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The Moral Hazard of U.S. Global Interventions

Leon T. Hadar | Posted 12.18.2009 | World

Read More: Wall Street Bailout, Afghanistan, Israeli Settlements, Karzai, Russia Georgia War, Moral Hazard, Pakistan Taliban, World News
Leon T. Hadar

Not unlike America's too-big-to-fail financial institutions, U.S. foreign clients tend to make their strategic calculations based not on what Washington says, but on what Washington does.

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Karl Eikenberry Assures Afghans That U.S. Will Stay Beyond 2011

McClatchy | Thomas L. Day | Posted 12.17.2009 | World

Read More: Afghan War, Karzai, Karl Eikenberry, White House, US Troops, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Escalation, Troop Surge, Kabul, Obama, Taliban, 2011, Withdrawal, World News

KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry Thursday further signaled that a strong American military presence will remain i...

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Up To 56,000 More Contractors Could Be Sent To Afghanistan

TPM | Justin Elliott | Posted 12.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Karzai, Afghanistan Contractors, Mercenaries, Afghanistan, Blackwater, Troop Surge, Escalation, Troop Levels, Afghan War, Crs, How Many Contractors in Afghanistan, Congressional Research Service, Xe, Politics News

Private contractors will make up at least half of the total military workforce in Afghanistan going forward, according to Defense Department officials...

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Obama's Vietnam: The Creation of a New Quagmire

Sheldon Filger | Posted 12.14.2009 | World

Read More: Karzai, Barack Obama Afghanistan, Obama-Speech-on-Afghan-War, War in Afghanistan, World News
Sheldon Filger

It is said that history does not exactly repeat itself, but it often rhythms. Such is the case which President Barack Obama's ill-conceived decision to escalate the American military intervention in Afghanistan.

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Karzai: Afghan Army Will Need Help Until 2024

AP | ANNE FLAHERTY | Posted 12.08.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan Army, Afghanistan, Robert Gates, Karzai, Afghan Army, World News

KABUL — After meeting Tuesday with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it may be five years before his army ...

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Obama Met With Journalists Before West Point Speech: 'Americans Are Right To Be Concerned'

The Atlantic | Marc Ambinder | Posted 12.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Karzai, Afghanistan War, Congress, Afghanistan, Economy, Lunch, Re-Election, Obama, Democrats, 2011, 2012, West Point, Elections, Deficit, Barack Obama, Spending, Escalation, West Point Speech, Iraq, Republicans, Politics News

Obama, speaking with a group of columnists and reporters at a White House lunch today, conceded that Americans "are right to be concerned" about the a...

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Afghanistan, "So It Goes"

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 12.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Obama's Afghanistan Speech, Kurt Vonnegut, Afghan War, President Barack Obama, Lydnon Johnson, Karzai, Vietnamization, Surge, Ptsd, Tet Offensive, Afghanistan Counterinsurgency, Afghanistan Policy, West Point Academy, Vietnam, Richard Nixon, U.S. Military Policy, Harry Truman, 2012 Presidential Election, 2010 Midterm Elections, Politics News
Joseph A. Palermo

As with Vietnam, the problem in Afghanistan is political, not military. The United States can stay there forever if we want to -- but is it worth it?

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The Fool's Errand

Daniel Bruno Sanz | Posted 11.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Karzai, Kurds, Algeria, Dubai World, Greg Craig, Doobie Brothers, Peter Galbraith, Taliban, Mathew Hoh, Franz Josef Jung, Charles De Gaulle, Diem, South Vietnam, Guantanamo Bay, David McKiernan, Stanley McChrystal, French Fourth Republic, Porcupine, Politics News
Daniel Bruno Sanz

Change the names, dates and particulars of the Algerian War, the Vietnam War and Soviet war in Afghanistan, and the history of mighty powers recycles itself in Af-Pak-Iraq.

