Afghanistan – News Stories About Afghanistan - Page 72

OPINION

Dec 4, 2009 1:22 AM CST

Obama Plan Won't Make America Safer

Afghan surge can't defeat terrorist ideology

(Newser) - President Obama should have used his speech to declare victory and announce the start of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan instead of an escalation, writes Eugene Robinson. Even if the surge achieves its immediate mission—at huge cost—the operation won't achieve its ultimate goal of making the US safer...

Bill Ayers Protests Obama

clarence page

Dec 3, 2009 1:36 PM CST

Bill Ayers Protests Obama

Calls his Afghan benchmarks 'a myth and a lie'

(Newser) - The honeymoon’s over for Bill Ayers and Barack Obama. The former Weather Underground member—that would be Ayers—was out protesting last night against Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan, columnist Clarence Page blogs for the Chicago Tribune . In this clip, he says he’s “appalled...

Karzai: I'd
Meet With
the Taliban

Dec 3, 2009 9:26 AM CST

Karzai: I'd Meet With the Taliban

Al-Qaeda not welcome, but not all Taliban members are terrorists, he says

(Newser) - Just two days after President Obama announced a 30,000 surge in troops for Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai reiterated his desire to make peace with the Taliban. In an interview with the AP today, the Afghan president said he would do "whatever it takes" to bring peace, including meeting with...

Karl Rove: Obama Finally
Did Something Right!

we can still win afghan war

Dec 3, 2009 5:48 AM CST

Karl Rove: Obama Finally Did Something Right!

GOP can help prez overcome anti-war Democrats

(Newser) - President Obama's party may not be wild about his Afghanistan strategy but he has won high praise from Karl Rove. Obama "deserves to be cheered" for sending more troops to Afghanistan over the objections of his vice-president, Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal , predicting that the president will...

'Goldilocks' Strategy
Wins Prez Time

OPINION

Dec 3, 2009 1:24 AM CST

'Goldilocks' Strategy Wins Prez Time

Adopting centrist position is a gamble

(Newser) - President Obama's Afghanistan speech represented a brave foray into the middle ground of American politics, where those who venture tend to get crushed, writes EJ Dionne. His "Goldilocks strategy—neither too hawkish nor too dovish, but just right"—has split his party while failing to win any credit...

Taliban: Obama Will
See 'Lots of Coffins'

Dec 2, 2009 1:18 PM CST

Taliban: Obama Will See 'Lots of Coffins'

Insurgents vow to fight against US surge

(Newser) - The Taliban defiantly vowed to fight back against the US troop surge, with a spokesman saying it will “provoke stronger resistance” from the group. “Obama will witness lots of coffins heading to America from Afghanistan,” a spokesman tells the BBC . “Their hope to control Afghanistan by...

Musharraf: Don't Abandon Afghanistan Again

OPINION

Dec 2, 2009 10:20 AM CST

Musharraf: Don't Abandon Afghanistan Again

Time limits won't work, says former Pakistan leader

(Newser) - Pervez Musharraf comes out of retirement with an op ed piece today, arguing that a time limit on American involvement in Afghanistan is repeating the mistakes that put the country in the hands of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. A political strategy needs to be found that will stabilize the country...

Obama Gambles on Dubious Afghan Allies

Dexter Filkins

Dec 2, 2009 8:49 AM CST

Obama Gambles on Dubious Afghan Allies

Surge relies on corrupt Karzai government, poorly-trained military

(Newser) - By announcing an 18-month timetable, Barack Obama has thrown down the gauntlet for an Afghan government and military that have so far proven unreliable. Hamid Karzai’s government is considered among the world’s most corrupt, but Obama seems to be betting that the withdrawal timetable will encourage it to...

US Will Begin Withdrawing Troops in July 2011

Dec 1, 2009 3:09 PM CST

US Will Begin Withdrawing Troops in July 2011

President will discuss Afghan timetable in speech tonight

(Newser) - President Obama plans to begin withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan in July 2011, senior administration officials say. Obama will sketch out the timetable tonight when he announces plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to the country over the next 6 months, report the New York Times and the...

Cheney: Obama Looks Weak

Interview

Dec 1, 2009 11:15 AM CST

Cheney: Obama Looks Weak

Ex-VP says Afghan decisions made for 'small 'p' political reasons'

(Newser) - Dick Cheney’s on the warpath again, this time bashing Barack Obama for “agonizing” over his Afghan strategy, and projecting “weakness” to the troops. “Every time he delays, defers, debates, changes his position, it begins to raise questions,” Cheney tells Politico in an interview at his...

Next Hurdle for Afghan Surge: Paying for It

Dec 1, 2009 9:16 AM CST

Next Hurdle for Afghan Surge: Paying for It

Dems don't want to pony up for Obama's plan

(Newser) - Getting Congress to fund Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy might be as arduous a process as the strategic review that devised it. Democrats, cold to the idea of sending more troops, don’t want to foot the bill; some are proposing a war tax to cover it. “If...

Troop Surge Number? 34K

AFGHAN strategy

Dec 1, 2009 7:36 AM CST

Troop Surge Number? 34K

With NATO troops, total close to McChrystal request

(Newser) - The Washington Post has—or thinks it has—the much anticipated number of troops President Obama will deploy to Afghanistan, and it's 34,000. That, combined with 5,000 he's said to be seeking from NATO allies, brings the total within shooting distance of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,...

Obama's Afghan Plan Won't Please Anybody

DAVID BROOKS

Dec 1, 2009 6:32 AM CST

Obama's Afghan Plan Won't Please Anybody

Which means that the president may have gotten it right

(Newser) - President Obama has assembled parts of different Afghanistan strategies into a whole that looks certain to displease just about everybody when it is unveiled tonight, writes David Brooks. The administration appears to have pulled back from its earlier enthusiasm for a comprehensive counterinsurgency—COIN—plan in favor of COIN-lite, Brooks...

Obama Issues Orders for More Afghan Troops

Nov 30, 2009 2:20 PM CST

Obama Issues Orders for More Afghan Troops

Briefed military last night, will reveal number and other details tomorrow

(Newser) - After weeks of deliberation, President Obama has settled on a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and ordered the military to carry it out. The exact size of the troop escalation has not been announced, but sources put the number in the neighborhood of 30,000 more troops. The...

Obama Cools to Surge
in Afghan Forces

Nov 30, 2009 7:29 AM CST

Obama Cools to Surge in Afghan Forces

President expected to pare down Afghan role in US plans

(Newser) - Even as President Obama is expected to announce a surge in US troops in Afghanistan tomorrow, the White House has soured on doubling the size of the Afghan army and police, the Wall Street Journal reports. The president plans to scale back a key element of Gen. McChrystal's strategy, the...

Obama
to Unveil
Afghan
Endgame

Nov 30, 2009 3:51 AM CST

Obama to Unveil Afghan Endgame

30K troop boost may go down easier with exit talk

(Newser) - When President Obama announces his planned boost in US troops in Afghanistan tomorrow, he'll also reveal his exit outline, according to administration sources. "He wants to give a clear sense of both the time frame for action and how the war will eventually wind down," an insider told...

9K Marines to Lead
Afghanistan Charge

obama's new strategy

Nov 29, 2009 6:04 AM CST

9K Marines to Lead Afghanistan Charge

They'll be deployed days after Obama outlines new war plan

(Newser) - Just days after Obama unveils his new Afghan war strategy, as many as 9,000 Marines will ready themselves to deploy to Afghanistan's Hemland province as part of phased reinforcements approach. They'll double the Marine force in a bloody southern region that has seen US gains but, due to a...

Teen Afghan Prisoners
Claim Abuse at US Site

Nov 28, 2009 11:47 AM CST

Teen Afghan Prisoners Claim Abuse at US Site

Say they were beaten, photographed naked at Bagram

(Newser) - Two Afghan teenagers held prisoner by the US at the Bagram air base say American interrogators beat them, deprived them of sleep, photographed them naked, and made them look at porn to humiliate them sexually. The teens' accounts to the Washington Post have not been substantiated, but they have the...

Roadside Bomb Strikes Afghan Gov's Convoy

Nov 27, 2009 11:50 AM CST

Roadside Bomb Strikes Afghan Gov's Convoy

Kandahar official survives attack on holiest Muslim holiday

(Newser) - The governor of Kandahar narrowly escaped death today when a roadside bomb exploded underneath his convoy. Turyalai Wesa was on his way to prayers on the first day of Eid al-Adha, the holiest holiday on the Muslim calendar. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, a violent Afghan hotspot, and...

US Seeks 10K Allied
Troops in Afghanistan

Nov 26, 2009 7:56 AM CST

US Seeks 10K Allied Troops in Afghanistan

Grumbling nations only want to provide half

(Newser) - The US is struggling to convince its allies to commit 10,000 more troops to the war in Afghanistan, according to federal sources. Allied leaders are willing to provide only half that figure for an operation increasingly unpopular with their citizens, particularly amid concerns about corruption in the Afghan government....