Afghanistan war

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The Bloody Battle for One Afghan Valley
 The Bloody Battle 
 for One Afghan Valley 
glossies
Sep 7, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

The Bloody Battle for One Afghan Valley

As the war gets bloodier, there's some hope of progress

(Newser) - As the nation's military focus shifts to Afghanistan, Sebastian Junger of Vanity Fair spends time with US troops fighting “ambush by ambush” in the 6-mile Korengal Valley in the tense northeast. The region, Junger says, is a “test case” for fighting insurgencies and a prime example of the...

Karzai Vows Punishment for Deadly US Raid

'Our relation with the foreigners got worst,' president says after 90 Afghans claimed dead

(Newser) - President Hamid Karzai vowed to punish those responsible for killing as many as 90 civilians in a raid last month by US and Afghan commandos, saying Afghanistan’s relationship with “the foreigners got worst,” the AP reports. The US and NATO claim at least 30 militants and no...

Will an Afghan Surge Work? Skeptics See Trouble

Homegrown insurgency different from Iraq's: analysts

(Newser) - McCain and Obama rarely agree on foreign policy, but both are pushing for a mini-surge of about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan to rein in the Taliban. Will the Iraq model work here? The mountainous terrain, raging US suspicion, a porous border with Pakistan, and the challenge of telling apart...

Army School Gets Dropouts Ready to Serve

Military needs more eligible recruits to fill its ranks

(Newser) - The US Army today opened its first prep school to prepare high school dropouts for military service, the AP reports. With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and not enough eligible recruits, the Army wants unqualified prospects to earn their GEDs. "Only three out of every 10 people of military...

Fewer Marines Needed in Iraq's Anbar: General

Not many 'bad guys left' in province with Iraqi forces set to take over

(Newser) - The Marines’ top general says his two combat units in Iraq’s Anbar province could stand to be deployed elsewhere after the US hands over control there to Iraqi forces next week, the AP reports. “There aren't a whole heck of a lot of bad guys there left to...

US-Led Strike Killed 90 Afghan Civilians: UN

Civilians, mostly children, killed

(Newser) - The UN has evidence that a coalition airstrike did indeed kill roughly 90 civilians, most of them children, in Afghanistan last week, Reuters reports. The US has been insisting that only 30 were killed in the strike, most of them Taliban militants, but the UN’s special mission to Afghanistan...

Sarkozy Renews Afghan Support
 Sarkozy Renews Afghan Support
Aug 20, 2008 7:10 AM CDT

Sarkozy Renews Afghan Support

Visits troops, meets with Karzai

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirmed his support of the Afghan mission today, in the wake of a Taliban ambush that killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 others, the BBC reports. After meeting with Hamid Karzai, Sarkozy told troops to be proud of their “indispensable” work. “We're going to make...

Bombing Outside US Base in Afghanistan Kills 12

Second car bomb thwarted; suicide team repelled in follow-up attacks

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed 12 workers and wounded 22 others after detonating his vehicle outside a US military base in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, the New York Times reports. No American military personnel were injured or killed. A second suicide car-bomber tried to follow soon after but was turned back, as...

Forget a Surge: Afghanistan Isn't Worth 'Saving'

Don't waste resources, troops on a hopeless country, writes analyst

(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain have strong disagreements over Iraq, but on Afghanistan they agree: a troop surge is necessary. Nearly 60% of Americans agree, as does the defense secretary, Robert Gates. There's just one problem, writes Bartle Breese Bull in the New York Times: even with a costly surge,...

500th US Death a Troubling Omen in Afghan War

'Other' war claims 500 lives, now deadlier than Iraq conflict

(Newser) - The 500th American died in Afghanistan last month and the grim milestone has helped bring the conflict back to the forefront of the nation's consciousness, the New York Times writes. Afghanistan has long been overshadowed by the Iraq war, but enemy action killed over three times as many Americans in...

Pentagon Extends Tours for Marines in Afghanistan

(Newser) - As the situation in Afghanistan worsens, 1,000 Marines deployed to train local security forces will stay there for at least another 30 days, mirroring an identical move last month for another group of Marines elsewhere in the country, Reuters reports. A defense official confirmed the move, which has yet...

Captured Qaeda Suspect Fires on Troops

MIT-trained Pakistani woman had been fugitive since 2003

(Newser) - An MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist with suspected al-Qaeda ties has been charged with trying to kill American soldiers and FBI agents while in custody last month, the New York Times reports. Aafia Siddiqui, who disappeared in Pakistan in 2003, turned up in Afghanistan, where she was detained for loitering suspiciously outside...

GOP's Offshore Drilling, Dems' Afghan Surge Both Bad Ideas

Both are blindly touting poor policy: Friedman

(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans alike are beating empty campaign slogans, and both need to take a look at their real-world implications, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. Republicans who insist that offshore oil drilling will solve the world's problems sound like "someone back in 1980" pushing for...

Obama Declares Afghanistan 'Precarious and Urgent'

Candidate pledges more US troops

(Newser) - Calling the situation in Afghanistan "precarious and urgent," Barack Obama today urged the Bush administration to make Afghanistan—rather than Iraq—"the central front in our battle against terrorism." In his first interview since arriving in the country yesterday, the Democratic candidate told Lara Logan on...

8 Afghan Civilians Killed in US-Led Airstrike

Coalition forces called for air backup during firefight

(Newser) - Eight civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike targeting suspected militants in Afghanistan's western province of Farah, Reuters reports. The deaths occurred after American-led forces called for air backup during a roadside firefight Tuesday. A military statement said that officials "deeply regret any occurrence such as this." There...

Pentagon Backtracks, Extends Afghanistan Tours

2,200 Marines will remain another 30 days despite repeated denials

(Newser) - The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather...

US Deaths in Afghanistan Hit Record

More troops die there than in Iraq for second straight month

(Newser) - More troops from the United States and coalition countries died in Afghanistan last month than at any other time since the 2001 invasion. For the second month in a row, deaths among American-led forces were higher in Afghanistan, where 46 servicemen died, than in Iraq, where 31 were killed. The...

Afghan Taliban Resurgence Alarms Pentagon

Pentagon report cautions a renewed insurgency

(Newser) - Taliban militants in Afghanistan have regrouped “into a resilient insurgency” that has US  allies "losing ground and slipping backwards," a new Pentagon report concludes. Bombing attacks set a record in 2007, and are on track to top that in 2008. Security conditions in the war-torn country have...

Minutes Dwindle for Networks' War Coverage
 Minutes Dwindle for
 Networks' War Coverage 
ANALYSIS
Jun 23, 2008 1:45 PM CDT

Minutes Dwindle for Networks' War Coverage

Bureaus cut amid financial concerns; political primary blots out other stories

(Newser) - Middle East correspondents are struggling to get stories on the nightly news as TV networks scale back war coverage, the New York Times reports. With violence in Iraq declining and the US public tiring of an open-ended conflict, network execs have focused on hot topics like the contentious presidential primaries....

House OKs War Funding, Aid for Flood Relief

Spending bill also extends jobless benefits

(Newser) - A much-delayed Iraq war funding bill sailed through the House tonight, along with a doubling of college aid for returning troops and help for the unemployed and Midwestern flood victims. Republican allies of President Bush provided the winning margin in a 268-155 vote to provide $162 billion to fund US...

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