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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Special Forces

Special Forces stories: 8 news summaries

 US Backs 
 Afghan Militias 
 Against Taliban 

Supporting local resistance, as in Iraq, is a delicate equation

Nov 22, 09 9:38 AM CST
(Newser) - The US is actively supporting local militia groups against the Taliban as American and Afghan officials move to encourage a demoralized Afghan population to re-engage in the war, reports Dexter Filkins of the New York Times . Tapping into the militias’ resources could fill the manpower gap as a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • tribal elders • Special Forces • Afghan militias

 MIA Dog A-OK 
 After Year in 
 Afghanistan 


Bomb-sniffer Sabi gone for a year after 2008 firefight

Nov 12, 09 11:46 AM CST
(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 »

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

 'Rumsfeld's Renegades' 
 Blamed for Afghan Deaths 

Unit of 'cowboys' behind some of war's worst civilian casualty incidents

May 16, 09 5:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Special Forces unit set up by Donald Rumsfeld is being blamed for some of the worst civilian casualty incidents in the Afghanistan war, the Independent reports. The Marine Corps' Special Operations Command—known as MarSOC—ordered the air strikes that Afghan officials say killed 140 civilians last week, and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Donald Rumsfeld • civilian casualties • US military • Special Forces • Marine Corps

(Newser) - The Bush administration ran a secret team authorized to assassinate foreign targets without being accountable to Congress, says New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh. On CNN's Situation Room, he said the hit squad could go "into a country without telling the CIA station chief or the ambassador and whack someone.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
War on Terror • Dick Cheney • US military • assassination • George W. Bush • Special Forces • Joint Special Operations Command • Seymour M. Hersh

US Secretly Training Pakistani Commandos

Forces help troops to fight Taliban, al-Qaeda

Feb 23, 09 5:07 AM CST
(Newser) - Dozens of American military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to train armed forces to battle the Taliban and al-Qaeda, reports the New York Times. The Special Forces soldiers are providing intelligence and advising the Pakistani military on combat tactics, although they are not conducting combat operations.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
CIA • Pakistan • US military • counter insurgency • Pakistan army • North West Frontier Province • Special Forces

Aiming to Right History, Group Sniffs Out Fake POWs 

Pretending to be war prisoner is legal, but vets say it dishonors the true heroes

Dec 23, 08 12:38 PM CST
(Newser) - When Richard Cayton told a Texas newspaper about his harrowing escape from captors in Vietnam, former Navy SEAL Steve Robinson thought something smelled fishy. He ran some quick checks, and told the newspaper that it had been lied to—Cayton had never been a prisoner of war. Sniffing out such... More »

MORE ABOUT:
veterans • fraud • Green Beret • Vietnam War • prisoner of war • Navy SEALs • Special Forces

US Troops in Afghanistan Battle Beard Ban

Clean-shaven troops complain lack of facial hair makes it harder to win Afghan respect

Nov 19, 08 3:34 AM CST
(Newser) - American troops in Afghanistan want to take a razor to the military's long-standing rule banning beards, US News & World Report writes. Beards are a sign of manhood in traditional areas of Afghanistan, and clean-shaven troops grumble that the rule—which the military maintains is essential for hygiene and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • US military • US troops • Special Forces • beard • facial hair

US Airstrike Killed 30 Afghan Civilians: Inquiry

Outraged Afghans still maintain 90 died in controversial Aug. raid

Oct 8, 08 1:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - A US military inquiry puts the number of Afghan civilians killed in an August 22 raid at more than 30, the New York Times reports, down from the 90 the Afghan government had claimed. The airstrike on Azizabad, a suspected Taliban stronghold, was condemned by the Afghan government. The... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Hamid Karzai • civilian casualties • US military • airstrike • inquiry • David McKiernan • Special Forces • Michael W. Callan

8 Stories


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