Afghanistan

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Massive Records Leak Bares Chilling Afghan War Secrets
 Massive Records 
 Leak Bares 
 Chilling Afghan 
 War Secrets 
WIKILEAKS DROPS NEW BOMB

Massive Records Leak Bares Chilling Afghan War Secrets

White House furious about 92K posted documents

(Newser) - Covert operations, hidden civilian victims of the Afghanistan War and US suspicions that Pakistan is aiding the Taliban are among the shocking secrets bared in some 92,000 leaked American military documents posted yesterday on Wikileaks . The New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel were given early access to...

Taliban: 1 US Sailor Dead, 1 Captured
 Taliban: 1 US Sailor 
 Dead, 1 Captured 
UPDATED

Taliban: 1 US Sailor Dead, 1 Captured

Pair ventured into insurgent-controlled territory

(Newser) - The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a US sailor they said was killed in an ambush two days ago for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said today. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said one American sailor was killed and the other was captured in a gunfight after the...

Support Crumbling for Afghan War

Congressional Dems near open revolt as initiative fails to show progress

(Newser) - The July 2011 deadline Barack Obama set to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan was supposed to put pressure on Hamid Karzai’s government to step up its efforts to take over security duties. But it's wound up putting at least as much pressure on Obama, according to a harsh front-page...

US Aims for 2014 Troop Withdrawal Vow Today

End sought in violent, unpopular Afghan war

(Newser) - US and allied representatives are meeting today with Afghan government officials to hammer out an agreement for foreign troops to pull out of the nation by 2014, more than 3 years after President Obama's date for the start of the US drawdown. The action comes amid stepped-up Taliban violence in...

Al-Qaeda No. 2 Mocks Obama
 Al-Qaeda No. 2 Mocks Obama 

Al-Qaeda No. 2 Mocks Obama

Al-Zawahri taunts: 'Can you promise your hordes will return safely?'

(Newser) - In an audio message posted online today, Al-Qaeda's second-in-command taunts President Obama for saying that the US would prevail in Afghanistan, Reuters reports. Experts attribute the recording to Ayman al-Zawahiri, who refers to the president's March visit, saying, "Poor Obama comes to Kabul and he promises that Taliban shall...

Biden: Few Troops to Leave Afghanistan in 2011

US trying to work with reasonable Taliban members

(Newser) - Don’t expect much from next summer’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. In an interview yesterday, Joe Biden said some troops would start leaving in July 2011, but added, “It could be as few as a couple thousand troops. It could be more. But there will be a transition.”...

8 US Troops Killed in Taliban Attacks
 8 US Troops Killed 
 in Taliban Attacks 
updated

8 US Troops Killed in Taliban Attacks

Taliban claims responsibility for car bomb, gun, grenade attack

(Newser) - Eight American troops died in attacks in southern Afghanistan in the last 24 hours, including a car bombing and gunfight outside a police compound in Kandahar. In that attack, a suicide attacker slammed a car bomb into the gate of the headquarters of the elite Afghan National Civil Order Police....

Rogue Afghan Soldier Kills 3 British Troops

Fires grenade into group of soldiers before escaping

(Newser) - A rogue Afghan soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a group of international forces early this morning, killing three British troops and wounding four others. The Afghan soldier, who used a shoulder-mounted launcher to fire a grenade at around 2am, escaped and is being sought. Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent...

Troops Forced to Play Diplomat in Kandahar

Forces represent Afghan government where it fears to go

(Newser) - After the less-than-successful military offensive in Marjah, NATO forces are taking a different tack in the villages surrounding Kandahar: They’re acting as representatives of the distant, oft-distrusted government. In “Operation Hamkari” (“cooperation”), soldiers are attempting to drive out the Taliban simply by improving government services and...

