Troops

PTSD: Fort Hood Shooting Shines Spotlight

ABC News | Posted 11.13.2009 | Living


Rates of PTSD, which may or may not have played a role in Hasan's case, along with traumatic brain injuries, are soaring, and are a leading cause of s...

Veterans Week 2009: We've Got Your Back

Paul Rieckhoff | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics


Paul Rieckhoff

Whether it's amputees, folks struggling with PTSD, outdoor enthusiasts, or just those looking to swap war stories, every vet can find a home on the IAVA's social network for veterans.

McClatchy: Obama Leaning Toward 34,000 More Troops For Afghanistan

McClatchy | Jonathan S. Landay | Posted 11.07.2009 | World


President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it unti...

Fort Hood Killings: No Safe Place from Invisible Wounds of War

Christine Pelosi | Posted 11.06.2009 | Politics


Christine Pelosi

In the wake of the massacre there will be a tendency to say one man snapped. The truth is anyone could have snapped -- and we need to de-stigmatize PTSD and mental health before someone else does.

Rep. Eric Massa VIDEO: War In Afghanistan Must End

Huffington Post | Gazelle Emami | Posted 11.05.2009 | Politics


2,950. That's the number that echoes throughout Rep. Eric Massa's (D-N.Y.) five minute speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, as he fer...

Admit It: We Don't Really Think About the Troops

Douglas MacKinnon | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics


Douglas MacKinnon

For us, the troops are invisible. They don't exist. They don't count. For the folks I speak with from the military, it really has come down to, "Let us go big or let us come home."

Karzai Effectively Handed 2nd Term After Abdullah Drops From Afghan Election

AP | HEIDI VOGT and ROBERT H. REID | Posted 11.02.2009 | World


KABUL — President Hamid Karzai effectively secured a second term Sunday when his only challenger dropped out of the race, and the Obama administ...

Basic Truths in Hoh Resignation Letter Were True When He Took His Job

David Quigg | Posted 10.30.2009 | World


David Quigg

The basic grim truths that Matthew Hoh wrote about in his much-quoted resignation letter were all basically true when he took his job a few months ago.

Obama Considers Smaller Afghanistan Troop Option

AP | ANNE GEARAN and MATTHEW LEE | Posted 10.29.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is considering sending large numbers of additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan next year but fewer than his w...

Europe Loses Patience With Afghan War

GlobalPost | Posted 10.27.2009 | World


PARIS, France -- Whoever ends up presiding over Afghan chaos and corruption, Europe is losing patience fast with U.S. mission muddle and a president w...

General Petraeus Joins Troops Diagnosed With Cancer

R. B. Stuart | Posted 11.05.2009 | World


R. B. Stuart

In 2003 General Petraeus led the troops into the massive battle of "shock and awe" in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 101st Airborne was the first to pav...

Friday Talking Points [99] -- Misdirection

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.26.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

The real head-scratcher for serious media-watchers right now is what the "war" between the White House and Fox News was meant to distract us from this week. The "war" itself is laughable, for a number of reasons.

Kristof: More Troops Are A Bad Bet

Kristof | Nicholas | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics


The United States was born of our ancestors' nationalistic resentment of a foreign power whose troops we saw as occupiers, not protectors. The British...

John Kerry On Afghanistan: Sending More Troops Is "Irresponsible" Until Afghan Election Is Settled

Reuters | Posted 10.17.2009 | World


In an interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should not proceed ...

Data: Afghan War Costs US $3.6 Billion Per Month

The Hill | Roxana Tiron | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


The United States spends about $3.6 billion a month in Afghanistan, according to data provided by the Congressional Research Service. ...

Obama Must Consider His Options in Afghanistan

Raj Purohit | Posted 10.13.2009 | World


Raj Purohit

Afghanistan cannot be secured via the military escalation proposed by General McChrystal and endorsed by neoconservatives in recent days.

After the Peace Prize, Give War a Chance

David Quigg | Posted 10.09.2009 | Politics


David Quigg

Afghanistan represents the opportunity for Obama to serve the American people brilliantly and, along the way, demonstrate that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

We Owe It to Our Troops to Bring Hardnosed Realism to Whatever We Ask Them to Do

Rep. David R. Obey | Posted 10.08.2009 | Politics


Rep. David R. Obey

I believe we need to more narrowly focus our efforts in Afghanistan and have a much more achievable and targeted policy, or we risk repeating the mistakes of Vietnam and the Russians in Afghanistan.

How General McChrystal May Have Hurt Himself

Jon Soltz | Posted 10.08.2009 | Politics


Jon Soltz

From Generals MacArthur to Shinseki, history has taught us that trying to pressure your commander-in-chief from the outside almost never results in a change of opinion from the president.

Classified McChrystal Report: 500,000 Troops Will Be Required Over Five Years in Afghanistan

Tom Andrews | Posted 09.24.2009 | World


Tom Andrews

There are perhaps only two people in America who think that the current level of commitment is sustainable by the United States and its allies, and they left office last January.

The Forgotten War

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

No so very long ago, Afghanistan was known as "the forgotten war." But these days, Afghanistan is hard to miss in the headlines. Obama needs to begin talking about our newly-forgotten war: Iraq.

Jeff Muskus

Hoyer: McChrystal Should Testify Soon

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeff Muskus | Posted 09.22.2009 | Politics


In the wake of his leaked report warning of possible failure in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal should testify before Congress sooner rather than...

Iraq Troops' PTSD Rate As High As 35 Percent

medicalnewstoday.com | Posted 09.15.2009 | Living


The Veterans' Administration should expect a high volume of Iraq veterans seeking treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, with researchers antici...

Senate Panel OKs $128 Billion For Afghanistan, Iraq Wars

AP | ANDREW TAYLOR | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — With hardly any debate, a powerful Senate committee Thursday approved President Barack Obama's $128 billion request for military op...

Conservatives Back Obama On Afghanistan

Politico | Ben Smith | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


Prominent conservative foreign policy thinkers and activists who backed the Iraq war are circulating a letter to President Obama supporting his engage...