Weekly Writers Round-Up: Leaving Afghanistan, a Back-Firing Vape Ban, and a New Approach to the Student Loan Crisis

Each week, we’ll be featuring opinion pieces from the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. For more information on how the program can help launch your career in writing, or to apply for the upcoming fall class, see here.

Make exit plan the priority in Afghanistan by Jerrod Laber (Fall 2017) in Stars and Stripes
U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad expressed significant optimism about the progress made in talks with the Taliban this past weekend, saying the current round of negotiations — aimed at ending the Afghanistan War — have been “the most productive” yet. The greatest challenge, he said, has been “to get a framework agreed to that isn’t just a withdrawal agreement,” but also a political road map to ensure “that we can leave a good legacy behind with a government and political order that Afghans agree to.”

While we should wish the Afghans well — negotiation goals like a cease-fire and intra-Afghan dialogue are admirable — these talks are not related to U.S. security and should not be used as a pretext to slow U.S. withdrawal from this conflict. President Donald Trump’s campaign-trail instincts on leaving Afghanistan were correct: It’s been nearly 18 years, and little has been accomplished. The U.S. is the most powerful country in the world — it doesn’t need any cooperation from the Taliban for its security. Tying a withdrawal to a successful political resolution paves the way for a stalled exit, given that prospects for actual, long-term peace in Afghanistan remain poor…

San Francisco’s Top Economist Confirms Vape Ban Means More Smoking by Guy Bentley (Spring 2017) in Reason
San Francisco’s chief economist has confirmed that the city’s ban on e-cigarette sales will increase smoking as vapers switch to combustible cigarettes.

On June 25, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban the sale of e-cigarettes while leaving traditional cigarettes to be sold as freely as before. Rarely does U.S. anti-vaping legislation make global headlines, but San Francisco’s decision was so extreme it attracted international attention…

A Solution to Student-Loan Crisis: No More Risk-Free Loans by Fergus Hodgson (Fall 2018) in the Epoch Times
After snowballing for a generation, the student-loan crisis has taken center stage in the 2020 race to the White House, at least for Democratic contenders. Candidates are promising everything from tuition-free college to debt forgiveness.

Even President Donald Trump has considered capping payments at 12.5 percent of discretionary income and forgiving loans when they reach 15 years…