Afghanistan

Stories 1061 - 1080 | << Prev   Next >>

Gates: After 2014, US Should Stay Involved in Afghanistan

Officials agree on engagement beyond deadline, says defense secretary

(Newser) - Both the US and Afghanistan agree that the US military should maintain its involvement with Afghanistan past 2014 by continuing to train and advise Afghan troops, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “Obviously it would be a small fraction of the presence that we have today, but I think we're...

Thomas Friedman: Stop Wasting $100 Billion a Year on Afghanistan, Pakistan Regimes
 Stop Wasting $110B 
 a Year on These Turkeys 
THOMAS FRIEDMAN
Mar 6, 2011 8:43 AM CST

Stop Wasting $110B a Year on These Turkeys

As Arabs spread democracy, we prop up Afghan, Pakistan regimes

(Newser) - Democracy is on the march across the Arab world, so "What are we doing spending $110 billion this year supporting corrupt and unpopular regimes in Afghanistan and Pakistan that are almost identical to the governments we’re applauding the Arab people for overthrowing?" asks Thomas Friedman in the New ...

In Video, Boys Practice Being Suicide Bombers

Taliban says it's not behind video, but approves of it

(Newser) - A disturbing new video has emerged of young boys play-acting the last moments of a suicide bomber's life. The 84-second video features a group of Afghan or Pakistani Pashtun children; one, dressed with a black scarf over his face, hugs each boy, then walks toward a boy dressed in white,...

9 Children Killed in US Attack: Karzai

Officials say they were gathering firewood on a mountainside

(Newser) - A US artillery attack killed nine children and injured a tenth yesterday in Kunar province, Afghan officials declared today. The kids, ages 8 to 14, were reportedly out gathering firewood when rocket fire hit a nearby outpost. The base’s defenders say they responded with “indirect and aerial fire,...

US Withdraws from Once-Key Afghan Valley

Some troops see wasted effort in Pech Valley

(Newser) - The US is withdrawing from the Pech Valley, the mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan that for years was central to its strategy—and the site of much bloodshed. The move is a controversial one, notes the New York Times : 103 US troops were killed there, and many more wounded, leading...

Soldier Faces Court-Martial for Civilian Shooting

Sgt. Derrick Anthony Miller accused of shooting unarmed man

(Newser) - An Army National Guardsman is accused of murdering an unarmed Afghan civilian in September, and will appear before a court-martial in June. During an otherwise routine mission, Sgt. Derrick Anthony Miller detained Atta Mohammed for questioning after the Afghan entered a security perimeter. Army investigators say Miller threatened to shoot...

Mike Huckabee Doubts Afghan War Is Winnable

Thanks to corrupt regime

(Newser) - Could Mike Huckabee be positioning himself as an anti-war candidate? The former governor expressed grave doubts about the war yesterday, the Huffington Post reports, saying he didn’t know what the US should do next. "I’m asking people, 'Tell me what is it we do to say we...

Petraeus Suggests Afghans Burned Own Children

Participants at a recent meeting say comments offended Karzai

(Newser) - US officials were already skeptical of claims that a military operation last week killed 65 Afghan civilians , but now Gen. David Petraeus has apparently taken things a step further: During a Sunday meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Petraeus reportedly suggested Afghans burned their own children in an effort to...

Taliban's Middle Managers 'Tired of Fighting'

New US raid strategy may be taking its toll

(Newser) - Many mid-level Taliban commanders are increasingly unhappy at the prospect of returning to battlefield in Afghanistan, putting them at odds with the top-level commanders in Pakistan, one commander tells the New York Times. “I have talked to some commanders, and they are reluctant to fight,” he says. “...

US Operation Killed 65 Civilians: Afghan Officials

NATO, US officials cast doubt on claim

(Newser) - A US military operation in the desolate, mountainous lands of northeastern Afghanistan last week killed 65 civilians, among them 22 women and 30 children, Afghan officials tell the Washington Post . US officials have launched an emergency probe into the situation, seeking to minimize damage to American-Afghan relations—while some cast...

