Afghanistan war

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Obama to Troops: You're Winning

President thanks service members during surprise Afghanistan trip

(Newser) - President Obama capped his surprise visit to Afghanistan by delivering words of encouragement to US troops at the Bagram base north of Kabul, Bloomberg reports. “You are protecting your country, you’re achieving your objectives, you will succeed in your mission,” Obama said. “We said we were...

Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan

He'll be thanking US troops

(Newser) - President Obama slipped unannounced into Afghanistan today, one year after widening an ever deadlier war and just days before a pivotal review about the 9-year-plus conflict. Under intense security, Obama landed in darkness after a clandestine departure from the White House yesterday. He was to personally thank US troops for...

Afghan Police Officer Kills 6 US Soldiers

Taliban agent opens fire during training exercise

(Newser) - Six US troops were killed today in a deadly betrayal by an Afghan ally, according to NATO officials. The six were participating in a training exercise with members of the Afghan border police when a border police officer opened fire. The shooter was killed in the subsequent gunfight, but his...

Taliban Snickers at US Over Impostor's Ruse

It also shows reports of peace talks were false, says commander

(Newser) - News that an impostor posing as a high-ranking Taliban official fooled US, UK, and Afghan officials—and made a tidy profit to boot—is going over well among the real Taliban. One commander tells the Daily Beast : “Imagine if a shopkeeper from Quetta can make a fool of them...

UK Cabbie Moonlights as ... Taliban Fighter

British citizens with Afghan roots head over for months at a time

(Newser) - Talk about deflating the mystique of the Taliban: "I work as a minicab driver," one fighter in northern Afghanistan tells the Guardian . He spends most of the year in East London but travels to Afghanistan for a few months to join the fight—and he's apparently not alone....

US Now in Afghanistan as Long as Soviets

9 years, 50 days: Same length, different fight, analysts say

(Newser) - As of today, the US military has been fighting in Afghanistan for 9 years and 50 days—exactly as long as the Soviets did during their doomed campaign to turn the country into a socialist state. Analysts say that while the Soviet invasion and the NATO campaign have very different...

Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out'
 Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out' 
maureen dowd
Nov 24, 2010 10:03 AM CST

Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out'

We're stuck in a region that's taking us for a ride, writes Maureen Dowd

(Newser) - Considering the fact that the billions we've spent on intelligence hasn't enabled us to distinguish between an impostor and an actual Taliban leader, it’s no wonder the war in Afghanistan is a mess. “The tragedy has descended into farce,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times...

Taliban Chief at Peace Talks Was Impostor

Fake leader paid handsomely for taking part in talks

(Newser) - A "Taliban leader" heavily involved in peace talks in Afghanistan was an impostor, according to US and Afghan officials. The man, who pretended to be high-ranking Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, was flown to several meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and was given a sizable sum of cash for...

NATO, US See Lengthy Stay in Afghanistan

Combat operations might end in 2004, followed by support mission

(Newser) - The NATO summit resulted in lots of talk about "transition goals" for Afghanistan, but the only thing for certain is that US and NATO troops aren't going anywhere anytime soon. The official proclamation promises that allied forces will push to end combat operations by the end of 2014—but...

Few Afghans Know Reason for War, NATO Troops

92% never heard of 9/11 attacks

(Newser) - Most Afghans living in the provinces with the heaviest fighting have never heard of the September 11 attacks and have absolutely no idea why NATO forces are in their country, Reuters reports. A think tank polled residents of the southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces and found that 92% of the...

Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014
Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014
nato summit
Nov 19, 2010 9:30 AM CST

Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014

President brings new strategy to NATO summit

(Newser) - As the NATO summit in Lisbon begins today, President Obama has a new plan for Afghanistan—and it calls for the US and others to stick around beyond 2014, the Christian Science Monitor reports. NATO forces, the plan says, will turn over the country to Afghan forces by 2014, but...

Obama Honors a Hero: 'I Really Like This Guy'

Salvatore Giunta receives the Medal of Honor

(Newser) - The nation got a certified new hero today: staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. In presenting it today, President Obama paused to go off script. "I really like this guy," he said to laughter and...

US Plans 2014 End to Afghan Combat

Phased withdrawal echoes Iraq exit strategy

(Newser) - The Obama administration has worked up a plan to complete the US combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014, gradually shifting security into the hands of Afghan troops, insiders tell the New York Times . The piecemeal strategy, which echoes the phased Iraq withdrawal, will be presented at a NATO meeting in...

Karzai to US: Cut Troop Presence
 Karzai to US: 
 Cut Troop 
 Presence 
INTERVIEW
Nov 14, 2010 10:03 AM CST

Karzai to US: Cut Troop Presence

Afghan prez says war has taken vast toll on people, need to get back to normal

(Newser) - Nine years into the war in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai sees the toll it's taken on his people and says it's time for the US military to dial down its war effort. "The time has come to reduce the presence of, you know, boots in Afghanistan," he tells the...

Taliban Writes Letter to Congress

'Your military leaders are lying,' states missive

(Newser) - In a brazen bid to squeeze the US out of Afghanistan, the Taliban has written its first "open letter" to Congress detailing why America "can't win" the war. Letter author and Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi called on Congress to send a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan. The...

Entire Afghan Police Station Defects to Taliban

19 cops cut a deal with insurgents, sack, burn station

(Newser) - An entire Afghan police station defected to the Taliban today, with as many as 19 officers joining insurgent fighters in sacking and burning their own station, the New York Times reports. The lone remaining cop of the station southwest of Kabul—the chief—said that the turncoats took their guns,...

Bin Laden Threatens France Over Burka Ban, War

He vows a 'strike by the neck' in audiotape

(Newser) - An audiotape purportedly from terror master Osama bin Laden threatens France with a "strike by the neck" because of its burka ban and participation in the Afghan war. "If you want to tyrannize and think that it is your right to ban free women from wearing the burka,...

Pakistan Demands Role in Afghan Peace Talks

If they're even happening at all...

(Newser) - Pakistani security officials say they’re frustrated that they haven’t been invited to participate in Afghan/Taliban peace talks, warning that no peace deal will succeed without their involvement. In interviews with the Washington Post ISI officials say the US hasn’t even told them which Taliban leaders are involved...

Taliban Retreats in Kandahar: NATO

Coalition thinks they've made big progress

(Newser) - NATO and Afghan forces have been wiping the floor with the Taliban in Kandahar in recent weeks, using new high-precision mobile rockets to rout insurgents from their long-held strongholds, NATO commanders, Afghan officials and local residents tell the New York Times . Western officials believe the Taliban has been dealt a...

NATO Escorts Taliban Elite to Afghan Peace Talks

Talks have included commanders at the highest level of insurgency

(Newser) - NATO troops have been helping top Taliban commanders get to Kabul for face-to-face peace talks with Hamid Karzai, sources tell the New York Times. In at least one case, Taliban leaders actually hopped aboard a NATO aircraft to make the journey, and in others NATO has secured roads, promising leaders...

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