military expedition in Afghanistan, begun in the autumn of 2001, may finally be coming to an end.
Significant hurdles still have to be overcome, involving among other things the Taliban having to meet a vague standard of reducing, though not ceasing, their military operations.
But a conclusion to direct American involvement in the Afghan war does seem closer than…