Afghanistan war

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Seeking Talks, US May Allow Taliban Political Party

Some could run for office, but power-sharing impossible: diplomat

(Newser) - In an effort to establish a dialogue with the Taliban, the US may allow the militant group to create a political party or be represented by election candidates, the Guardian reports. Other options include removing Taliban leaders from UN blacklists, releasing prisoners, and revising Afghanistan’s constitution. But there’s...

Go All In on Afghan War, McCain, Lieberman Say
Go All In on Afghan War, McCain, Lieberman Say
OPINION
Mar 19, 2009 7:16 AM CDT

Go All In on Afghan War, McCain, Lieberman Say

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s strategy for Afghanistan must roundly reject the so-called “minimalist” approach being whispered about in DC, write John McCain and Joe Lieberman in today’s Washington Post. The minimalists want the US to focus on limited, “realistic” counterterrorism goals. But McCain and Lieberman remind Obama that...

'Civilian Surge' Part of New Afghan Plan

Hundreds of diplomats may be sent along with troops

(Newser) - President Obama’s new Afghanistan policy may include stationing more diplomats and civilians there, officials tell the Washington Post. Obama’s national security advisers are expected to present a plan next week that would send hundreds of government officials from departments like Agriculture and Justice, along with temps yet to...

Liberals Turn Against War in Afghanistan, Too
Liberals Turn Against War in Afghanistan, Too
OPINION
Mar 17, 2009 9:52 AM CDT

Liberals Turn Against War in Afghanistan, Too

How swiftly 'good war' becomes 'another Vietnam,' says scribe

(Newser) - When the Iraq war was going badly, Bret Stephens writes in the Wall Street Journal, American liberals always defended efforts in Afghanistan—the “good war” the US couldn’t afford to lose. But now many of those same lefties say it’s time to bow out instead of getting...

Poll: 42% See Afghanistan War as 'Mistake'

Figure highest since question first asked in November 2001

(Newser) - Americans increasingly think the war in Afghanistan was a bad move from the start, a USA Today/Gallup poll this weekend found. Some 42% of respondents said it was a “mistake” to send troops to Afghanistan, the highest percentage since the question was first asked in a November 2001 poll....

Obama Tactic on Pakistan, Afghanistan: Fingers Crossed

Pakistan will become key to US approach there

(Newser) - President Obama is bringing hope to conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan—but along the lines of hoping something good happens, Joe Klein writes in Time. A policy review is underway, but it seems the administration’s approach will be to “hope that the disintegration of Afghanistan can be prevented...

Clinton Seeks World Meeting on Afghanistan

High-level conference would develop 'common way forward'

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has proposed a high-level international conference on Afghanistan sponsored by the United Nations and attended by a wide range of countries including Pakistan and NATO allies. The secretary of State presented the proposal at a NATO meeting in Brussels, where she said the session could be held March...

360K US Troops Suffer Brain Injuries

As many as 20% of war vets have had concussions or worse

(Newser) - The number of US troops who have suffered wartime brain injuries may be as high as 360,000, say Defense Department doctors. They estimate that between 10% and 20% of the roughly 1.8 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan had such injuries—the vast majority of...

Afghanistan Demands Broader Strategy: Kissinger

Diffuse country calls for localized military approach

(Newser) - The US can no longer afford to follow “traditional anti-insurgency tactics” in such a large, ethnically diverse, and “forbidding territory” as Afghanistan, Henry Kissinger writes in the Washington Post. Instead of focusing on a stronger centralized government, he urges a “coherent” strategy that supports “local and...

Weakness at Top Worsens Pakistan's Woes

Zardari has alienated party allies and foes alike: officials

(Newser) - In less than 6 months at Pakistan's helm, Asif Ali Zardari has surrounded himself with cronies, alienated top advisers, and created a situation that has diplomats warning that he's undercutting efforts to oppose al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Benazir Bhutto's widower is holed up inside his palace, and cabinet ministers who...

Two-Thirds of Americans Back Afghanistan Surge

Two-thirds of Americans support Afghanistan 'surge'

(Newser) - The 17,000 additional troops President Obama plans to send to Afghanistan will ship out with the support of two-thirds of Americans, a contrast to the public’s poor reception of George W. Bush’s Iraq surge, the Washington Post reports. Polls also show Obama’s troop increase has widespread...

What Should I Say Tonight? 5 Sure Bets
 What Should I Say
 Tonight? 5 Sure Bets
ANALYSIS
Feb 24, 2009 3:07 PM CST

What Should I Say Tonight? 5 Sure Bets

(Newser) - President Obama has had to change his tune a few times since he took office, but the content of his speech to Congress tonight will be no surprise, Michael Scherer writes in Time. Talking points have been consistent for long enough to predict 5 key features:
  • I'm not Bush: In
...

Kyrgyzstan Issues Eviction Notice to US

Forces have 6 months to leave; Uzbekistan offers new supply route

(Newser) - Kyrgyzstan has issued an eviction notice giving US forces six months to depart an air base key to the transit of troops and supplies to the war in Afghanistan, the AP reports. But in spite of its rocky relationship with the US, nearby Uzbekistan has offered an alternative route for...

Let the Coffins Be Seen
 Let the Coffins Be Seen 
OPINION
Feb 19, 2009 2:43 PM CST

Let the Coffins Be Seen

(Newser) - The ban on media at Dover Air Force Base when America’s war dead come home ignores the very rights they died fighting for, and it should be lifted, Connie Schultz writes for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Supporters of the Iraq war have long argued that media images of...

Kyrgyzstan Votes to Shut Critical US Airbase

Military must leave Central Asian republic in 180 days

(Newser) - The parliament of Kyrgyzstan voted nearly unanimously to close a critical American military base in the country, dealing a blow to Barack Obama's efforts to reinforce troops in Afghanistan. The vote, 78-1, means that the US has 180 days to remove its airplanes and equipment, reports the Guardian. Kyrgyzstan's president...

Afghan Civilian Deaths Soar 39%

Death toll is highest since invasion of 2001

(Newser) - Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by 39% last year, according to the UN. Some 2,118 Afghans died in 2008, the highest figure since the Taliban were removed from power in 2001. Of those deaths, 55% were blamed on militants, the BBC reports, while 39% resulted from US, NATO, and...

US Surge Troops See First Combat in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Close to 3,000 American soldiers who recently arrived in Afghanistan to secure two violent provinces near Kabul have begun operations in the field and already are seeing combat, the AP reports. The new troops are the first wave of an expected surge of reinforcements this year. The process began...

Obama Takes Time on Troop Decisions

Unlike his predecessor.

(Newser) - Barack Obama is resisting pressure from the Pentagon to swiftly approve a major shift of forces to Afghanistan, Politico reports. For weeks officials have been predicting the new president would, within days, OK the request for 10,000 more troops. Instead Obama has insisted on a methodical strategic review, debating...

Pentagon May End Media Ban on War Dead

Policy under review

(Newser) - Robert Gates has asked the Pentagon to review its policy of barring the media from photographing the coffins of military casualties returning to the US from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. “I think, if the needs of the families can be met and the privacy concerns can...

Obama Challenges Troop Surge in Afghanistan

Asks for clear strategy before sending more troops

(Newser) - President Obama has called for a review of the planned deployment of up to 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, a nation that some fear will become his “Vietnam,” the Times of London reports. Some 17,000 more troops were poised to head there last week, but defense...

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