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"At the edge of a bridge leading into the heart of the devastation from a 2017 siege against Islamic State-linked militants, an electric-blue billboard stands apart from the ruins. 'Marawi will rise again! Soon . . .' it proudly declares in rainbow-colored letters. So far, it sounds like an empty promise."

"As President Trump considers pulling all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, and with the Senate coming together this week to rebuke such a plan, a watchdog report released this week showcases the fragility of the reconstruction effort."

"For the past decade, Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) have been granted to Iraqi and Afghan interpreters and professionals working for the U.S. government who face credible threats because of their employment. But this week, the U.S. moved closer to a peace agreement with Taliban officials, raising the possibility of American troop withdrawals, and beyond that, the huge demand for SIVs by interpreters and others who work with the U.S. military and face great danger when the troops leave."

"The Republican-led U.S. Senate approved a mainly symbolic bill opposing plans to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan in a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump."

"Mad Scientist welcomes back returning guest blogger Dr. Nir Buras with today’s post. We’ve found crowdsourcing (i.e., the gathering of ideas, thoughts, and concepts from a widespread variety of interested individuals) to be a very effective tool in enabling us to diversify our thoughts and challenge our assumptions. Dr. Buras’ post takes the results from one such crowdsourcing exercise and extrapolates three future urban scenarios. Given The Army Vision‘s clarion call to “Focus training on high-intensity conflict, with emphasis on operating in dense urban terrain,” our readers would do well to consider how the Army would operate in each of Dr. Buras’ posited future scenarios."

"The Trump administration struggled this week to clarify its intentions in Afghanistan, after the president’s call to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops and reports that it was negotiating a departure schedule with the Taliban, rather than with the Afghan government."

"The Pentagon is sending an additional 3,500 troops to the U.S. southern border with Mexico to assist with border security measures."

"Two months of testimony in a federal courtroom here have offered an unprecedented glimpse into the inner workings of the Sinaloa drug cartel, complete with tales of gruesome murders, diamond-encrusted pistols, caches of cocaine smuggled in cans of peppers and, at the center of it all, a defendant who twice escaped from prison.

"President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would bring all American troops home from Afghanistan if there was a peace deal with the Taliban. Trump's comments at the White House came days after it emerged the U.S. and the insurgent group had agreed on a draft framework of a peace deal aimed at ending the 17-year Afghan conflict."

"From March 23 to May 12, 2008, US Army and Iraq security forces engaged in an intense urban battle in and around Baghdad’s Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. The battle forced units that had been mainly focused on counterinsurgency operations to convert overnight into combined-arms teams of armor and mechanized infantry and engage a large enemy element in a high-intensity fight in a city containing around two million noncombatants. The adaptions these units made and the results of this short but pivotal battle provide important lessons for future combat in dense urban environments."

"Violence continues to rage in Mexico more than a decade after former President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on drug cartels."

"The U.S. wants to assemble a coalition of Western nations to create and potentially enforce a new buffer zone in northern Syria, U.S. officials said, but none have yet agreed to the proposal, which includes a promise of American military assistance."

"The Trump administration’s attempt to force out the president of Venezuela marked the opening of a new strategy to exert greater U.S. influence over Latin America, according to administration officials."

"Unnerved by fears of a rushed American deal with Taliban insurgents, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan sent a letter on Tuesday to President Trump offering him reduced costs for keeping United States troops in the country."

"The United States and the Taliban have agreed to establish two “technical teams” to determine details for the eventual withdrawal of all American and NATO troops from Afghanistan and for preventing terrorists from using Afghan soil against America and its allies, the insurgent group said Wednesday."

"A top Syrian Kurdish official visiting Washington today said US-backed fighters would consider integrating with Bashar al-Assad’s forces after the United States completes its pullout from the war-torn country."

"The Taliban said Wednesday they are not seeking a "monopoly on power" in a future administration in Afghanistan but are looking for ways to co-exist with Afghan institutions — the most conciliatory statement to date from the militants."

"The recent history of the United States and Western allies working “by, with, and though” non-state actors for counterterrorism (CT) operations when unable or unwilling to partner with a host-nation government—such as in Mali, Libya, and Syria—has generated mixed results on the ground."

"The United States and the Taliban have both agreed to establish two “technical teams” to determine mechanisms for the withdrawal of all American and NATO troops from Afghanistan and for preventing terrorists from using Afghan soil against America and its allies."

"Nearly a year after former defense secretary Jim Mattis inked a memo to create the first task force focused solely on making close combat formations more lethal, the group has coordinated efforts to add more than $3 billion toward that goal and now has another year to find a way to institutionalize its mission."

"The Trump administration on Tuesday threatened 'serious consequences' against the government of President Nicolas Maduro for opening a criminal investigation into the country’s U.S.-backed opposition leader, a possible precursor to arrest."

"There is nothing on paper, only the vague outline of an agreement between American and Taliban negotiators in Qatar that could lead to U.S. troops withdrawing. There are more talks to come, and U.S. officials have said any final deal with the Islamist insurgents must include a “dialogue” among Afghans."

"RFE/RL spoke with Graeme Smith, an Afghanistan analyst for the International Crisis Group, about what the implications of the development are for an Afghan-led peace process."

"It is far from clear that Al Qaida or ISIS can ever be fully defeated. The ISIS 'caliphate' may be largely broken up, but substantial elements of both movements remain. New movements may emerge, and other movements may grow, and the demographic trends of Muslim-majority countries are a powerful warning that extremism may be a threat for decades to come."