Afghanistan – News Stories About Afghanistan - Page 103

Apr 22, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

Osama Deputy Says Iran Lying About 9/11

He accuses Tehran of giving Israel credit to diminish al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader says Iran is denying the terrorist group credit for 9/11 by spreading the rumor that Israel masterminded the 2001 attacks on the US. A new audiotape from Ayman al-Zawahiri highlights the growing tension between al-Qaeda and Tehran, the BBC reports, evidence of a sectarian struggle for...

Gates to USAF: Straighten Up and Fly Right

Apr 21, 2008 4:46 PM CDT

Gates to USAF: Straighten Up and Fly Right

Defense sec criticizes service for being slow to adapt to change

(Newser) - Robert Gates chided the Air Force today for being slow to change and for not providing enough help in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Addressing American and international student officers in Alabama, the defense secretary said getting the USAF to adapt, particularly in the use of drone aircraft, has...

US Hesitates
to Strike Inside Pakistan

Apr 20, 2008 2:25 PM CDT

US Hesitates to Strike Inside Pakistan

Fears attacks on militant leaders would upset Islamabad

(Newser) - US commanders are itching to strike tribal militants in Pakistan, but Washington fears such a move could anger Islamabad's new leaders, the New York Times reports. American intelligence officials say the region is a growing threat, and warn that militants are forging alliances with al-Qaeda. But Pakistan is in talks...

Pakistan Ambassador Held by Taliban

Apr 19, 2008 8:36 AM CDT

Pakistan Ambassador Held by Taliban

Video surfaces two months after his disappearance

(Newser) - In a video aired today on an Arab channel, Pakistan’s missing ambassador to Afghanistan says he was kidnapped two months ago by Taliban militants, AP reports. In the brief clip, Tariq Azizuddin, seated on the ground with his driver and bodyguard in front of three armed masked men, says...

Combat Tours to Be Cut

Apr 5, 2008 5:20 AM CDT

Combat Tours to Be Cut

Tours of duty to be cut back to 12 months; Congress to hear troop cut proposals

(Newser) - American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are to have their combat tours cut from 15 months to 12 beginning late this summer. The White House plans a formal announcement next week, an insider told the AP. Tours were lengthened last year to boost troop levels in Iraq, and the Army...

Bush Pledges More Troops for Afghanistan

Apr 4, 2008 1:40 PM CDT

Bush Pledges More Troops for Afghanistan

Gates confident new administration will honor promise to NATO

(Newser) - The US will boost the number of its troops committed to NATO's effort in Afghanistan in 2009, President Bush told fellow alliance members at this week's summit, Reuters reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates related the pledge to reporters as he left the Bucharest summit. He didn’t specify a figure,...

Bush Asks NATO for More
Afghanistan Troops

Apr 2, 2008 7:26 AM CDT

Bush Asks NATO for More Afghanistan Troops

President sets agenda ahead of NATO summit

(Newser) - George W. Bush urged his NATO allies to join Romania and France in committing more troops to the war in Afghanistan. “We cannot afford to lose in Afghanistan,” he said. “Whatever the cost, however difficult…we must win.” The speech comes ahead of a major NATO...

More Afghan Families Using Girls to Pay Debt

Mar 30, 2008 6:24 PM CDT

More Afghan Families Using Girls to Pay Debt

Farmers hit by crop woes give daughters as 'opium brides'

(Newser) - Besieged by debt, more Afghan farmers are paying lenders by handing over their girls as "loan brides," Newsweek reports. Often taken from their families forever, the girls—some younger than 5 years old—are commonly beaten or pushed to suicide by their fate. "My heart is still...

New US Mideast Commander Installed

Mar 29, 2008 8:58 AM CDT

New US Mideast Commander Installed

Out with the Navy, in with the Army as head of CentCom

(Newser) - A new commander has taken temporary charge of US military operations in the Mideast, after a quiet ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida yesterday. Lt. Gen Martin Dempsey will run CentCom while the administration seeks a permanent replacement for Adm. William Fallon, who quit abruptly earlier this month...

Carla Outshines Sarko in UK

Mar 27, 2008 12:20 PM CDT

Carla Outshines Sarko in UK

Substance in French leader's talks with PM before Sarko blasts query about wife

(Newser) - Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy tackled Afghanistan, immigration, climate change, and global markets as the French president’s visit to Britain continued—but Carla Bruni still hogged the headlines. Sarkozy ripped a French reporter who suggested his wife had overshadowed his trip, the Times of London reports—saying, “this...

