Afghanistan war

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Pentagon Admits True Number of Troops in Afghanistan

Troop total had been understated by thousands

(Newser) - Pentagon officials have finally acknowledged the actual number of American forces in Afghanistan after long camouflaging the total in misleading accounting measures and red tape. Senior Defense Department officials said Wednesday there are about 11,000 US forces currently deployed to Afghanistan—thousands more than the 8,400 that were...

Generals Persuaded Trump to Change Mind on Afghanistan
Breitbart Slams
Trump 'Flip-Flop'
on Afghanistan
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 22, 2017 5:31 AM CDT

Breitbart Slams Trump 'Flip-Flop' on Afghanistan

Generals talked Trump into changing mind

(Newser) - In what some of his critics on the right saw as a decision as bad as looking at the eclipse without glasses , President Trump announced Monday night that he is going against his "original instinct" and reaffirming the US commitment in Afghanistan instead of pulling troops out. Trump had...

Trump: I'm Going Against My 'Original Instinct' in Afghanistan

He originally wanted to withdraw, but says that would repeat mistake of Iraq

(Newser) - President Trump made a rare formal address to the nation Monday night to reaffirm the US commitment in Afghanistan, but he declined to talk about troop numbers or deadlines. Those factors will be based on "conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables," he said, adding that he doesn'...

One Factor in Afghan Decision: Mining Riches
One Factor in Trump's
Afghan Decision:
Mining Riches
the rundown
Aug 21, 2017 9:27 AM CDT

One Factor in Trump's Afghan Decision: Mining Riches

Trump expected to announce increase in troops, also eyes Afghanistan minerals

(Newser) - President Trump formally goes before the nation at 9pm EDT Monday—his first such forum since addressing a joint session of Congress in February—to lay out his strategy for the war in Afghanistan. The big expected takeaway: an announcement of an increase in troops with the goal of reversing...

Top General Hints That Trump Will Continue Afghan Support

'We are with you and we will stay with you'

(Newser) - Signaling that the US military expects its mission to continue, the top US commander in Afghanistan on Sunday hailed the launch of the Afghan Army's new special operations corps, declaring that "we are with you and we will stay with you." Gen. John Nicholson's exhortation of...

Trump to Reveal New Strategy in Afghan War

President is 'considering options' as Taliban gains ground

(Newser) - President Trump is "studying and considering his options" for a new approach to Afghanistan and the broader South Asia region, the White House said Friday after the president huddled with his top national security aides at Camp David. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a brief statement...

White House May Outsource Afghan War to Contractors

Blackwater's Erik Prince floats his plan

(Newser) - President Trump is said to be frustrated with progress in the 16-year-old Afghanistan war, and a familiar name in US military circles is offering an unprecedented solution. Blackwater founder Erik Prince has floated a plan to the White House that it turn over most of its military duties in the...

Sources: Trump Lashed Out in Meeting on Afghan War

He suggested firing top US commander because 'we aren't winning'

(Newser) - President Trump isn't happy about the situation in Afghanistan and his proposed solution is one that will be familiar to Celebrity Apprentice viewers, insiders say. Sources tell Reuters that during a July 19 meeting in the White House Situation Room, an angry Trump said military leaders should consider firing...

Pentagon Blew $28M on Iffy Afghan Army Uniforms

Watchdog: US shelled out extra for 'forest' camo in land with almost no forest

(Newser) - Just one week after defense chief James Mattis told a Senate panel the US is "not winning in Afghanistan," a new report reveals that the US wasted $28 million on the wrong kind of uniforms for Afghan army soldiers. In 2007, the Pentagon allowed the Afghan defense minister...

US to Send 4K More Troops to Afghanistan

Move comes after defense chief Mattis gets more authority to set levels

(Newser) - The Pentagon will send almost 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan, the largest deployment of US manpower under President Trump's young presidency, reports the AP . The decision by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis could be announced as early as next week, said a White House official. It follows Trump'...

Up to 5K US Troops May Head to Afghanistan: Officials

Trump still needs to approve new Taliban plan worked up by military, foreign policy advisers

(Newser) - The Trump administration has slowly changed course on initiatives set by former President Obama, and the 15-year war Afghanistan has just been added to the list. The Washington Post reports high-level US military and foreign policy advisers have created a new blueprint for dealing with the Taliban, which would let...

Moments Before Death, Army Photographer Took This Image
Moments Before Death, Army
Photographer Took This Image
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 7, 2017 3:57 PM CDT

Moments Before Death, Army Photographer Took This Image

Spc. Hilda I. Clayton was killed in a training exercise in Afghanistan

(Newser) - It's a jarring image, and that's before learning that the Army photographer who captured it was killed moments later. The photo shows the first instant of a mortar tube explosion during a training exercise in Afghanistan in 2013, a blast that killed 22-year-old Army Spc. Hilda Clayton, reports...

Man Who 'Made Terrorism His Life Story' Found Guilty in Court

Al-Qaeda fighter took part in firefight that killed 2 Americans

(Newser) - An admitted al-Qaeda fighter was convicted on Thursday of federal terrorism charges for participating in a fierce firefight in Afghanistan that left two US servicemen dead. A jury in federal court in Brooklyn deliberated for about two hours Thursday before convicting Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, the AP reports. "...

ICC: Probe Into American War Crimes May Be Coming

Court says US troops tortured detainees

(Newser) - The International Criminal Court is talking about investigating Americans for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, a move that the State Department considers both unwarranted and inappropriate. The department says that not only is the US not a member of the ICC, it has its own justice system capable of dealing...

Blast Kills 4 Americans at US Base in Afghanistan

Taliban says attack was planned for months

(Newser) - An explosion at a US airfield in Afghanistan early Saturday killed four Americans—two service members and two contractors, CNN reports. Another 16 US service members and a Polish soldier were injured in the apparent suicide attack inside Bagram Air Field. According to the AP , a statement from NATO's...

Afghanistan's Deepening Crisis: Returning Refugees

They face 'vicious cycle of insecurity and joblessness'

(Newser) - Huge numbers of refugees displaced by decades of conflict are flowing back into Afghanistan, but they are returning to a country in crisis where more than a million people have been forced to leave their homes this year. The Taliban now controls more territory than at any point since 2001,...

The Pentagon Wants Years-Old Signing Bonuses Back, and Soldiers Aren't Happy

Bureaucracy gone bad

(Newser) - The US military is trying to reclaim signing bonuses and student loan compensation it says it improperly awarded to 9,700 California soldiers during the mid- to late 2000s, at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The LA Times reports that soldiers who served their six-year contracts to...

US Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
US Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
Aug 23, 2016 9:36 AM CDT

US Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

Another was wounded by roadside bomb

(Newser) - The US military says an American soldier has been killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb during an operation in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the AP reports. A statement says their patrol was struck by a roadside bomb on Tuesday in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, and that...

Deer at Brink of Extinction Survives Afghan Conflicts

Bactrian deer were spotted by researchers for the first time in decades in 2013

(Newser) - In Afghanistan—in spite of multiple wars, habitat destruction, and unregulated hunting—one species feared to have gone extinct in the nation has been spotted and may even be staging a comeback: the rare and majestic Bactrian deer. When they were last surveyed in the 1970s, their local numbers were...

NPR Photographer Killed in Afghanistan

He's first non-military US journalist killed in 15-year war

(Newser) - NPR is mourning veteran photojournalist David Gilkey, who has become the first American journalist outside the military to be killed in almost 15 years of US involvement in Afghanistan. Gilkey, 50, was killed alongside 38-year-old Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna when their vehicle was hit by shellfire as they traveled in...

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