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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Afghanistan war

Afghanistan war stories: 303 news summaries

1 - 20 of 303 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 16 Next >>

 Obama 
 Approval
 Rating Dips 
 Below 50% 

Americans sour on handling of economy, Afghanistan

(Newser) - Less than half of Americans polled approve of President Obama’s performance for the first time. A new Quinnipiac survey has his job approval rating at 48%, with 42% disapproving. Other polls have his rating at 53% and 56%, and a Quinnipiac pollster admits the new number “is not... More »

Analysis

In Afghanistan Debate, Obama Focuses on Exit

White House wants
to make sure surge
will enable handover

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s extended ruminations on an Afghan surge aren’t really over how many troops to send in—they’re about how they’ll get those troops out. Obama’s main problem with the initial military plan was that it seemed too open ended, administration sources tell Gerald... More »

Afghan Rocket Misses
French General, Kills 3 Kids

Insurgents target marketplace meeting

(Newser) - A rocket attack intended for a French general instead killed three children and wounded 20 others in a busy market northeast of Kabul today. Insurgents fired into the marketplace hoping to hit a meeting between Brig. Gen. Marcel Druart and tribal elders from Tagab Valley, where France is in the... More »

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Afghanistan terrorist attack Afghanistan war French troops Tagab Valley

 Afghan 
 Calculus: 
 40K Troops 
 Equals $40B 

High long-term costs a big factor in debate

(Newser) - When President Obama rejected advisers' recommendations on Afghan troops and insisted they be retooled with exit strategies, he had the war's long-term financial costs in mind, an insider tells the New York Times . While military strategy gets the headlines, the financial constraints also are weighing heavily. Some specfics:
  • Gen.
... More »

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Afghanistan US military US troops war cost Afghanistan war President Obama Stanley McChrystal

 Morale Down in Afghanistan: 
 Army 

One in six soldiers suffers from a psychological disorder

(Newser) - Morale is down and psychological problems rampant among troops in Afghanistan, who face a shortage of mental health professionals to help them deal with the stress of war. Only 5.7% of soldiers described their unit's moral as high or very high, down from 10.2% in 2007 and 10.... More »

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Afghanistan mental health US military US Army Afghanistan war American soldiers morale

No Leverage dept.

US to Karzai: Clean Up Corruption or ... Nothing

Threatening troop withdrawal like threatening suicide: 'stupid'

(Newser) - President Obama is gravely serious about pressuring Hamid Karzai to reel in Afghan corruption—but has almost zero “or else” options. The most logical threat to entice Karzai to clean up his government, pulling out US troops, is “stupid,” a former ambassador tells the New York ... More »

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Pakistan Hamid Karzai US military threats Afghanistan war Obama administration public corruption Afghan election

 MIA Dog A-OK 
 After Year in 
 Afghanistan 


Bomb-sniffer Sabi gone for a year after 2008 firefight

(Newser) - An Australian military bomb-sniffing dog that went missing during a firefight in Afghanistan in September 2008 has been reunited with one of her trainers. An American soldier found Sabi wandering near a remote base last week and realized the black Lab wasn’t a stray when she responded to commands.... More »

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Australia US military MIA Labrador Retriever bomb-sniffing dogs Afghanistan war Special Forces missing in action

 Obama Rejects 
 Afghan War  Options 

President wants modified plans, timetables

(Newser) - President Obama refused to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented to him in yesterday's 2 1/2 hour strategy meeting, the AP reports, as concerns soar over the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the ability of a corrupt Afghan government to eventually secure its own country. Obama... More »

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Afghanistan Barack Obama Hamid Karzai Afghanistan war Afghanistan exit strategy Karl Eikenberry

INVESTIGATION

 Taliban Is Paid to Protect 
 US Supply Convoys 

US military funding Taliban through contractors

(Newser) - The Taliban is getting a big chunk of its financing by protecting supply convoys to the American military. Security contractors paid by the US to bring supplies into Afghanistan pay huge amounts of protection money to warlords and insurgents, an investigation by the Nation has discovered. Pentagon officials are... More »

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Afghanistan Taliban US military security contractors convoy Afghanistan war military contractors

US Ambassador Disagrees
on Afghan Troop Surge

Wants Karzai government to shape up first

(Newser) - The US ambassador to Afghanistan—a former general who served there as recently as 2007—is against increasing troop levels until the Afghan government gets its act together. In classified cables ahead of President Obama’s deliberations on a surge, Karl Eikenberry cites rampant corruption and mismanagement in Hamid Karzai’... More »

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Afghanistan troop surge Hamid Karzai corruption Afghanistan war dissent President Obama Stanley McChrystal Karl Eikenberry

 Body of Missing US Soldier 
 Found in Afghan River 

Second American is still missing, believed drowned

(AP) - Military divers have found the body of a US soldier who disappeared last week with a fellow soldier as the two tried to recover airdropped supplies from a river in western Afghanistan. The two Americans, from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, went missing Nov. 4 in Badghis... More »

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Afghanistan US military soldier casualties Afghanistan war

Afghan rethink

 Top Obama Advisers 
 Push 30K Troop Increase 

President, war council, weigh Afghan troop options today

(Newser) - As President Obama heads into a meeting with his national security team today, one of the four options on the table for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan has emerged as a favorite of his top advisers. Hillary Clinton, Mike Mullen, and Robert Gates all favor a plan to send about... More »

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Hillary Clinton Robert Gates Adm. Mike Mullen US troops Afghanistan war President Obama

 Poll: Grouchy 
 Public Sticks 
 With Obama 

Glum nation pessimistic about economy, wars

(Newser) - America's mood has crashed hard after the euphoria that greeted Barack Obama's inauguration: A recent poll shows the country in a pessimistic funk as the president struggles to revive the economy and fight two wars abroad. But Americans haven't lost all faith in Obama: His approval stands at 54%, no... More »

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US economy approval ratings Iraq war Afghanistan war opinion polls polls President Obama

CBS: Prez Will Grant McChrystal Troop Request

White House denies decision made

(Newser) - President Obama has decided to grant Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for a large and long-term increase in US forces in Afghanistan, according to CBS and AP , which cite "informed sources." The president will give the general almost all the troops he has asked for, boosting the size of... More »

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Afghanistan troop surge US military Afghanistan war President Obama Stanley McChrystal

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

 Casey: 
 Send More 
 Troops to 
 Afghanistan  

Lieberman to probe Fort Hood shootings as 'attack' on US troops

(Newser) - President Obama would do well to give Stanley McChrystal more troops in Afghanistan, Army chief of staff George Casey said on Meet the Press today. "We have already made progress, and I would look for that progress to continue,” Casey said, without saying how many troops he thought... More »

AFGHAN STRATEGY REVIEW

 Obama Eyes 30K+ Troop Surge 

Said to be close to decision as Asia trip looms

(Newser) - President Obama is zeroing in on an Afghanistan strategy that likely includes sending in some 30,000 troops, reports Reuters —short of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's requested 40,000, but far greater than war-weary Democrats may support. An additional 4,000 trainers are likely to be sent, McClatchy reports, with... More »

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Afghanistan troop surge Hamid Karzai US troops Afghanistan war President Obama Stanley McChrystal

opinion

 Honor Hero Cop: End 
 Ban on Women in Combat 

Time to wrap up the military's 'failed social experiment'

(Newser) - Thursday’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood was just the latest example of how there really is no front line for US troops these days; Iraq and Afghanistan are entirely battlefields. So women are already, in effect, in combat, and anyone wanting still more proof that they can handle it... More »

 2 American NATO Troops 
 Missing in Afghanistan 

Western region has seen a recent uptick in violence

(Newser) - Two NATO soldiers have been missing in Western Afghanistan since Wednesday after a routine supply mission went awry. “We continue exhaustive search and rescue operations to locate our missing service members,” a NATO spokesperson tells the BBC . “We are doing everything we can to find them.”... More »

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NATO Taliban Italy missing soldiers US military Afghanistan war

fort hood shooting

  Blame 'Vicarious' PTSD 

Trauma is infectious, Essig writes, and therapists can catch it

(Newser) - When Todd Essig learned the Fort Hood shooter “was an Army psychiatrist who treats post traumatic stress disorder, himself on the cusp of deployment, I thought, ‘I’m not surprised.’” Why? Because there is a documented transfer of trauma disorders from sufferers to caregivers, dubbed “... More »

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psychiatry PTSD mass shootings Iraq war Afghanistan war trauma Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Fort Hood Nidal Malik Hasan

ANALYSIS

Army's Stress Most Obvious
at Fort Hood

Repeat deployments prompt record levels of suicide, depression

(Newser) - Fort Hood has had more suicides than any other US Army facility since the start of the Iraq war, and while Nidal Hasan, the man officials say is responsible for yesterday's massacre, likely had unique motivations, he was perhaps only the most troubled member of a volunteer force buckling under... More »

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suicide alcohol abuse US Army PTSD Iraq war Afghanistan war American soldiers Fort Hood Fort Hood shooting Nidal Malik Hasan

1 - 20 of 303 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 16 Next >>