Afghanistan

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Number of Black Recruits Plummets
Number of
Black Recruits Plummets
Jun 25, 2007 1:15 PM CDT

Number of Black Recruits Plummets

Job market, family pressure contribute to 38% decline

(Newser) - The number of blacks signing up for the military has dropped 38% since the beginning of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, reports the AP. The number of new active-duty and reserve recruits fell from 51,500 in 2001 to less than 32,000 in 2006, reflecting both greater job opportunities...

Karzai Chides NATO on Civilian Casualties

NATO says Taliban uses civilians as shields, kids as suicide bombers

(Newser) - "Extreme use of force" and "reckless operations" are killing Afghan civilians, an indignant President Karzai charged yesterday, saying the failure of NATO and US troops to coordinate with their Afghan counterparts is to blame. Correspondents estimate that more civilians have died this year in actions by foreign allies...

Coalition Bombs Kill 7 Afghan Boys
Coalition Bombs Kill 7 Afghan Boys
Jun 18, 2007 12:45 PM CDT

Coalition Bombs Kill 7 Afghan Boys

Police capture suspect in deadly Kabul bus blast as violence worsens

(Newser) - Worsening widespread concerns about civilian deaths in Afghanistan, a U.S.-led coalition bombing killed seven boys yesterday at a compound in the eastern part of the country. The target, which contained a mosque and a school, was suspected of housing Al-Qaeda militants. "We had a misunderstanding," the...

US Troops Kill Seven Afghan Police
US Troops
Kill Seven Afghan Police
Jun 12, 2007 10:55 AM CDT

US Troops Kill Seven Afghan Police

Police fired on GIs on night mission; mistook them for Taliban

(Newser) - U.S. troops mistakenly killed seven Afghan police during a nighttime mission yesterday. The police originally fired on the Americans, thinking they were Taliban fighters; in response, the soldiers opened fire and called in attack aircraft. A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai called the shooting "a tragic incident" sparked...

Taliban Shoots Down NATO Chinook
Taliban Shoots Down NATO Chinook
May 31, 2007 4:14 AM CDT

Taliban Shoots Down NATO Chinook

At least 7 dead in Afghan region still controlled by guerrillas

(Newser) - Taliban fighters shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan yesterday, killing all 7 on board, including five Americans. Guerrillas then ambushed rescuers attempting to reach the crash. The attack occurred in Helmand Province, a region of Afghanistan known for opium poppy cultivation and a strong Taliban presence, according to...

Guantanamo Detainee Returns to Australia

Al-Qaeda supporter goes straight to prison

(Newser) - After five years in custody at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks is back in his native Australia, where the convicted Al-Qaeda supporter will spend the next seven months in a maximum-security prison. His family and other supporters spent years campaigning for his release before Hicks pleaded guilty in March to providing...

Bush Names Surge Skeptic War Czar
Bush Names Surge Skeptic
War Czar
May 16, 2007 5:52 AM CDT

Bush Names Surge Skeptic War Czar

White House taps active-duty officer to coordinate war effort

(Newser) - After public rejection by at least five prominent former generals, the Bush administration named its war czar, three-star general Douglas Lute. The Washington Post describes Lute as a low-key soldier who expressed skepticism about sending more troops to Iraq. Durning internal discussions, Lute is said to have argued that a...

Pakistan Bombing Kills 25
Pakistan Bombing Kills 25
May 15, 2007 3:27 PM CDT

Pakistan Bombing Kills 25

Suicide bomber hits crowded restaurant at lunchtime

(Newser) - A suicide bomber destroyed a hotel restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan, today, killing 25 in what may have been a retaliation for the weekend slaying of a top Taliban chief. The bomber's severed leg had a note attached to it that read: "Those who spy for America will face the...

Top Taliban Commander Is Killed
Top Taliban Commander
Is Killed
May 13, 2007 2:21 PM CDT

Top Taliban Commander Is Killed

Mullah Dadullah ordered bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, beheadings

(Newser) - The Taliban's top military commander was killed in Southern Afghanistan, and his body  displayed, covered by a pink sheet, in Kandahar today. An amputee whose body was recognizable in part by a missing leg, Mullah Dadullah was killed in a joint operation by Afghan security forces and American and NATO...

21 Afghan Civilians Killed in Air Strikes

(Newser) - U.S. airstrikes killed 21 Afghan civilians in eastern Afghanistan late last night, just hours after the U.S. offered an official apology to the families of 19 killed in a March attack. The civilian deaths—as many as 1,000 in 2006 alone—are stirring unrest against NATO forces,...

