Families of American hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan have asked Joe Biden “to do the right thing” and bring the men home before he leaves office, after months of lobbying the outgoing president to broker a deal with the hardline Islamist regime.

All eyes are on Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy, but former national security officials argue that the most important confirmation hearing is flying completely under the radar. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director,

President Biden spoke by phone Sunday with the families of three Americans held by the Taliban, Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi.

Fmr CIA analyst Sarah Adams made the case for US to stop funding Taliban, predicting, "2025 will be a reckoning..."

Early in his tenure, in the summer of 2021, he flew to Kabul to negotiate with the Taliban over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan ... Back at headquarters, he reoriented the CIA's priorities and budget to focus on intelligence threats coming from ...

The Taliban say they are demanding the release of three people, including Muhammad Rahim, the only Afghan national left at Guantánamo Bay.

President Joe Biden assured families of three Americans detained in Afghanistan since 2022 that his administration remains committed to securing their release. The White House confirmed ongoing negotiations with

The Taliban, who deny holding Habibi ... Rahim was "the last person brought into the CIA torture program," said Connell, referring to an agency program instituted after the Sept.

Early in his tenure, in the summer of 2021, he flew to Kabul to negotiate with the Taliban over the U.S. withdrawal ... Back at headquarters, he reoriented the CIA's priorities and budget to ...

While the United States tries to spy on one of the hardest targets, Burns has also tried to reopen a dialogue with Beijing, including via his counterpart, Chen Yixin, the security minister. (The head of the China Mission Center, a career CIA officer fluent in Mandarin, accompanied Burns on one of his trips to Beijing.)

Talks center on release of at least 1 Guantanamo detainee in exchange for release of Americans held in Afghanistan, Wall Street Journal suggests - Anadolu Ajansı

Representatives for the Afghan Taliban also did not immediately respond ... as a high-level al-Qaeda operative who was transferred to Guantanamo in 2008 from CIA custody. The talks have been in motion since July, according to the WSJ, which cited sources ...