NewsTrust - Afghanistan - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

The ‘Stan: An officer’s unvarnished view

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

armytimes.com - By Lance M. Bacon - Feb. 06 (Special Report) - An Army officer is fed up with “rosy official statements” that paint Afghanistan as a picture of progress, and he is demanding military leaders come clean about the “absence ofsuccess on virtually every level.”

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Obama's Expansion of Af-Pak War "Has Blown Up in His Face"

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Tariq Ali - Jan. 20 (News Analysis) - Amid ongoing U.S.-Pakistani tensions and fears of a military coup in Pakistan, we are joined by British-Pakistani political commentator, historian, activist, filmmaker and novelist, Tariq Ali. Ali discusses Pakistan's internal turmoil, as well as Pakistani attitudes toward U.S. foreign policy, the GOP presidential contest, and the prospect of a military strike against Iran. "[Pakistanis] are basically suffering because Obama, arrogantly, escalated the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan and thought he could get away with it. That has now blown up in his face," Ali says. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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What's Happening in the Persian Gulf Explained

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Adam Weinstein, Hamed Aleaziz - Jan. 03 (Special Report) - The basics: Iran and the United States appear to be heading for a showdown in the Persian Gulf. Amid already-high tensions over Iran's advancing nuclear program, the US has imposed harsh new economic sanctions on the regime in Tehran and begun to move se

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After the Deficit Committee, A New Propaganda Push from the War Profiteers

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Robert Greenwald ,Derrick Crowe: - Nov. 29 (News Analysis) - Failure of a special congressional committee to strike a deficit-reduction deal is expected to unleash desperate lobbying by U.S. arms makers to get lawmakers to block $600 billion in automatic cuts. Unfortunately for them, War Costs' new video exposes t

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NATO Kills 24 Pakistani Troops in 2-Hour Assault on Pakistani Base, Tensions Flare in Region

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Nov. 28 (News Report) - NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two remote Pakistani military outposts on Saturday killing at least 24 Pakistani soldiers. The air strike took place along the Afghanistan border in Pakistan's tribal district of Mohmand. Pakistan has said the attack was unprovoked, but a senior Kabul-based Western official claims NATO and Afghan forces came under fire and responded in self defense. Pakistan responded Saturday by blocking vital supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, and demanded the United States vacate a base used to launch drone attacks. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, constitutional law attorney and political and legal blogger for Salon.com. “We may never know what happened here. ... But what is clear is that the endless war that the United States has been engaged in since 9/11 does not seem to be in sight of ending. Quite the contrary, it seems to be escalating by the week,” Greenwald says. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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The dark side of counterinsurgency - Afghanistan - Salon.com

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Salon - By David N. Philipps David N. Philipps David N. Philipps David N Philipps - Nov. 16 (News Report) - The dark side to U.S. counterinsurgency tactics were on graphic display last week when Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of the 5thStryker Brigade, was convicted in a military court of three counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges, while deployed in Afghanistan in 2009.

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Fact-check: South Carolina Debate

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

FactCheck - By Brooks Jackson, Eugene Kiely, Lori Robertson, Robert Farley - Nov. 13 (Fact Check) - We found several exaggerations and misstatements in the latest Republican presidential candidates’ debate. Romney issued a hollow threat to take China’s currency manipulation to a world body that doesn’t actually deal with overvalued money, and he claimed federal spending consumes more of the nation’s economic output than it really does. … More >>

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Ten Years After U.S. Invasion, Afghan War Rages On With No End in Sight

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Reena - Oct. 07 (News Analysis) - The Taliban remains in control of major parts of the nation. Peace talks have collapsed. Civilian and troop casualties continue to mount. There have been a number of major setbacks in just the past few weeks. On Sept. 13, militants attacked the U.S. embassy and the NATO headquarters in Kabul. A week later, the Taliban claimed responsibility for assassinating former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who headed the Afghan Peace Council. Just this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Afghan President Hamid Karzai has given up on negotiating with the Taliban.

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U.S. Continues to Back Afghan Warlord Linked to 2006 Massacre and Torture of Prisoners

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, NERMEEN SHAIKH - Sep. 27 (Special Report) - New revelations about a U.S.-backed warlord in Afghanistan are raising questions about whether the United States has violated its own laws in its aim to defeat the Taliban. The Atlantic magazine reports the United States, under both former President George W. Bush and President Obama, has actively supported the police commander in Kandahar, General Abdul Raziq, despite knowing of his involvement not just in corruption and drug smuggling, but also in major human rights abuses including killings and torture.

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U.S. Wasting Billions While Tripling No-Bid Contracts After Decade of War in Iraq, Afghanistan

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Sep. 02 (News Report) - As the war in Afghanistan approaches its 10th anniversary, a pair of new reports reveal how the Pentagon has squandered tens of billions of dollars while tripling the amount of no-bid contracts. The bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting concludes that between $31 billion and $60 billion spent on projects in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 10 years has been lost to waste and fraud. In Afghanistan, the commission found the United States is indirectly funding the Taliban as money diverted from U.S.-backed projects is paid out to militants to ensure safety. Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s use of no-bid contracts has tripled since the United States was attacked on 9/11, in spite of promises to reform the controversial practice. A new investigative report from the Center for Public Integrity says no-bid spending has ballooned from $50 billion in 2003 to $140 billion in 2011.

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Afghanistan Helicopter Crash: NATO Troops Recover Copter Pieces

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Baldor, Dozier, Quinn, Faiez - Aug. 08 (News Report) - KABUL, Afghanistan -- International military forces worked on Monday to recover every last piece of a Chinook helicopter that crashed over the weekend, killing 30 American troops, seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter, NATO said. German Brig. G

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PTSD Affecting U.S. Soldiers More Than British

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Michael Scott Moore - Jun. 23 (Research) - Combat stress is still a murky and sometimes taboo element of soldiering, but one of the strangest discoveries is that the strain isn’t evenly spread among vets from different countries. For example: A far higher percentage of American soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after combat in Iraq and Afghanistan than British soldiers do.

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Obama Plan for Afghan War Withdrawal Will Leave Troop Size at Pre-Surge Levels

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 23 (News Analysis) - President Obama's plan to draw down U.S. troops in Afghanistan still leaves more in the country than when he came into office. In a televised address, Obama said he will also bring home another 23,000 troops by the end of summer in 2012, leaving around 70,000 military forces, plus thousands of contractors. We discuss the longest war in U.S. history with Gareth Porter, an investigative journalist and historian specializing in U.S. national security policy. “There is an effort here to create a narrative that, as he put it, the war is receding, the tide of war is receding, when in fact nothing of the sort is happening,” says Porter. “Clearly, the Taliban are carrying out counterattacks this year and will do so again next year. That's not going to come to an end.” [includes rush transcript]

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Citing Domestic Economic Decay, U.S. Mayors Back Resolution to Redirect War Funds Home

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez - Jun. 23 (News Report) - Mayors from cities nationwide have endorsed a resolution calling on Congress to end funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and instead spend the money at home. The measure from the U.S. Conference of Mayors was drafted and pushed through by the activist group CodePink. We speak with the resolution's sponsor, Kitty Piercy, mayor of Eugene, Oregon. [includes rush transcript]

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Obama's Afghan War Military Drawdown to Leave U.S. Occupation at Pre-Surge Levels

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Juan Cole - Jun. 22 (News Analysis) - President Obama is expected to announce today a withdrawal of up to 10,000 U.S. troops by the end of the year. Under the plan, the United States would still have some 67,000 troops, plus thousands of contractors, in Afghanistan at the start of 2013—the same total as before last year’s surge.

