Pentagon Report Claims "Tangible Progress" but Violence Could Yet Peak
29 April 2011
The United States and its allies have made "tangible progress" in the Afghanistan war, providing the needed momentum to transfer control of seven regions to Afghan forces this summer, according to a Pentagon report that gives the first assessment since the infusion of 30,000 more American troops to the battlefield late last fall. Sounding a more optimistic tone than previous reviews, the semiannual report to Congress also describes difficult challenges...
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Obama Chooses Marine General to Lead Afghan War
29 April 2011
Lt. Gen. John R. Allen was called to the White House on Thursday for the formal announcement that he would take custody of the war in Afghanistan, now the focus of attention as the Obama administration moves toward withdrawing troops and handing over responsibility to the government in Kabul. General Allen is not well known beyond the Marine Corps and national security circles. But he was President Obama's first choice to succeed Gen. David H. Petraeus,...
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US Military Dismayed by Delays in Key Development Projects
29 April 2011
U.S. aid officials have been forced to delay three large development programs intended to support the American military strategy in southern Afghanistan at a critical, make-or-break moment in the war. The initiatives, which are supposed to support local governments, agricultural development and job-training efforts, have been held up by bureaucratic missteps and funding cuts by Congress, according to senior U.S. officials. As a result, the programs...
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US Report Reviews Costs of Afghan Mission, Other Global War in Terror Operations
29 April 2011
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has initiated three military operations. In the tenth year of operations since the 9/11 attacks while troops are being withdrawn in Iraq and increased in Afghanistan, the cost of war continues to be a major issue including the total amount appropriated, the amount for each operation, average monthly spending rates, and the scope and duration of future costs. Information on costs...
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UN Cites Progress with Afghan Police Pay System, Pushes Back against US Audit
28 April 2011
A United Nations program on Wednesday cited progress in modernizing payroll systems for Afghanistan's police, pushing back against questions about U.N. oversight that were raised by a U.S. audit. [...] Afghanistan's police are in large part funded by international donors to improve security in the war-torn country that cannot afford to pay its own cops. [...] But the U.S. audit on Monday said lax recordkeeping meant Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior...
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Afghanistan-Pakistan Peace Overtures Marred by Border clash
28 April 2011
Despite signs of improvement in diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, border guards from the two countries on Wednesday traded fire in the South Waziristan tribal district. At least 12 Afghan National Army (ANA) troops and one soldier from the Pakistani paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) were killed in the clash that took place in the Angoor Adda area of the district. Three FC troops and eight civilians were also wounded. The border...
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Strategic Shift in Afghanistan Seen Under New U.S. Envoy
28 April 2011
The nomination of diplomatic heavyweight Ryan Crocker as the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan represents a shift by Washington away from a military surge to a new political emphasis as foreign troops prepare to leave, diplomats and analysts said on Thursday. [...] General David Petraeus, commander of the 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, will also return to Washington as part of a major security overhaul. Petraeus is the architect of the...
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Karzai Considers Military Draft in Afghanistan
28 April 2011
Faced with daunting bills and uncertain about the United States’ long-term commitment to fund the Afghan army and police, President Hamid Karzai is considering a military draft to replace the all-volunteer force being built in Afghanistan, according to senior Afghan officials. The prospect of mandatory conscription, though still only a topic of discussion, has some appeal for Karzai as it would be a cheaper alternative than fielding the costly...
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Prison Warden Arrested in Afghan Jailbreak Plot
28 April 2011
Afghan investigators probing Monday's jailbreak of hundreds of Taliban militants from a Kandahar prison have arrested the chief warden on suspicion of complicity in the plot, officials said. In addition to the warden, Ghulam Dastagir Mayar, the high-level investigative team dispatched from Kabul ordered the arrests of several other officials at the Sarpoza prison, south Afghanistan's largest, and at three nearby police stations, the officials said....
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Pakistan Urges Karzai to Drop US, Ally with Islamabad, Beijing
27 April 2011
Pakistan is lobbying Afghanistan's president against building a long-term strategic partnership with the U.S., urging him instead to look to Pakistan—and its Chinese ally—for help in striking a peace deal with the Taliban and rebuilding the economy, Afghan officials say.The pitch was made at an April 16 meeting in Kabul by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who bluntly told Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the Americans had...
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