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McChrystal: US lacks knowledge to bring end to war in Afghanistan

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

The Guardian - Oct. 07 (News) - McChrystal says the US and its allies are only 'a little better than' 50% of the way to reaching their war goals The US began the war in Afghanistan with a "frighteningly simplistic" view of the country and even 10 years later lacks knowledge that could help bring the conflict to a successful end, a former top commander said on Thursday. Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations that the US and its Nato allies are only "a little better than" 50% of the way to reaching their war goals. Of the remaining tasks to be accomplished, he said the most difficult may be to create a legitimate government that ordinary Afghans can believe in and that can serve as a counterweight to the Taliban. McChrystal, who commanded coalition forces in 2009-10 and was forced to resign in a flap over a magazine article, said the US entered Afghanistan in October 2001 with too little knowledge of Afghan culture. "We didn't know enough and we still don't know ...

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10 myths about Afghanistan

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Jonathan Steele - Sep. 28 (Special Report) - In 1988, the Soviet army left Afghanistan after a concerted campaign by the western-backed mujahideen. But since then, many enduring myths have grown up about the war-torn country. In his new book, Jonathan Steele sorts the fact from the fiction 1. Afghans have always beaten foreign armies, from Alexander the Great to modern times Afghan history is certainly littered with occasions when foreign invaders were humiliated. But there have also been many cases when foreign armies penetrated the country and inflicted major defeats. In 330BC, Alexander the Great marched through the area of central Asia that is now Afghanistan, meeting little opposition. More than a millennium later, the Mongol leader Genghis Khan also brushed resistance aside. Since Afghanistan emerged as a modern state, there have been three wars with Britain. The British invasion of 1839 produced initial victory for the intruders followed by stunning defeat followed by a second victory. In 1878, the British invaded again. ...

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Analysis: Pakistan's double-game: treachery or strategy?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - Sep. 28 (News Analysis) - "Turns out they are disloyal, deceptive and a danger to the United States," fumed Republican Representative Ted Poe last week. "We pay them to hate us. Now we pay them to bomb us. Let's not pay them at all." For many in America, Islamabad has been nothing short of perfidious since joining a strategic alliance with Washington 10 years ago: selectively cooperating in the war on extremist violence and taking billions of dollars in aid to do the job, while all the time sheltering and supporting Islamist militant groups that fight NATO troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan has angrily denied the charges, but if its critics are right, what could the explanation be for such duplicity? What strategic agendas might be hidden behind this puzzling statecraft?

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Ahmed Wali Karzai, Afghan President's Brother, Assassinated

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Jul. 12 (News) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half brother, a lightning rod for criticism of all that is wrong with the Afghan government, was assassinated Tuesday at his home in southern Afghanistan, an official said.

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Afghanistan: Roadside bomb kills returning refugees

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Jul. 02 (News Report) - At least 11 members of a family have been killed by a roadside bomb in the southern Afghan province of Zabul. The family, including women and children, were thought to be refugees returning home from Pakistan. They were driving their van through Shamulzayi district when the blast occurred. They are thought to have been heading for Ghazni province. Roadside bombs are a weapon commonly used by the Taliban in their war against western forces.

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Kabul hotel siege leaves at least 11 civilians dead

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Pamela Constable - Jun. 29 (News) - The siege of the Intercontinental by a squad of Taliban suicide bombers and heavily armed gunmen was one of the most sophisticated and audacious attacks in the capital in years. It took the lives of 11 civilians, including hotel staff and visitors, and wounded a dozen more, officials said.

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Bin Laden wanted to change al-Qaida's bloodied name

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:20:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Jason Burke - Jun. 24 (News Report) - Osama bin Laden was considering changing al-Qaida's name to improve its image among Muslims, according to documents obtained by US special forces from the compound where he was killed. A letter apparently written in the months before he died indicates th

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Barack Obama and Pentagon split on Afghanistan pullout

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

The Guardian - By Ewen MacAskill, Patrick Wintour, Nick Hopkins - Jun. 22 (News Report) - Barack Obama is set to reject the advice of the Pentagon by announcing on Wednesday night the withdrawal of up to 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by November next year, in time for the US presidential election.

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What Afghans think about President Obama's troop drawdown

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:27:49 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Tom A. Peter - Jun. 22 (News Report) - Many Afghans have mixed feelings about tonight's announcement from President Obama that the US will begin drawing down the levels of troops in Afghanistan.

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Obama expected to announce major Afghan drawdown

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Davis S. Cloud, Christi Parsons - Jun. 21 (News Report) - President Obama plans to announce a troop reduction in Afghanistan that Pentagon and other administration officials say is expected to bring home about 10,000 personnel by the end of the year.

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Afghanistan's Karzai: US 'in peace talks with Taliban'

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Jun. 18 (News) - The US is engaged in talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said, in the first high-level confirmation of US involvement.

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The shot that nearly killed me: War photographers – a special report

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By The Guardian - Jun. 18 (Special Report) - Attacked by a Haitian mob, kidnapped by Gaddafi's troops, shot in Afghanistan… Who'd be a war photographer? • In pictures: the life of a war photographer (contains some graphic images) Adam Ferguson, Afghanistan, 2009 I was one of the first on the scene. The Afghan security forces normally shut down a suicide bombing like this pretty quickly. I was able to get to the epicentre of the explosion. It was carnage, there were bodies, flames were coming out of the buildings. I remember feeling very scared because there was still popping and hissing and small explosions, and the building was collapsing. It was still very fresh and there was a risk of another bomb. It was one of those situations where you have to put fear aside and focus on the job at hand: to watch the situation and document it. This woman was escorted out of the building and round this devastated street corner. It epitomised the whole mood – this older woman caught in the middle of this ridiculous, tragic event. I wish I ...

