Taliban

On Invasion Anniversary, British Govt Says: Talk to Taliban

Robert Naiman | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics


Robert Naiman

The Brits are trying to get through to us, perhaps because they fear that some of the rhetoric of the presidential campaign risks locking the U.S. into a path of military escalation.

On Anniversary Of Bombing Afghanistan, We Need A Surge In Diplomacy

Kelly Campbell | Posted 10.07.2008 | Home


Kelly Campbell

If we want to help build a stable and democratic Afghanistan, we should drastically revamp our humanitarian aid to assure that it goes to projects identified by Afghans as crucial and supports the local economy by employing local workers, not high-priced foreign contractors.

US-Afghan Forces Kill At Least 43 Militants In Area Of Taliban-Led Insurgency

AP | FISNIK ABRASHI | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics


KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan troops clashed and called airstrikes on a group of insurgents in southern Afghanistan, killing 43 militants...

Taliban Fury Indicates Top Militant Among Dozens Killed In US Airstrike

AP | ISHTIAQ MAHSUD | Posted 10.05.2008 | Home


DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Rockets landed near a family home of a top politician in Pakistan's northwest Sunday, while elsewhere in the volati...

Pakistan officials: Suspected US strikes kill 19

AP | ISHTIAQ MASHUD | Posted 10.03.2008 | Home


DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Two suspected U.S. missile strikes Friday on villages close to the border with Afghanistan killed at least 19 peopl...

Pakistan's Spy Agency Trains, Employs Taliban Terrorists, Report

AP | PAUL HAVEN | Posted 10.01.2008 | Politics


MADRID, Spain — Western intelligence agencies have long suspected that elements of Pakistan's spy service have aided the Taliban in Afghanistan,...

Petraeus Closes Book on McCain Plan for Afghanistan

Patrick Barry | Posted 10.01.2008 | Politics


Patrick Barry

General Petraeus' remarks yesterday should close the book on John McCain's overly-simplistic strategy for restoring stability to Afghanistan.

Karzai Reveals Saudi Relationship: A Two-Year Effort To Help Curb Taliban

NY Times | JOHN F. BURNS and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA | Posted 09.30.2008 | Politics


KABUL, Afghanistan --President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he had sought help from the Saudi royal family for the last two years to bring the resur...

Seth Colter Walls

Palin Has Repeatedly Contradicted McCain On Pakistan, Despite His Denial

HuffingtonPost.com | Seth Colter Walls | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics


Does Sarah Palin agree with Barack Obama (and disagree with John McCain) on attacking known terrorist sites inside Pakistan? Despite the Republican no...

Taliban Assassins Kill Ranking Policewoman In Afghanistan

AP | JASON STRAZIUSO | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics


KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan policeman opened fire on U.S. troops at a police station, killing an American soldier and wounding three, officia...

John McCain: Unfit for the Presidency

Paul Jenkins | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics


Paul Jenkins

If we agree, as most of us do outside of the far-right abortion-obsessed axis, that Palin is unfit to serve as president, then McCain, the man solely responsible for giving her that opportunity, is unfit too. It's that simple.

Afghan Government, Taliban Holding Secret Peace Talks: Report

United Press International | Posted 09.28.2008 | Politics


The Taliban and the Afghanistan government have been involved in secret peace talks to bring an end to the conflict, The Observer reported Sunday. Th...

Taliban Planning "Hot Winter" In Afghanistan

Washington Independent | Posted 09.24.2008 | Politics


Since Afghans took up arms against the Soviet occupation in 1979, insurgency in war-torn Afghanistan has followed a cyclical pattern. The spring and t...

France's Afghanistan Presence To Bulk Up Following Solider Deaths

AFP | Posted 09.22.2008 | Home


PARIS (AFP) - France announced Monday it will beef up its mission in Afghanistan with helicopters, drones and other military means amid debate over wh...

Pakistan Will Now Become McCain's Next Flip-Flop

Brandon Friedman | Posted 09.20.2008 | Politics


Brandon Friedman

Pakistan is a nation on the verge -- you could call it a nuclear version of AIG. McCain will be forced to reconfigure his position.

Modernized Taliban Thriving In Afghanistan

Washington Post | Pamela Constable | Posted 09.20.2008 | Politics


Just one year ago, the Taliban insurgency was a furtive, loosely organized guerrilla force that carried out hit-and-run ambushes, burned empty schools...

Afghans Ask: Why Doesn't U.S. Go To Pakistan?

Washington Independent | Posted 09.11.2008 | Politics


The tribal elder was direct with the U.S. team. "People are tired of the Taliban because they beat them," he said, speaking in Kushamond, a district o...

Pentagon: Afghanistan Military Strategy Unsuccessful

AP | LOLITA C. BALDOR | Posted 09.10.2008 | Home


WASHINGTON — Improved security in Iraq will give the U.S. military flexibility to do more in Afghanistan in coming months, Defense Secretary Rob...

McCain's Misogyny & Fear Keep Palin On Tight Leash!

Linda Milazzo | Posted 09.09.2008 | Politics


Linda Milazzo

I've seen rampant militarism bankrupt every sector of this nation - from its tangible infrastructure to its intangible soul.

Two Afghans Released from Guantanamo: a Farmer and a Teenager

Andy Worthington | Posted 09.07.2008 | Politics


Andy Worthington

The stories of the two Afghans released with Madni -- though involving slightly less brutality -- do nothing to justify the United States' detention policies in the "War on Terror."

Bush's Lessons for McCain

Patrick Barry | Posted 09.02.2008 | Politics


Patrick Barry

Last night at the RNC, President Bush argued that John McCain is ready to lead America in the 21st century, in part because he "understands the lesson...

Afghanistan September 2008: Karzai Under Pressure Amid Rising Civilian Casualities & Calls for Troops Withdrawal

Shoaib Harris | Posted 09.02.2008 | Politics


Shoaib Harris

Local newspapers have called the increasing civilian casualties, "huge crisis" as Afghans began dawn-to-dusk fasting on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.

Clearing Out Guantanamo: Two More Algerians Transferred

Andy Worthington | Posted 08.28.2008 | Politics


Andy Worthington

As part of its alleged "desire not to hold detainees any longer than necessary," the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that two Guantánamo prisoners had ...

Taliban Gain New Foothold In Afghan City

New York Times | CARLOTTA GALL | Posted 08.27.2008 | Politics


The Taliban bomber calmly parked a white fuel tanker near the prison gates of this city one evening in June, then jumped down from the cab and let out...

Guantanamo Suicide Report: Truth or Travesty?

Andy Worthington | Posted 08.26.2008 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Two years and two months after three prisoners at Guantánamo died, apparently as the result of a coordinated suicide pact, the Naval Criminal Investi...