WASHINGTON — As the Afghanistan war wound down, the C.I.A. had expected to gradually shift its primary focus away from counterterrorism — a mission that transformed the agency over two decades into a paramilitary organization focused on manhunts and killing — toward traditional spycraft against powers like China and Russia.
Afghanistan
New York Times: Amid Afghan chaos, a CIA mission that will persist for years
An Afghan man checks the Taliban flags kept for sale next to a poster of Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar along a street in Kabul on August 27, 2021, following the Taliban's military takeover of Afghanistan.
