Afghanistan

Stories 1281 - 1300 | << Prev   Next >>

US Deaths in Afghanistan Reach 1,000

Suicide bomber's attack in Kabul kills 5

(Newser) - A suicide attack in Kabul that killed five US troops today has brought the American death toll in the war to 1,000, reports the New York Times . In an extended look at the unwanted milestone, the Times notes that it took 7 years to reach the first 500 deaths...

5 US Troops Among 18 Dead in Kabul Blast

Suicide bomb shreds NATO convoy, public bus

(Newser) - A Taliban suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy in Kabul today, killing six of its servicemembers, five of them American, officials said. Twelve Afghan civilians also died—many in a gruesome scene as a public bus in rush hour traffic was ripped apart. “I got to the scene...

Obama Open to Taliban Peace Talks

Karzai plan wins tentative support

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai has won some very tentative support from President Obama for his plan to try to make peace with Taliban leaders. At a joint press conference yesterday, Obama said when Karzai holds talks this summer, reintegration into Afghan society chould be on the table, the Los Angeles Times reports....

Obama &amp; Co. Romance Hated Karzai With Lies
Obama & Co. Romance
Hated Karzai With Lies
Maureen Dowd
May 12, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Obama & Co. Romance Hated Karzai With Lies

Time to snuggle up to the lesser of two evils

(Newser) - Washingtonians lie all the time, but “with the arrival of Hamid Karzai, the mendacity blossomed into absurdity,” writes Maureen Dowd of the New York Times . Obama can't stand Karzai—and really, neither can anyone else. But Dowd says they'll pretend to like him, because “like a lover...

White House Rolls Out Red Carpet for Karzai

Afghan leader comes to DC for (likely strained) talks

(Newser) - When Hamid Karzai arrives in Washington today, he'll be met with smiles (through gritted teeth, perhaps) from Barack Obama. The administration has had a rocky relationship with Karzai—the trip was almost canceled after he publicly contemplated joining the Taliban—but Obama has ordered his aides to roll out the...

Karzai's Peace Plan: Exile Taliban Leaders

Plan calls for "deradicalization" classes, jobs

(Newser) - Taliban leaders would be allowed to go peacefully into exile, while their warriors would be given jobs and “deradicalization” classes under a new peace plan that will be proposed later this month by Hamid Karzai's government in Afghanistan. The write-up seen by the Guardian refers to Taliban fighters as...

Afghan Killing Sparks 'Death to America' Protest

NATO kills lawmaker's brother-in-law

(Newser) - NATO forces killed the relative of a prominent Afghan lawmaker in a botched raid, triggering protests by villagers who chanted: "Death to America." Afghan lawmaker Safya Sidiqi, who lost her brother-in-law in the attack Wednesday, called the incident "barbaric and unjustifiable." NATO claims troops shot the...

Afghan Troops Remake Gaga's Telephone Vid

'I feel better knowing these guys are fighting for us'

(Newser) - A flouncy, heart-felt, risqué remake of Lady Gaga's edgy Telephone video has apparently been staged by a creative group of US soldiers in Afghanistan and sparked a pointed debate on YouTube. The video features seductive partner dances, fake sex scenes and men dressed in camo and evidence tape just (not...

Taliban Suspected in Schoolgirls' Poisoning

Militants deny involvement after 88 fall ill

(Newser) - At least 88 schoolgirls and their teachers have been hospitalized in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan over the last week because of what authorities suspect are poison gas attacks by the Taliban. The militant group, however—which isn't known for its unwillingness to own up to atrocities—firmly denies involvement, the ...

Afghan Survivor Tells Obama: 'You Be the Judge'

Video calls for UN-led investigation into US attack

(Newser) - American forces in Afghanistan lost "all credibility" by killing 5 civilians and attempting to hide the evidence by digging bullets out of their bodies, a new video campaign says. The video features an interview with Afghan scholar Sayid Mohammed Mal, who survived the attack. "They say they have...

Karzai, White House Mend Fences; Visit On

Afghan president will travel to Washington next month as scheduled

(Newser) - The Obama administration and Hamid Karzai have buried the hatchet, and the Afghan president will visit Washington next month as scheduled, reports the Washington Post . The White House had threatened to call off the visit because of Karzai's recent shenanigans—including a vow to join the Taliban if Afghanistan's Western...

Taliban Leader Edges Closer to Peace Talks

Omar apparently no longer interested in ruling Afghanistan

(Newser) - Peace talks with the Taliban? The Times of London thinks it's a possibility after an interview with two liaisons of supreme leader Mullar Omar. The language is iffy—the story says Omar "indicated" that he "may be willing" to talk with western politicians—but an unnamed US military...

Korengal Valley's Toll Should Be Warning to US
Korengal Valley's Toll Should Be Warning to US
eugene robinson
Apr 16, 2010 9:53 AM CDT

Korengal Valley's Toll Should Be Warning to US

We're leaving it, but how many more will die before we quit Afghanistan?

(Newser) - The US decision to pull out of the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan is no doubt the smart thing to do, writes Eugene Robinson. After all, our troops spent 5 years there and gained only 3 miles at the cost of 42 lives. That kind of fighting in remote territory doesn't...

Live Shell Removed From Soldier's Head

Air Force docs don body armor to extract live ammo

(Newser) - When a CT scan turned up a live round of ammo that could explode at any time embedded in a young Afghan soldier, Air Force surgeons knew exactly what to do: don flak jackets, evacuate nonessential personnel, and operate. The shell—part of the shrapnel that had been packed into...

Civilian Contractor Deaths Soar in Afghanistan
 Civilian Contractor Deaths 
 Soar in Afghanistan 

contractors outstrip military
Apr 14, 2010 7:15 PM CDT

Civilian Contractor Deaths Soar in Afghanistan

In a first, support teams now outnumber soldiers

(Newser) - As the US ramps up its military presence in Afghanistan, life is becoming decidedly more dangerous for civilian contractors. Of the 289 killed there since the war started, 100 died in the last 6 months, reports ProPublica . And in what is apparently a first, the number of civilian workers (107,...

Safest Place to Give Birth? Italy
Safest Place to Give Birth? Italy
Apr 14, 2010 2:04 PM CDT

Safest Place to Give Birth? Italy

Afghanistan is worst, but deaths during childbirth plummet 40% globally

(Newser) - The number of women who die while giving birth has plummeted over the last 30 years, thanks mostly to dramatic improvements in populous rising nations like India, China, Brazil, and Egypt, according to a new study. Globally, 251 mothers died for every 100,000 babies born in 2008, a 40%...

US Abandons Afghan Valley Where 42 Americans Died

Five-year Afghanistan battle deemed a mistake

(Newser) - The last US troops left Korengal Valley this morning, ending five years of seemingly pointless combat. Before dawn an American captain showed local village elders around what used to be the US base, the Washington Post reports, showing them the bullet-ridden crane and full fuel bladder they’d traded for...

Gates Slams Wikileaks Over Videos of Civilian Killings

Leaked military videos show war 'through a soda straw'

(Newser) - An angry Robert Gates yesterday slammed Wikileaks just as the online operation is threatening to release a new secret military video revealing the 2009 US airstrike that killed some 100 civilians in Afghanistan. "These people can put out whatever they want and are never held accountable for it,"...

Afghans Riot After US Troops Kill Bus Passengers

Civilian death spark outrage before Kandahar push

(Newser) - Anti-American riots swept Kandahar yesterday after American troops opened fire on a passenger bus, killing at least 4 civilians and wounding 18. Accounts of the incident—which deals a massive blow to NATO's hopes of winning over the local population before its upcoming offensive in the area—vary widely. NATO...

Karzai's the Best We've Got. Deal With It
Karzai's the Best We've
Got. Deal With It
Fareed Zakaria
Apr 12, 2010 8:36 AM CDT

Karzai's the Best We've Got. Deal With It

We need him to win the Afghanistan war, so grow up and stop undercutting him

(Newser) - Sure, Hamid Karzai is a "vain, mercurial, hypersensitive man" presiding over "a system that is massively corrupt." But the US still should—and must—learn to work with him, Fareed Zakaria writes in the Washington Post . There is no alternative to Karzai, Zakaria argues; if the US...

Stories 1281 - 1300 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser