By Lolita C. Baldor and Pauline Jelinek / AP WASHINGTON: Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is expected to be told he faces 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, along with other charges, in connection with a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages that shocked Americans back home and further roiled US-Afghan …
By Stephen Collinson / AFP WASHINGTON: Deadly setbacks, an Afghan leader at the “end of the rope” and pressure from a public weary of sacrifice are threatening to upend President Barack Obama’s endgame for America’s longest war. The central premise of US war policy — leaving behind a stable nation that Afghans can secure and thwart …
By Donna Cassata /  AP WASHINGTON: Republicans and Democrats alike insist the United States should stay the course in Afghanistan, sticking to President Barack Obama’s timetable for withdrawing American troops despite the massacre of Afghan civilians and the burning of Qurans — two offenses blamed on the US military that have stoked anti-American anger. Key proponents …
By Mamoon Durrani / AFP KANDAHAR: Gunmen attacked Afghan officials at a service on Tuesday for 16 villagers killed by a US soldier, wounding at least one policeman and underlining anger at the massacre. The attack in southern Kandahar province came hours after hundreds of students chanting “Death to America” took to the streets of Jalalabad, …
By Anne Faherty and Lolita C. Baldor / AP WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has a public relations problem when it comes to Afghanistan, to say the least. Once the must-fight war for America, the decade-long mission has spiraled into a series of US missteps and violent outbreaks that have left few ardent political supporters. After NATO …
By Deb Riechmann / AP KABUL: “Shoulder to shoulder” is the mantra of the NATO-Afghan military partnership. Now, after Afghan soldiers and police turned their guns on their foreign partners during outrage over the Quran burnings, even Western advisers — not just combat troops — are looking over their shoulders. The deepening distrust is jeopardizing the …
By Lawrence Bartlett / AFP KABUL: The fallout from the burning of Korans at a US base has complicated already troubled negotiations about the nature of the US-Afghan relationship once NATO combat troops leave in two years’ time. At stake is a strategic partnership deal covering the period after 2014 when the US-led coalition is due …
By Naomi Wolf NEW YORK: In the wake of the Quran-burning by troops at the United States’ Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, protests continue to escalate, and the death toll mounts. In the process, three US blind spots have become obvious. One is that of the US media, whose coverage simply underscores — and amplifies — …
By Lisa Schirch and Karim Merchant LONDON: Recent news of US troops burning copies of the Quran in Afghanistan sparked protests and fuelled violence. In response, US President Barack Obama apologized and US military leaders in Afghanistan announced that all foreign troops will receive training on how to handle religious materials. This current crisis signals the …
By Mushtaq Mojaddidi / AFP KABUL: Thousands of furious Afghans besieged a US base on Thursday, throwing rocks and climbing up the outer walls on the third day of violent protests against Quran burnings that have killed at least 12 people. Just hours earlier, the Taliban exhorted Afghans to attack and kill foreign troops to avenge …
BRUSSELS: NATO allies discuss Thursday US plans to end combat operations in Afghanistan in 2013 and shift to a training mission, as the alliance seeks to wind down a war that has dragged on for a decade. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta set out the goal as he arrived in Brussels for two days of …
KABUL: Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban on Thursday denounced as "barbaric" an online video apparently showing US Marines urinating on the bloodied corpses of slain insurgents. The US military was investigating the "disgusting" footage, a Pentagon spokesman said, of what appears to be four servicemen dressed in United States military uniform relieving themselves onto three bodies. They …
KABUL: Afghans on Friday marked 10 years since US warplanes began bombing the Taliban out of power, looking back on a decade of war that has cost thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. Within weeks, the Taliban crumbled under the onslaught of Operation Enduring Freedom. Its fighters had fled and Afghans poured …
By Patrick Quinn/ AP KABUL: The Soviet Union couldn’t win in Afghanistan, and now the United States is about to have something in common with that futile campaign: nine years, 50 days. On Friday, the US-led coalition will have been fighting in this South Asian country for as long as the Soviets did in their humbling …
