Afghanistan war

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Obama to Pull 10K Troops From Afghanistan

Officials say that's the number he's settled on for 2011

(Newser) - President Obama will outline his plans for starting to get American troops out of Afghanistan in a speech to the nation tomorrow night, and officials tell the Los Angeles Times that the magic number for 2011 will be 10,000. That's more than what many were hoping to hear:...

Brit Marine Leaves Pals $150K for Vegas Extravaganza

David Hart liked to have a good time

(Newser) - A British marine killed in Afghanistan left 32 of his closest friends a hefty parting gift: $150,000 for a Las Vegas vacation, reports the Huffington Post . Before David Hart left for duty, he took out a life insurance policy for roughly $400,000, and gave strict instructions that a...

Robert Gates: Taliban Talks &#39;Preliminary&#39;


 Robert Gates: 
 Taliban Talks 
 'Preliminary' 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Jun 19, 2011 11:51 AM CDT

Robert Gates: Taliban Talks 'Preliminary'

Says he wouldn't expect real progress until at least winter

(Newser) - Robert Gates confirmed today that the US is in "preliminary" talks with the Taliban, reports the Hill, cautioning that they've only been going on for a "few weeks." Appearing on State of the Union and Fox News Sunday, the outgoing defense secretary said the State Department...

Karzai: US, Taliban in Talks
 Karzai: US, Taliban in Talks 
Jun 18, 2011 5:41 AM CDT

Karzai: US, Taliban in Talks

US has no comment

(Newser) - The United States is talking with the Taliban, Hamid Karzai said today, in the first official glimmer of an end to the 10-year war in Afghanistan. "Peace talks have started with (the Taliban) already and it is going well," Karzai said. "The foreign military and especially the...

Afghan 'Allies' Increasingly Killing US Troops

Military report sees killings as a 'systemic threat'

(Newser) - Afghan troops are killing US troops in numbers that “may be unprecedented between 'allies' in modern history,” according to a new classified military report that warns the killings are becoming a “rapidly growing systemic threat” that could undermine the war effort. Based on interviews with 600...

Pentagon: Wait Til Fall 2012 to End Afghanistan Surge

Military pushes for slow withdrawal as Obama weighs next move

(Newser) - The military has called on President Obama to keep the Afghanistan troop surge in place until the fall of next year, ensuring that many of the 33,000 extra troops remain in the country for the next two fighting seasons, when the weather is warm. The military wants to avoid...

Prince Harry Heading Back to Afghanistan

Apache pilot expected to join unit in combat zone

(Newser) - Prince Harry is likely to return to military service in Afghanistan next year, although you won't be hearing about it when he does. The prince—whose first tour of duty in the combat zone was cut short after a media leak —has qualified as an Apache attack helicopter...

Mess Up Afghan Exit, and Bigger War Awaits
Mess Up Afghan Exit,
and Bigger War Awaits
Henry Kissinger
Jun 8, 2011 1:19 PM CDT

Mess Up Afghan Exit, and Bigger War Awaits

This is a global problem, not just ours: Henry Kissinger

(Newser) - The eventual withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan is necessary, but it cannot be hasty or ill-planned, writes Henry Kissinger in the Washington Post . The conflict is often seen as an American one, but this is truly an international problem. A bad handoff "is a prescription for...

Pentagon Opposes Quick Afghanistan Exit

'We shouldn't let up on the gas,' Gates warns

(Newser) - The military is digging in its heels against the idea of a swift withdrawal from Afghanistan. “I think we shouldn’t let up on the gas too much, at least for the next few months,” Robert Gates told troops yesterday, as he finished his final trip to Afghanistan...

Obama Weighs Quicker Afghanistan Pullout

But Gates, Petraeus point to risks

(Newser) - With Osama bin Laden dead and war costs increasing, the Obama administration is weighing a sharper drawdown of troops from Afghanistan than it had planned, the New York Times reports. But the issue is still very much up in the air, and outgoing defense secretary Robert Gates advocates slower steps....

Robert Gates Makes Farewell Afghanistan Trip

Defense secretary underscores need for success

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew to Afghanistan today in an unannounced visit to say farewell to US troops and Afghan leaders. Gates, who is retiring at the end of the month, planned to meet with soldiers and Marines in eastern and southern Afghanistan. He also was holding talks with...

Next in Budget Crosshairs: Afghanistan War

'Money is the new 800-lb gorilla,' says one official

(Newser) - With budget battles in Washington growing ever fiercer and the US military poised to spend $113 billion on operations in Afghanistan this year, cost is going to be the largest factor in troop reductions there, reports the Washington Post . Afghanistan's inaccessibility and lack of resources means nearly everything the...

Karzai: No More NATO Airstrikes on Houses

Warns of unilateral move to stop attacks

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai has called on NATO to cease all airstrikes on civilian homes, warning that Afghanistan could unilaterally intervene to stop any continued attacks. The Afghan president spoke at a televised press conference following a US airstrike that killed some 12 women and children . “The Afghan people can no...

US Troops Mark Memorial Day in Iraq, Afghanistan

Soldiers honor fallen comrades

(Newser) - US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan remembered their fallen comrades in Memorial Day services nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that sparked the Afghanistan war. In that country, dawn flag-raising ceremonies honored the more than 1,400 who have been killed, the AP reports. "We...

Afghan Officials: NATO Airstrike Killed 12 Children

NATO says the matter is under investigation

(Newser) - A NATO airstrike targeting insurgents inadvertently hit two civilian homes in the volatile southwestern Helmand province, killing 12 children and two women, an Afghan government official said today. He said the alliance launched the airstrike late yesterday in retaliation for an attack earlier in the day on a US Marine...

Blast Kills Afghan Police Chiefs

Taliban claims responsibility for suicide bombing

(Newser) - A suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up inside a heavily guarded compound today as top Afghan and international officials left a meeting. The blast at the governor's complex in Takhar province killed two senior Afghan police commanders and wounded the German general who commands coalition troops...

Barbara Boxer: It's Time to Set an End Date for Our Mission in Afghanistan
 Let's Get Out of Afghanistan 
Barbara Boxer
May 27, 2011 1:18 PM CDT

Let's Get Out of Afghanistan

Barbara Boxer: With bin Laden dead, it's time to set an end date

(Newser) - Barbara Boxer rounds up some facts and figures related to the Afghanistan war: Osama bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda looks to be crippled in the country, more than 1,500 Americans have been killed, and we're spending $10 billion a month on a seemingly never-ending war effort. Easy to...

Afghan Blast Kills 7 US Troops
 Afghan Blast Kills 7 US Troops 
May 26, 2011 10:39 PM CDT

Afghan Blast Kills 7 US Troops

Kandahar roadside bomb deadliest since 2009

(Newser) - Nine NATO service members were killed Thursday in Afghanistan, including seven US troops and another NATO service member killed when a powerful bomb exploded in a field where they were patrolling on foot, officials said. Two Afghan policemen also died and two others were wounded in the explosion in the...

6 Killed in Hours-Long Afghan Siege

Taliban gunmen storm government building

(Newser) - Taliban fighters wearing suicide bomb vests hidden under police uniforms attacked a government building in eastern Afghanistan today, triggering an hours-long gun battle and killing six people, officials said. Four men armed with assault rifles and wearing explosives drove shortly before dawn into a compound that houses the provincial traffic...

Taliban Bomber Kills 6 at Military Hospital

Another 23 injured in Kabul suicide attack

(Newser) - In a brazen attack in Kabul's most secure district, a Taliban suicide bomber infiltrated the capital's main military hospital and killed at least six Afghan medical students and wounded 23 others. The bombing was a blow to Afghan and NATO forces that have expanded checkpoints and security cordons...

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