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Secret Talks May Lead to Troops in Afghanistan for Decades

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Jason Burke - Jun. 13 (News Report) - 'American and Afghan officials are locked in increasingly acrimonious secret talks about a long-term security agreement which is likely to see US troops, spies and air power based in the troubled country for decades.' Jason Burke, Guardian UK

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A Monster of Our Own Creation

Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Scheer - May. 09 (News Analysis) - 'He was our kind of guy until he wasn't, an ally during the Cold War until he no longer served our purposes. The problem with Osama bin Laden was not that he was a fanatical holy warrior; we liked his kind just fine as long as the infidels he targeted were not us but Russians and the secular Afghans in power in Kabul whom the Soviets backed.' Robert Scheer, Truthdig

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Post-Bin Laden Peace Hopes Dim

Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Gareth Porter - May. 09 (News Analysis) - The idea that U.S. policy is now on the road to an "endgame" in Afghanistan glosses over a central problem: the publicly expressed U.S. determination to keep a U.S. combat presence in Afghanistan indefinitely is not an acceptable condition to the Taliban as a basis for negotiations.

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Pakistani Military Faces Scrutiny As Unfolding Evidence Suggests Direct Role in Harboring bin Laden

Thu, 05 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 05 (News Report) - Numerous questions have been raised on how Osama bin Laden could have been living in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad just down the street from Pakistan's premier military academy. CIA Director Leon Panetta has reportedly said Pakistan was either "knowledgeable or incompetent" when it came to bin Laden's whereabouts. Some evidence has emerged to indicate that the Pakistani military may have had a direct role in harboring bin Laden. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government is claiming it warned U.S. intelligence two years ago about the compound where bin Laden was killed. We go to Pakistan to speak with Graeme Smith, an award-winning foreign correspondent for _The Globe and Mail_ newspaper in Canada. He was in Abbottabad yesterday investigating the mystery behind the bin Laden compound.

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Soldier in Afghanistan reacts to historic news - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

armytimes.com - By Colin Kelly - May. 03 (News) - Another soldier, Spc. William Baxter, a parachute rigger with the 101st Sustainment Brigade, was more succinct with his thoughts. “OK, he’s dead, can we go home?” he asked.

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President Obama: 'We Have Killed Osama bin Laden'

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Richard Adams, Declan Walsh - May. 02 (News Analysis) - On the eighth anniversary of George W. Bush's infamous mission accomplished speech President Obama has announced the killing of Osama bin Laden. The reported killing of Osama bin Laden raises many questions. Did Pakistan know where Osama was? What will now be the justification for continuing the war in Afghanistan? Will al Qaeda fade away or be emboldened? -- SMG/RSN. By Richard Adams and Declan Walsh, Guardian UK

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Richard Engel report on NBC Nightly News News with Brian Williams

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

MSN.com - By Richard Engel - May. 02 (News Analysis) - The truth was, there was never a connection between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden. ....when civil war in Iraq broke out, American troops were stuck. ..But now .Osama bin Laden is dead, killed not by a massive troop deployment but by a commando raid carried out by a few dozen men and helicopters.

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The Mosaic Philosophy at Gitmo

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Harper's - By Scott Horton - Apr. 30 (News Report) - Several in the U.S. leadership became aware of this lack of proper vetting very early on and, thus, of the reality that many of the detainees were innocent of any substantial wrongdoing, had little intelligence value, and should be immediately released.

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A Professional Military and the Privatization of Warfare

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Jeff Shear - Apr. 22 (Special Report) - The antics of private military contractors are increasingly known, and they're the ones taking over for departing uniformed American troops in Iraq.

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Afghanistan Secret Prisons Confirmed By U.S.

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Apr. 08 (News Report) - "Black sites," the secret network of jails that grew up after the Sept. 11 attacks, are gone. But suspected terrorists are still being held under hazy circumstances with uncertain rights in secret, military-run jails across Afghanistan, where they can be interrogated for weeks without charge, according to U.S. officials who revealed details of the top-secret network to The Associated Press. The Pentagon has previously denied operating secret jails in Afghanistan, although human rights groups and former detainees have described the facilities.

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