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Afghanistan: the Next Vietnam?
 Afghanistan: the Next Vietnam?  
analysis
Feb 1, 2009 5:49 PM CST

Afghanistan: the Next Vietnam?

(Newser) - Afghanistan may not be Barack Obama's Vietnam—it may be worse, John Barry and Evan Thomas write in Newsweek. The president plans to double US troops there to 60,000, hoping Gen. David Patraeus can recreate "surge" success and train an Afghan army to stabilize the country. But...

In Afghanistan, Taliban Control the Countryside

As Obama mulls more troops, NATO gaps give insurgents free rein

(Newser) - Barack Obama has signaled that he will send 20,000 to 30,000 new American troops to join NATO forces in Afghanistan. It certainly won't hurt, reports Dexter Filkins in the New York Times. Troops are stretched so thin that, more than 7 years after the initial invasion, the Taliban...

2 Dozen Gitmo Prisoners Win Court Cases

All but 3 who got hearings were found wrongfully detained

(Newser) - At least 24 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have won cases in federal court or military tribunals voiding their detention in the last 3 months. While the Bush administration has insisted that the prisoners who remain at Gitmo are "the worst of the worst," there was apparently no legal...

Unbowed by Attack, Afghan Girls Return to School

School thrives despite horrific assault

(Newser) - Last November in Kandahar, the southern Afghan city in the grip of the Taliban, 15 students and teachers were sprayed with acid on their way to a girls' school. The attack was the culmination of a Taliban-supported campaign to keep women from education, but the girls and their teachers have...

Afghans Infuriated by Gaping Wealth Divide

Corruption fuels scattered elite class

(Newser) - Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world—but while many are forced to beg for change, scattered neighbors are living in mansions, having mysteriously accumulated vast wealth, the Washington Post reports. Stories of drug trafficking, smuggling, and abuse of international aid abound. “All the jobs and...

5 US Troops Killed in Wave of Afghan Attacks

Including 5 American soldiers

(Newser) - Three American soldiers were killed today when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Southern Afghanistan, and two were killed yesterday, as a string of attacks took 18 lives in the country over the past two days. Earlier today a suicide bomber blew himself up in a fruit shop in...

Pakistan Cracks Open Afghan Supply Route

Crucial Khyber Pass has been shut for anti-Taliban campaign

(Newser) - Pakistan allowed traffic to cross the Khyber Pass today for 6 hours after closing it to help fight the Taliban, the New York Times reports. But analysts say that once the offensive is over, guerrillas who fled the area will simply return to the pass, a crucial supply route for...

Pakistani Offensive Shuts US Supply Line to Afghanistan

Crackdown targets Khyber Pass militants

(Newser) - Pakistan closed the main route used to ferry supplies to US and allied troops in Afghanistan today after launching a fresh offensive against militants in the area. The road through the Khyber Pass in the northwest of Pakistan has faced increasing attacks by militants seeking to squeeze Western forces fighting...

Taliban Exact Revenge on Pakistani Town That Stood Up

Car bombing punishes crackdown on militants

(Newser) - A few months ago, villagers in a Pakistani town killed six Taliban fighters who had bound and killed local police; yesterday, the Taliban retaliated, targeting the town of Shalbandi with a suicide car bomb that killed more than 30. The explosion rocked a school that was holding a vote to...

Afghan Dogfighting Resurges
 Afghan Dogfighting 
 Resurges 
Dec 28, 2008 6:06 AM CST

Afghan Dogfighting Resurges

Thousands flock to weekly events

(Newser) - Dogfighting in Afghanistan is experiencing a major resurgence since the fall of the Taliban, with weekly fights in many communities and purses as high as $50,000, reports the New York Times. The Taliban banned the practice as un-Islamic, but the fights are now as popular as ever. Twice weekly...

Pakistan Moves Troops Toward Indian Border

Shift comes amid tensions after Mumbai crisis

(Newser) - Pakistan began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border toward India today amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks, intelligence officials said. The move represents a sharp escalation in the standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors and will hurt Pakistan's US-backed campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban taking place near...

