Afghanistan

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Karzai's Rival May Boycott Runoff Vote

Abdullah demands overhaul of Afghan election commission

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s strongest political challenger may boycott next month's planned runoff election if the country’s election commission is not completely purged of Karzai supporters. Abdullah Abdullah has consistently charged that without a commission overhaul the vote-rigging which marred the original election is bound to be repeated....

Obama Leans to Modified McChrystal Plan

Not buying Biden strategy as sufficient, without some troops

(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal looks less and less likely to walk away empty handed, the Wall Street Journal predicts, as President Obama moves towards a "hybrid" strategy in Afghanistan that would combine troop increases with the special ops approach supported by the vice president. One scenario would see 10,000...

Blasts in Pakistan Kill 24
 Blasts in Pakistan Kill 24 
Oct 23, 2009 5:48 AM CDT

Blasts in Pakistan Kill 24

Insurgents his air force facility, bus headed to wedding

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed seven people near a major air force complex in northwest Pakistan today, while an explosion killed 17, including three children, on a bus heading to a wedding elsewhere in the region. The attacks are the latest in a surge of militant strikes this month, coinciding with...

White House: Cheney's the Irresponsible One

He helped get us into mess, Pelosi adds

(Newser) - What  Dick Cheney calls dithering, "President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday, rejecting Cheney's charge that the Obama adminstration is taking too long to decide its Afghanistan strategy. "...

Cheney Is a 'Maniacal' Hypocrite
 Cheney Is 
 a 'Maniacal' 
 Hypocrite 
Kristen Breitweiser
Oct 22, 2009 12:47 PM CDT

Cheney Is a 'Maniacal' Hypocrite

He accuses Obama of endangering troops?

(Newser) - Dick Cheney is accusing President Obama of "dithering" on Afghanistan and endangering troops. How rich, writes Kristen Breitweiser. What actually endangers troops "is bad judgment—particularly when exercised by an overzealous, power-hungry, maniacal Vice President like you." Cheney seems to have forgotten that the Iraq war—a...

Clinton Boosts Kerry on Afghan Mission

Old rivals appear to forge durable alliance

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton was instrumental in convincing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff election—but it was what she didn’t do that mattered most. She didn’t interfere with erstwhile rival John Kerry’s mission. In fact, sources say, Clinton facilitated the meeting between Kerry and Karzai and...

More Troops in Afghanistan = Angrier Insurgents
More Troops in Afghanistan
= Angrier Insurgents
NICHOLAS KRISTOF
Oct 22, 2009 9:56 AM CDT

More Troops in Afghanistan = Angrier Insurgents

Doesn't US remember how our country began? Or how Vietnam ended?

(Newser) - The United States was born from a nationalist insurgency. “Given that history, you’d think we might be more sensitive to nationalism abroad,” writes Nicholas Kristof. “Yet the most systematic foreign-policy mistake we Americans have made in the post-World War II period has been to underestimate its...

Obama Uses Troop Bump to Pressure Karzai
 Obama Uses 
 Troop Bump 
 to Pressure Karzai 




Afghanistan strategy
Oct 22, 2009 9:14 AM CDT

Obama Uses Troop Bump to Pressure Karzai

US wants clean election, and could support a coalition government

(Newser) - The US built pressure on Hamid Karzai yesterday, with both Barack Obama and John Kerry signaling that a troop increase could hinge on a successful runoff election, and that the Obama administration would be receptive to a power-sharing deal between Karzai and his chief rival. A coalition government could provide...

Gates Warns Japan Not to Back Out of Troop Deal

Relationship with Asian ally increasingly strained

(Newser) - All is not well between the US and Japan. Yesterday Robert Gates warned the country of serious consequences if it backs out of a troop movement deal the two countries spent 10 years negotiating. Japan’s new ruling party wants to reopen those negotiations, as it moves to redefine its...

Stop Afghan 'Dithering' as Troops Face Danger: Cheney

'Do what it takes to win,' former VP urges Obama

(Newser) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney tonight accused the White House of dithering over the strategy for the war in Afghanistan and urged President Barack Obama to "do what it takes to win." Cheney, accepting an award from a conservative national security group, added, "Make no mistake. Signals...

Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan
Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan
Poll Numbers
Oct 21, 2009 8:17 AM CDT

Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan

Deeply divided country leaves president between rock, hard place

(Newser) - When it comes to the Afghan war, Barack Obama is between a rock and a hard place politically. Only 45% of the public approves of his handling of it, down 10 percentage points from last month, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, and a whopping 63% don’t...

UN to Sack Half of Afghan Election Officials

Ban Ki-Moon plans measures to ensure widespread fraud isn't repeated

(Newser) - The United Nations learned "quite a painful lesson" from the widespread fraud in Afghanistan's August election, and aims to rout out corrupt voting supervisors next time around, Ban Ki-Moon said yesterday. The UN secretary-general said more than half of the election officials should be removed before next month's runoff...

Karzai Took Major Arm-Twisting to OK Runoff

Round 2 of Afghan election no panacea, either

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai's concession yesterday that an election runoff was necessary may have brought Afghanistan back from political paralysis, but another ballot is no sure solution. The potential for fraud—more than a quarter of first round ballots were thrown out—has not abated, the New York Times notes. Today Abdullah...

Afghan Runoff Set for Nov. 7
 Afghan Runoff Set for Nov. 7 
Oct 20, 2009 7:37 AM CDT

Afghan Runoff Set for Nov. 7

Karzai accepts results of UN-backed recount

(Newser) - Afghanistan's election commission has ordered a runoff election for Nov. 7 after a fraud investigation dropped President Hamid Karzai's votes below 50% of the total. Karzai accepted the fraud panel finding in a press conference and endorsed a runoff election. The Independent Election Commission said it did not want to...

Karzai Challenger Rejects Plan to Share Power

Abdullah wants interim government: 'Karzai's term is over'

(Newser) - Abdullah Abdullah, who came in second in the first round of Afghanistan's presidential election, is calling for an interim government to take over the country if it's too difficult or dangerous to organize a runoff in the coming weeks. The challenger to Hamid Karzai also rejected suggestions of a power-sharing...

Karzai Accepts UN Recount, Runoff Looms

Runoff election looms as prez bows to pressure

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai will bow to international pressure and accept the results of a UN-backed recount of Afghanistan's presidential election, US and European officials tell the New York Times. The incumbent will publicly acknowledge he fell short of 50% of the first-round vote as early as today, setting the stage for...

Military Frustrated by 'Slow' Obama

Commanders irked by ongoing review of Afghanistan strategy

(Newser) - President Obama's ongoing review of Afghan strategy is frustrating military officers used to a different commander-in-chief's style, say past and present top brass. Some fear that the long deliberations over Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops signal weakness and indecision to the enemy, while others fear the president is...

Clinton 'Hopeful' as Karzai Weighs Runoff, Deal

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai intends to announce tomorrow how he will "set the stage" for resolving the country's postelection political crisis, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today. She wouldn't say whether the Afghan president has decided to accept the findings of a UN-backed fraud investigation that threw out nearly a...

Taliban Starts YouTube Channel

But its most disturbing clip was taken down

(Newser) - The jihad has come to YouTube: The Taliban has set up shop on the viral video site, posting two propaganda videos to its “Istqalmedia” channel, Fareed Zakaria noticed over the weekend. One, which you can see here, shows a variety of pastoral scenes set to Pashtun-language music. The other,...

Taliban Money Men Outwit US
 Taliban Money Men Outwit US 
Oct 19, 2009 7:37 AM CDT

Taliban Money Men Outwit US

Diverse revenue streams defy crackdown efforts

(Newser) - The Taliban is thriving financially, despite the US’ best efforts to clamp down on its cash flow, thanks to a sophisticated collection of revenue streams including foreign donations, criminal activities, and drug trade profits. “I don’t believe we can significantly alter their effectiveness by cutting off their money...

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