Afghanistan

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Karzai Confirms Taliban Talks
 Karzai Confirms Taliban Talks 
Oct 11, 2010 3:22 AM CDT

Karzai Confirms Taliban Talks

Reps are talking 'countryman to countryman,' he says

(Newser) - It's official: Hamid Karzai is talking to the Taliban in a last-ditch bid for peace. In an interview with CNN 's Larry King set to air today, the Afghan leader says his government is engaged in "unofficial" discussion with Taliban reps. "We have been talking to the Taliban...

Afghan Mosque Blast Kills 20, Including Governor

Mohammad Omar was targeted, official says

(Newser) - A provincial governor and at least 19 other people were killed by a massive bomb blast inside a packed mosque during Friday prayers in northern Afghanistan, where insurgents have stepped up violence amid intensified NATO-Afghan military operations. Thirty-five people were wounded in the explosion while praying at the Shirkat mosque...

Afghan Warlords, Insurgents Hired to Guard US Bases

Senate panel says lack of oversight creating 'grave risks' for US troops

(Newser) - American contractors in Afghanistan have hired security forces with links to the Taliban, warlords, and even Iranian intelligence services to guard US bases in Afghanistan, according to a Senate Armed Services Committee report. The report found that "systemic failures" exist in the Pentagon's oversight of Afghan guards and that...

Pakistan Pushes Taliban to Keep Fighting: Report

Militants say ISI threatens to arrest them if they don't

(Newser) - Pakistani intelligence has been actively pressuring the Taliban to continue fighting in Afghanistan, even threatening to arrest them if they don’t, Afghan militants tell the Wall Street Journal . Taliban commanders say pressure from the ISI is one of the main reasons that few have taken the Afghan government up...

Taliban, Karzai In Talks to End War

Leaders seeking peace deal, role in government: sources

(Newser) - The Taliban are in secret talks with the Afghan government to end the war, according to the Washington Post , which cites Arab and Afghan sources. The Taliban's representatives are this time authorized to speak on behalf of Mullah Omar and other leaders and "they are very, very serious about...

Pakistan Gunmen Torch Dozens of NATO Tankers

Driver killed as key border crossing remains closed

(Newser) - Gunmen torched more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel to NATO troops and killed a driver today in the sixth attack on convoys taking supplies to Afghanistan since Pakistan closed a key border crossing almost a week ago. The Khyber Pass crossing was closed after a NATO helicopter attack in...

US Military Ditching Fuel for Solar Energy

First portable solar panels arrive in Afghanistan

(Newser) - The US military may be an unlikely poster child for green energy, but with its fuel supply convoys increasingly under attack in Afghanistan, it's working hard to ditch its dependence on fossil fuels—and source its energy from the sun. Last week saw the arrival of portable solar panels and...

US Relies on Corrupt 'Afghan Robin Hood'

Abdul Razziq keeps order in ways US can't

(Newser) - Abdul Razziq is illiterate and corrupt. His network skims custom duties, facilitates drug trafficking, and smuggles contraband across the Pakistani border. Yet the 32-year-old is also essential to the war effort, bringing the kind of security to the city of Spin Boldak that has so eluded the US elsewhere. “...

Troop Death Benefits: We Pay, Prudential Profits

American legion calls for 'overhaul' of system

(Newser) - Prudential is making a profit on death benefits owed to military families—and it's doing so using government funds. When a service member dies, the feds send the full amount of the life insurance policy, usually $400,000, to Prudential. If survivors opt to receive a lump-sum payment, which 95%...

Afghanistan Disarms Security Contractors

Including the artist formerly known as Blackwater

(Newser) - Afghanistan has begun disbanding the private security firms operating in the country, the Karzai administration announced today. Authorities have seized more than 400 weapons so far, according to Reuters . At the moment they're focusing on eight companies, including Xe Services, the artist formerly known as Blackwater, two other American...

