Afghanistan

The Afghanistan War claimed another 5 NATO troops, it was announced Saturday, two of them American and two British. Taliban blew up the gate of the main prison in Farah Province in Afghanistan, briefly releasing about 20 inmates from captivity. Four were arrested when they were wounded in the bombing, and 7 more were recaptured […]

Afghanistan

8 US Troops Killed in Afghanistan in 24 Hours

Juan Cole

8 American troops have died in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours. One of the operations involved a suicide bombing at the gates of an elite police HQ in Qandahar, followed by an attack with small arms, leaving 3 US troops dead along with an Afghan policeman and 5 civilians. Qandahar is the major southern […]

Afghanistan

Taliban Grant Renegade Afghan Soldier, Killer of 3 British Troops, Asylum

Juan Cole

A soldier in the Afghanistan National Army based in Helmand province, at a joint base with the British 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, went berserk on Tuesday and killed three British soldiers, wounding two others. One of the dead was of Nepali heritage, the others were Britons. British military officials speculated that the renegade soldier […]

Afghanistan

6 US Troops Killed in Afghanistan;
Mazar Demonstration says ‘Yankee Go Home’

Juan Cole

Guerrillas killed 5 US Troops in Afghanistan on Saturday, along with a dozen civilians. Another American soldier died in an accidental explosion. Two were killed in the south of the country, a stronghold of the Old Taliban of Mullah Omar. Three were killed in the east, by small arms fire or roadside bombs, in an […]

Afghanistan

Steele blames Obama for Afghanistan, Defends Iraq War

Juan Cole

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele has provoked a furor by remarks he made on President Obama’s Afghanistan policy at a GOP fundraiser in Noank, Ct. (where he mumbled on for all the world like a third-rate lounge lizard at an off-off the Strip Vegas discount casino before an audience mesmerized into zombiehood by its […]

Afghanistan

June Deadliest Month for NATO in Afghanistan;
Congress cuts Civilian Aid by $4 bn.

Juan Cole

As the Senate confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as commander of US troops in Afghanistan, CNN estimated that 101 NATO troops (including Americans) were killed in June, the highest total ever since the NATO presence began in 2001. The Pentagon maintains that such a spike in troop deaths is to be expected given the counter-insurgency push […]

Afghanistan

Petraeus confirmed Quickly by Committee;
Seminary rioting, Jalabad Airport Bombings

Juan Cole

The LAT reports on the lightning speed with which the Senate Armed Forces Committee confirmed the appointment of Gen. David Petraeus as commander of US troops in Afghanistan. The full senate votes on Wednesday. I was talking to an Afghan hand today who observed that in his view someone among the senators should have asked […]

Afghanistan

7 NATO Troops Killed;
as Karzai is Said to Dicker with Insurgents;
and Panetta Scoffs
Taliban Rejoice in McChrystal Firing

Juan Cole

Radio Azadi reports that from early Sunday morning in the Marawara District of Kunar Province, a vigorous firefight has been pursued by the Taliban on the one hand and on the other, joint NATO and Afghanistan National Army troops. At least three NATO troops were killed, including 2 Americans, in the fighting. Those tribesmen who […]

Afghanistan

Public Souring on the Afghanistan War

Juan Cole

If you’ve lost Rory Stewart, you’ve lost the war. Rory Stewart is a young British conservative, who once walked Afghanistan and later governed the Iraqi province of Maysan in 2003-2004 under Paul Bremer’s Coalition Provisional Government. He is now a Tory Member of Parliament and a junior member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in […]