Obama to Let Bagram Prisoners Challenge Detention

(NEWSER) - Many Afghans once detained by the US military at Bagram air base, north of Kabul, say they were treated similarly to abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, the BBC reports. “They did things that you would not do against animals let alone to humans,” a former detainee said, including sexual humiliation and death threats. Most Bagram detainees have no access to lawyers or hope of trial. More»

Candidate pledges more US troops

(NEWSER) - Calling the situation in Afghanistan "precarious and urgent," Barack Obama today urged the Bush administration to make Afghanistan—rather than Iraq—"the central front in our battle against terrorism." In his first interview since arriving in the country yesterday, the Democratic candidate told Lara Logan on Face the Nation that an additional two brigades were needed to combat insurgents and the drug trade that finances them, USA Today reports. More»

Gen. John Allen reads Sgt. William Stacey's reasons for fighting

(NEWSER) - US troops in Afghanistan marked Memorial Day with the words of a fallen comrade—one of at least 1,851 Americans to have died in the war. Marine Gen. John Allen, the leading US commander in Afghanistan, read a letter penned by Marine Sgt. William Stacey, killed by homemade explosives in January at age 23. The letter to Stacey's family reflected on his reasons for fighting in case he died. More»

Troops organize for tough spring fighting

(NEWSER) - As insurgent attacks have fallen in Afghanistan's southern provinces, the US is turning its focus toward the east, where such attacks jumped 20% last year. With the US set to take on an advisory role next year, the mountainous eastern region is poised to be the war's "final battleground" as the area's paralyzing winter snows melt, the Wall Street Journal observes. Troops are preparing for a "much tougher" fight in the region, which surrounds Kabul, a major insurgent target. "They are going to come out at us very hard," says Marine Gen. John Allen—possibly as soon as tomorrow. More»

But it will retain veto power on those released

(NEWSER) - The US has agreed to hand over all of its Afghan detainees to the country's government, on the condition that it will retain the right to veto any releases, officials announced today. Officially, the agreement is effective immediately, but it allows for a six-month transition to full Afghan control, and in reality the US is likely to maintain day-to-day control over the prisoners for a while, the New York Times reports. More»