An incoherent strategy doomed the 20-year US mission in Afghanistan, watchdog says as US withdraws
CNN
An incoherent strategy to rebuild Afghanistan, flush with resources but lacking cohesive leadership and a well-defined mission, doomed the 20-year US reconstruction effort that saw American taxpayers pour $145 billion into projects that were often unsustainable, corrupt, and forced through on unrealistic timelines.
The conclusions from the latest report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction offer a scathing criticism of the US mission in Afghanistan just as the Biden administration is struggling to evacuate Americans and Afghans from the Kabul airport in a chaotic rush to the exits. The report, titled "What We Need to Learn: Lessons from Twenty Years of Afghanistan Reconstruction," points to how much work remains. "After 13 years of oversight, the cumulative list of systemic challenges SIGAR and other oversight bodies have identified is staggering," it said.
In homes across America, the gifts have been opened, wrapping paper and bows strewn about living rooms.
Congressional Republicans have yet to break the record for most retirements in a single year, but some say it’s only a matter of time before widespread frustration with the current state of Washington leads to a tipping point as many in the party head for the exits.
A traffic stop outside of Baltimore Wednesday ended with an undocumented man shot and another injured after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents allege the driver of a van drove directly at officers, prompting them to open fire.
The host of the Kennedy Center’s annual Christmas Eve jazz performance canceled Wednesday’s concert, citing the board of trustees’ move to rename the facility for both the 35th president and President Donald Trump.
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The Justice Department on Wednesday said it has uncovered over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case and may need “a few more weeks” to process and release them to the public.
Eighteen Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new Trump administration policy seeking to bar transgender care for minors at federally-funded hospitals.
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When the Justice Department released a first batch of Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday that included photographs of former President Bill Clinton, White House officials raced to amplify the importance of the new documents.
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Two people are dead and others are missing after a fire and explosion tore into a nursing home on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, spurring local responders, bystanders and staff to rush the elderly population to safety, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.