Afghanistan

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US Committed Serious Errors in Afghan Strikes: Report

Investigation finds civilian deaths could have been reduced

(Newser) - The American military could have reduced the number of civilian causalities during its controversial Afghanistan air strikes last month if it had followed proper procedures, a military investigation has found. Personnel made serious errors in the bloody May 4 raids, including the failure of one plane to reconfirm a target...

Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City
 Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City 
May 30, 2009 9:50 AM CDT

Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City

(Newser) - Pakistan's military has regained control of the main town in the Swat Valley, raising hopes that at least some of the 2 million refugees from the region may be able to return home, reports Reuters. Battles on the outskirts remain, but the military said today it has ousted the Taliban...

US Plans Giant New Embassy in Pakistan

$1B project planned to boost US diplomats in region

(Newser) - The US is planning to invest $1 billion in building a bigger diplomatic presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including a huge new embassy in Islamabad, McClatchy reports. The Obama administration is seeking $736 million from Congress for the embassy and permanent housing for American officials in Pakistan’s capital—further...

Afghan Taliban Have Momentum: Gates

Defense sec says US has months before support wanes

(Newser) - The Taliban have the momentum in the war in Afghanistan and the US is rapidly losing time to turn it around before public support runs out, Robert Gates tells the Wall Street Journal. The defense secretary said in an interview that American support for the war will recede unless the...

US Lets Allies Detain, Grill Terror Suspects

Program could lead to prisoner abuse, bad intel, critics say

(Newser) - The Obama administration is stepping up its reliance on foreign allies to capture, interrogate, and detain mid-level terror suspects seized outside of Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. In the last 10 months, Middle Eastern governments have handled the cases of about six al-Qaeda operatives. “It’s...

US, Afghan Forces Kill 60 in Massive Taliban Drug Raid

(Newser) - US and Afghan forces seized a massive drug cache and and killed 60 militants in a four-day operation in Helmand province, Reuters reports. The troops scored more than 17 tons of morphine, opium, and heroin, along with 75 tons of poppy seeds, and caches of weapons and equipment, the military...

Gates Praises Soldier in Pink Boxers

(Newser) - A US soldier who took up the fight against the Taliban sans pants and clad in “I Love NY” pink boxers got a vote of his support from the nation’s defense chief last night, reports Reuters. “Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink...

Japan Tops Life-Expectancy List

Sierra Leone, Afghanistan fall at bottom

(Newser) - Health initiatives and wars have flipped some of the world's life expectancies since 1990, the World Heath Organization said today. Some findings, via AP:
  • Japanese women, at 86, and San Marino men, 81, enjoy the longest life expectancies.
  • Sierra Leone men, 39, at Afghan women, 42, have the shortest.
  • In
...

Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK
Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK
investigation
May 21, 2009 8:47 AM CDT

Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK

Alleged al-Qaeda members enrolled in ring of fake schools

(Newser) - Thousands of young Pakistanis have entered Britain by applying for visas to study at sham colleges that issue fake diplomas and attendance records, the Times of London reports. Ten of the 12 men arrested last month when police busted an alleged al-Qaeda plot were enrolled at a bogus college; other...

Afghan Peace Talks Hinge on US Pullout

Militants negotiate with intermediaries, but no likely deals yet

(Newser) - Peace talks are under way in Afghanistan between militant leaders and intermediaries, but the insurgent groups—which include the Taliban—continue to insist on US withdrawal as a condition for peace, the New York Times reports. The Afghan government is backing the talks and optimistic about American backing, even as...

US Army Burned Bibles in Afghanistan

(Newser) - The US military burned bibles sent to Afghanistan by an American church, reports CNN. Officials feared the bibles, sent last year, would cause problems if they were used in a campaign to convert Muslims to Christianity. The unsolicited bibles were printed in the two most popular Afghani languages. Ironically, Taliban...

US-Issued Ammo Found on Afghan Insurgents

Experts fear Pentagon-procured munitions finding their way to Taliban

(Newser) - The resilience of Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency may be partly due to supplies from the US, according to a New York Times investigation. The majority of 30 rifle magazines recently found on dead insurgents were the same as those issued to the Afghan military by the US, strongly suggesting that Pentagon-supplied...

US Envoy Mulls Job as Afghan 'CEO'

(Newser) - George W. Bush’s ambassador to Afghanistan is considering taking a powerful, unelected position in Hamid Karzai’s government, the New York Times reports. Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US citizen, had considered running against Karzai for president, but missed the filing deadline. Senior American and Afghan officials say Karzai has...

Afghan Girls' Illness May Be Poisoning—or Hysteria

200 schoolgirls fall ill, but cause remains uncertain

(Newser) - Some Afghan girls have described the odor as sweet and floral, others as smoky or rotten—but in the last three weeks, about 200 schoolgirls have suffered headaches, vomiting, and even collapse after smelling something. Parents fear that the Taliban is using poison to keep the girls from school. But...

McChrystal Call Shows Obama's Long Game: Sullivan

(Newser) - With liberals and anti-war activists growing increasingly restive over recent Obama decisions, Andrew Sullivan takes a hard look at the choice of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal—a man with links to prisoner abuse, Camp Nama, and the Tillman debacle—to lead the war in Afghanistan. It looks like the latest...

US Frets as Pakistan Rapidly Expands Nukes

Weapons program complicates Obama's Af-Pak strategy

(Newser) - Pakistan is rapidly building its nuclear arsenal even as it struggles to fight a growing insurgency, reports the New York Times. While Washington remains concerned about the security of Pakistan's 80 to 100 existing weapons, the country is producing uranium and on its way to manufacturing bomb-grade plutonium. US legislators...

Obama Loves Star Trek , Not Cheney
 Obama Loves 
 Star Trek, 
 Not Cheney 
interview
May 17, 2009 4:48 PM CDT

Obama Loves Star Trek, Not Cheney

(Newser) - Often compared to Spock, President Obama recently took time out to see the new Star Trek blockbuster—and liked it. “Star Trek was ahead of its time,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with Newsweek. Turning to Dick Cheney, Obama said the VP's arguments for torture and unilateral...

Pakistan: 1000 Taliban Dead in Swat Offensive

Move could signal a shift to bloody urban battles

(Newser) - Pakistani security forces fought Taliban militants in the northwest's Swat Valley and entered two Taliban-held towns there, the army said today, foreshadowing what could become bloody urban battles. A top government official said the offensive had already killed more than 1000 Taliban fighters, while a group of pro-government religious leaders...

US Soldier Battles Taliban in Pink Boxers

Private didn't have time to don pants before rushing to return Taliban fire

(Newser) - An American soldier who rushed out of bed when the Taliban attacked his Afghanistan base ended up on the front page of the New York Times in his underwear, the Daily Telegraph reports. Zachary Boyd grabbed his weapon, body armor, and helmet then joined the firefight clad in a red...

'Rumsfeld's Renegades' Blamed for Afghan Deaths

Unit of 'cowboys' behind some of war's worst civilian casualty incidents

(Newser) - A Special Forces unit set up by Donald Rumsfeld is being blamed for some of the worst civilian casualty incidents in the Afghanistan war, the Independent reports. The Marine Corps' Special Operations Command—known as MarSOC—ordered the air strikes that Afghan officials say killed 140 civilians last week, and...

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