Cheney: I'm Speaking Out to Keep US Safe

ISI allegedly trains and funds militants

(AP) - Pakistan's main spy agency continues to arm and train the Taliban and is even represented on the group's leadership council despite US pressure to sever ties and billions in aid to combat the militants, a research report concluded. "Pakistan's apparent involvement in a double-game of this scale could have major geopolitical implications," said the London School of Economics report, which was based on interviews with Taliban commanders, former Taliban officials, Western diplomats, and many others. More»

(AP) - Gen. David Petraeus said today that militant insurgents in Afghanistan are growing in strength but will be fought "relentlessly and aggressively" by bolstered American troops. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan said the United States would take the fight to the Taliban and insurgent forces in both Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. More»

Shift comes amid tensions after Mumbai crisis

(AP) - Pakistan began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border toward India today amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks, intelligence officials said. The move represents a sharp escalation in the standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors and will hurt Pakistan's US-backed campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban taking place near Afghanistan's border. More»

Petraeus, set to take charge of Afghanistan policy, backs at least limited negotiations

(NEWSER) - The US is strongly considering negotiating with at least some elements of the Taliban, the Wall Street Journal reports. The talks, which would exclude top leaders, are part of a draft White House assessment of strategy in Afghanistan, officials say. Gen. David Petraeus, who takes over Central Command this week, supports the idea, as, to some extent, do both presidential candidates. More»

Afghan National Security Force desperate to root out infiltrators

(NEWSER) - Afghan military officials have begun ordering soldiers to move any family they have in Pakistan out of the country, or else leave the military, in a desperate attempt to rid their ranks of Taliban infiltrators. While those orders haven't yet been translated into an official nationwide policy, they represent just how serious the problem of Taliban sleepers has become, the Washington Post reports. Officials have also created a "special reconnaissance group" to investigate what soldiers do on leave—particularly if they head to Pakistan. More»