Afghanistan

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Islam Needs a Civil War

 Islam Needs 
 a Civil War 
Thomas Friedman
Dec 16, 2009 1:14 PM CST

Islam Needs a Civil War

Muslim majority must triumph on the ground and in 'Virtual Afghanistan'

(Newser) - Islam has become corrupted by the ideology of a "violent minority," and it's long past time that the majority of Muslims take back their religion, writes Thomas Friedman. How? It needs a "civil war," just as America needed one to overcome the ideology of slavery. "...

Afghan Kidnappers Release Guardian Journo

British paper kept abduction secret for Abdul-Ahad's safety

(Newser) - A Guardian reporter and two Afghan journalists are free after being captured six days ago by unknown Afghans while attempting to interview militia in a remote region, the paper reports. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad and his unnamed associates were taken hostage near Pakistan’s North-West Frontier province and spent most of their...

Up to 56,000 Contractors Headed to Afghanistan

'Second surge' would expand role of private sector in war zone

(Newser) - Talk of the 30,000 troops Obama is sending to Afghanistan fails to note that they're likely to be joined by as many as 56,000 civilians, according to a tally by a congressional agency. The second surge would bring the number of independent contractors in Afghanistan to somewhere between...

Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Kabul's Diplomatic Quarter

Authorities suspect former Karzai deputy was bomber's target

(Newser) - At least eight people were killed and dozens more injured when a suicide car bomber struck an elite Kabul neighborhood today. The blast, the deadliest in the city since Hamid Karzai was sworn in for his second term last month, happened at a checkpoint near a hotel favored by foreigners...

For Pakistan, Taliban Leader Outranks US

Islamabad backs off Haqqani, a crucial link to Afghanistan

(Newser) - Pakistani officials are balking at pursuing a Taliban leader who poses a major threat to US forces in Afghanistan, underscoring their lack of faith in the Obama surge. Pakistan has made a separate peace with Siraj Haqqani, allowing him the use of North Waziristan as a base of operations after...

Obama Overstates Domestic Al-Qaeda Threat: Experts

President, Clinton cite US arrests, but link to Pakistan appears weak

(Newser) - The White House has been overstating the link between recent domestic terrorism arrests and al-Qaeda activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, security experts say. In justifying the Afghanistan troop buildup, President Obama cited recent arrests within the US; Hillary Clinton cited some of the same incidents a few days later. But...

King Pays to Bring Troops Home for Holidays

But horrormeister thought $13K would be bad luck

(Newser) - When it comes to the holidays, Stephen King is glad to do the right thing—albeit in his own quirky way. Case in point: 150 infantry troops from Maine due to be shipped to Afghanistan next month were to spend the holidays at an Indiana training camp. King answered a...

16 Cops Killed in Afghanistan
 16 Cops Killed in Afghanistan 
Dec 14, 2009 4:39 AM CST

16 Cops Killed in Afghanistan

Two attacks target checkpoints

(Newser) - Militants slaughtered 16 police officers in two separate attacks in Afghanistan today. Gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint in Northeastern Baglan Province and one in Lashkar Gah, the capital of troubled Helmand Province in the south. At least two attackers were also killed in the firefight. It wasn't immediately clear...

Brit Military Bishop 'Admires' Taliban Loyalty

Gordon Brown does not agree

(Newser) - The Taliban's faith and loyalty to one another can be regarded as admirable, according to a British military bishop, who is urging an approach to them that recognizes they're not all bad. The Church of England's bishop to the Armed Forces, Stephen Venner, made his comments as Prime Minister Gordon...

Cocky Karzai Calls Gates' Bluff
 Cocky Karzai Calls Gates' Bluff 
MAUREEN DOWD
Dec 13, 2009 9:01 AM CST

Cocky Karzai Calls Gates' Bluff

Defense sec gets dissed by Afghanistan, Iraq 'puppets': Dowd

(Newser) - Robert Gates may be the man "running the world's best military," a force not inconsequential to stability in Afghanistan these days, but Hamid Karzai thumbed his nose at the defense secretary on his recent visit. "Puppets just aren’t what they used to be," notes Maureen...