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White House Leaning Against Surge In Afghanistan's Police, Army Forces

Wall Street Journal | YOCHI J. DREAZEN and MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS | Posted 11.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Mcchrystal, Karzai, Afghan Army, White House, Surge, Barack Obama, Afghanistan Surge, Afghanistan, Troop Levels, Obama, Hamid Karzai, Afghan Police, Politics News

The Obama administration has soured on a call from its top commander to double the size of the Afghan police and army, reflecting the White House's co...

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Democratic, Republican Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over An Afghan War Escalation

LA Times | Greg Miller | Posted 11.29.2009 | World

Read More: Corruption, Karzai, Afghanistan, Economy, Troop Levels, Timeline, Obama, Troop Decisions, War Tax, Jack Reed, Deficit, Dick Lugar, White House, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Spending, Bin Laden, Obey, Levin, World News

The persistent skepticism from the president's own party, along with new doubts raised by Republicans who have generally supported broadening the conf...

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Washington Post: 9,000 Troops Will Deploy To Afghanistan Soon After Obama's Speech

Washington Post | Greg Jaffe | Posted 11.28.2009 | World

Read More: Karzai, Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Troop Levels, Kabul, Deployments, Helmand, Obama, Taliban, Mcchrystal, Marines, Nato, Afghanistan Decision, South Waziristan, World News

KABUL -- Days after President Obama outlines his new war strategy in a speech Tuesday, as many as 9,000 Marines will begin deploying to southern Afgha...

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15 Afghan Ministers In Corruption Probe

AP | RAHIM FAIEZ and DEB RIECHMANN | Posted 11.24.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Karzai, Afghan Warlords, Afghanistan, Afghan Corruption, Afghanistan Corruption, Afghanistan Corruption Probe, World News

KABUL — Three Afghan Cabinet officials and 12 former ministers are under investigation for alleged corruption, the attorney general's office sai...

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Guardian Report: US Setting Aside $1.3 Billion For Anti-Taliban Afghan Militias

Posted 11.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Community Defense Initiative, Afghan War, Karzai, White House, Anti-Taliban, Afghanistan, Taliban, Militias, Soviet Afghan War, Development Money, Obama Troop Levels, Afghanistan Militias, Cdi, Politics News

The United States will make $1.3 billion available for a program that rewards Afghanistan's anti-Taliban militias with development money, according to...

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U.S. Resetting Its Relationship With Karzai

washingtonpost.com | Rajiv Chandrasekaran | Posted 11.20.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Karzai, Afghan President Karzai, US Afghanistan, Afghanistan, World News

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 dinn...

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To End War in Afghanistan, Reinstate Military Draft?

Brent Green | Posted 11.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Bill Clinton, Military Lottery, Vietnam War, Draft, Theodore Sorensen, Taliban, George Mcgovern, Afghanistan, Karzai, Barack Obama, Diem, Politics News
Brent Green

U.S. invasions of Vietnam and Afghanistan have eerie similarities. Both had ill-defined military goals, especially exit strategies, making them seemingly endless.

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Hamid Karzai Sworn In For Second 5-Year Term As Afghan President

AP | KATHY GANNON and ELENA BECATOROS | Posted 11.20.2009 | World

Read More: Corruption, Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai, Afghanistan, Troop Levels, Kabul, Obama, Taliban, Us, Hamid Karzai, Afghan Election, Mcchrystal, Troop Decision, Nato, White House, Barack Obama, Troop Level, Un, Hillary Clinton, World News

KABUL — For his critics, President Hamid Karzai's inaugural speech Thursday struck all the right notes – sober pledges to get tough on cor...

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Matthew Hoh, Daniel Ellsberg Discuss Aghanistan, Vietnam Wars (VIDEO)

Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics

Read More: Karzai, Afghanistan, President Obama, Vietnam War, Kabul, Obama, Daniel Ellsberg, Hamid Karzai, Afghan War, Pentagon Papers, White House, Brave New Films, Matthew Hoh, New York Times, Vietnam, US State Department, Politics News

Matthew Hoh and Daniel Ellsberg, recently sat down for a conversation about the war in Afghanistan. Matthew Hoh made headlines late last month when ...

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Hillary Clinton Makes Surprise Visit To Afghanistan For Karzai Inauguration

AP | DEB RIECHMANN | Posted 11.19.2009 | World

Read More: Karzai, Clinton Afghanistan, Hillary Clinton, Karzai Inauguuration, Hillary Clinton Afghanistan, World News

KABUL — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stressed Wednesday that the United States will keep pressing the Afghan government to cra...

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High Cost Of War Weighs On Obama's Troop Decision For Afghanistan

New York Times | CHRISTOPHER DREW | Posted 11.14.2009 | World

Read More: Pentagon, Deficit, Cost of War, Karzai, Afghanistan War, White House, Afghanistan, Budget, Kabul, Obama, Cost of Afghanistan War, Hamid Karzai, World News

While President Obama's decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan is primarily a military one, it also has substantial budget implications tha...

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Colin Powell To Obama On Afghanistan Troop Decision: "Take Your Time"

ABC News | Jake Tapper | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Karzai, Handover, Afghanistan, Exit Strategy, Troop Levels, Pakistan, Timeline, Kabul, Afghanistan Strategy, Obama, Taliban, Withdrawal, Foreign Policy, Mcchrystal, White House, Al Qaida, Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Tom Joyner, Afghanistan Decision, Politics News

In an interview with Roland Martin on the Tom Joyner Morning Show this morning, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell reveale...

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Official: Obama Does Not Plan To Accept Afghan War Options, Wants Handover Details

AP | BEN FELLER and ANNE GEARAN | Posted 11.12.2009 | World

Read More: Pentagon, White House, Mcchrystal, Karzai, Department of Defense, Robert Gates, Afghanistan, Troop Levels, Exit Strategy, Timeline, Afghanistan Strategy, Mike Mullen, Obama, Jim Jones, Afghanistan War, World News

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing ...

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Karzai Must Heal Afghanistan's Divisions

Gerard Russell | Posted 11.05.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Karzai, Karzai Afghanistan, Afghanistan, World News
Gerard Russell

President Karzai has promised to rule inclusively after his contested victory. But this must mean more than just how he forms his government.

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5 British Troops Killed By Afghan Cop, Says UK Military

AP | ELENA BECATOROS and DEB RIECHMANN | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: Uk, Afghan National Security Forces, Voter Fraud, Karzai, Afghan Election, Afghanistan, Afghan, Kabul, Nad-E-Ali District, Helmand, Afghan Cops, Taliban, Hamid Karzai, Mcchrystal, Insurgency, Kandahar, Nato, Un, Stanley McChrystal, Counterinsurgency, Afghan Police, World News

KABUL — The killing of five British troops by a rogue Afghan policeman underlines concerns about training and discipline within the ranks and po...

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My Exclusive Interview with Ken Guest -- Journalist/Analyst on Afghanistan (Part 2)

Kathleen Wells, J.D. | Posted 11.26.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Obama Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, Tribes, Afghan President Karzai, Pushtun Tribes, Afghanistan, President Barack Obama, Pakistan, President Obama, Hamid Karzai US Criticism, Tribal, President Karzai, Obama, Afghanistan Tribal Areas, Karzai, Afghanistan War, Tribal Militias Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban, Karzai Election, Ken Guest, Peter Galbraith, Taliban, World News
Kathleen Wells, J.D.

The path out of the Afghan quagmire lies in making the Afghan tribes the cutting blade of the strategy, not the US forces or the Afghan National Army.

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Taliban Claims That Canceled Afghan Election Proves Its Success

AP | ROBERT H. REID and KATHY GANNON | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai, Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Pakistan, Kabul, White House, Obama, Taliban, Afghan Election, Insurgency, Runoff, Un, Counterinsurgency, World News

KABUL — President Hamid Karzai promised to stamp out corruption. The image suggested otherwise. Standing at Karzai's side on Tuesday were his tw...

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