Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
Newser - Current News - Breaking Stories

SPONSORED NEWS ARCHIVE

Afghanistan 'like a world war'

Article from: Evening Standard - London Article date: November 11, 2008 Author: NICHOLAS CECIL

Defence minister hints at more troops for 'surge' against Taliban

JOHN HUTTON today compared the Afghanistan campaign to the two World Wars as he paved the way to deploy more British troops against the Taliban.

The Defence Secretary said the battle against the extremists was just as important for Britain's national security as the fight against Nazi Germany and the First World War.

"In Afghanistan, the deployment of our armed forces in response to an attack on our national interests was every bit as unambiguous as the invasions of Belgium in 1914 or Poland in 1939," he said. "In my view our ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.
Newser gathers stories from across the web and packs what you need to know into about 120 words.
Check out these stories related to your search. Visit our grid for the latest news.

Forget a Surge: Afghanistan Isn't Worth 'Saving'

Posted Aug 14, 08 1:23 PM CDT in World,  Opinion 

Forget a Surge: Afghanistan Isn't Worth 'Saving'
Source: AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

(Newser) – Barack Obama and John McCain have strong disagreements over Iraq, but on Afghanistan they agree: a troop surge is necessary. Nearly 60% of Americans agree, as does the defense secretary, Robert Gates. There's just one problem, writes Bartle Breese Bull in the New York Times: even with a costly surge, there's little prospect of making "fractious, impoverished Afghanistan into an orderly and prosperous nation."

To "win" in Afghanistan would take three times as many troops as were sent to Iraq at the height of the surge, he estimates, and none of our stated goals there, including disrupting terrorist havens, justifiy it. "The invasion of Afghanistan was a great tactical success and the correct strategic move. Yet since then it seems as if the United States has been trying to turn the conflict into the Vietnam War of the early 21st century." Instead, he argues for restraint: "train the Afghan Army, support an Afghan state generously in other ways and maintain our intelligence and surgical strike capacities."

Source: New York Times

More about:  Afghanistan • Afghanistan war • surge

MORE RELATED NEWSER STORIES

5 US Troops Killed in
Wave of Afghan Attacks

Including 5 American soldiers

New York Times New York Times 11 hours, 21 minutes ago
(Newser) - Three American soldiers were killed today when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Southern Afghanistan, and two were killed yesterday, as a string of attacks took 18 lives in the country over the past two days. Earlier today a suicide bomber blew himself up in a fruit shop in Nimroz province, killing a local police commander and at least nine others. More »

More about:  Afghanistan • Taliban • suicide bombing • Afghanistan war • roadside bomb

 Kid Toll Hits 14 
 in Afghan Bombing 

Kid toll rises as Pakistan bomb kills 30 people

Guardian (UK) Guardian (UK) Dec 29, 08 2:48 AM CST
(Newser) - The toll of child victims in an Afghanistan suicide bombing yesterday has risen to 14, reports the Guardian . An exploding truck in eastern Afghanistan killed the children as they walked home from the last day of school for the year. There's no doubt the driver spotted the kids before detonating the bombs, apparently intended for a meeting of tribal elders, said officials. Bloodied textbooks and small shoes lay among the carnage. The explosions also killed a guard and soldier, and injured 58. More »

More about:  Pakistan • Afghanistan • children • war • Afghanistan war • suicide attack • insurgency

 US Will Finance Afghan Militias 

Local security strategy echoes Iraq counterinsurgency strategy

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal Dec 23, 08 11:51 AM CST
(Newser) - The US will begin funding local militias throughout Afghanistan, an effort to re-create the successful counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Afghanistan historically has been known as a country where local communities took care of themselves,” explained the US ambassador. “The way to counter the Taliban today is to make the communities stronger.” More »

More about:  Afghanistan • Taliban • Afghanistan war • Hamid Karzai • counter insurgency • militias • Afghani militias

SPONSORED NEWS ARCHIVE

Obama is right about Afghanistan Obama is right about Afghanistan.(Local) (The Virginian Pilot)

AFGHANISTAN-TRANSFORMING CANADA: War-fighting role in Afghanistan betrays Canadian... (CCPA Monitor)

Study: Pakistan helped Taliban (Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque))

Obama promises long-term support to Afghanistan (Xinhua News Agency)

Ambassador: Al-Qaida leaving Iraq (Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque))

Taliban vows to continue war in Afghanistan (Xinhua News Agency)

Canadian protesters demand withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (Xinhua News Agency)

Afghanistan's Bagram military prison has nearly double the inmates of Guantanamo... (The Hindustan Times)

CHAIRMAN SAYS POSSIBLE BUILDUP IN AFGHANISTAN COULD HAVE MAJOR IMPACT (US Fed News Service, Including US State News)

DEFENSE SECRETARY GATES SAYS NATO ALLIES 'COMMITTED' TO MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN (US Fed News Service, Including US State News)


Other Opinion Stories