US Holding Direct, Secret Talks With Taliban

New Yorker: They're preliminary but mark a shift in strategy

(Newser) - The US is for the first time holding direct talks with senior Taliban officials in Afghanistan, reports Steve Coll in the New Yorker . He characterizes them as "exploratory" and not as formal peace negotiations, noting that supreme leader Mullar Omar is not a participant. The intent is to pave...

Pentagon: Petraeus Isn't Going Anywhere

Papers said he'd leave by the end of the year

(Newser) - The Pentagon moved quickly today to quash reports that it’s looking to replace David Petraeus by the end of the year. “Despite some sensational speculation by one of the London papers, I can assure you General Petraeus is not quitting,” a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement....

Mahmood Karzai, Brother of Afghan Prez, May Be Indicted in US
 US May Indict Karzai Brother 
Feb 16, 2011 4:25 AM CST

US May Indict Karzai Brother

Grand jury probing racketeering, extortion allegations

(Newser) - Mahmood Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has risen from running a few modest restaurants in the US to being one of Afghanistan's most prosperous businessman. Federal authorities, believing there was more than just a little shady dealing along the way, are seeking his indictment on racketeering, extortion, and...

Marc Grossman New Envoy to Pakistan, Afghanistan

Former ambassador replaces Richard Holbrooke

(Newser) - Former ambassador to Egypt Marc Grossman will be coming out of retirement to take up one of the toughest jobs in diplomacy, administration officials say. Grossman, after months of wrangling between the White House and the State Department, is to become the new special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, filling...

US Busts 7 Would-Be Drug Runners for Taliban

Men also tried to sell weapons, face extradition to US

(Newser) - The US is slapping seven men with charges of trying to peddle weapons and drugs to the Taliban, Reuters reports. In a global sting, agents posing as Taliban operatives arrested five men in Liberia and and two in Romania after the men went through on what they believed were legitimate...

2 Kabul Guards Give Lives, Save Mall in Bombing

Two men catch bomber in metal detector

(Newser) - No shoppers or clerks were hurt in a suicide bombing at an Afghanistan mall today—thanks to the heroic efforts of a pair of security guards. When the bomber set off a metal-detector alarm, they opened fire, and the bomber quickly set off his explosives, witnesses told the New York ...

Afghan War Killed 2 Kids a Day in 2010

Most of the deaths are blamed on insurgents

(Newser) - Nearly 740 kids—an average of about two a day—were killed in the Afghanistan war last year, says a watchdog group. About two-thirds of those deaths were blamed on insurgents—or "armed opposition groups" in the language of the report—with 17% blamed on US and NATO forces....

Afghanistan's Top Bank Faces $900M Losses

Experts fear bank's collapse amid widespread fraud

(Newser) - Kabul Bank might be on the brink of collapse. It's lost as much as $900 million in its fraud and mismanagement scandal , three times more than investigators originally expected, the New York Times reports. Investors and businessmen believe most of that cash wound up in the hands of elite Afghan...

Afghanistan to Stop Using Kids as Soldiers, Sex Slaves

Will sign UN pledge to end unsavory practice

(Newser) - Afghanistan will sign a formal agreement at the UN tomorrow promising to stop using young boys as police or military sex slaves, the New York Times reports. Hamid Karzai ordered the deal after Afghanistan was placed on a UN blacklist for “grave violations against children in armed combat....

Suicide Bomber Kills Afghan Deputy Guv

Taliban takes responsibility for Kandahar official's slaying

(Newser) - A suicide bomber on an explosives-laden motorbike rammed the car of Kandahar's deputy governor today as he was on his way to work, killing him and wounding three of his bodyguards. The Taliban have claimed responsibility, reports the AP, but the Los Angeles Times notes that Abdul Latif Ashna's slaying...

Stories 1061 - 1080 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser