Afghanistan

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US Officer Says We're Sorry With Sheep

Special Ops commander asks family of 5 dead for forgiveness

(Newser) - The most senior special operations commander in the American military begged a grieving Afghan father for forgiveness—by taking him two sheep. The man lost two sons, two daughters and a grandchild in a botched special forces operation in February. The peace offering seems to have worked: "We were...

US Soldier Begs to Be Free in Taliban Video

'Afghan war not worth the cost,' he says

(Newser) - "I'm begging you, please, bring me home," pleads an Idaho soldier in a new video released yesterday by his Taliban captors. Private Bowe Bergdahl, captured last summer in Afghanistan, talks of his love for his family, friends and sailing. "This war isn't worth the waste of human...

Ex-Envoy Hints at Karzai Drug Problem

Has 'fondness' for 'Afghanistan's most profitable exports'

(Newser) - This might explain some things: A former UN envoy to Afghanistan suggested to MSNBC that Hamid Karzai has a drug problem. "He can be very emotional, act impulsively," said Peter Galbraith. "In fact, some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some...

White House Threatens to Cancel Karzai Visit

'Troubling' comments put meeting in jeopardy

(Newser) - The White House may cancel a visit by Hamid Karzai if the Afghan president continues to make volatile statements. Karzai is supposed to come in May, but press secretary Robert Gibbs said his erratic behavior has the administration thinking twice, reports CNN . Karzai's recent bombshells include blaming foreigners for electoral...

Chopper Video Is Latest Fight in US-Wikileaks War

Internet leak operation, feds at each others' throats

(Newser) - A chilling video showing US troops shooting down unarmed journalists and other civilians in Iraq and joking about it represents the latest face-off between the government and internet challenger Wikileaks. Officials of the news operation have complained about heavy-handed surveillance and other tactics by the feds, while the Pentagon accuses...

Afghan President Threatens to Join the Taliban

Under pressure, Karzai becomes increasingly erratic

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai has told Afghan lawmakers he will join the Taliban if his western backers kept pushing him to reform. The legislators said the Afghan president's comments shouldn't be taken at face value—he was pandering to pro-Taliban members of parliament, and he seems unconcerned about losing western support. The...

Yanks Cut Out Bullets in Afghan Shooting Coverup

US finally admits Special Forces role in killings

(Newser) - US officials are admitting troop involvement in the killing of three innocent women in a botched Afghan raid as a new report has surfaced revealing that American Special Forces soldiers cut bullets out of their bodies in an effort to hide evidence. The disclosures of the US role in the...

Obama Secretly Steps Up India-Pakistan Diplomacy

White House sees reducing tension as crucial to Afghanistan

(Newser) - President Obama instructed diplomats to focus their efforts on improving relations between India and Pakistan in a secret directive last December, in order to secure Pakistani cooperation in the war in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports. The US has showered Pakistan with aid and high-profile face time over the...

Karzai Calls Clinton, Backs Off

Afghan president 'clarifies' his knock on international community

(Newser) - A day after accusing the US of "vast fraud" that nearly denied him a second term, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to back off. The 25-minute phone call came as the Obama administration labeled his comments "genuinely troubling" and dispatched its ambassador to...

Karzai Blasts 'Foreigners'
 Karzai Blasts 'Foreigners' 
Apr 1, 2010 4:16 PM CDT

Karzai Blasts 'Foreigners'

Harsh remarks illustrate strained ties with US

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the UN and international community today, accusing them of interfering in last year's presidential election and seeking to weaken his authority. His tirade came just days after he got a lecture from President Obama. He didn't specifically mention the US, but his harsh...

US Uses Aid Dollars to Keep Allies in Afghanistan

Counterterror funds serve as tacit incentive to continue unpopular fight

(Newser) - The Pentagon is pouring millions of dollars into equipment and training for its smaller partner nations in the Afghanistan war, a new effort aimed at encouraging them not to abandon the increasingly unpopular conflict. While the funding cannot be openly used as an incentive for NATO nations to send troops...

World's Top Pot Source: Afghanistan

Country slides into first place with 'astonishing' crop yields

(Newser) - The country that supplies the lion's share of the world's opium has become the top cannabis producer as well, according to report from the UN's drug agency. Other countries have more land devoted to marijuana, UNDOC chief Antonio Maria Costa says, but Afghan farmers achieve "astonishingly high" yields, producing...

Obama Rallies US Forces in Afghanistan

On surprise visit, president speaks to cheering crowd

(Newser) - Wrapping up his 6-hour surprise visit to Afghanistan with a speech before a crowd of service members, President Obama said today, "There's no visit that I considered more important than this visit that I'm making right now." After spending the early part of his overnight trip pressing Hamid...

Obama Leans on Karzai to Beef Up Cooperation

Surprise visit to Afghanistan spotlights emphasis on civilian cooperation

(Newser) - President Obama's surprise visit to Afghanistan today is in large part intended to impress upon the Afghan government the necessity of fighting crime and corruption in preparation to govern without American intervention. After meeting with Hamid Karzai, Obama said he was happy with the military accomplishments in the country, "...

Obama Makes Surprise Trip to Afghanistan

President meeting with Karzai, cabinet

(Newser) - President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan today for a firsthand look at the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically escalated. After an overnight flight from Washington, the president landed in Afghanistan for a stay of just a few hours, all in darkness. He flew by helicopter from...

Birthday Cake Awaited Suicide Bomber at CIA Base

Officers had birthday party for double agent al-Balawi

(Newser) - CIA officers in Afghanistan were so eager to meet the spy they believed would help them crack al-Qaeda's leadership they planned a birthday celebration for his visit in December. A birthday cake was waiting. But before they could begin to question their golden source, he detonated a powerful bomb, killing...

Bagram Air Base May Become New Gitmo

US doesn't know what to do with terrorist suspects

(Newser) - The White House is considering turning Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan into the new Guantanamo Bay by using the facility to house suspected international terrorists. The plan is already drawing heated criticism at a time when the US has promised to close Guantanamo. Commander Stanley McChrystal believes a US detention...

Afghanistan Cops Still Bumbling and Corrupt
 Afghanistan Cops Still 
 Bumbling and Corrupt 
$6 Billion and counting
Mar 20, 2010 11:20 AM CDT

Afghanistan Cops Still Bumbling and Corrupt

America's big investment isn't paying off: ProPublica

(Newser) - America's $6 billion investment to build an Afghan police force is summed up as a "disaster" in a joint report by ProPublica and Newsweek . Not only do Afghan cops remain the gang that couldn't shoot straight—literally—they're prone to selling guns and ammo to the Taliban to make...

McChrystal Reins In Special Ops to Cut Casualties

Some units weren't making saving Afghan lives high priority

(Newser) - Worried about civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has decided to bring Special Operations forces under his direct control. The top American commander is said to have been concerned that some units weren't following his orders to make cutting civilian casualties top priority. “These special forces were not...

UN Report Rips US for 'Inhuman' Attack on Afghan Civilians

Troops 'killed pregnant women, then beat survivors'

(Newser) - Covert US and Afghan troops killed two pregnant women and a teen girl in a botched raid last month, then inflicted "cruel and inhuman" treatment on the innocent survivors, according to a scathing UN report. In all, 5 members of a single family were killed as relatives gathered to...

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