UN-Backed Panel Disqualifies Afghan Poll Candidates
07 July 2010
UN-Backed Panel Disqualifies Afghan Poll Candidates, Reuters, 7 July 2010
EXCERPT: "A U.N.-backed elections watchdog has blocked some candidates from standing for Afghanistan's upcoming parliamentary elections over links to armed groups, an election official said on Wednesday. The September 18 poll will be a litmus test for stability in Afghanistan in the wake of last year's presidential election marred by widespread vote-rigging...
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Why Kandahar Locals Turn to Taliban
07 July 2010
Dent in Afghanistan War Strategy: Why Kandahar Locals Turn to Taliban, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 July 2010
EXCERPT: "As he took command of the Afghanistan war this weekend, Gen. David Petraeus wrote to NATO troops of building 'a brighter future for a new country in an ancient land.' But around Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland and what Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona called Monday the 'key to success or failure'...
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UK to Pull Troops Out of Part of Helmand
07 July 2010
, Financial Times, 7 July 2010
EXCERPT: "Britain is to announce that it will withdraw its 1,000 troops based in the Sangin area of Afghanistan, where the UK has lost about a third of the 311 of its soldiers killed in the war. In a major re-organisation of the Nato deployment in Helmand province, where Sangin lies, Liam Fox, defence secretary, will announce on Wednesday that UK troops are to be replaced...
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5 Afghan Soldiers Killed by NATO "Friendly Fire"
07 July 2010
, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2010
EXCERPT: "Gen. David H. Petraeus on Wednesday marked an early and unwelcome milestone in his tenure as commander of Western forces here: apologizing after his troops accidentally killed five Afghan soldiers. 'Friendly fire' incidents are relatively rare, but they stir animosity among many in the Afghan military, whose partnership with the NATO force is central...
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