Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- January 26, 2016

Soldiers of the U.S. Army's 1st Platoon, 18th Engineer Company, Task Force Arrowhead cross a river as they search for improvised explosive devices near the village of Khaleqdad Khan in Afghanistan's Zabul province in 2012. Tim Wimborne/Reuters

Ben Thompson, CSM: When will US forces leave Afghanistan?

Despite plans to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of last year, the US is maintaining a presence of nearly 10,000 troops in the central Asian republic and will not begin to scale back its operations there until 2017.

Amid a Taliban resurgence and ongoing struggles against Al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) forces, the United States military presence in Afghanistan is not diminishing despite past pledges of withdrawal.

US operations in the Islamic republic – fighting terror threats and training Afghan security forces – are continuing, and the 9,800 US troops currently deployed there will remain at least through this year at an annual cost of $15 billion.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- January 26, 2016

Are This Week's Geneva Talks on Syria Doomed to Fail? -- Mustafa al-Haj, US News and World Report/Al-Monitor

Has the West betrayed the Syrian people? -- Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera

Opening a New Front Against ISIS in Libya -- New York Times editorial

What Happens Once ISIS Is Defeated? -- Azeem Ibrahim, Daily Telegraph

Taliban claim to not ‘use our soil to harm others’ is patently false -- Bill Roggio, Long War Journal

China’s Role in the Middle East -- Andrew Small, The Cipher Brief

China's Media: Xi a Diplomatic Powerhouse in the Middle East -- Jackson Kwok, Lowy Institute

Why Arabs would regret a toothless Chinese dragon -- Faisal Al Yafai, The National

Ahead of Kerry Visit, China Doubles Down on North Korea Position -- Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat

Why Is Kazakhstan Holding Early Parliamentary Elections? -- Catherine Putz, The Diplomat

The Egyptian revolution: What went wrong? -- Omar Ashour, Al Jazeera

Is Nigeria's corruption crusade aimed at clean-up or political opponents? -- Ryan Lenora Brown, CSM

Assassination, Russian (and American) Style -- Tom Engelhardt, Huffington Post/TomDispatch.com

EU war games: Brexit feasible but talks will be messy -- Robert Colvile, CapX

Why hasn’t the Guantánamo Bay prison closed? -- PBS

UNICEF launches $2.8 billion humanitarian appeal for children -- UN News Centre