Combat Soldiers' Blogs Make Brass Queasy

(Newser) - Some of the most riveting reporting about the war in Iraq is coming from the soldiers fighting it. As blogs from deployed soldiers proliferate, higher-ups are biting their nails over the ensuing transparency. Bloggers like Capt. Danjel Bout say posting provides "online therapy" and helps keep friends and the...

Afghan Prison Is as Bad as Gitmo
Afghan Prison Is as Bad as Gitmo
May 3, 2007 3:15 PM CDT

Afghan Prison Is as Bad as Gitmo

(Newser) - The U.S. prison at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan is as bad as Guantanamo, reports Eliza Griswold in the New Republic. Prisoners are kept in barbed-wire cages, beaten, tortured, raped, and held without promise of trial. But unlike Gitmo, Bagram has no visiting congressional delegations.

Terrorist Attacks Spiked in '06
Terrorist Attacks Spiked in '06
Apr 30, 2007 10:16 PM CDT

Terrorist Attacks Spiked in '06

Attacks rise 25% percent, driven by

(Newser) - Terrorist attacks rose 25 percent in 2006, with much of the rise attributable to Iraq, according to a State Department report released today. Terrorism claimed over 20,000 lives in 2006—two-thirds of those in Iraq—up sharply from 2005, raising doubts about the short-term success of the continued War...

Taliban Video Shows Young Boy Beheading Prisoner

Preteen appears to execute Pakistani militant; international outcry follows

(Newser) - International outrage is building over a Taliban video in which a preteen boy appears to behead a prisoner. The Guardian reports that the boy, who "appears no older than 12," denounces the man, a Pakistani militant, as an "American spy" in a high-pitched voice before apparently using...

Generals Reject War Post
Generals Reject War Post
Apr 12, 2007 8:26 AM CDT

Generals Reject War Post

(Newser) - Three retired generals declined when asked by the White House to fill a new post to run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guardian reports. One candidate, Marine General John Sheehan, told the Washington Post he turned down the war czar job because hawkish Vice President Dick Cheney still...

Troops to Serve Longer in Iraq
Troops to Serve Longer in Iraq
Apr 12, 2007 6:46 AM CDT

Troops to Serve Longer in Iraq

Many will spend more time in combat zones than the boys of World War II

(Newser) - Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan will have their tours of duty extended to 15 months, from the standard one year, the military said yesterday. The policy—enacted to alleviate troop shortages—allows soldiers to remain at home for at least one year between assignments.  “Our forces are...

Insuring Against Political Risks
Insuring Against Political Risks
Apr 6, 2007 1:45 PM CDT

Insuring Against Political Risks

Coups, riots, civil wars: Companies buy huge policies covering political upheaval

(Newser) - Political-risk insurance has quietly become a billion-dollar industry, the Economist reports, as Western corporations doing business in the developing world crave protection against coups, embargoes and civil wars. The Berne Union, a syndicate of 30 of the field's biggest insurers, says members have $113 billion in outstanding policies in some...

Hicks Will Walk After 9 Months
Hicks Will Walk After 9 Months
Mar 31, 2007 11:06 AM CDT

Hicks Will Walk After 9 Months

Australian's 7-year sentence for aiding terrorists suspended in exchange for silence

(Newser) - Australian terror suspect David Hicks will serve just nine months more in detention, the AP reports, despite receiving a seven-year sentence from a military tribunal at Guantánamo yesterday. In an extraordinary plea deal, the rest of the sentence was suspended in exchange for his silence about his treatment during...

Judge Throws Out Rumsfeld Torture Suit

Abuse and humiliation regretted, but officials are immune

(Newser) - Donald Rumsfeld can't be held personally responsible for the alleged mistreatment of prisoners held in overseas military prisons on his watch. Calling the case “lamentable,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan nevertheless dismissed a suit against the former defense secretary on behalf of nine former prisoners in Iraq...

Italians Ransom Journalist for 5 Taliban Prisoners

Widely criticized deal is first swap for a hostage in Iraq or Afghanistan

(Newser) - The Italian government bought the freedom of a kidnapped Italian journalist by arranging the release of five Taliban militants from an Afghan prison. The New York Times says it’s the first time prisoners have been openly exchanged in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan., and the move was widely...

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