Hamid Karzai

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Karzai Vows to Protect Taliban Chief in Talks

Will not cave to huge bounty, or US pressure to turn Omar over

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai will ensure the safety of Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar if he agrees to peace talks, the Washington Post reports. "If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar, the international community has two choices: remove me or leave," Karzai said, referring to US...

Obama to Focus on bin Laden, Revamp Afghan Approach

Eyes regional strategy, talks with Taliban, Iran

(Newser) - Barack Obama is drastically rethinking the war effort in Afghanistan, his security advisers tell the Washington Post, including making the capture of Osama bin Laden a top priority. The administration’s fledgling plan calls for a more aggressive regional approach, possibly involving help from Iran. Obama also favors the ongoing...

US Strike Kills 40 at Wedding: Afghans

President Karzai angry; military investigating incident

(Newser) - A US air strike killed 40 civilians at a wedding party Monday, the Afghan government said today. The US said it was investigating the incident, but would not verify any attack or death toll, the New York Times reports. A Kandahar province official said US forces were fighting with the...

Afghanistan Sinking Into Chaos

Violence, corruption destroying nation, US report reveals

(Newser) - A soon-to-be released classified report on Afghanistan paints a grim picture of a nation sliding into chaos, the New York Times reports. The report—the most detailed from American intelligence services in years—reveals that rampant corruption and the booming heroin trade has seriously destabilized the country as militants based...

US Airstrike Killed 30 Afghan Civilians: Inquiry

Outraged Afghans still maintain 90 died in controversial Aug. raid

(Newser) - A US military inquiry puts the number of Afghan civilians killed in an August 22 raid at more than 30, the New York Times reports, down from the 90 the Afghan government had claimed. The airstrike on Azizabad, a suspected Taliban stronghold, was condemned by the Afghan government. The US...

Germany Ups Afghan Force, Debates Talking to Taliban

Negotiation with radicals seems necessary, but Karzai's not the man for the job

(Newser) - Germany’s government decided today to send 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan and to keep its forces there for 14 more months, Der Spiegel reports. But as Angela Merkel’s government recommits to the fight, the German press argues over whether a radical change in strategy—including diplomatic engagement...

Afghan Leader's Brother Tied to Drug Trade: US

Karzai denies claims, but Washington believes 'he's dirty'

(Newser) - The White House believes that the brother of Afghanistan’s US-backed president has ties to the country’s heroin trade, the New York Times reports. Hamid Karzai insists there is no firm proof against his brother, who calls himself a “victim of vicious politics.” But numerous reports from...

Palin Meets World Leaders
 Palin Meets World Leaders 
Sep 23, 2008 6:01 PM CDT

Palin Meets World Leaders

(Newser) - Sarah Palin sought to ease concerns about her foreign policy experience by holding her first-ever meetings today with heads of state, the New York Times reports. Palin sat down for private conversations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and also with Henry Kissinger and national security...

Palin Reconsiders, Lets Press Tag Along at UN Meetings

VP originally allowed only photographers, TV crew at sessions with world leaders

(Newser) - Sarah Palin gave in to protests from reporters today and allowed them to observe meetings with world leaders at the United Nations, the AP reports; her staff had earlier said only photographers and a TV crew would be invited to sessions with Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Columbia's Alvaro Uribe. A...

Taliban Surges Back With New Battle Plan

These are not your father's theocrats

(Newser) - Today’s Taliban bears little resemblance to the incompetent barefoot mullahs the US ousted 7 years ago. In the past year, the Taliban has reinvented itself as a confident, well-armed militia with a mighty propaganda machine, the Washington Post reports. “This is not the Taliban of Emirate times,”...

Gates Apologizes for Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan

US defense secretary expresses 'personal regret' over wayward airstrikes

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Afghanistan today, apologized for recent civilian casualties from military operations, the AP reports. While the US strives for precision in airstrikes against Taliban insurgents, “it is clear that we have to work even harder,” Gates said—even as the coalition commander said...

Pakistan's Zardari Sworn In

New president under pressure to tackle Islamic militants

(Newser) - Asif Ali Zardari took office as Pakistan's new president today, facing immediate pressure to crack down on Islamic militants and address daunting economic problems. Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai was present at a brief ceremony to swear in the widower of assassinated ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, his presence an imposing reminder of...

Karzai Vows Punishment for Deadly US Raid

'Our relation with the foreigners got worst,' president says after 90 Afghans claimed dead

(Newser) - President Hamid Karzai vowed to punish those responsible for killing as many as 90 civilians in a raid last month by US and Afghan commandos, saying Afghanistan’s relationship with “the foreigners got worst,” the AP reports. The US and NATO claim at least 30 militants and no...

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...

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...

GOP's Offshore Drilling, Dems' Afghan Surge Both Bad Ideas

Both are blindly touting poor policy: Friedman

(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans alike are beating empty campaign slogans, and both need to take a look at their real-world implications, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. Republicans who insist that offshore oil drilling will solve the world's problems sound like "someone back in 1980" pushing for...

Obama Declares Afghanistan 'Precarious and Urgent'

Candidate pledges more US troops

(Newser) - Calling the situation in Afghanistan "precarious and urgent," Barack Obama today urged the Bush administration to make Afghanistan—rather than Iraq—"the central front in our battle against terrorism." In his first interview since arriving in the country yesterday, the Democratic candidate told Lara Logan on...

Obama Meets Afghan Prez
 Obama Meets Afghan Prez 
Jul 20, 2008 7:18 AM CDT

Obama Meets Afghan Prez

Candidate lunches with the leader he criticized a week ago

(Newser) - World-touring Barack Obama sat down with Hamid Karzai today, joining the Afghan president for lunch at his Kabul palace. Although Obama criticized the leader's government as recently as last week, he expected to steer clear of arguments in today's meeting, Reuters reports. "I'm more interested in listening than doing...

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