U.S. return to Afghan combat?

Officially, the U.S. is no longer at war in Afghanistan. But buried in the U.S. Central Command investigation of the mistaken aerial attack on a Doctors Without Borders hospital last October is an admission, that at least in this instance, the military doesn’t always follow its publicly stated restrictions on offensive combat operations in Afghanistan.

Since the official end of the combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, U.S. forces have been authorized to conduct airstrikes in only three limited and specific circumstances; to protect U.S. troops on the ground, to go after remnants of al Qaeda, and to rescue Afghan forces who were in imminent danger of being overrun.