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Rivals to Afghanistan’s president in disarray

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

Washington Post - By Pamela Constable - Jun. 13 (News Report) - Stunned by a string of assassinations and fearful that President Hamid Karzai will cede too much ground to the Taliban in peace negotiations, Karzai’s ethnic rivals are struggling to form a coalition that will give them more say in the peace process and offer a credible alternative to his administration.

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Afghan nation-building programs not sustainable, report says

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Karen DeYoung - Jun. 08 (News Report) - The hugely expensive U.S. attempt at nation-building in Afghanistan has had only limited success and may not survive an American withdrawal, according to the findings of a two-year congressional investigation to be released Wednesday.

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Top Pakistani militant Ilyas Kashmiri reported killed in US drone attack

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Brad Knickerbocker - Jun. 04 (News) - Ilyas Kashmiri, a top Pakistani militant and senior Al Qaeda operative, reportedly has been killed in a US drone strike in the tribal territory of South Waziristan, according to press reports and a statement from the group he headed.

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Civilians killed by NATO in Afghan province

Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Aljazeera - May. 29 (News Report) - At least 14 civilians, including women and children, have been killed in a NATO air raid in the Afghan southern province of Helmand, local authorities say. US Marines in Helmand's Nawzad district called in air support after their base came under attack f

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Taliban's Mullah Omar reported dead

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Sydney Morning Herald - By Ben Doherty - May. 23 (News) - Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban and a former de facto head of state in Afghanistan, has been killed, local reports say.

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Pakistani commandos retake Karachi naval base

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - May. 23 (News) - Pakistani commandos have regained control of a naval airbase from Taliban militants who attacked then occupied the high-security facility for 18 hours .

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Cables show US special operations in Pakistan

Sat, 21 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Aljazeera - May. 21 (News Report) - Pakistan's government called for the US to step up drone strikes, and asked for US special forces troops to be embedded at Pakistani military bases, leaked cables published by a Pakistani newspaper have revealed. The classified US diplomatic cables were published on Saturday by Dawn, Pakistan's largest English-language newspaper, detailing close relationships between American and Pakistani militaries and intelligence services. Dawn reported that it had signed a deal with Julian Assange, the leader of the online whistleblowing organisation WikiLeaks, to obtain exclusive access to more than 4,700 US cables dealing with Pakistan. It began publishing those cables and its coverage of them on Saturday and said its reporting would continue "in the following days." The first batch of cables shows that Pakistani officials, including those as high-ranking as Army Chief of Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, explicitly asked US representatives to increase drone activity in Pakistan - the kind of request no Pakistani politician or government official would be comfortable making in public.

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Taliban attack US vehicles in Pakistan

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Salt Lake Tribune - By Riaz Khan, Nahal Toosi - May. 20 (News) - A Taliban car bomb struck an armored vehicle taking American government employees to the U.S consulate in northwest Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in a strike the militants said was in revenge for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

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Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 80 in Pakistan

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Jane Perlez - May. 13 (News Report) - More than 80 paramilitary soldiers were killed when at least one suicide bomber blew himself up Friday morning at a military training center in northwest Pakistan, a commander of the Frontier Constabulary said.

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Suicide attacks in Pakistan kill 80; Taliban claim bin Laden revenge

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - By Reza Sayah, Stan Grant - May. 13 (News) - The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for suicide attacks on a military training facility in the nation's northwest, saying they were in retaliation for the killing of terror leader Osama bin Laden.

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Taliban: Bin Laden's death reinvigorates war against U.S.

Sat, 07 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - May. 07 (News) - The Taliban, one of Osama bin Laden's closest allies, confirmed late Friday that the al Qaeda founder had been killed by U.S. commandos during a raid in Pakistan. The admission by the Taliban comes on the heels of one earlier in the day by al Qaeda, removing any question about whether bin Laden's closest allies and his terror network believed he was dead. Bin Laden "embraced martyrdom as per the Will of the Almighty Allah during an abrupt attack by the American invading soldiers," according to a statement released by the Afghan Taliban, which had for years allowed bin Laden's terror network to operate in Afghanistan.

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Death of Osama bin Laden: Phone call pointed U.S. to compound --€” and to '€˜the pacer'

Fri, 06 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Bob Woodward - May. 06 (News Report) - It seemed an innocuous, catch-up phone call. Last year Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, the pseudonym for a Pakistani known to U.S. intelligence as the main courier for Osama bin Laden, took a call from an old friend. Where have you been? inquired the friend. We’ve missed you. What’s going on in your life? And what are you doing now?

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Fighting for bin Laden

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

Frontline - By Stephen Grey, Martin Smith - May. 03 (Special Report) - Two days after Osama bin Laden's death, Frontline presents this special report with inside access to the two biggest fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. First, correspondents Stephen Grey and Martin Smith go inside The Secret War and uncover new details of CIA-funded Afghan militas tasked with guarding the border, gathering intelligence and launching kill raids against the insurgents and their Al Qaeda allies. Based in Afghanistan, their work is focused on Pakistan. A former commander of one of these teams, the Khost Protection Force (KPF), tells Frontline about how the team crosses the Afghan border into Pakistan's tribal areas. Under the protection of drone aircraft, they fire mortars against Taliban and Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan.

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