Pakistan: Blockade Only Temporary

Foreign minister blames blockade on public outrage

(Newser) - Pakistan doesn't intend to keep up its Afghanistan blockade forever. In an interview with the AP today, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that the route was closed thanks to public outrage over NATO strikes in the border region, and would reopen once things normalized. "The supply has been...

CIA Secretly Ramps Up Drone Hits on Pakistan

Two US strikes reportedly kill 18 today

(Newser) - A Reuters report that two US drone strikes killed 18 people in Pakistan today could become a common refrain: The CIA has significantly increased its drone attacks in the country over the last month, thanks to a secret diversion of weapons from the US military in Afghanistan, according to the...

Pakistan Blocks NATO Supply Route

Move seems to be in retaliation for morning's helicopter strikes

(Newser) - Pakistan blocked a major NATO supply line into Afghanistan today, in apparent retaliation for a cross-border helicopter attack. A pair of NATO helicopters opened fire on a border village in Pakistan’s Kurram region this morning, killing three Frontiers Corps troops, Pakistani security tells Reuters . Within hours, roughly 100 NATO...

Obama: 'I've Been Here 2 Years, Guys'

 Obama: 'I've 
 Been Here 2 
 Years, Guys' 


'rolling stone' Interview
Sep 28, 2010 10:01 AM CDT

Obama: 'I've Been Here 2 Years, Guys'

Obama defends record, says he's accomplished 70% of goals

(Newser) - Barack Obama is keenly aware that liberals think he hasn’t done enough in office—but he thinks they’re being pessimists. “I keep in my pocket a checklist of the promises I made during the campaign,” he tells Rolling Stone . “We've probably accomplished 70%.” Does...

'Crazy' Sergeant Urged US Troops to 'Kill for Sport'

Army ignored warning about death squad team leader, say soldier's parents

(Newser) - Soldiers charged with murdering Afghan civilians for kicks are blaming a "crazy" sergeant that the parents of one said they warned the Army about. In a chilling videotaped interrogation, Corporal Jeremy Morlock recounts being ordered to kill civilians during heroin-, opium-, and hash-fueled raids. At one point, Sergeant Calvin...

Taliban Offer Kidnapped Doc for MIT Terrorist

Insurgents nab Scottish aid worker, want Aafia Siddiqui in return

(Newser) - The Taliban today admitted to kidnapping a female Scottish aid worker in Afghanistan, and offered to trade her for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani ex-MIT student sentenced to 86 years in prison last week for trying to kill FBI officers. Siddiqui’s sentence set off a wave of...

Feds Focus Crime Probe on Karzai Brother

Afghan president's bro linked to tax evasion, extortion

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors in New York have launched a corruption investigation into business operations belonging to Afghan president Hamid Karzai's brother. Mamood Karzai, who is a US citizen, is being probed for tax evasion, extortion, and racketeering that may be linked in part to US loans he obtained to build his...

Woodward: Obama's Directing Afghan War

President is 'strategist-in-chief'

(Newser) - President Obama is personally directing the course of the war in Afghanistan, author Bob Woodward tells ABC News . While chatting with Diane Sawyer about his new book , the famed investigative reporter calls the president "strategist-in-chief" and says, unequivocally, that Afghanistan is "Obama's war"—so much so that...

Afghan Elections: A Corrupt 'Free-for-All'

Widespread fraud reported in nearly a third of provinces

(Newser) - From stuffing ballot boxes to arresting election workers to, incredibly, haggling over the sales price of a vote, Afghanistan's election is so rife with corruption and fraud that the results are questionable in one-third of its provinces, reports the New York Times. And as a test of Afghanistan's nascent democracy,...

Karzai Diagnosed as 'Manic Depressive'
 Karzai Diagnosed 
 as 'Manic Depressive' 
WOODWARD BOOK
Sep 23, 2010 1:40 AM CDT

Karzai Diagnosed as 'Manic Depressive'

Tome exposes concerns about leader's erratic behavior

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's wild mood swings that have often tested the patience of his international backers could be the result of manic depression, according to Bob Woodward's new book on the Afghan war. US intelligence reports found that Karzai has been diagnosed with the condition and is taking medication...

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