Taliban

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White House Braces for Anti-War Push From Left

Administration fears liberal call for pullout

(Newser) - Administration officials are concerned that pressure from the left could drive the Afghanistan war effort off the rails early, Politico reports. Rising casualties, along with doubts about strategy and the recent election, are raising fears the White House could be denied a chance to show concrete progress in the country....

Time to Quit Afghanistan
 Time to Quit Afghanistan 
OPINION
Sep 1, 2009 2:15 AM CDT

Time to Quit Afghanistan

Nation-building in one of the world's weakest states is a lost cause

(Newser) - America needs to abandon its idea of nation-building in Afghanistan before the lives of yet more troops are squandered trying to establish an effective central government in a country that has never had one, George F. Will warns in the Washington Post. Even with America's troop-intensive efforts, experts say Kabul...

Insurgents Reverse Afghan Women's Political Gains

(Newser) - Afghan women streamed to the ballot boxes five years ago, and in some districts female turnout was even higher than male. But the flood of women voters that delighted aid groups dried up this year, reports the Washington Post, and many of the segregated female polling stations had few if...

McChrystal: US Is Failing in Afghanistan

General wants more Taliban engagement, warns of losing citizens' support

(Newser) - The US military's strategy in Afghanistan is failing, Gen. Stanley McChrystal will tell commanders in Washington today. A copy of the US commander's remarks leaked to the BBC compares the military to a bull charging at a matador—losing strength with each individual cut. McChrystal's report says Afghans are suffering...

Taliban Cut Off My Nose, Ears for Voting: Farmer

Kabul hospital turned him away due to overcrowding

(Newser) - An Afghan farmer who dared walk to a polling place for the presidential election 10 days ago paid a bitter price, losing his nose and both ears in a Taliban attack, the Independent reports. In the first account by a victim of election retribution, Lal Mohammed, 40, says three militants...

Huge Kandahar Blast Kills 43, but Taliban Deny Role

(Newser) - A Taliban spokesman today denied that the group was behind a huge explosion that killed at least 43 and injured 65 more in Kandahar last night. Roughly 40 shops were destroyed in the blast, which went off outside a wedding hall just as people were breaking their Ramadan fast. Rescue...

Taliban Finally Confirm Mehsud's Death

(Newser) - Weeks after a US drone reportedly took out the Taliban's leader in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud's fellow commanders have confirmed his death. Two Taliban officials—including his successor, Hakimullah Mehsud—tell the BBC that their leader actually died Sunday after being critically injured in the airstrike. The development also clears up...

Afghan Elections a Setback for Women

Low female turnout could mean leaders even less responsive to women

(Newser) - For women, Afghanistan's recent elections appear to have been more of a setback than a step forward. Early reports strongly suggest that voter turnout fell more sharply for women than for men in last week's polls. Election observers blame Taliban attacks, a dearth of female election workers, and the closure...

US Commanders: We Need More Troops in Afghanistan

(Newser) - American military officials leading the NATO mission in Afghanistan told the Obama administration they need more troops to do their job, compounding Washington's headaches in the wake of an allegedly fraudulent presidential election. Support for the Afghan war is diving among Americans, and several US senators said this weekend that...

Taliban Chops Off Fingers of Afghan Voters

(Newser) - The Taliban is following through on its threat to chop off the fingers of Afghan voters, the Los Angeles Times reports. In southern Afghanistan, considered the most hazardous place for Afghans to vote, militants attacked two voters and cut off their ink-dyed fingers, authorities said. A third case is under...

Taliban Pick Young Leader to Replace Mehsud

But still insist old leader isn't dead

(Newser) - Despite their insistence that a US drone strike didn’t kill their leader, members of Pakistan’s Taliban movement have already replaced him, the BBC reports. Hakimullah Mehsud, a military chief in his late 20s, will succeed Baitullah Mehsud, a close ally reportedly killed earlier this month. The unanimous decision...

Messy Afghan Election Gives White House New Headache

(Newser) - White House hopes that the Afghan election would show the country's progress toward stability have been dashed, as the voting instead highlighted the challenges Afghanistan faces, the New York Times reports. With a runoff between President Karzai and challenger Adbullah Abdullah on the horizon, observers complain of fraud, ballot stuffing...

Afghan Polls Close; Taliban Attacks Dampen Turnout

(Newser) - With polls now closed, Taliban threats appeared to have dampened voter turnout in the militant south in today's Afghanistan election. Insurgents launched scattered rocket, suicide, and bomb attacks that closed some polling sites. After 10 hours of voting, including a last-minute, one-hour extension, election workers began to count the millions...

Afghan Polls Open as Race Tightens

In test of country's stability, Karzai faces Taliban violence, 34 challengers

(Newser) - As polls open in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai's chances of claiming enough of the vote to avoid a runoff no longer look like a sure thing, the New York Times reports. Voter intimidation by the Taliban, a surge in popularity by one of Karzai's opponents, and limited election monitoring could conspire...

Taliban Battle Police in Kabul on Election Eve

(Newser) - Taliban fighters wearing explosive-laced vests stormed a government-run bank in central Kabul today, precipitating an hours-long shootout with Afghan forces 24 hours before the presidential election. A Taliban source said that 20 militants had entered Kabul, a day after a suicide bomb and a rocket attack rocked the capital. Afghan...

Afghanistan Forbids Reports on Election Violence

Karzai government says gag will 'control the negative impact of the media'

(Newser) - The Afghan government ordered journalists to stay silent on any insurgent attacks that may happen during the presidential election Thursday, the Guardian reports. The gag order is necessary in order “to encourage people and raise their morale to come out and vote,” said a spokesman for President Karzai....

Taliban Peace Talks Dominate Afghan Race

(Newser) - As Afghans prepare to vote on Thursday, the top issue for all the leading presidential candidates remains whether and how to negotiate with the Taliban. Hamid Karzai, still predicted to win, has made vocal calls for negotiations but has done little so far in office, and Taliban insurgents are imperiling...

Taliban Threaten to Mutilate Afghan Voters

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai's battle for reelection on Thursday is facing a significant hurdle: threats by the Taliban to mutilate anyone who shows up at the polls. Insurgents are strongest in Pashtun regions, normally a Karzai stronghold, and in one town a group of Taliban fighters told citizens anyone who votes will...

Afghanistan Legalizes Starving Wives Who Refuse Sex

(Newser) - Afghan lawmakers have passed a new law requiring women to submit to their husbands' sexual demands or be starved, reports the BBC. The new law is an amended version of a bill that forced women to have sex with their husbands at least every four days, and completely removed a...

US Could Buy Off the Taliban
 US Could Buy Off the Taliban 
analysis
Aug 14, 2009 6:23 PM CDT

US Could Buy Off the Taliban

(Newser) - The US war in Afghanistan is costing $4 billion a month and lacks a clear end-date—so why not just pay off the Taliban's hired guns to stop fighting? Analysts say the math makes sense: Taliban gunmen earn $10 a day. There are 10,000 to 15,000 of...

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