Powerful Blast Kills Seven NATO Members, Two Afghan Police
26 May 2011
Eight NATO service members were killed Thursday in Afghanistan, including seven who died when a powerful bomb exploded in a field where they were patrolling on foot, the international military coalition and Afghan police said. Two Afghan policemen also died and two others were wounded in the explosion in mountainous Shorabak district of Kandahar province, 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the Pakistan border, said Gen. Abdul Raziq, chief of the Afghan...
Read the post »
Negotiations with the Taliban: History and Prospects for the Future
26 May 2011
The debate about “reconciliation” between Taliban insurgents and the Afghan government started moving again in 2010. What remains unclear is whether a process of reconciliation has already commenced and meaningful contacts with the insurgents have been established. Substantive talks, however, are clearly not yet underway. What was really new in these developments in Afghanistan in the last year? For the first time, the Kabul government...
Read the post »
US Lawmakers Pressure Obama to End War, Seek Change of Strategy
26 May 2011
War-weary lawmakers pushed President Barack Obama to wind down the 10-year-old conflict in Afghanistan on Wednesday as the House of Representatives began debating a bill to authorize $690 billion in defense spending for the next fiscal year. Republicans and Democrats aiming to ramp up pressure on Obama introduced 18 amendments on Afghanistan, some demanding the start of a phased withdrawal and others seeking a radical shift away from the military's...
Read the post »