US Pleads for Help in Afghanistan

Clinton: 'Stranger things have happened'

(NEWSER) - Western nations seem to be quickly warming to the idea of talking peace with the Taliban. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who only last month said talks would be premature, backed the idea at a NATO meeting yesterday, the AP reports. "Whenever opportunities arise that are worth exploring, I think we ought to take advantage of that," he said. A NATO official says the alliance has helped safe passage for Taliban leaders to attend talks. More»

Commanders say extra 20,000 troops will quell rising Taliban violence

(NEWSER) - US commanders are drawing up plans to send an extra 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months, Reuters reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the surge will help reverse the rising violence in the country and safeguard elections planned for next fall. Commanders say the current NATO force in southern Afghanistan is overwhelmed by the growing Taliban insurgency. More»

(NEWSER) - Robert Gates is backing a plan to pump $20 billion into Afghanistan’s army and restructure the command of NATO and US forces, in an effort to revamp the struggling war effort there. With American troops tied up in Iraq, Gates intends to almost double the size of the Afghan army over 5 years, the New York Times reports, while at the same time putting almost all US troops under NATO command. More»

Karzai controls just 30% of country, Taliban 10%, tribal leaders the rest

(NEWSER) - The 6-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan is failing, the US intelligence chief told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. Mike McConnell said Harmid Karzai’s US-backed government controls only about 30% of the country, with the Taliban holding another 10%, and the rest under tribal rule. Security, meanwhile, is “deteriorating” as the Taliban adopts Iraqi guerrillas' tactics. More»

Says Iraq-weary Euros underestimate threat of unstable Afghanistan

(NEWSER) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates appealed today to European allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, saying in Munich that the "threat posed by violent Islamic extremism is real" and that NATO's credibility in combating it is at stake, Reuters reports. France has indicated it could send more troops, but Germany has said it will not increase its commitment. More»