US military official: Iran naval forces halt ‘provocations’
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrives in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
Category Archives: Afghanistan
Pakistan’s army is getting serious about defeating domestic terrorism
A TRIP around Miran Shah with an escort of heavily armed soldiers is a surreal experience. The town is the administrative centre of the northern half of Waziristan, a lawless region once controlled by jihadists that Barack Obama called "the most dangerous place in the world".
Pentagon report doubts progress against Taliban
A Pentagon watchdog agency raised fresh doubts Friday about progress in the 16-year-old U.S. war in Afghanistan and suggested that restrictions on the public release of information make it difficult to gauge the effectiveness of U.S. strategy. The Pentagon's office of the inspector general, in a report done jointly with the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the Afghan government by the end of 2017 had not expanded its areas of control, even as the U.S. added about 3,500 troops and intensified airstrikes against the Taliban.
U.S. defense budget with lavish purchase plan faces doubts
The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday rolled out its budget for fiscal year 2019, asking Congress for 716 billion U.S. dollars for arms purchases and a staff expansion, and bringing a slew of questions and doubts. The entire budget consists of three parts -- the base budget of 617 billion U.S. dollars, covering Pentagon operation costs and arms procurement, the war fund, or Overseas Contingency Operations, of 69 billion dollars, and the defense budget of 30 billion dollars to keep other government agencies functioning.
Directorate S: Steve Coll on the CIA & America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan & Pakistan
Coll is dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker .
News 6 Mins Ago Us adding air power, intelligence gathering in Afghanistan
The U.S. is shifting combat and intelligence-gathering aircraft to Afghanistan as part of an intensified focus on the Taliban, now that the campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria is winding down, the commander of coalition air forces in Afghanistan said Wednesday. Air Force Maj.
SIGAR says DOD withheld info on Afghanistan war
The inspector general in charge of overseeing the war in Afghanistan says key info that should be made public was censored. The special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, or SIGAR, said in a letter Tuesday the Department of Defense is at fault.
Trump condemns Taliban role in Afghan attacks, no more talks Source: AP
President Donald Trump told visiting members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday the U.S. would no longer talk with the Taliban following a recent string of deadly attacks in Afghanistan. Trump railed against a series of "atrocities" in Afghanistan and said as a result the U.S. would not engage in any future talks with the Taliban as the administration seeks to end a stalemate in America's longest war.
The Devastating Paradox of Pakistan
The discussion was already tense as Karzai urged Washington to help root out Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan, implying that more pressure needed to be exerted on Pakistani leaders. Biden's answer stunned Karzai into silence.
More Bombs, Deaths in Trump’s First Year in Office
"The monstrosities being carried out in our name, and with our tax dollars, are no less our responsibility when we ignore them," Kolhatkar writes. The greatest impact of Donald Trump's first year as president has been kept out of sight from most Americans.
Canyon police to hold active shooter course
President Donald Trump is aiming to use Tuesday's State of the Union address to note the economic progress under his watch and push for bipartisanship with Democrats on issues such as rebuilding roads and bridges. President Donald Trump is aiming to use Tuesday's State of the Union address to note the economic progress under his watch and push for bipartisanship with Democrats on issues such as rebuilding roads and bridges.
The US is sending the A-10 Warthog back to fight in Afghanistan
U.S air force personnel stand by an U.S. A-10 aircraft, one of a squadron that arrived at the Kandahar air base The US is sending a squadron of 12 A-10 Warthogs back to Afghanistan for the first time since 2012. US Air Force Maj.
Guests tie sheets together in bid to escape Kabul hotel
Billionaire couple who were found hanging in their Toronto home were MURDERED by multiple killers and the wife may have put up a fight, private investigators conclude 'I want my pin back': Scarlett Johansson calls out James Franco during her Women's March speech after Golden Globe winner was accused of sexual misconduct by five different women Trump is pictured at his desk receiving updates on the government shutdown as his new campaign ad accuses Democrats of being 'complicit' in all future murders by illegal immigrants Neo-Nazis supporting an anti-abortion protest and Antifa groups are set to clash in Knoxville as thousands hit the streets for peaceful Women's March Accused killer of gay Ivy League student was a white nationalist whose posts on social media grew more disturbing over time House of Horrors investigators 'will bring in cadaver dogs to look for the remains of MORE children ... (more)
U.S. taxpayers bought world’s priciest gas station – in Afghanistan
This June 10, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Marine Corps shows an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter provides security from above while CH-47 Chinooks drop off supplies to U.S. Soldiers with Task Force Iron at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan. An audit by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released this past week revealed that a Department of Defense task force to support economic development squandered hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars.
US suspends security aid to Pakistan
US President Donald Trump speaks during an address from the White House in Washington, US, December 6, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Picture The United States said on Thursday it was suspending at least $900 million in security assistance to Pakistan until it takes action against the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network militant groups.
Shanina Shaik explores Singapore with family and fiance
Nuclear button on my desk is 'much bigger' than yours: Trump warns Kim about the size of his arsenal and how it is vastly 'more powerful' than North Korea's after despot's New Year's threat Canadian father who was held hostage by the Taliban for five years in Afghanistan with his wife and three children is arrested on 15 charges including sexual assault Woman, 67, who battled blood cancer for five years 'recovers after treating it with TURMERIC' in the first recorded case of its kind Kim Jong-un reopens hotline with South Korea after nearly two years in olive branch ahead of the Winter Olympics Republicans claim to have found written evidence that proves the FBI found 'criminality' during the probe of Hillary Clinton's email server Trump warns he could end hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, saying they show 'no appreciation' for payments and 'don't even want to ... (more)
Em Rusciano weighs in on a topless woman being groped
Nuclear button on my desk is 'much bigger' than yours: Trump warns Kim about the size of his arsenal and how it is vastly 'more powerful' than North Korea's after despot's New Year's threat Canadian father who was held hostage by the Taliban for five years in Afghanistan with his wife and three children is arrested on 15 charges including sexual assault Woman, 67, who battled blood cancer for five years 'recovers after treating it with TURMERIC' in the first recorded case of its kind Republicans claim to have found written evidence that proves the FBI found 'criminality' during the probe of Hillary Clinton's email server Trump warns he could end hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, saying they show 'no appreciation' for payments and 'don't even want to negotiate peace' U.S. withholds $255 million in aid to Pakistan over ties to terrorism and promises it 'won't forget' ... (more)
2017 Dispatches “Are You Serious”Awards
Each year Dispatches From the Edge gives awards to individuals, companies and governments that make reading the news a daily adventure. Here are the awards for 2017.
U.S. sets sights on last of ISIS
Secretive drones and surveillance jets are boring down on an estimated 3,000 remaining Islamic State fighters, who are hiding in Syria along a short stretch of the Euphrates River and surrounding deserts, as the U.S. military campaign against the extremist group enters its final phase. But the focus on a 15-square-mile enclave near the Iraqi border is complicated by skies congested with Russian, Syrian and Iranian aircraft as rival forces converge on that last main pocket of Islamic State militants in Syria.
This Christmas Eve, remember America’s winter soldiers
As your family sits down to enjoy a meal together this Christmas, spare a thought or prayer for families who have an empty seat at their table where a brave son, daughter, husband, or wife would sit if they were not serving overseas in the military. Because America enjoys relative peace this Christmas, it's easy to forget that we are still a country at war.