Afghan Assumption Project: How America Snatched Defeat from the Jaws Of Victory in Afghanistan

Bush School of Government & Public Service

Michael Cohen, Christopher Preble, PhD, and Monica Duffy Toft, PhD. will focus on two pivotal aspects of the Afghan conflict and U.S. foreign policy. First, they will look back at the US decision to go to war in Afghanistan, with a particular focus on how U.S. officials, especially President George W. Bush, framed the 9/11 attacks and the US response in black-and-white terms. This decision limited US strategic options, led to an aggressive counterterrorism policy that targeted the Taliban and…