Taliban

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Obama's Overseas To-Do List for 2010
 Obama's Overseas 
 To-Do List for 2010 
ANALYSIS
Dec 22, 2009 7:07 PM CST

Obama's Overseas To-Do List for 2010

Afghanistan, Iran top list that domestic politics could kill anyway

(Newser) - As President Obama noted in his Nobel speech, it’s a scary world out there, and Kevin Whitelaw takes a look at some of the things on his foreign-policy to-do list in 2010:
  • Pacify Afghanistan to some extent: Now that it’s “undeniably Obama’s war,” Whitelaw writes
...

Suicide Bomber in Pakistan Kills 10, Injures 28

Suspected Taliban militants target mosque inside police station

(Newser) - A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a mosque inside a police compound in northwestern Pakistan today, killing 10 people and injuring 28 in the latest attack by suspected Taliban militants. Most of the victims were police leaving the mosque after Friday prayers. Elsewhere, a suspected US drone fired...

Islam Needs a Civil War

 Islam Needs 
 a Civil War 
Thomas Friedman
Dec 16, 2009 1:14 PM CST

Islam Needs a Civil War

Muslim majority must triumph on the ground and in 'Virtual Afghanistan'

(Newser) - Islam has become corrupted by the ideology of a "violent minority," and it's long past time that the majority of Muslims take back their religion, writes Thomas Friedman. How? It needs a "civil war," just as America needed one to overcome the ideology of slavery. "...

Afghan Kidnappers Release Guardian Journo

British paper kept abduction secret for Abdul-Ahad's safety

(Newser) - A Guardian reporter and two Afghan journalists are free after being captured six days ago by unknown Afghans while attempting to interview militia in a remote region, the paper reports. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad and his unnamed associates were taken hostage near Pakistan’s North-West Frontier province and spent most of their...

Brit Bishop Sorry for 'Praising' Taliban

Venner: Remarks were 'incredibly insensitive'

(Newser) - A British bishop has apologized for suggesting that the Taliban have some admirable qualities. Stephen Venner, the newly appointed bishop to Britain's armed forces, had warned against portraying the Taliban as pure evil and said their "conviction to their faith and their sense of loyalty" could perhaps be admired,...

For Pakistan, Taliban Leader Outranks US

Islamabad backs off Haqqani, a crucial link to Afghanistan

(Newser) - Pakistani officials are balking at pursuing a Taliban leader who poses a major threat to US forces in Afghanistan, underscoring their lack of faith in the Obama surge. Pakistan has made a separate peace with Siraj Haqqani, allowing him the use of North Waziristan as a base of operations after...

Obama Mulls Sending Drones Farther Into Pakistan

Strikes in city of Quetta would risk more civilian casualties

(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering using Predator drones for the first time to strike beyond the tribal area inside Pakistan. While many are uncomfortable with the idea of unmanned aircraft firing missiles into the city of Quetta—a Taliban hotbed of 850,000 people—in a US-allied nation, some American...

16 Cops Killed in Afghanistan
 16 Cops Killed in Afghanistan 
Dec 14, 2009 4:39 AM CST

16 Cops Killed in Afghanistan

Two attacks target checkpoints

(Newser) - Militants slaughtered 16 police officers in two separate attacks in Afghanistan today. Gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint in Northeastern Baglan Province and one in Lashkar Gah, the capital of troubled Helmand Province in the south. At least two attackers were also killed in the firefight. It wasn't immediately clear...

Brit Military Bishop 'Admires' Taliban Loyalty

Gordon Brown does not agree

(Newser) - The Taliban's faith and loyalty to one another can be regarded as admirable, according to a British military bishop, who is urging an approach to them that recognizes they're not all bad. The Church of England's bishop to the Armed Forces, Stephen Venner, made his comments as Prime Minister Gordon...

Pakistan Drives Taliban From S. Waziristan
 Pakistan Drives Taliban 
 From S. Waziristan 
there's a 'but'
Dec 12, 2009 11:09 AM CST

Pakistan Drives Taliban From S. Waziristan

Militants regroup further north in a different district

(Newser) - Good news from Pakistan's prime minister in the fight against the Taliban—the army has driven the militants from South Waziristan after a 3-month campaign. The bad news: The Taliban appear to have regrouped a little further north in a district called Orakza, reports BBC . "The operation in South...

Pakistan: US Students Tried to Join Jihadists

Terror groups rejected Virginians who wanted to fight US

(Newser) - Five men from Virginia arrested in Pakistan tried to join extremist groups to fight US forces in Afghanistan, according to Pakistani authorities. "We are here for jihad," the men allegedly told interrogators. Police say the men managed to make contact with several extremists groups, including two linked to...

Dozens Dead In Pakistan Market Blasts

Twin bombs set central Lahore market ablaze

(Newser) - At least 48 people, including many women and children, were killed when twin bombs exploded in a Lahore marketplace late yesterday. The fire sparked a huge blaze in the center of the Pakistani city, the BBC reports. Hours earlier, 10 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up...

Marines Launch Large Attack in S. Afghanistan

'Cobra's Anger' aims to disrupt flow of IEDs in Helmand province

(Newser) - US Marines and Afghan troops today launched the first offensive since President Obama announced an American troop surge, striking against Taliban communications and supply lines in a southern insurgent stronghold. In all, about 1,000 Marines as well as Afghan troops were taking part in the operation in Helmand provvince,...

35 Killed in Pakistan Mosque Attack

Attackers fire on worshipers before blowing themselves up

(Newser) - At least 35 people were killed when two suicide bombers stormed a mosque near Pakistan's army headquarters today.They opened fire on worshipers and threw grenades before blowing themselves up in a heavily fortified area, the AP reports. Officials say 70 others were injured in the attack in Rawalpindi, a...

Taliban: Bin Laden's Hiding in Afghanistan

Cohort offered to arrange meeting, says Pakistan inmate

(Newser) - A high-ranking Taliban member in Pakistani custody claims a cohort offered to arrange a meeting with Osama bin Laden earlier this year, and that the al-Qaeda leader is in eastern Afghanistan, not northern Pakistan as widely believed, the detainee told a BBC reporter. The inmate, who met with bin Laden...

Obama Plan Won't Make America Safer

Afghan surge can't defeat terrorist ideology

(Newser) - President Obama should have used his speech to declare victory and announce the start of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan instead of an escalation, writes Eugene Robinson. Even if the surge achieves its immediate mission—at huge cost—the operation won't achieve its ultimate goal of making the US safer...

Karzai: I'd Meet With the Taliban

Al-Qaeda not welcome, but not all Taliban members are terrorists, he says

(Newser) - Just two days after President Obama announced a 30,000 surge in troops for Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai reiterated his desire to make peace with the Taliban. In an interview with the AP today, the Afghan president said he would do "whatever it takes" to bring peace, including meeting with...

Gates: Afghan Failure Means 'Civil War'

Troop surge is necessary to transition to humanitarian role

(Newser) - Defense chief Robert Gates and other members of the Obama administration took to Capitol Hill today to sell President Obama's plan to send 30,000 additional troops. "Failure in Afghanistan would mean a Taliban takeover of much, if not most, of the country and likely a renewed civil war,...

Taliban: Obama Will See 'Lots of Coffins'

Insurgents vow to fight against US surge

(Newser) - The Taliban defiantly vowed to fight back against the US troop surge, with a spokesman saying it will “provoke stronger resistance” from the group. “Obama will witness lots of coffins heading to America from Afghanistan,” a spokesman tells the BBC . “Their hope to control Afghanistan by...

Obama Takes Fight to Pashtuns
 Obama Takes Fight to Pashtuns 
Analysis
Dec 2, 2009 10:44 AM CST

Obama Takes Fight to Pashtuns

New strategy will result in immediate spike in battles

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s new strategy will result in an immediate spike in combat clashes, as the US directly advances on the ethnic Pashtuns in eastern and southern Afghanistan. The first wave of reinforcements is already moving, reports David Wood in Politics Daily, with marines expected to begin landing in the...

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