Pakistani Taliban Vow to Blow Up Girls' Schools

Extremists also ban polio vaccines; order women to cover up

(Newser) - Taliban militants in Pakistan's Swat region have threatened to blow up schools and kill schoolgirls if female education isn't halted by next month, reports the Times of London. The extremists have already destroyed 125 schools for girls in the region this year. Women have been warned not to set foot...

Afghans Uneasy With US Plan to Fund Militias

Strategy imported from Iraq prompts local fears of civil war

(Newser) - As the US military and Afghan government prepare to arm local militias against the resurgent Taliban, many Afghans are uneasy, fearing that militias formed along ethnic lines could spiral out of control and turn on citizens, reports the New York Times. The plan, which steals a page from the Awakening...

US Will Finance Afghan Militias
 US Will Finance Afghan Militias 
Dec 23, 2008 11:51 AM CST

US Will Finance Afghan Militias

Local security strategy echoes Iraq counterinsurgency strategy

(Newser) - The US will begin funding local militias throughout Afghanistan, an effort to re-create the successful counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Afghanistan historically has been known as a country where local communities took care of themselves,” explained the US ambassador. “The way to counter...

US Drone Strike Kills 7 in Pakistan
US Drone Strike Kills
7 in Pakistan
Dec 22, 2008 6:48 AM CST

US Drone Strike Kills 7 in Pakistan

Attack mounts pressure for government to act

(Newser) - An unmanned US drone is suspected of firing two missiles in Pakistan that killed seven people, the BBC reports. Taliban were seen pulling bodies from a fort-like house afterward as tribesmen fired at the aircraft. Since August, American-operated drones have launched more than 20 missiles in the tribal areas near...

US May Double Forces in Afghanistan to 60K

(Newser) - The US could double the number of its troops in Afghanistan to about 60,000 by next summer, the highest such estimate to date, Reuters reports. American troops currently number 31,000, but joint chiefs chairman Mike Mullen said today that an additional 20,000 to 30,000 will be...

'American Taliban' Pleads for Mercy

Seeks freedom after 7 years in prison

(Newser) - A young California man captured with the Taliban in 2001 is asking President Bush to commute the remaining 13 years of a 20-year prison sentence. John Walker Lindh, 27, joined the Taliban a month before the US-led invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. Lindh claims he was never a...

Kidnap Rise Adds to Afghan Woes Awaiting Obama
Kidnap Rise Adds to Afghan Woes Awaiting Obama
ANALYSIS
Dec 16, 2008 3:19 PM CST

Kidnap Rise Adds to Afghan Woes Awaiting Obama

Obama faces an increasingly challenging scenario as government falters in Kabul

(Newser) - A rash of kidnappings has struck Afghanistan, a symptom of the deteriorating security situation there, writes Masha Hamilton in Salon. Kabul is no longer viewed as a safe haven as the Taliban and criminal gangs seize foreigners and Afghans alike—sometimes for ideological reasons, often just for a ransom payment....

Poll Backs Obama's War Plans
 Poll Backs Obama's War Plans 
ANALYSIS
Dec 16, 2008 12:49 PM CST

Poll Backs Obama's War Plans

Americans' opinion of Iraq effort most upbeat in 5 years

(Newser) - Barack Obama echoes most Americans’ war views, if not those of his national-security team, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Though 27% fewer Americans are pessimistic about efforts in Iraq compared to 2 years ago, 70% say they want troops withdrawn within 16 months, as Obama has promised. Most—67%—...

Bush Stops in Afghanistan; Vows Support

Pledges continued US support

(Newser) - Five hours after his final visit to the country that defined his presidency, President Bush landed in Afghanistan this morning for an unsurprising surprise visit on his farewell tour. After a pre-dawn rally with US troops, the president renewed his support of the fledgling democracy in a meeting with President...

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