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

As Afghans Resist Taliban, U.S. Spurs Rise of Militias

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Dexter Filkins - Nov. 22 (News Report) - “We are trying to reach out to these groups that have organized themselves,” Col. Christopher Kolenda said in Kabul. Special Forces soldiers have been fanning out across the countryside, descending from helicopters into valleys where the residents have taken up arms against the Taliban and offering their help. Afghan and American officials say they plan to use the militias as tripwires for Taliban incursions, enabling them to call the army or the police if things get out of hand.

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U.S. Enlists Allies in New Surge

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By Peter Spiegel, Stephen Fidler - Nov. 21 (News Report) - The U.S. and NATO are in talks for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan strategy that could include a European commitment to send thousands of additional troops.

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U.S. resetting its relationship with Karzai

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Rajiv Chandrasekaran - Nov. 20 (News Report) - When a team of senior U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton entered the presidential palace in Kabul on Wednesday for a dinner meeting, they had little indication of what Afghan President Hamid Karzai planned to discuss, or whether questions about corruption and governance...

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Army study: Mental health staff lacking in Afghanistan

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

McClatchy - By Nancy A. Youssef - Nov. 15 (News Report) - An Army task force has found that a growing number of soldiers serving in Afghanistan are suffering from some kind of mental stress and is urging the military to double the number of mental health professionals deployed there.

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U.S. soldiers' morale down in Afghanistan

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Ann Scott Tyson - Nov. 15 (News Report) - Morale has fallen sharply among U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, with repeated combat deployments taking a toll on their psychological health and marriages, according to an Army mental health survey released Friday.

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Afghan Journal | The camera guy, and some thoughts upon leaving

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Hal Bernton - Nov. 15 (Special Report) - As I leave Afghanistan, I keep thinking back to the camera man. Sometimes I have been discouraged by what I have seen here, and, on some occasions, I've been overwhelmed. On my way home from Afghanistan, I went through four separate body searches at the Kabul airport. The security reminded me one more time of the violence that darkens this nation for so many people -- Afghans, Americans and others meeting untimely deaths in so many different ways. I have plenty of doubts about what will happen in the months and years ahead to this country.

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Big costs weigh on troop debate

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Christopher Drew - Nov. 15 (News Analysis) - even if Obama chooses a lower troop commitment, Afghanistan's new costs could wash out the projected $26 billion expected to be saved in 2010 from withdrawing troops from Iraq. And the overall military budget could reach $734 billion, or 10 percent more than the peak of $667 billion under the Bush administration. Such an escalation in military spending would be a politically volatile issue for Obama at a time when the government budget deficit is soaring, the economy is weak and he is trying to pass a health-care overhaul.

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Russian Deal on Afghan Supply Route Not Done Yet

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Peter Baker - Nov. 14 (News Report) - When he met President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia in April, President Obama sought to open an important new supply corridor for Afghanistan by flying American troops and weapons through Russian airspace. Visiting Moscow in July, he sealed a deal for as many as 4,500 flights a year, in what he called a “substantial contribution” to the war and a sign of improving relations with Russia.

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U.S. envoy in Kabul isn't sold on adding to forces

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Elisabeth Bumiller, Mark Landler - Nov. 14 (News Report) - The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, who once served as the top U.S. military commander there, has expressed in writing his reservations about deploying additional troops to the country, three senior U.S. officials said Wednesday.

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Mental health of troops comes under scrutiny

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Molly Hennessy-Fiske - Nov. 11 (News Report) - Sgt. Justin "Jon" Garza joined the Army eight years ago at 20. When he arrived at Ft. Hood in June, the communications specialist had deployed six times to Europe and the Middle East, including two bloody stints in Iraq, and was due to return in September. He had broken up with his girlfriend, developed a drinking problem and gone AWOL.

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U.S. ambassador dissents on Afghan troop increase

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Greg Jaffe, Scott Wilson, Karen DeYoung - Nov. 11 (News Report) - The U.S. ambassador in Kabul sent two classified cables to Washington in the last week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise, said senior U.S. officials.

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Obama Receives New Afghan Option

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By Peter Spiegel, Yochi Dreazen - Nov. 11 (News Report) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday will consider a new compromise plan for adding troops to Afghanistan that would deploy 30,000 to 35,000 new forces, including as many as 10,000 military trainers, over the next year or more. The new scenario combines reinforcements for fighting Taliban insurgents with trainers aimed at rapidly increasing the size and capabilities of Afghan troops to take on more operations themselves. It wouldn't aim to eliminate the Taliban, but weaken it until Afghan forces can secure major population centers themselves.

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Military psychiatrists face case overload, possible deployment

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Denver Post - By Benedict Carey, Damien Cave - Nov. 11 (News Report) - Many of the patients who fill the day are bereft, angry, broken. Their stories are gruesome, their distress lasting and the process of recovery exhausting. In time, the repeated stories of battle and loss can leave even the most professional therapist numb or angry. And hanging over it all, for psychiatrists and psychologists in today's military, is the prospect of their own deployment — of working under fire with combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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A/H1N1 flu adds new woes to Afghanistan, anti-terror war

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Xinhua - By Wang Yan - Nov. 11 (News) - WHO had pledged 550,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine...but because of production delay and huge demand, WHO has not received any of the doses yet.

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Obama’s Top Advisers Lean Toward Plan for 30,000 More Troops for Afghanistan

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Elisabeth Bumiller, David E. Sanger - Nov. 11 (News Report) - The president’s national security team is coalescing around a proposal to send 30,000 or more additional American troops to Afghanistan, officials say.

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Obama's Afghan Plan: About 40K More Troops

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

CBS News - By David Martin - Nov. 09 (News Report) - Tonight, after months of conferences with top advisors, President Obama has settled on a new strategy for Afghanistan. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the president will send a lot more troops and plans to keep a large force there, long term. The president still has more meetings scheduled on Afghanistan, but informed sources tell CBS News he intends to give Gen. Stanley McChrystal most, if not all, the additional troops he is asking for.

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Suspect in Fort Hood shooting, a Muslim, asked Army to discharge him, aunt said