Petraeus, Karzai Clash on Strategy
Petraeus,
Karzai Clash
on Strategy

Petraeus, Karzai Clash on Strategy

Elsewhere, six American troops are killed

(Newser) - Bleak news all around today from Afghanistan: Gen. David Petraeus has barely settled in, but he's already running into resistance from President Hamid Karzai on strategy, reports the Washington Post . Meanwhile, six American service members were killed, bringing the total to 23 this month, reports AP . That follows last month's...

Rules Eased for Vet PTSD Disability

Conservatives wary of $5 billion plan

(Newser) - A new rule will make it easier for American veterans to get disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD . The $5 billion plan erases the need for warriors to document the specific horror, be it bomb blast or raid, that made them sick. That's especially good news for those...

NATO Strike Kills 5 Afghan Troops

Allies 'weren't clear' Afghans were in the area

(Newser) - NATO mistakenly killed five of its Afghan army allies in an airstrike today while the Afghans were attacking insurgents in the country's east. The Afghan soldiers were launching an ambush before dawn against insurgents in Ghazni province when NATO aircraft began firing on them without warning, the AP reports. An...

Band Sets the Stage for Afghan Rock Scene

Kabul Pride is first post-Taliban indie rock group

(Newser) - When Afghanistan was under Taliban rule, playing rock music would have assured you some quality time in jail, but now the the country's first indie rock band is booking gigs and preparing to launch its first album, the AP reports. "We want to show the world that Afghanistan has...

Afghan Cops Kill 64 in Drug Busts

36K pounds of narcotic seized in Helmand raid

(Newser) - Afghan cops say they have killed 64 militants and drug traffickers during a 3-day operation in Helmand province, according to law enforcement authorities. Ten other people were arrested and 36,000 pounds of narcotics were seized, along with weapons and suicide vests. Afghan authorities said that the dozens of people...

Lay Off Michael Steele: Ron Paul

Texan defends RNC chair's Afghanistan remarks

(Newser) - Michael Steele is under fire from politicians and pundits alike for saying the Afghanistan war is unwinnable, but he has at least one Republican on his side: Ron Paul. "Michael Steele has it right and Republicans should stick by him," the Texas congressman said in a statement. He...

Biden Makes Surprise Stop in Iraq
Biden Makes Surprise Stop
in Iraq

Biden Makes Surprise Stop in Iraq

In Afghanistan, meanwhile, Petraeus calls for unity

(Newser) - Joe Biden and his wife will be spending the Fourth of July weekend with the troops in Iraq. The vice president landed in Baghdad today for the surprise visit, where he will also meet with Iraqi leaders. It's likely an attempt to reassure Iraqis that the US is still engaged,...

Steele Backs Off Afghan War Smack Talk

RNC chair rushes to declare support for troops

(Newser) - Having enraged conservatives and delighted Democrats by criticizing the decision to engage in Afghanistan—a policy advanced by President Bush and supported by congressional Republicans—the RNC chairman is scrambling to defuse the controversy, reports the Washington Post . "For the sake of the security of the free world, our...

Joe Biden Becomes Backstage Powerhouse

The 'skunk at the family picnic' has Obama's ear

(Newser) - It may have looked as though Joe Biden lost last fall’s argument over strategy in Afghanistan, but he actually emerged with a powerful, well-defined role in the administration. His position, in his own words: “the skunk at the family picnic.” Biden has been the in-house skeptic on...

NATO Base Attacked in Afghanistan

Day after Petraeus warned of more violence

(Newser) - Taliban insurgents attacked a NATO base in Afghanistan this morning in a commando-style raid that caused no allied casualties. Gunmen set off a car bomb and fired rocket-propelled grenades, attacking NATO facilities at an airport near the Pakistani border from multiple directions; several suicide bombers were killed in the attack....

McChrystal's Potty Mouth May Have Cost Him His Job

Rolling Stone piece's impact helped by vulgar language

(Newser) - What does a journalist have to do to effect a major change in US foreign policy? In the case of Michael Hastings' Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the answer may be to use lots and lots of curse words. The piece uses "f---" 18 times, from the...

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