CIA Terminates Blackwater Deal
 CIA Terminates Blackwater Deal 
Dec 11, 2009 9:37 PM CST

CIA Terminates Blackwater Deal

Security firm helped load killer drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan

(Newser) - The Central Intelligence Agency has severed ties with private security firm Blackwater, whose employees helped load the drone aircraft tasked with killing targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. CIA chief Leon Panetta killed the contract, a rep tells the New York Times , which was instrumental in revealing the firm’s ties...

To End Afghan War, Reinstitute the Draft

People didn't oppose the Vietnam war, they opposed going to fight in it

(Newser) - There’s one surefire way to end the war in Afghanistan: bring back the draft. After all, that's what worked in the '60s, writes cartoonist Jeff Danziger, who was drafted and served in Vietnam. The protests over that war ripped the country apart, grinding the war effort to a halt....

How Obama Can Earn the Peace Prize
 How Obama Can 
 Earn the Peace Prize 
OPINION
Dec 10, 2009 10:29 AM CST

How Obama Can Earn the Peace Prize

Get out of Iraq, stop the drone attacks, and get a state for Palestine

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s Nobel Prize was more of a nudge toward peace than a recognition of his accomplishments in pursuit of it. Juan Cole of Salon offers some ways Obama could live up to the award:
  • Get out of Iraq on time. We’ve done what we can, and the
...

Gates Arrives in Iraq in Wake of Bombings

US officials say spate of violence won't affect withdrawal plan

(Newser) - Robert Gates flew to Baghdad today for an unannounced visit, finding a city still reeling from the bombings that killed at least 127 people on Tuesday. The defense secretary is scheduled to meet with Nouri al-Maliki and other top officials, and to offer condolences to victims of the attacks. He’...

Only 50% Prefer Obama to Bush

 Only 50% Prefer 
 Obama to Bush 
Poll Numbers
Dec 9, 2009 12:44 PM CST

Only 50% Prefer Obama to Bush

Latest numbers show steady decline for president

(Newser) - Only 50% of respondents to a recent poll say they prefer Barack Obama to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they’d like Dubya back. Given Bush’s vast unpopularity at the end of his term, that’s probably the most troubling number for the president in the latest Public...

Obama to Conyers: Stop 'Demeaning' Me

President calls liberal congressman to carp about criticism

(Newser) - John Conyers hasn't been shy about what he sees as the president's failings, and his remarks seem to have struck a nerve. “I’ve been saying I don’t agree with him on Afghanistan, I think he screwed up on health care reform, on Guantánamo," said the...

Bush Team Blew Chance to Nab Osama
 Bush Team 
 Blew Chance 
 to Nab Osama  
John Kerry
Dec 8, 2009 1:30 PM CST

Bush Team Blew Chance to Nab Osama

Al-Qaeda leader was at Tora Bora, but Rumsfeld let him get away

(Newser) - The Bush administration had a golden opportunity to capture Osama bin Laden in December of 2001, and it didn’t even try, writes John Kerry. The historical record is by now crystal clear: bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were trapped at Tora Bora—bin Laden even wrote...

McChrystal: We'll Know by This Time Next Year

General says troop surge should show results within a year

(Newser) - The US should know by this time next year whether the troop buildup in Afghanistan worked, Stanley McChrystal told the House Armed Services panel today, though he cautioned that there was no easy road to success. "The sober fact is that there are no silver bullets," he said....

Gates, in Kabul, Contradicts Karzai's Timetable

'We're in this thing to win,' he tells reporters

(Newser) - Robert Gates and Hamid Karzai seemed to contradict each other at a press conference in Kabul today, with Gates saying the US commitment in Afghanistan isn’t open ended, and Karzai saying it will be at least 5 years before Afghanistan is ready for a US withdrawal. Gates arrived in...

Gates: 'Years' Since Last bin Laden Intel
 Gates: 'Years' 
 Since Last 
 bin Laden Intel 

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Dec 6, 2009 1:10 PM CST

Gates: 'Years' Since Last bin Laden Intel

White House pushes Afghan policy on Sunday circuit

(Newser) - The US hasn't had credible intelligence on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts in "years," Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted to ABC's George Stephanopoulos today. "We don’t know for a fact where Osama bin Laden is," the defense secretary said. "If we did, we’d go...

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