Afghanistan war

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5 Questions to Ask Before Starting a War

Bill Keller offers lessons from Iraq

(Newser) - As the drum-beating grows louder on Iran and Syria, Bill Keller looks back on Iraq and beyond. To avoid a debacle, there are five questions we should ask ourselves before entering a war, he writes in the New York Times :
  1. "How is this our fight?" Are American interests directly
...

Eastern Afghanistan the 'Final Battleground'

Troops organize for tough spring fighting

(Newser) - As insurgent attacks have fallen in Afghanistan's southern provinces, the US is turning its focus toward the east, where such attacks jumped 20% last year. With the US set to take on an advisory role next year, the mountainous eastern region is poised to be the war's "...

Accused Soldier's Wife Blogged on Army Anguish

Karilyn Bales detailed life on the home front while Bob Bales was deployed

(Newser) - Before she was the wife of the soldier accused of gunning down 16 Afghan civilians, Karilyn Bales was just another Army wife, stoically raising two small children through her husband's four deployments and blogging about the joyousness of homecomings and the ache of long absences. Bales' blog appears to...

Afghanistan Shooting Suspect Identified

Senior US official names Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales

(Newser) - A senior US official says the soldier accused in the killing of 16 Afghan civilians is Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. American officials had previously said the suspect was a 38-year-old staff sergeant and that he had spent 11 years in the Army. But they had refused to release his...

Turkish Helicopter Crashes Into House in Afghanistan

12 soldiers on board died, and 2 girls on ground

(Newser) - A Turkish military helicopter crashed into a house near the Afghan capital today, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board and two girls on the ground, Turkish and Afghan officials say. It was by far the deadliest incident involving Turkish soldiers in Afghanistan, where they have a noncombat role. The helicopter,...

Official: Accused Soldier 'Snapped' After Drinking

Lawyer says he didn't want Afghan deployment

(Newser) - The US soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers had been drinking and was stressed about being on his fourth combat tour, a military official tells the New York Times . "When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol, and domestic issues—he just snapped,...

Soldier Accused in Killings Gets Barefoot Bandit Lawyer

John Henry Browne will take Afghan case; also defended Ted Bundy

(Newser) - We still don't know the name of the US soldier accused of killing 16 people in Afghanistan, but one of his attorneys certainly has a high profile. Seattle's John Henry Browne tells the News Tribune of Tacoma that he will assist military attorneys with the defense. Browne has...

Taliban Breaks Off Peace Talks With US

As Hamid Karzai tells NATO to clear out of all rural villages, bases

(Newser) - The Afghan Taliban suspended talks with the US "until they show willingness in carrying out their promises instead of wasting time," the group said in a statement today, according to al-Jazeera . The group complained of America's "alternating and ever-changing position" and said it would put off...

Afghan in Panetta Truck Blast Dies

Man was probably not targeting Panetta, official says

(Newser) - The Afghan man who drove onto the runway of a US base where Leon Panetta's plane was landing and then crashed into a ditch has died. The man emerged from the vehicle after the crash engulfed it in flames and was doused by security personnel, then treated at a...

Accused Soldier Flown Out of Afghanistan

Massacre suspect moved to 'appropriate detention facilities' in Kuwait

(Newser) - The American soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians in a pre-dawn shooting spree has been flown to Kuwait, angering Afghans who want him to stand trial in their country. He was whisked out of Afghanistan because of "our own policies and regulations, and for his own safety and...

Panetta Safe After Vehicle Blast Near Afghan Runway

Truck drives onto Afghan runway as plane was landing

(Newser) - It's either a close call or a false alarm for Leon Panetta in Afghanistan: An Afghan man drove a pickup truck through a fence and onto a runway about the same time that the defense secretary's plane was landing at a US base, reports the AP and Washington ...

Video Shows Suspected Afghan Shooter Surrender

Soldier seen removing Afghan shawl, laying down his weapon

(Newser) - Afghan officials have suggested more than one shooter was involved in Sunday's massacre of 16 villagers , but surveillance video shows just one US soldier. The still-unnamed soldier is shown returning to his base, setting his weapon on the ground, removing a traditional Afghan shawl, and raising his arms in...

In Afghan Killings, a Nagging 'What If'

Afghan base learned solider had left, but search party was too late

(Newser) - As more details emerge in Sunday's slaughter of 16 Afghan civilians, the Wall Street Journal reports on an unfortunate "what if." It turns out that the small base where the accused Army staff sergeant was stationed was aware he left around 3am, thanks to an Afghan soldier...

Afghan Soldier Killed at Service for Rampage Victims

Taliban, meanwhile, threatens to behead US soldiers

(Newser) - Militants opened fire on a prayer service for the 16 people killed in a US soldier's shooting rampage this weekend, targeting a visiting government delegation that included two of Hamid Karzai's brothers, along with senior defense, intelligence, and interior ministry officials. The militants fired from a distance, killing...

Afghanistan Shooting Suspect Had Brain Injury

Soldier also had marital trouble before deployment

(Newser) - The lone US soldier suspected of fatally shooting 16 Afghan civilians in a berserk weekend rampage suffered a traumatic brain injury during a recent tour of war duty, sources tell ABC News . The 38-year-old unidentified Army staff sergeant was treated for traumatic brain injury after some kind of vehicle accident,...

Obama: Let's Not 'Rush for the Exits' in Afghanistan

But president is 'more determined' to withdraw troops

(Newser) - President Obama warned today against a "rush for the exits" in Afghanistan over the alleged killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier, CBS News reports. "I think it's important for us just to make sure that we are not ... in Afghanistan longer than we need...

Death Penalty May Await Soldier in Afghan Killings

Army soldier accused of killing 16 Afghans would face lethal injection: lawyer

(Newser) - The US soldier accused of gunning down 16 Afghan civilians near Kandahar may himself be killed for the crime, a military defense attorney tells MSNBC . "Based on what we’re hearing I suspect this will be prosecuted as a death penalty case," says Philip Cave, who is based...

Soldier Suspected in Afghan Killing Spree Is Dad of 2

Details surface about staff sergeant, but identity not revealed

(Newser) - Details are beginning to emerge about the still-unnamed soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians yesterday. An official who spoke to the New York Times says the Army staff sergeant was part of a village stabilization operation in the rural Panjwai district of Kandahar, in which Green Berets forge close...

Gingrich: Afghanistan &#39;May Not Be Doable&#39;
 Gingrich: 
 Afghanistan 
 'May Not 
 Be Doable' 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Gingrich: Afghanistan 'May Not Be Doable'

Candidate says US presence there may be 'counterproductive'

(Newser) - Afghanistan weighed heavily on the Sunday talk shows, in the wake of today's shooting rampage that killed 16 civilians , with Newt Gingrich calling into question the efficacy of the 10-year mission there. "I think that we’re risking the lives of young men and women in a mission...

Afghanistan on Brink Over US Soldier Killings

Reports vary, but murders could push US-Afghan relations to the brink

(Newser) - US and Afghan officials alike are scrambling in the wake of today's rampage that claimed the lives of 16 Afghan civilians , as relations between the two nations threaten to boil over. The latest reactions, along with emerging details:
  • Reuters has the most incendiary report, alleging that more than one
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