US military

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Obama Rolls Out Afghan Plan: 'Al-Qaeda Must Be Stopped'

(Newser) - President Obama laid out the government's new strategy for Afghanistan today, declaring that the US must “disrupt, defeat, and dismantle” al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Obama will send another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, on top of the 17,000 already approved. He also announced plans to work with regional...

Brooks: We Can Win in Afghanistan
 Brooks: 
 We Can Win in Afghanistan 
OPINION

Brooks: We Can Win in Afghanistan

(Newser) - David Brooks has always been skeptical of our efforts in Afghanistan, “one of the poorest, least-educated and most-corrupt nations on earth,” and his recent six-day tour of the country reinforced "every element" of his skepticism. But the columnist also emerged “infected by the optimism of the...

Sudan Accuses US of Strike
 Sudan Accuses US of Strike  

Sudan Accuses US of Strike

(Newser) - Sudan is now blaming "American fighters" for an airstrike on a convoy of trucks in the desert, the New York Times reports. The US denies the charges. Sudan's accusation follows earlier reports that Israel conducted the January airstrike to prevent a weapons delivery to Gaza. A Sudanese official's statement...

US Afghan Plan: 4K More Troops, Help From Iran

(Newser) - When President Obama unveils his strategy for Afghanistan tomorrow, he will for the first time ask Iran to help bring peace to the region, Marc Ambinder writes for the Atlantic. Obama may not mention Iran by name, but he will ask neighboring nations to form a group to mediate disputes...

Post 9/11, Highest Military Honor Grows Scarce

The highest military award has gone to only five—and all posthumously

(Newser) - The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have produced only five recipients of the Medal of Honor, all of whom died as a result of their heroism, the Military Times reports. Pentagon stinginess with the highest military honor in the post-9/11 era frustrates service members who say a politicized, stringent, and...

US Takes Charge in Afghanistan
 US Takes Charge in Afghanistan 

US Takes Charge in Afghanistan

With troop increase, US resources in country tower over NATO's

(Newser) - As President Obama sends 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan—making American service members two-thirds of the foreign force there—the US is taking a firmer grip on the country’s reins, the Washington Post reports. America’s civilian presence in the country is also growing by at least half,...

Car Bomb Kills 20 in Baghdad
 Car Bomb Kills 20 in Baghdad 

Car Bomb Kills 20 in Baghdad

Explosion comes day after US says attacks have plummeted

(Newser) - A car bomb exploded near a crowded market in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad today, killing as many as 20 people, Iraqi officials said, in the sixth major attack in Iraq this month. The blast occurred a day after the US military said overall attacks nationwide have fallen to...

China Lashes Out at US Report on Its Military

Beijing accuses Pentagon of 'Cold War thinking'

(Newser) - A Pentagon report on China's military power that warned of "disruptive" new nuclear, space, and cyber programs has provoked angry criticism from Beijing, who accused the defense department of "Cold War thinking," reports Reuters. The report says that China has been successfully expanding its weapons arsenal,...

'Wait Until She's Sober': Pentagon Rep on Sex Crimes

(Newser) - A House member is incensed that a Pentagon official, reporting a 25% increase in combat-zone sexual assault against women, said servicemen should “wait until she's sober,” the New York Daily News reports. “This woman is not in the right line of work,” Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY,...

US Gives Iraq Control of Sunni Guards

Former insurgents will be given jobs in government

(Newser) - Baghdad took control today of 90% of the former insurgents employed by the US military to combat al-Qaeda, Reuters reports. Turnover of the roughly 84,000 “Awakening Council" Sunnis, who were paid about $300 a month to patrol neighborhoods, will test Iraqi reconciliation as the US prepares to...

Army Phasing Out Program Holding Soldiers After Service

Gates announces end to forced extensions

(Newser) - The Army plans to stop forcing soldiers to serve again after their enlistment contracts are up, reports the Washington Post. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans yesterday to phase out the “stop-loss” program—which keeps soldiers in the Army beyond their service obligation—over the next two years. Some...

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....

US Ship Broke Laws: China
 US Ship Broke Laws: China 

US Ship Broke Laws: China

Impeccable may have been snooping on Chinese nuclear subs

(Newser) - Beijing said that a US Navy surveillance ship approached by several Chinese vessels this weekend was conducting illegal information-gathering, the Washington Post reports. The US had completely misrepresented the incident in its complaint, a Foreign Ministry rep. said, as the USS Impeccable was in a "Chinese exclusive economic zone"...

Special Courts Deal With Problem Vets

New system aims to rehabilitate returning troops

(Newser) - After returning from war, many “perfectly good kids” struggle with drugs and criminal behavior, but a new trend could help, the Los Angeles Times reports. Veterans courts are springing up around the country, offering an alternative route to justice—and recovery—for troubled former troops. “If they've been...

12K US Troops to Leave Iraq by Fall

US will turn over facilities to Iraqi control starting this month

(Newser) - A total of 12000 American and 4000 British troops will leave Iraq by September, the US military said today, just hours after a suicide bomber killed 32 people at the entrance of Baghdad's main police academy. The blast—the second major attack to hit Iraqis in 3 days and the...

Troops See 'Endgame' in Iraq
 Troops See 'Endgame' in Iraq 
analysis

Troops See 'Endgame' in Iraq

Trials still ahead, but future looks bright

(Newser) - As the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq draws near, a US captain sums up the state of American affairs to Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times: "We're in the endgame now." Though most troops won't be home until 2010, the war is effectively over...

Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban
 Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban 

Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban

(Newser) - The Pentagon has lifted the media ban at Dover (Del.) Air Force Base and will allow photos of the coffins of US war casualties returning from overseas—provided the service members' families approve. Under the new rules, the families can withhold permission, CNN reports. Some relatives had lobbied against...

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...

Obama to Withdraw Troops From Iraq in 19 Months

(Newser) - President Obama plans to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by August 2010, the AP reports. Insiders say a training force of 30,000 to 50,000 will remain but will be largely evacuated by December 2011, when the security pact between the US and Iraq expires. The US has...

US Secretly Training Pakistani Commandos

Forces help troops to fight Taliban, al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Dozens of American military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to train armed forces to battle the Taliban and al-Qaeda, reports the New York Times. The Special Forces soldiers are providing intelligence and advising the Pakistani military on combat tactics, although they are not conducting combat operations....

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