The rapid US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is creating intense pressure on the CIA to find new ways to gather intelligence and carry out counterterrorism strikes in the country, but the agency has few good options.
The CIA, which has been at the heart of the 20-year American presence in Afghanistan, will soon lose bases in the country from where it has run combat missions and drone strikes while closely monitoring the Taliban and other groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The agency’s analysts are warning of the ever-growing risks of a Taliban takeover. Read More…