US Supplier Arms Afghan Forces With Ancient Ammo

Mar 27, 2008 9:13 AM CDT

US Supplier Arms Afghan Forces With Ancient Ammo

22-year-old buys old Soviet-bloc munitions

(Newser) - The US military's main supplier for munitions to Afghanistan is an unvetted business run by a 22-year-old with no military experience and a string of domestic violence allegations, an investigation by the New York Times finds. And the tiny company's shady dealings with arms traffickers has left Afghan forces armed...

Millions Tune In to Afghan 'Idol'

Mar 26, 2008 8:40 AM CDT

Millions Tune In to Afghan 'Idol'

Fans of American Idol -inspired hit back female singer over clerics' objections

(Newser) - More than a third of all Afghans were hooked on this year’s Afghan Star, the nation's version of the TV hit American Idol. Although religious leaders condemned the show for allowing women to perform, viewers voting on cell phones chose a female contestant as one of the top five...

Afghanistan Less Stable Than Iraq: Report

Mar 25, 2008 6:30 AM CDT

Afghanistan Less Stable Than Iraq: Report

Violence highest since overthrow of Taliban

(Newser) - While Iraq has grown more stable over the past year, Afghanistan has become one of the world's dangerous places, concludes a new think-tank report. Afghanistan is now the world's third most unstable country, behind the Palestinian territories and Somalia, reports Reuters. Iraq, thanks to high oil prices and a larger...

Afghans Protest Cartoons, Film

Mar 22, 2008 7:16 AM CDT

Afghans Protest Cartoons, Film

Angry crowds chant death to Danish, Dutch

(Newser) - Thousands of Afghan protesters burned Dutch and Danish flags yesterday in a protest against a Danish cartoon and a Dutch film said to insult Islam. They called for the Dutch and Danish embassies to be closed and for their troops serving with NATO in the country to be expelled, Reuters...

Singing Marine Sounds Off at Dixie Chicks

Mar 20, 2008 12:39 PM CDT

Singing Marine Sounds Off at Dixie Chicks

Iraq vet takes war at home to the studio with hawkish hit

(Newser) - A Marine back from Iraq and Afghanistan has fired a musical rebuke at the Dixie Chicks for their anti-war hit, "Not Ready to Make Nice." Cpl. David Thibodeaux's "Not Ready to End the Fight" is hitting America's country dials—including some that shunned the Nashville trio's...

McCain Cozies Up
to UK's Brown

Mar 20, 2008 10:00 AM CDT

McCain Cozies Up to UK's Brown

GOP candidate talks Iraq, global warming, with British PM

(Newser) - John McCain began his visit to Europe in London today, where he met with PM Gordon Brown and praised him as a "very strong leader," the Guardian reports. McCain and Brown discussed Iraq, the global economy, and climate change, but when asked about British plans to withdraw troops...

'Petraeus Generation' Is
Making Muslim Allies

Mar 17, 2008 7:45 PM CDT

'Petraeus Generation' Is Making Muslim Allies

CO's learn that gun-blazing ways only sparked insurgency in Iraq

(Newser) - US officers in Iraq and Afghanistan are learning to talk first and shoot later—a sea change for CO's trained to win by force, Newsweek reports. But their early gun battles only sparked insurgency and mired them in baffling street battles. Now, says David Petraeus, “You can’t kill...

Harry Praised
by US Pilots

Mar 16, 2008 11:19 AM CDT

Harry Praised by US Pilots

F-15 flyers note composure of then unknown Brit who called in airstrikes

(Newser) - American F-15 fighter pilots were impressed with the composure of the British soldier who called in air cover on Taliban entrenchments in Afghanistan in December. But for 2 months Capt. Ben Donberg and Col. Dan DeBree had no idea that "Widow Six Seven" was actually Britain's Prince Harry calling...

Qaeda Suspect
Held by CIA,
Moved to Gitmo

Mar 15, 2008 7:15 AM CDT

Qaeda Suspect Held by CIA, Moved to Gitmo

Bin Laden aide has been in CIA custody since last year

(Newser) - A top al-Qaeda suspect who has been in secret CIA detention for at least 6 months was moved this week to Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said yesterday. Muhammad Rahim, described as a "tough, seasoned, jihadist," is said to have been a close associate of Osama bin Laden's who...

Wounded Warriors
Saluted at Pentagon

Mar 13, 2008 12:19 PM CDT

Wounded Warriors Saluted at Pentagon

Quiet indoor ceremony honors injured

(Newser) - A poignant and little-known ceremony featuring wounded vets is held privately indoors at the Pentagon every six weeks, reports the Wall Street Journal. It's called the "Wounded Warrior March." Hundreds of Defense Department employees line the corridors of the Pentagon to applaud, cheer, shake hands, or hug servicemen...