The War of Assumptions: Key Takeaways from the U.S. Afghanistan War Commission’s Second Public Hearing

Afghanistan War Commission Holds its Second Public Hearing

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On April 11, 2025, the U.S. Senate’s Afghanistan War Commission held its second public hearing — a critical reckoning with the early years of America’s longest war. Co-chaired by Shamila Chaudhary and Dr. Colin Jackson, the hearing focused on the formative 2001–2009 period, examining what decisions were made, by whom, and with what consequences. The Commission’s goal: to bring moral clarity and historical depth to a war that, for many Americans, became a distant abstraction.