Afghanistan war

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Troop Autopsies Yield Life-Saving Clues

Decision to autopsy all US war dead helps military eliminate equipment flaws

(Newser) - Navy pathologist Capt Craig T. Mallak's groundbreaking decision to order autopsies on every US casualty killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has helped save the lives of American troops, the New York Times reports. The autopsies—and, since 2004, CT scans—have allowed the military to build a huge database on...

Afghan Taliban Have Momentum: Gates

Defense sec says US has months before support wanes

(Newser) - The Taliban have the momentum in the war in Afghanistan and the US is rapidly losing time to turn it around before public support runs out, Robert Gates tells the Wall Street Journal. The defense secretary said in an interview that American support for the war will recede unless the...

Town's Stalemate Offers Snapshot of Afghan War

(Newser) - A stalemate between US Marines and Taliban fighters in a small, abandoned town in southern Afghanistan could be seen as a microcosm of the war there, Michael M. Phillips writes in the Wall Street Journal. In Now Zad, a 300-strong company of Marines has traded fire with a Taliban force...

Generals Puzzle Through Surge in Army Suicides

(Newser) - Top Army brass are meeting monthly to figure out the disturbing rise in soldier suicides, the Washington Post reports. The generals pore through case studies and examine factors such as solitude, multiple tours of duty, and interactions between anti-depressants and high-caffeine drinks like Rip It popular among soldiers. “It's...

Afghan Peace Talks Hinge on US Pullout

Militants negotiate with intermediaries, but no likely deals yet

(Newser) - Peace talks are under way in Afghanistan between militant leaders and intermediaries, but the insurgent groups—which include the Taliban—continue to insist on US withdrawal as a condition for peace, the New York Times reports. The Afghan government is backing the talks and optimistic about American backing, even as...

US-Issued Ammo Found on Afghan Insurgents

Experts fear Pentagon-procured munitions finding their way to Taliban

(Newser) - The resilience of Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency may be partly due to supplies from the US, according to a New York Times investigation. The majority of 30 rifle magazines recently found on dead insurgents were the same as those issued to the Afghan military by the US, strongly suggesting that Pentagon-supplied...

Gates' Laser Focus on Wars Reshapes Pentagon

(Newser) - Bush-holdover Robert Gates is using his position in the Obama administration to try to remake Washington’s biggest bureaucracy, refocusing it on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. Gates has pushed the Pentagon to shift from preparing for high-tech conventional wars of the future to...

New Afghanistan Commander Is Warrior-Scholar

Workaholic McChrystal has shadowy past, links to spy agencies

(Newser) - Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the designated new American commander in Afghanistan, has a reputation for hard work and self-denial: He sleeps for just a few hours and eats only one meal a day. Colleagues describe McChrystal, the current director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as an ideal combination of...

Surge Worked in Iraq, But Beware Afghanistan
 Surge Worked in Iraq, 
 But Beware Afghanistan 
BOOK REVIEW
May 12, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Surge Worked in Iraq, But Beware Afghanistan

(Newser) - A new book on the surge in Iraq could offer lessons to the Obama administration about Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins writes in the New Republic. Thomas E. Ricks’ The Gamble details the success of a small band of contrarian US generals, led by David Petraeus, in turning around the war. But...

Sacked Commander Wrong for New Afghan Strategy

McKiernan's approach in Afghanistan too 'conventional,' officials say

(Newser) - David McKiernan was dumped as top American commander in Afghanistan yesterday, after less than a year, because his approach was too “conventional,” Pentagon officials tell the New York Times. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said “fresh eyes were needed” and “a new approach was probably in our...

US to Replace Afghan Commander

(Newser) - Gen. David McKiernan will be replaced as chief of NATO’s Afghan mission by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special ops officer, ABC News reports. McKiernan has held his post for just 11 months, and it is unclear where he will go. The move, to be announced at a...

Pentagon Backs iPhone, iPod Apps for Combat Troops

Pentagon develops apps for ubiquitous Apple devices

(Newser) - With more than 30,000 third-party applications now available for the iPhone and iPod touch, a new organization is getting into the game: the American military. As the Independent reports, the Pentagon thinks Apple's gadgets are ideal for "network centric warfare" and is funding projects for everything from translation...

US May Have Used Phosphorus in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Doctors have voiced concern over "unusual" burns on Afghan villagers wounded in an already controversial US-Taliban battle, and the country's top human rights groups said today it is investigating the possibility white phosphorus was used. The US military denied using the incendiary in a Farah province battle that President...

Obama Praises Afghan, Pakistan Commitments

Delicate diplomacy ends with unified resolve to fight militants

(Newser) - President Obama said he got the commitments he wanted today from the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to more aggressively fight militants gaining power and sowing violence inside their countries' borders. The high-stakes diplomacy had Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari meeting with officials separately and together. Looming...

A Doubting Washington Greets Karzai
 A Doubting 
 Washington 
 Greets Karzai 

ANALYSIS
May 6, 2009 7:46 AM CDT

A Doubting Washington Greets Karzai

Afghan president has 'plateaued,' diplomats say

(Newser) - Nearly eight years after the fall of the Taliban, Hamid Karzai comes to the White House today to meet an administration distinctly unimpressed with his governance of Afghanistan. In interviews with two dozen Washington officials, the Washington Post finds anger and frustration with a president overseeing a weak and corrupt...

Stakes Massive Ahead of Obama Af-Pak Summit

Zardari, Karzai in DC as Taliban surge in crumbling Pakistan

(Newser) - Barack Obama begins two days of talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan today as his administration faces what may be its first foreign policy crisis: rising militancy in the Swat Valley that threatens to spread across the nuclear-armed nation. Obama and his team are expected to pressure Asif...

US Preps Plans to Take Out Taliban Poppy Crop

Offensive aims to cut off Afghan insurgency's financial lifeline

(Newser) - American commanders in Afghanistan are preparing a huge assault on the Taliban's opium-growing heartlands this summer, reports the New York Times. Taking out the opium crop is key to NATO strategy, and commanders expect casualties on both sides will be high as the militants stand their ground to defend the...

Gates Pressure Speeds New Armor to Afghan Soldiers

(Newser) - With a little push from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Army says it has completed its assessment of $3 million worth of high-tech, lightweight body armor and will send it immediately to soldiers in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. The Army was dragging out testing on the new armor,...

Army Introduces New Measures to Stem Suicides

Officials to hire more therapists, boost drug and health screening

(Newser) - The army has begun a new effort to stem the rising toll of soldier suicides, hiring more mental health workers and instituting new rules for drug testing and health screening, reports AP. The number of suicides in the first three months of 2009 reached 56—after a record 140 last...

Pentagon Will Fill Civilian Jobs in Afghanistan

Reservists to fill up to 300 positions intended for nonmilitary experts

(Newser) - The Obama administration is being forced to fill hundreds of new positions designed for civilian experts in Afghanistan with military personnel, mostly reservists, reports the New York Times. The shortfall results from insufficient funds to hire and train nonmilitary people for work in combat zones, and the fact that agencies...

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