Afghanistan

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Democrats Lose Patience Over Wars, Gitmo

Support ebbs on left as Obama's security plans look uncertain

(Newser) - Democrats are having misgivings about the war in Afghanistan and the shuttering of Guantanamo Bay, particularly in the more liberal House, the New York Times reports. Though Congress is sure to approve another $96.7 billion in war funding, the House took out $80 million to close Guantanamo, saying the...

Obama Reverses, Will Block Release of Abuse Photos

In reversal, president says images would endanger US troops

(Newser) - President Obama has reversed position and will oppose the release of abuse photos of detainees in US custody, the Washington Post reports. "The publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of...

US Strike on Taliban Left 95 Kids Dead: Afghan Officials

Total toll said to be 140, but US disputes claim

(Newser) - Ninety-five children are among the 140 people said to have died in US airstrikes last week aimed at the Taliban in western Afghanistan, according to a list compiled by Afghan officials. If the toll is correct, the AP reports, it marks the highest number of civilian deaths since 2001. The...

New Afghanistan Commander Is Warrior-Scholar

Workaholic McChrystal has shadowy past, links to spy agencies

(Newser) - Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the designated new American commander in Afghanistan, has a reputation for hard work and self-denial: He sleeps for just a few hours and eats only one meal a day. Colleagues describe McChrystal, the current director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as an ideal combination of...

Tillman Parents No Fans of New Afghan General

Blame McChrystal for covering up NFL star's death; call for vetting

(Newser) - Pat Tillman's parents say Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal helped cover up the circumstances of their son's death and they want his record carefully considered before he takes charge of the Afghan war, the AP reports. McChrystal approved a citation for Tillman stating he was killed "in the line of...

Afghan Schoolgirls Sickened in 3rd Gas Attack

School attack is like 2 previous ones

(Newser) - Nearly 100 girls and six teachers are hospitalized in Afghanistan after an apparent gas attack on their school, the third such incident in the region recently. Five girls slipped briefly into a coma, but all are safely recovering after a poisoning that was likely the work of Taliban supporters who...

20 Dead in Wake of 11 Afghan Suicide Attacks

US, Afghan troops free 20 hostages

(Newser) - Some 11 Taliban suicide bombers attacked government buildings in eastern Afghanistan today, sparking running gun battles that killed at least 20 people and wounded three US troops, officials said. US and Afghan troops freed 20 hostages taken by the insurgents. The assault began this morning when several suicide bombers attacked...

Sacked Commander Wrong for New Afghan Strategy

McKiernan's approach in Afghanistan too 'conventional,' officials say

(Newser) - David McKiernan was dumped as top American commander in Afghanistan yesterday, after less than a year, because his approach was too “conventional,” Pentagon officials tell the New York Times. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said “fresh eyes were needed” and “a new approach was probably in our...

Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter
Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter
FIRST PERSON
May 11, 2009 1:04 PM CDT

Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter

Questions on alleged involvement in Afghan drug trade enrage him

(Newser) - It turns out Ahmed Wali Karzai is a bit touchy about his alleged ties to Afghanistan’s drug trade. When McClatchy reporter Tom Lasseter tried to interview the president’s brother about the allegations, he said they were part of a political plot against his brother. But when Lasseter began...

Al-Qaeda Sets Sights on Pakistan

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda has set its sights on the increasingly unstable Pakistan, American and Pakistani intelligence officials tell the New York Times. “They smell blood, and they are intoxicated by the idea of a jihadist takeover in Pakistan,” said a former CIA analyst. The group no longer operates in Afghanistan,...

Cheney: I'm Speaking Out to Keep US Safe
 Cheney: I'm 
 Speaking Out 
 to Keep US Safe 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
May 10, 2009 10:32 AM CDT

Cheney: I'm Speaking Out to Keep US Safe

Petraeus says US routing al-Qaeda; Gingrich likens torture talk to McCarthyism

(Newser) - Dick Cheney says he’s been outspoken because the Obama administration has “moved to take down a lot of those policies we put in place to keep the nation safe for 8 years.” On CBS’ Face the Nation, Cheney denied the Bush administration was in the “torture...

US Bolsters Command in Afghanistan

Gates deploying top brass as part of structural overhaul of Afghan campaign

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to dispatch three-star general David M. Rodriguez to Kabul to shore up military leadership, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Military officials say the move—along with the creation of a new task force—is aimed at ensuring "the Pentagon is on a war...

US Admits Afghan Raids Killed Civilians

Pentagon reverses earlier claims that Taliban was to blame

(Newser) - American officials acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the US military was responsible for at least some of the 100 recent civilian deaths in western Afghanistan. The air strikes have led to angry protests in Afghanistan and calls for the US to withdraw from the country. While initial military...

US Won't Send Troops to Pakistan: Gates

(Newser) - There are no plans to deploy US ground troops to Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today, despite concerns over increasing violence between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants. Speaking to about 300 Marines at Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan, Gates assured the soldiers they didn't have to "worry about...

Obama Praises Afghan, Pakistan Commitments

Delicate diplomacy ends with unified resolve to fight militants

(Newser) - President Obama said he got the commitments he wanted today from the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to more aggressively fight militants gaining power and sowing violence inside their countries' borders. The high-stakes diplomacy had Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari meeting with officials separately and together. Looming...

Afghanistan Quarantines Its Lone Pig

(Newser) - Kabul Zoo officials have locked up the only known pig in Afghanistan to allay visitors' fears that it might spread swine flu, Reuters reports. Pork is illegal in Afghanistan for religious reasons; the country’s lone porcine resident is a zoo animal. “For now, the pig is under quarantine,...

Red Cross: US Strike Killed Afghan Women, Children

(Newser) - Many civilians were killed in two Afghan villages hit by a US airstrike on Monday, the Red Cross said today, confirming both "dozens of bodies" and allegations coming from Kabul. “There were bodies, there were graves, and there were people burying bodies,” a spokeswoman said. “We...

A Doubting Washington Greets Karzai
 A Doubting 
 Washington 
 Greets Karzai 

ANALYSIS
May 6, 2009 7:46 AM CDT

A Doubting Washington Greets Karzai

Afghan president has 'plateaued,' diplomats say

(Newser) - Nearly eight years after the fall of the Taliban, Hamid Karzai comes to the White House today to meet an administration distinctly unimpressed with his governance of Afghanistan. In interviews with two dozen Washington officials, the Washington Post finds anger and frustration with a president overseeing a weak and corrupt...

Stakes Massive Ahead of Obama Af-Pak Summit

Zardari, Karzai in DC as Taliban surge in crumbling Pakistan

(Newser) - Barack Obama begins two days of talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan today as his administration faces what may be its first foreign policy crisis: rising militancy in the Swat Valley that threatens to spread across the nuclear-armed nation. Obama and his team are expected to pressure Asif...

US-Led Airstrike Kills 30 Afghan Civilians

Villagers deliver bodies to provincial capital as proof

(Newser) - Afghan villagers bore the bodies of 30 civilian victims of a US-led airstrike to a provincial council as proof of the coalition operation’s deadly price, provincial officials reported to the AP today. When fighting broke out yesterday between militants and coalition forces in Farah province, villagers herded their women,...

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