Afghanistan

Stories 1961 - 1980 | << Prev   Next >>

Pentagon May Prevent Petraeus From Testifying

General's views may not gel with brass' assessment

(Newser) - When David Petraeus next comes to Washington, he won’t be speaking on Capitol Hill, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Pentagon officials have denied requests for more hearings with the Iraq commander because they’re not sure they’ll agree with his recommendations. Petraeus has been criticized for being too...

US Ground Forces Raid Pakistan Outposts

Angry Pakistan protests first incursion by American commandos

(Newser) - American commandos raided al-Qaeda encampments inside Pakistan yesterday, the New York Times reports. The US has carried out air strikes in the region before but this is the first acknowledged ground raid inside Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, long suspected of being the hideout of Osama Bin Laden. The commandos were...

Pakistan PM Escapes Convoy Attack

Gilani and others unharmed as leader continues campaigning for Zardari

(Newser) - Three days before Pakistan is to elect a new president, PM Yousuf Gilani escaped an assassination attempt on his caravan outside Islamabad, the BBC reports. No injuries were reported, officials said, citing “robust and comprehensive security measures,” but CNN reports it's unclear whether Gilani was present in the...

Jude Law Plugs 'Peace Day' in Afghanistan

Actor urges sides to pause, allow polio shots for kids

(Newser) - Jude Law stumped for peace in Kabul today, urging all sides in the Afghan war to lay down arms for one day. Visiting with British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, Law said "Peace Day" on September 21 would give health workers a chance to vaccinate children or deliver food. Gilley and...

US Shipping Foreign Fighters to Home Prisons

American officials step up action to empty secret prisons

(Newser) - The US has stepped up efforts to return foreign fighters captured in Iraq and Afghanistan to their homelands, the New York Times reports. More than 200 detainees have been turned over to security services in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries as the military works to empty its controversial secret...

US-Led Strike Killed 90 Afghan Civilians: UN

Civilians, mostly children, killed

(Newser) - The UN has evidence that a coalition airstrike did indeed kill roughly 90 civilians, most of them children, in Afghanistan last week, Reuters reports. The US has been insisting that only 30 were killed in the strike, most of them Taliban militants, but the UN’s special mission to Afghanistan...

Taliban Govern Large Areas of Afghanistan

Residents turning to Taliban 'rulers' to settle criminal, civil disputes

(Newser) - The Taliban is regaining significant ground in Afghanistan, running a harsh but effective parallel government that wields more power than the official administration, reports the Observer. Taliban influence has spread as far as the outskirts of Kabul, and is firmly entrenched in large parts of the south and east.

Karzai Blasts US for Deadly Air Strike

Up to 95 civilians killed, including 50 children, he says

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai lashed out at coalition forces over a US-led air raid that he says slaugtered up to 95 Afghan civilians, including 50 children, the New York Times reports. In a statement, the Afghan President said he “strongly condemns” the attacks, and will soon roll out civilian-protection initiatives. The...

Afghans: US Intentionally Fostering Instability

State-run newspaper voices suspicions that larger geopolitical aims trump security

(Newser) - Many Afghans believe the US is purposely avoiding attacking Taliban strongholds in Pakistan in an effort to keep Afghanistan destabilized and justify a continued military presence, according to Anis, the country’s state-run newspaper. Such suspicions have long run through the country, but their appearance in the paper could be...

Sarkozy Renews Afghan Support
 Sarkozy Renews Afghan Support
Aug 20, 2008 7:10 AM CDT

Sarkozy Renews Afghan Support

Visits troops, meets with Karzai

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirmed his support of the Afghan mission today, in the wake of a Taliban ambush that killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 others, the BBC reports. After meeting with Hamid Karzai, Sarkozy told troops to be proud of their “indispensable” work. “We're going to make...

Sarkozy Headed to Afghanistan After French Troop Deaths

10 killed in Taliban attack near Kabul

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to visit Afghanistan after 10 French troops were killed and 21 injured by Taliban fighters in an ambush near Kabul, the Guardian reports. The battle—which began yesterday and continued into today—nearly doubled the number of French soldiers who have lost their lives in...

At 20, al-Qaeda Is in Decline
At 20, al-Qaeda
Is in Decline
OPINION
Aug 17, 2008 3:46 PM CDT

At 20, al-Qaeda Is in Decline

Bin Laden's terror group enters third decade losing war, but 'legacy will endure'

(Newser) - Two decades after its founding, al-Qaeda's golden years are over, argues Peter Bergen in the Washington Post. Osama bin Laden's plan has largely backfired: 9/11 neither resulted in US withdrawal from the Middle East, or in the defeat of "impious" Middle Eastern regimes. But while al-Qaeda discredited itself in...

Forget a Surge: Afghanistan Isn't Worth 'Saving'

Don't waste resources, troops on a hopeless country, writes analyst

(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain have strong disagreements over Iraq, but on Afghanistan they agree: a troop surge is necessary. Nearly 60% of Americans agree, as does the defense secretary, Robert Gates. There's just one problem, writes Bartle Breese Bull in the New York Times: even with a costly surge,...

Afghanistan's Insurgency Endures

Attacks highlight security decline

(Newser) - The insurgency in Afghanistan is mushrooming, and targeting the refurbished highway that provides a weak connection between the country's ethnic halves, the New York Times reports. A series of deadly attacks in June has exposed the tribulations of the United States' 6-year-old effort to defeat the Taliban.

Captured MIT Grad Linked to Trove of al-Qaeda Secrets

Pakistani was carrying maps, target lists—and emails

(Newser) - A suspected al-Qaeda operative arrested in Afghanistan last month could provide a treasure trove of intelligence about terrorist sleeper cells in the US and abroad, government sources tell ABC News. MIT graduate Aafia Siddiqui, 36, was captured carrying maps of New York, a list of potential targets, information on chemical...

As Popularity Plummeted, Bush Began to Get It Right

Candidates shouldn't ignore what 43 got right

(Newser) - Today's Bush administration isn't pursuing all the disastrous policies it was 5 years ago, writes Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek, and unlike Dubya himself, his successor would do well to pay attention to what he's gotten right. Though both John McCain and Barack Obama keep their distance from the deeply unpopular...

Gates Plans to Double Size of Afghan Army

(Newser) - Robert Gates is backing a plan to pump $20 billion into Afghanistan’s army and restructure the command of NATO and US forces, in an effort to revamp the struggling war effort there. With American troops tied up in Iraq, Gates intends to almost double the size of the Afghan...

French Troops Head to Afghanistan

Will train local forces to fend off Taliban

(Newser) - Hundreds of French troops have been deployed to train local infantry battalions in southern Afghanistan to help them fend off Taliban fighters, according to NATO officials. The deployment was one of the largest ground military convoys in the area in years, and came in response to NATO commanders' repeated requests...

500th US Death a Troubling Omen in Afghan War

'Other' war claims 500 lives, now deadlier than Iraq conflict

(Newser) - The 500th American died in Afghanistan last month and the grim milestone has helped bring the conflict back to the forefront of the nation's consciousness, the New York Times writes. Afghanistan has long been overshadowed by the Iraq war, but enemy action killed over three times as many Americans in...

Jury Out in Trial of bin Laden's Driver

6 military officers deliberate: Was he essential to terror?

(Newser) - Jurors began deliberating today in the case Osama bin Laden's driver, the first US captive in a war crimes trial at Guantanamo, Reuters reports. In closing arguments, prosecutors restated their case that Salim Hamdan helped "the world's most dangerous terrorist" launch strikes against the US. The defense called him...

Stories 1961 - 1980 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser