Heritage Afghanistan Event on Thursday

The Heritage Foundation on Thursday is holding an event entitled "Decoding Afghanistan: What Are U.S. Goals and How Close Are We to Achieving Them?" The event, which is scheduled for 11:30 am-1:00 pm, is billed as follows:

As the U.S. draws down troops in Afghanistan and seeks to move forward with negotiations with the Taliban, there are conflicting assessments about the political and military situation inside the country. During his State of the Union address, President Obama stated that “the Taliban’s momentum has been broken” and that he is “winding down the war.” However, a recently leaked secret NATO report, based on interrogations of thousands of captured Taliban fighters, paints an entirely different picture. The NATO report highlights that Taliban leaders are confident their movement will re-take power when NATO forces depart Afghanistan and that they put little stock in talks with the international community. Meanwhile, the Administration is reportedly contemplating releasing five battle-hardened Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo Bay military prison facility in order to jumpstart negotiations. Join us as our panelists discuss these developments and whether the U.S. is on course to achieve its objectives in the region (emphasis added).

It will be moderated by Heritage Senior Research Fellow James Philips and includes the following panel:

Ambassador Ronald Neumann President, American Academy of Diplomacy, and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Lisa Curtis Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation Jeffrey Dressler Senior Research Analyst, Institute for the Study of War Charles Stimson Senior Legal Fellow, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation