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Helmand Dam A Monument To U.S. Challenges
www.latimes.com-September 06, 2010
The Kajaki Dam in southern Afghanistan was built in the 1950s with U.S. aid but fell into disrepair in the late 1970s. Efforts to repair it have faltered as the Taliban controls an access road.
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General Says Foresight On Marja Was Flawed
www.nytimes.com-September 05, 2010
NATO commanders were overly optimistic when they predicted quick success last winter in taking the town of Marja from the Taliban, the outgoing deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said Saturday.
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Loss of Faith in Afghan Leaders May Hurt Push Against Taliban
www.nytimes.com-September 05, 2010
THE government of President Hamid Karzai may be awash in corruption, venality and graft, but if you walk the tattered halls of the ministries here, it is remarkably easy to find an honest man.
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Marines Work To Win Over Hearts And Minds In Afghanistan
www.sandiegotribune.com-September 03, 2010
Sgt. David McFadden was on patrol, wading slowly across the Helmand River. Cool water gurgled peacefully underfoot. But the squad leader knew that things are not always as they seem in southern Afghanistan, and a Marine must be vigilant.
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Update on the US Withdrawal From Iraq
www.csis.org-September 02, 2010
There are three areas where there still seems to be confusion about the formal end of US combat operations in Iraq.
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Afghan Police's Lack Of Guns And Gas Shows U.S. Exit Plan Flaw
www.bloomberg.com-August 31, 2010
The Afghan police unit rated best by U.S.-led forces last year now can’t function on its own and has ceded up to half its district to the Taliban, showing how hard it will be for U.S. troops to carry out a planned withdrawal.
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Petraeus Finishes Rules For Afghan Security Transition
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Afghanistan, has completed work on new guidelines for turning some security duties over to Afghan forces in the months ahead, calling for American and allied troops to step back gradually from areas as they are pacified rather than handing off the task all at once to local units, according to senior NATO and Pentagon officials.
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The Folly of Holding Afghan Elections
www.cfr.org-August 31, 2010
Afghanistan's parliamentary elections, set for September 18, will be seen as a test of that country's stability nine years after the U.S.-led invasion, and three months before U.S. President Barack Obama reviews progress in the war effort. But if balloting is meant to serve as a litmus test for a military campaign that continues to sputter along, Afghanistan analyst Candace Rondeaux says the West should prepare for disappointment.
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Another Way in Afghanistan: Overcoming the Current Flawed Strategy
http://smallwarsjournal.com-August 31, 2010
All too often, the United States tries to impart a Jeffersonian style democracy into regions of the world which have had no history of democracy or into a complex tribal region of similar circumstance. If the United States Government wishes to be successful in Afghanistan, then it needs to reexamine its current Afghan strategy, understand traditional Afghan governance, and pursue a federal system of governing. Both the Bush and Obama administrations implemented flawed strategies in Afghanistan by focusing U.S. efforts on establishing a strong central government in Kabul as a way to build a cohesive national government.
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$5 Billion In U.S. Rebuilding Aid Wasted In Iraq
www.sfchronicle.com-August 30, 2010
As the United States draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted - more than 10 percent of the $50 billion the United States has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.
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US General Warned British Commanders That Their Afghan Strategy Was A Disaster
www.thetimes.co.uk-August 30, 2010
American and British military commanders were at loggerheads over the right strategy for Helmand in southern Afghanistan when Britain’s ill-fated campaign began in the summer of 2006, The Times can reveal.
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Top Karzai Aide Says U.S. Must Alter Its Strategy
www.washingtonpost.com-August 29, 2010
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff said Saturday that he is not sure the government is "on a path to success" in securing the country against the Taliban and that it could fail altogether if the United States does not significantly alter its strategy in fighting the nine-year-old war.
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A U.S. 'Legacy Of Waste' In Iraq
www.latimes.com-August 29, 2010
The $53-billion reconstruction effort is not without its successes. But poor planning, violence and a failure to consult Iraqis derailed many projects, which may offer lessons in Afghanistan.
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Marines In Afghanistan Prepared For A Long Haul
www.latimes.com-August 28, 2010
A year since the U.S. troop buildup began with battalions descending on the Helmand River Valley, optimism about a quick defeat of the Taliban has given way to more sober assessments.
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Looking At Lessons That Can Be Learned From Iraq
www.associatedpress.com-August 27, 2010
They are different wars in different regions, with different challenges. But as the war in Iraq winds down, there is a lot the U.S. military can learn and apply to Afghanistan, from how to deal with contractors to when to draw down troops.
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Marines Training Afghans To Take Over
www.sandiegotribune.com-August 26, 2010
The lesson of the day for the Afghan police recruits was a cordial “cordon and knock.” Sometimes a more aggressive approach is required. But often it is better to rap politely at the door and ask for information, instead of breaking it down, their U.S Marine Corps instructor explained.
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Transition to Iraq Sovereignty:
http://smallwarsjournal.com-August 23, 2010
How to transition to Iraqi sovereignty.
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U.S. General Cites Ambitious Goals to Train Afghan Forces
www.nytimes.com-August 23, 2010
The American commander in charge of building up Afghanistan’s security forces said Monday that in the next 15 months he would have to recruit and train 141,000 new soldiers and police officers — more than the current size of the Afghan Army — to meet President Obama’s ambitious goals for getting Afghan forces to fight the war on their own.
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Next target: The birthplace of the Taliban
www.msnbc.com-August 22, 2010
As Lt. Col. Peter N. Benchoff prepares for an assault next month into the birthplace of the Taliban, he doesn't sugarcoat the hurdles his troops face in this crucial swath of southern Afghanistan.
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Family, U.S. Offer Differing Versions Of Deadly Afghan Raid
www.mcclatchynews.com-August 20, 2010
When Ismail Nemati set out from Kabul last week to join his family in nearby Wardak province for the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, friends said, his biggest fear was running into Taliban forces who might question his allegiances.
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Tactic Fits Afghans To A Tea
www.latimes.com-August 18, 2010
'Three cups of tea' has entered the U.S. troop lexicon as shorthand for a trust-building chat with locals. It is drawn from the bestseller by Greg Mortenson, who sets up girls schools in the region.
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Don't Take The Taliban's Bait
www.usatoday.com-August 18, 2010
Most American warriors logically desire to fight with no reservations. But in this our longest war ever, it has become clear that destroying a village to save it works no better in Afghanistan than it did in Vietnam.
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BUILDING SECURITY FORCES AND MINISTERIAL CAPACITY: IRAQ AS A PRIMER
www.understandingwar.org-August 18, 2010
This report discusses how U.S. commanders in Iraq vastly accelerated the growth of the Iraq Security Forces as part of a broader counterinsurgency strategy to supplement the Surge of U.S. forces into the region.
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A Fight To The Finish
www.nydailynews.com-August 17, 2010
The Taliban want to run out the clock on President Obama's surge strategy. Brooklyn-born Army Lt. Col. John Paganini is determined not to let them.
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Pentagon Misuses U.S. Emergency Fund On Afghan Power Project, Skelton Says
www.bloomberg.com-August 17, 2010
The Defense Department is misspending at least $227 million on an Afghan power project from a U.S. fund designed to let combat commanders bankroll small, high- impact humanitarian efforts, according to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton.
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Gen. David Petraeus says Afghanistan war strategy 'fundamentally sound'
www.washingtonpost.com-August 16, 2010
In his first six weeks as the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus has seen insurgent attacks on coalition forces spike to record levels, violence metastasize to previously stable areas, and the country's president undercut anti-corruption units backed by Washington.
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Petraeus Opposes a Rapid Pullout in Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-August 16, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American and NATO forces, began a campaign on Sunday to convince an increasingly skeptical public that the American-led coalition can still succeed here despite months of setbacks, saying he had not come to Afghanistan to preside over a “graceful exit.”
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U.S. Hopes To Begin Afghan Security Transfer Soon
www.latimes.com-August 16, 2010
Pentagon chief Gates says that with NATO training troops ahead of schedule, some Afghan forces may be given security responsibilities, freeing up Western troops to focus on insurgent-held areas.
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Petraeus cites Bush-era shortcomings in Afghanistan
www.msnbc.com-August 15, 2010
U.S. military leaders inherited a faulty strategy for the war in Afghanistan at the end of the Bush administration and are still working to “refine the concepts,” the U.S. commander said in an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
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Petraeus: Progress in Afghanistan will take time
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 15, 2010
Progress in Afghanistan only began this spring and needs time to take root, Army Gen. David Petraeus said in comments broadcast Sunday that were aimed at shoring up American support for the war.
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David Gregory Interviews General Petraeus
www.msnbc.com-August 15, 2010
David Gregory Interviews General Petraeus on "Meet the Press"
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Gen. David Petraeus says Afghanistan war strategy 'fundamentally sound'
www.washingtonpost.com-August 15, 2010
In his first six weeks as the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus has seen insurgent attacks on coalition forces spike to record levels, violence metastasize to previously stable areas, and the country's president undercut anti-corruption units backed by Washington.
But after burrowing into operations here and traveling to the far reaches of this country, Petraeus has concluded that the U.S. strategy to win the nearly nine-year-old war is "fundamentally sound."
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Petraeus Builds a Case for Success in Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-August 15, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American and NATO forces here, began his campaign Sunday to convince an increasingly skeptical public that the American-led coalition can still succeed, saying he had not come to Afghanistan to preside over a “graceful exit.”
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U.S. Soldiers' Mission Shows Afghan War's Uncertainties
www.mcclatchynews.com-August 13, 2010
Setting out on one of their final patrols in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army and Afghan soldiers waded through waist-deep streams, scampered over crumbling 9-foot-tall mud walls and were closing in on a suspected bomb-making factory when their mission came to an unexpected halt.
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Mayor's Claim To Merchant-Occupied Land For Counterinsurgency Causing Divide
www.washingtonpost.com-August 12, 2010
To the north of this city, U.S. soldiers are in the throes of an arduous operation to clear insurgents from lush vineyards and pomegranate groves. To the east, other newly arrived U.S. units are preparing for another wave of clearing operations.
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New Afghan Air War? Don't Count On It, General Says
www.wired.com-August 09, 2010
Of all the controversial moves Gen. Stanley McChrystal made while he was in charge of the Afghanistan war, the most controversial was the directive that reined in air strikes — even when his troops were in mortal danger. Last week, new commander Gen. David Petraeus revised his predecessor’s much-criticized guidelines.
So how will Petraeus’ revised rules change the air war? The answer, according to one of the generals in charge of it: not much.
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Afghan civilians killed in nighttime U.S. raid
www.latimes.com-August 06, 2010
As many as "a dozen or more" Afghan civilians died during a nighttime raid by U.S. troops hunting for Taliban commanders in eastern Afghanistan, military officials acknowledged Thursday.
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Petraeus Reloads Rules Of Engagement
www.usatoday.com-August 05, 2010
The top commander in Afghanistan on Wednesday issued updated rules that limit the use of artillery and airstrikes but recognize the right to use firepower in self-defense.
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Petraeus COIN Guidance Focuses On Corruption, Culture And Public Relations
www.examinar.com-August 05, 2010
General David Petraeus released his guidance for conducting counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Afghanistan on Tuesday which outlines 24 key principles that the General wants all soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and civilians of NATO, ISAF and US Forces-Afghanistan to keep at forefront of mind.
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U.S. PR offensive highlights insurgent attacks on Afghan civilians Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/04/98644/us-pr-offensive-highlights-insurgent.html#ixzz0vl9l16uM
www.mcclatchynews.com-August 04, 2010
In one of his first major initiatives since he took command of the international force in Afghanistan a month ago, Army Gen. David Petraeus has launched a public relations offensive to focus attention on the Taliban-led insurgency's killings and abuse of Afghan civilians.
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New Rules Stress G.I.s’ Limits In Afghan Fighting
www.nytimes.com-August 04, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus is expected to issue new guidelines shortly on the use of force in Afghanistan that expand restrictions on artillery strikes and aerial bombardment but clarify that troops have the right to self-defense. He is hoping to persuade the troops that the unpopular rules will pay off in trust won on the ground.
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In Kandahar, Echoes Of Baghdad
www.washingtonpost.com-August 03, 2010
This city is starting to feel a lot like Baghdad.
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Protecting Afghan Lives Benefits U.S. Troops, Study Finds
www.latimes.com-August 03, 2010
Efforts to reduce civilian casualties by restricting U.S. airstrikes and other uses of force in Afghanistan are also sparing American troops from attack, according to a study to be unveiled Tuesday.
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Interviewing Tactics in Counterinsurgency
http://smallwarsjournal.com-August 03, 2010
There is a recent growing body of literature on strategic, operational and theoretical approaches to interacting with insurgents, as well as official documentation on the topic. Though there is demand for it, often from junior officers, surprisingly little attention is given to the applied, boots-on-the-ground questions of "How do I do it? Who do I ask? What do I ask them?” and"How do I ask it?"
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Irrigation Project Aims To Help Kandahar Thrive Again
www.latimes.com-August 02, 2010
Perilous security hasn't stopped the Canadian effort in southern Afghanistan, 'the kind of thing that can really make a difference,' a project analyst says.
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Targeted Killing Is New U.S. Focus in Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-August 01, 2010
When President Obama announced his new war plan for Afghanistan last year, the centerpiece of the strategy — and a big part of the rationale for sending 30,000 additional troops — was to safeguard the Afghan people, provide them with a competent government and win their allegiance.
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Admiral Makes Good On Promise
www.sanantonioexpressnews.com-July 30, 2010
America's most senior military official, here for a second time to meet with tribal elders from Kandahar, barely settled into his chair when one leader brought up the thorniest issue of the day: attacks in his city by coalition troops.
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Petraeus' COIN Guidance 'Prematurely Released'
www.defensenews.com-July 30, 2010
Soon after the new Afghan counterinsurgency guidance issued by U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus went up on two Internet sites, it was pulled off again. But it is not expected to change drastically when it is rereleased publicly.
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Afghan Women Fear Loss of Rights if the Taliban Return
www.nytimes.com-July 30, 2010
Women’s still-precarious rights in Afghanistan have begun seeping away. Girls’ schools are closing; working women are threatened; advocates are attacked; and terrified families are increasingly confining their daughters to home.
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Taliban Exploit Openings in Neglected Province
www.nytimes.com-July 30, 2010
Almost unnoticed, this strategic northern province is slipping away from government control.
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Strategy: Fight Hard But Be A Good Guest
www.usatoday.com-July 30, 2010
Winning hearts and minds is slow work. It's also hot, dirty, frustrating and dangerous.
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Contractors, Afghan Recruits In Deadly Training Dispute
www.washingtontimes.com-July 30, 2010
A training exercise this month erupted into a deadly gunfight between Afghan and U.S. instructors, illustrating the problems officials face in preparing the Afghan soldiers and police officers for the drawdown of U.S. troops next year.
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The Missing Word in Our Afghanistan Strategy
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 29, 2010
What President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron didn't say during last week's joint news conference may have mattered more than what they did say. The omissions could lead to a grave setback in the war on terror and deadly results for the Afghan people.
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For Petraeus, Rooting Out Afghan Corruption Is A Priority
www.washingtonpost.com-July 29, 2010
Every day, Gen. David H. Petraeus meets with senior NATO officials at headquarters for a 7:30 a.m. update, and at nearly every session, he returns to an issue that has bedeviled the U.S. campaign for years: Afghan corruption.
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Psychological Operations by Another Name Are Sweeter
www.rand.org-July 29, 2010
The Department of Defense has decided to change the name of military psychological operations (PSYOP) and this is a good thing. I make this assertion despite concerns about the name change raised by others in the Small Wars Journal.
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Two Afghan towns. One success story.
www.washingtonpost.com-July 25, 2010
There, in the community of Nawa, a comprehensive U.S. civilian-military counterinsurgency strategy has achieved what seems to be a miracle cure. Most Taliban fighters have retreated. The district center is so quiescent that U.S. Marines regularly walk around without their body armor and helmets. The local economy is so prosperous, fueled by more than $10 million in American agriculture aid, that the main bazaar has never been busier. Now for sale: shiny, Chinese-made motorcycles and mobile phones. There's even a new ice cream shop.
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A Hot War Rages In The 'Peaceful' North Of Afghanistan
www.politicsdaily.com-July 24, 2010
The battle was fierce and went on for hours. Blazing sun hammered American infantrymen and Afghan police wading thigh-deep across rice paddies. Mortar shells burst above them, puncturing the air and water with steel shrapnel. Volleys of machine gun and small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades skimmed the surface, fired by Taliban fighters, dug in behind low earthen walls.
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U.S. Lifts Ban on Indonesian Special Forces Unit
www.nytimes.com-July 23, 2010
The United States is lifting a ban of more than a decade on military contact with an elite Indonesian special forces unit implicated in past killings of civilians and other abuses, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced Thursday, after meeting here with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia.
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U.S. Will Resume Aid To Indonesian Army Unit
www.latimes.com-July 23, 2010
The Obama administration said Thursday that it would resume limited assistance to Indonesia's special forces, which have been barred from receiving U.S. military aid for more than a decade because of human rights abuses.
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U.S. Ends Ban On Ties With Indonesian Special Forces
www.washingtonpost.com-July 23, 2010
The U.S. military said Thursday that it will resume relations with Indonesia's special forces, an elite group blamed for atrocities and repression during the country's dark years of authoritarianism.
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Funds Wasted On Afghan Projects, Auditor Says
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 23, 2010
U.S. and Afghan authorities are setting up a joint task force to monitor the billions of dollars in cash flown out of Afghanistan every year, officials said, as the U.S. announced debt-relief for the war-ravaged country.
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Adaptation Or Decimation
www.washingtontimes.com-July 23, 2010
"Afghanistan is not Iraq," Gen. David H. Petraeus acknowledged as he scrambled to resur- rect the viable elements of ousted Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's flawed counteri-surgency strategy for Afghanistan. He no doubt will attempt to combine these elements with his own experiences in Iraq, even as Iraq falters into a new cycle of sectarian violence. Both situations are becoming so dire that Army Chief of Staff and former Iraq commander Gen. George W. Casey Jr. recently announced that we can expect "another decade or so" of war
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Refocusing Afghan Metrics on Key Local Areas and Population Centers
www.csis.org-July 22, 2010
It is useful to have a broad set of measures at the national level, but this is not where the war will be fought, or how either military or civil operations should be judged. Counterinsurgency is inherently local, and this is particularly true in a country with as many tribal, ethnic, sectarian, and geographic divisions as Afghanistan – and Pakistan.
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Petraeus Sharpens Afghan Strategy
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 22, 2010
Gen. David Petraeus plans to ramp up the U.S. military's troop-intensive strategy in Afghanistan, according to some senior military officials, who have concluded that setbacks in the war effort this year weren't the result of the strategy, but of flaws in how it has been implemented.
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U.S. steps up Kandahar operation in Afghanistan
www.usatoday.com-July 22, 2010
The operation began before dawn. Two hundred Army soldiers moved into a village in the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar province over a few hours' time, their military vehicles rumbling past lush orchards seeded with mines.
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U.S. Ends Ban On Ties With Indonesian Special Forces
www.reuters.com-July 22, 2010
Washington said on Thursday it was dropping a ban on ties with Indonesia's special forces, imposed over human rights abuses in the 1990s, a move that may eventually allow combat training of the notorious unit.
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State Dept. Planning To Field A Small Army In Iraq
www.mc-July 21, 2010
Can diplomats field their own army? The State Department is laying plans to do precisely that in Iraq, in an unprecedented experiment that U.S. officials and some nervous lawmakers say could be risky.
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The Truth About Africom
wwwforeignpolicy.com-July 21, 2010
I feel fortunate that I can say that I was present at the inception of U.S. Africa Command (Africom), the U.S. military headquarters that oversees and coordinates U.S. military activities in Africa. Starting with just a handful of people sitting around a table nearly four years ago, we built an organization dedicated to the idea that U.S. security interests in Africa are best served by building long-term partnerships with African nations, regional organizations, and the African Union. At the same time, however, there has been a great deal of speculation and concern about Africom. We believe our work and accomplishments will continue to speak for themselves.
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State Dept. planning to field a small army in Iraq Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/21/97915/state-dept-planning-to-field-a.html#ixzz0uS3mbfMi
www.mcclatchynews.com-July 21, 2010
Can diplomats field their own army? The State Department is laying plans to do precisely that in Iraq, in an unprecedented experiment that U.S. officials and some nervous lawmakers say could be risky.
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U.S. Forces Step Up Pakistan Presence
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 21, 2010
U.S. Special Operations Forces have begun venturing out with Pakistani forces on aid projects, deepening the American role in the effort to defeat Islamist militants in Pakistani territory that has been off limits to U.S. ground troops.
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'Hard Is Not Hopeless' In Afghanistan
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 21, 2010
During the darkest hours of the counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus testified before Congress that "hard is not hopeless." Those words ring true again today as he begins another turnaround attempt in Afghanistan—a war not going well, but not yet lost. If Gen. Petraeus again plays the cards that led to success in Iraq, an outcome favorable to U.S. interests is still possible.
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Petraeus' Militia Maneuver
www.latimes.com-July 19, 2010
Arming local villagers is a page out of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus' strategy in Iraq, but it carries substantial risks in warlord-ridden Afghanistan.
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Afghan National Security Forces
www.csis.org-July 19, 2010
President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan is critically dependent upon the transfer of responsibility for security to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). His speech announcing this strategy called for the transfer to begin in mid-2011. However, creating the Afghan forces needed to bring about security and stability is a far more difficult problem than many realize, and poses major challenges that will endure long after 2011.
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Unlikely Tutor Giving Military Afghan Advice
www.nytimes.com-July 18, 2010
In the frantic last hours of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s command in Afghanistan, when the world wondered what was racing through the general’s mind, he reached out to an unlikely corner of his life: the author of the book “Three Cups of Tea,” Greg Mortenson.
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The Curse Of Kandahar
www.latimes.com-July 17, 2010
No wonder ordinary Afghans don't trust the U.S.: American leaders have backed a corrupt government.
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In targeting Taliban stronghold, U.S. depends on Afghans' reluctant support
www.washingtonpost.com-July 16, 2010
The battle for this rural Taliban stronghold is not about killing insurgents, U.S. military officials say. It is about getting the new district governor to stop the grenades.
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Poor Grades To Watchdog For Afghan Reconstruction
www.associatedpress.com-July 16, 2010
The inspector general investigating fraud, waste and abuse in the $51 billion Afghanistan reconstruction program has received a failing grade from his peers.
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Petraeus Considers Expanding Afghan Village Forces
www.npr.org-July 14, 2010
Gen. David Petraeus is settling in as President Obama's top man in Afghanistan. Petraeus and his commanders are pushing a plan to help Afghan villagers fight the Taliban on their own but President Karzai is said not to like the idea much. David Kilcullen talks to Mary Louise Kelly about adapting counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. Kilcullen was a senior adviser to Petraeus during the Iraq surge in 2007.
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U.S. Rebuilds Power Plant, Taliban Reap A Windfall
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 13, 2010
The U.S. has poured more than $100 million into upgrading the Kajaki hydropower plant, the biggest source of electricity in south Afghanistan. And it plans on spending much more, in an effort to woo local sympathies away from the Taliban insurgency.
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U.S. may label Pakistan militants as terrorists
www.msnbc.com-July 13, 2010
The new American military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, is pushing to have top leaders of a feared insurgent group designated as terrorists, a move that could complicate an eventual Afghan political settlement with the Taliban and aggravate political tensions in the region.
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82nd In Afghanistan: U.S. Armed With Diplomacy
www.fayobserver.com-July 12, 2010
The American soldiers climb over walls, jump ditches and scan the dirt for trip wires in an hourlong hike, all to meet with one man: the new head of a mosque in a tiny village in a southern Afghan river valley. They hope to persuade him to support the Afghan government.
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Gen. Petraeus runs into resistance from Karzai over village defense forces
www.washingtonpost.com-July 10, 2010
As he takes charge of the war effort in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus has met sharp resistance from President Hamid Karzai to an American plan to assist Afghan villagers in fighting the Taliban on their own.
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MARJAH'S LESSONS FOR KANDAHAR
www.understandingwar.org-July 09, 2010
The execution of Operation Moshtarak has presented coalition and Afghan forces with unique insight into the planning and execution of large-scale counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan. Rushed clearing operations, the premature overreliance on ANCOP, and a limited capacity to establish effective local governance have hindered success. As coalition and Afghan forces look towards Kandahar this summer, the lessons from Operation Moshtarak should be used to inform proper planning and execution in order to avoid the repetition of costly mistakes.
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Petraeus reviews directive meant to limit Afghan civilian deaths
www.washingtonpost.com-July 09, 2010
To the U.S. soldiers getting pounded with thunderous mortar rounds in their combat outpost near Kandahar, it seemed like a legitimate request: allow them to launch retaliatory mortar shells or summon an airstrike against their attackers. The incoming fire was landing perilously close to a guard station, and the soldiers, using a high-powered camera, could clearly see the insurgents shooting.
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Lines blurred in push to win over Kandahar
www.ft.com-July 09, 2010
A crowd watched as Abdullah, a sullen-faced truck driver, harangued the US colonel. “You are not a good guest,” he spat. “What kind of guest brings such suffering?”
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Fighting 'Hard' And 'Soft' Counterinsurgency On Holy Ground
www.nytimes.com-July 08, 2010
American troops in Afghanistan’s Paktika Province called in a helicopter strike against Taliban fighters who ambushed them here Tuesday night, killing several. The missile strike narrowly avoided doing serious damage to a mosque where some of the fighters were hiding, underlining both the risks and the potential benefits of using air power to support ground troops.
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Marines' Mattis to take over Central Command
www.realclearpolitics.com-July 08, 2010
Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis has been picked to take over U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon announced on Thursday.
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Under Afghan Fire: Will Petraeus Change The Rules For Shooting Back?
www.time.com-July 07, 2010
When are U.S. forces in Afghanistan allowed to shoot back when they come under attack? An episode last month illustrates the quandary American troops face. In early June, on the southern edge of Kandahar city, a small Army convoy drove into a nighttime ambush. Within seconds, a turret gunner in one of the vehicles was hit in the arm. Muzzle flashes pierced the dark, alerting fellow troops to where the shots were coming from. But, thinking that they had to clearly identify the triggerman before firing back, they waited before retaliating, even as rounds of hostile fire poured in. Only after an officer radioed back with the go-ahead did the Americans return heavy fire. By then, the militants had melted away.
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A NATO Bid To Win The Afghanistan War, One Shura At A Time
www.csmonitor.com-July 07, 2010
The Canadian Army in Kandahar meets weekly with village elders and local officials, part of the Afghanistan war strategy to build a responsive government.
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Perspective: Two cheers for lethal operations
www.armedforcesjournal.com-July 05, 2010
One of the most frustrating experiences about two deployments to Iraq was the relentless focus on spending money. A sure way for battalion and brigade commanders to get into trouble in both 2006 and 2008 was to spend less money on projects and services compared to their peers. Commanders risked being labeled leaders who “don’t get” counterinsurgency doctrine if they didn’t spend as much as possible in Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds. However, the amount of money spent on economic development is a seductive and misleading statistic. It has become to Iraq what the body count was to Vietnam.
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Petraeus formally takes on troubled Afghan war
www.msnbc.com-July 04, 2010
Gen. David Petraeus formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan on Sunday, declaring "we are in this to win" despite rising casualties and growing skepticism about the nearly 9-year-old war.
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This Is War: How USAID workers are trained for work and danger in Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-July 04, 2010
As a civilian USAID worker in Afghanistan, you can expect tough negotiations with tribal leaders, anger from villagers and constant enemy fire. And that's before you actually get there.
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On The Ground: The Taliban's Changing, And Deadly, Tactics
www.time.com-July 01, 2010
Marine Sergeant Landon McLilly squinted into his rifle scope at a group of suspected Taliban militants in the hazy near distance. The next time he looked, they were gone. "If we go that way, I have a feeling something bad is going to happen," he said, recalling how the last time his squad of Marines had walked down the same road, they had come under fierce attack. But orders required them to interdict all potential enemy fighters, and they could not leave the area without checking out whether the people he saw were in fact Taliban.
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After Afghan Shift, Top U.S. Civilians Face Tricky Future
www.nytimes.com-July 01, 2010
As General David H. Petraeus takes command in Afghanistan, the two top American civilian officials in the war face an uncertain and tricky future, working with a newly empowered military leader, under the gaze of an impatient president who has put them on notice that his fractious war council needs to pull together.
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Petraeus Pledges Look At Strikes In Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-June 30, 2010
Calling the protection of his troops a “moral imperative,” Gen. David H. Petraeus said Tuesday that he would closely review restrictions on United States airstrikes and artillery in Afghanistan, which have cut down on civilian casualties but have been bitterly criticized by American troops who say they have made the fight more dangerous.
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Senate panel approves Gen. Petraeus as new Afghan war commander
www.washingtonpost.com-June 30, 2010
As he drove to his confirmation hearing Tuesday morning, Gen. David H. Petraeus had his third phone conversation in less than a week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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Petraeus Breezes Through Hearing
www.latimes.com-June 30, 2010
Senators show their admiration early and often for the general named to take command in Afghanistan. Petraeus downplays tensions between the military and Joe Biden.
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Petraeus Plans To Study Uses Of U.S. Force
www.usatoday.com-June 30, 2010
Gen. David Petraeus said Tuesday that he will examine whether the implementation of rules to limit U.S. firepower in Afghanistan might place troops at greater risk.
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Petraeus: Afghan Exit Could Be Slowed
www.philly.com-June 30, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus on Tuesday left open the possibility of recommending that President Obama delay his plans to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next summer, if the new commander can't turn around the stalemated war.
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Lawmakers Ask For Afghanistan Exit Strategy
www.sfchronicle.com-June 30, 2010
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, joined other House members in calling for President Obama to provide Congress with "a clear commitment and plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan" before a vote expected later this week that would provide $58 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Senate confirms Petraeus as Afghan war chief
www.realclearpolitics.com-June 30, 2010
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the new commander of the Afghanistan war, and President Barack Obama swiftly issued a statement saying Petraeus had his "full confidence."
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After Afghan Shift, Top U.S. Civilians Face Rocky Future
www.nytimes.com-June 30, 2010
As General David H. Petraeus takes command in Afghanistan, the two top American civilian officials in the war face an uncertain and tricky future, working with a newly empowered military leader, under the gaze of an impatient president who has put them on notice that his fractious war council needs to pull together.
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Afghanistan War Strategy May Change
www.latimes.com-June 29, 2010
Elite forces have seized scores of insurgent leaders, rare gains in a war in which progress has been slow. Their success bolsters arguments for a shift away from reliance on conventional forces.
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Healing Bodies, Winning Hearts
www.latimes.com-June 29, 2010
In a nation with abysmal healthcare, delivering high-quality emergency treatment is a powerful weapon — even though crews can treat only a fraction of those in need.
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Contractors' Roles In Psychological Operations Raise Concerns
www.washingtonpost.com-June 29, 2010
The Defense Department plans to spend nearly $1 billion on psychological operations (PSYOP) worldwide in fiscal 2011 -- and nearly 40 percent of it will go for contracted services and products.
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NATO 'Protection' Plan Means Little To Afghan Village
www.reuters.com-June 28, 2010
In Afghanistan's Taliban heartland, U.S. soldiers walk a short distance from their camp into a village in mourning with a daunting offer: protection from the insurgents that live in the area.
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The Other Surge: Civilians Step Up For Afghan Duty
www.federaltimes.com-June 28, 2010
The Defense Department expects to reach the peak of its civilian staffing surge in Afghanistan within a few months.
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Test Of Counterinsurgency Strategy In Afghanistan
www.latimes.com-June 25, 2010
With McChrystal's ouster, Petraeus is taking over the war at a time when progress is 'slower and harder' than military officials anticipated. Exhibit A: the flagging operation in Helmand province.
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Petraeus to Modify Afghanistan Rules of Engagement, Source Says
www.foxnews.com-June 25, 2010
A military source close to Gen. David Petraeus told Fox News that one of the first things the general will do when he takes over in Afghanistan is to modify the controversial rules of engagement to make it easier for U.S. troops to engage in combat with the enemy.
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Replacing McChrystal Doesn’t Change Anything
www.newsweek.com-June 24, 2010
Changing U.S. military leadership in Afghanistan papers over President Obama’s real problem: the counterinsurgency strategy isn’t working. What’s next for the mission.
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After McChrystal
www.economist.com-June 24, 2010
Barack Obama has sacked his commander in Afghanistan. But the real worry is that the war is being lost.
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What to Expect From General Petraeus
www.nytimes.com-June 24, 2010
On Wednesday, President Obama tapped Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, to replace Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as the commander of American forces in Afghanistan after General McChrystal and his aides made disparaging comments about senior administration officials in a magazine article.
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Petraeus: A surprising yet obvious choice
www.latimes.com-June 24, 2010
In Iraq, Gen. Petraeus, with his background in counterinsurgency, proved he was the right man at the right time. In Afghanistan, though, he may face an even tougher challenge.
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From Iraq to a Hard Place
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 24, 2010
To replace an Afghan war commander brought down by his own impolitic comments, President Barack Obama chose one of the military's most gifted politicians.
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A Critical Moment in War Effort
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 24, 2010
There's never a good time for an American administration to air its dirty laundry in public, but the departure of Gen. Stanley McChrystal amid a flurry of sniping and backbiting comes at a particularly inauspicious moment.
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Afghan leaders saddened by McChrystal departure, optimistic on Petraeus
www.washingtonpost.com-June 24, 2010
Afghan officials said they were saddened and disappointed by the dismissal Wednesday of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, but they expressed high hopes for his replacement.
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Gen. David Petraeus: The right commander for Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-June 24, 2010
Gen. David Petraeus didn't sign on as the new Afghanistan commander because he expects to lose.
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The wound that Stanley McChrystal opened
www.washingtonpost.com-June 24, 2010
A general's tasks involve executing policies made by the commander in chief, plotting strategy and winning wars -- not playing politics in the media to get at civilian rivals in the government.
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McChrystal had to go
www.washingtonpost.com-June 24, 2010
In 1932, during a lunch in Albany with Rexford Tugwell, an adviser, New York Gov. Franklin Roosevelt paused to take a telephone call from Louisiana Gov. Huey Long. When the call ended, FDR referred to Long as the second-most dangerous man in America. Who, Tugwell asked, is the most dangerous? FDR answered: Douglas MacArthur.
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America needs an Afghan strategy, not an alibi
www.washingtonpost.com-June 24, 2010
I supported President Obama's decision to double American forces in Afghanistan and continue to support his objectives. The issue is whether the execution of the policy is based on premises that do not reflect Afghan realities, at least within the deadline that has been set.
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New Guard, Old Policy in Afghanistan
www.cfr.org-June 24, 2010
President Barack Obama's decision to replace General Stanley McChrystal with General David Petraeus as the Afghan war's top commander is seen as a shrewd tactical move (WSJ) that will ensure continuity of the Afghan mission. The shakeup following a caustic Rolling Stone profile was about personnel, not strategy, the president said. That's good news for America and its allies (AP), as Taliban violence surges and U.S. troop totals climb toward an August high of 104,000. But questions are emerging as to whether the war's strategic direction should have been thrown out with the loose-lipped general.
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Video of John Ubaldi speaking on KCRA Channel 3
www.kcra.com-June 23, 2010
Video of John Ubaldi speaking on the firing of General Stanley McChrystal.
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Infrastructure's Importance Rises In Kandahar Effort
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 22, 2010
Top U.S. and Afghan officials ran through plans for wresting the southern city of Kandahar from the Taliban on Monday.
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U.S. eager to replicate Afghan villagers' successful revolt against Taliban
www.washingtonpost.com-June 21, 2010
The revolt of the Gizab Good Guys began with a clandestine 2 a.m. meeting. By sunrise, 15 angry villagers had set up checkpoints on the main road and captured their first prisoners. In the following hours, their ranks swelled with dozens of rifle-toting neighbors eager to join.
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Gates Touts Progress In Afghanistan
www.latimes.com-June 21, 2010
The Pentagon chief says the going is slow, but that progress is being made. He decries a 'rush to judgment' as the U.S. implements a troop buildup and takes on the Taliban.
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White House Says Troop Pullout Still On Target
www.bostonglobe.com-June 21, 2010
The Obama administration reaffirmed yesterday that it will begin pulling US troops out of Afghanistan next summer, despite reservations among top generals that absolute deadlines are a mistake.
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www.cbs.com
www.cbs.com-June 18, 2010
Scott Pelley spends time with a U.S. Marine company in Helmand Province; Also, Penelope Cruz opens up about her life, career and childhood; Plus, Andy Rooney's kitchen gadgets.
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The Afghan Roller Coaster
www.washingtonpost.com-June 17, 2010
"THE CONDUCT of a counterinsurgency operation is a roller-coaster experience," Gen. David H. Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. That may be the one point about Afghanistan on which everyone can agree. Gen. Petraeus made the case that, six months after President Obama launched a new strategy, the "trajectory . . . has generally been upward." Senators from both parties responded by pointing out the evidence of a contrary momentum, including an erosion of initial gains in southern Afghanistan and what seems to be a malignant mistrust between the administration and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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Senators Rap War Effort
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 16, 2010
The Obama administration's Afghan war effort came under blistering bipartisan attack in the Senate Tuesday, in one of the clearest signs yet that uneven progress on the ground risks undermining domestic support in the months leading up to a key December review of war strategy.
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Senators Challenge Afghan Deadline
www.nytimes.com-June 16, 2010
The commander of American forces in the Middle East, Gen. David H. Petraeus, on Tuesday confronted intense bipartisan challenges to the Obama administration’s decision to set a deadline of July 2011 to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan.
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U.S. Bolsters Afghan Police To Secure Kandahar
www.nytimes.com-June 16, 2010
The American paratroopers climbed down from armored vehicles and spread out along Highway 1, Afghanistan’s main road. An Army engineering team moved behind
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Petraeus: Afghan war effort headed in right direction despite setbacks
www.washingtonpost.com-June 16, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, sought to reassure senators Wednesday that the war effort in Afghanistan is headed in the right direction despite some setbacks, and he stressed that the military will not "head for the exits" en masse next summer when President Obama's deadline for starting a drawdown is reached.
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Democrats challenge Pentagon on Afghan war
www.msnbc.com-June 16, 2010
A schism deepened Wednesday between U.S. war leaders and Congress as lawmakers — crucial Democrats among them — challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan.
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Military and Pentagon Leaders Urge Patience for Afghan Mission
www.nytimes.com-June 16, 2010
The commander of American forces in the Middle East, Gen. David H. Petraeus, returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to offer a full-throated endorsement of President Obama’s order to pull out of Afghanistan starting next summer, while senior Pentagon officials urged patience as troops began operations to stabilize the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
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Gates says GE-Rolls Royce F-35 engine falls short
www.reuters.com-June 16, 2010
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said an alternate engine for the multinational F-35 fighter jet appears to fall short on performance and would cost at least another $2.9 billion to develop.
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Concern on Capitol Hill about Afghanistan war grows
www.washingtonpost.com-June 15, 2010
A series of political and military setbacks in Afghanistan has fed anxiety over the war effort in the past few weeks, shaking supporters of President Obama's counterinsurgency strategy and confirming the pessimism of those who had doubts about it from the start.
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Setbacks Cloud U.S. Plans to Get Out of Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-June 15, 2010
Six months after President Obama decided to send more forces to Afghanistan, the halting progress in the war has crystallized longstanding tensions within the government over the viability of his plan to turn around the country and begin pulling out by July 2011.
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Gen. Petraeus falls ill, prompts adjournment of Senate hearing
www.washingtonpost.com-June 15, 2010
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, fell ill at the witness table during a Senate hearing Tuesday and had to be escorted from the room. He later returned and agreed to continue testifying Wednesday
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U.S. Backs Karzai On Security
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 14, 2010
Senior U.S. officials continued to publicly back Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, despite his ousting last week of two top Afghan security officials who had the backing of U.S. military leaders.
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McChrystal Squares Up To Big Challenges
www.ft.com-June 14, 2010
General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the US and Nato mission in Afghanistan, has reached a milestone in his campaign to defeat the Taliban insurgency.
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U.S. Puts Stock In Reintegration
www.washingtonpost.com-June 14, 2010
They had spent up to two years in U.S. detention, and now freedom was theirs for the price of a thumbprint. Seven Afghan men, each accused of ties to insurgents, would be allowed to simply walk away if they would pledge before their village elders -- and on pieces of parchment prepared for the occasion -- that they would stay out of trouble.
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Kandahar Strategy Draws Criticism
www.ft.com-June 14, 2010
US plans to turn the course of the Afghan war with a large-scale operation to secure Kandahar risk driving more people into the arms of the insurgents, a senior United Nations official has warned.
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Final Report on Lessons Learned
www.csis.org-June 14, 2010
In May 2009, CSIS was chartered by the Department of Defense to determine lessons learned from the activities in Iraq by the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations to support military missions. The CSIS Final Lessons Learned Report is now available for download at right. In keeping with a decade of other CSIS efforts in stability operations and reconstruction, this report outlines the Task Force’s history and results, but it also looks more broadly at the roles of the military, the Department of Defense, and the rest of the U.S. government, and at the entirety of economic operations and development work in Iraq since before the invasion.
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Karzai Is Said To Doubt West Can Defeat Taliban
www.nytimes.com-June 12, 2010
Two senior Afghan officials were showing President Hamid Karzai the evidence of the spectacular rocket attack on a nationwide peace conference earlier this month when Mr. Karzai told them that he believed the Taliban were not responsible.
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General Forecasts Slower Pace In Afghan War
www.nytimes.com-June 11, 2010
The top United States and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, acknowledged Thursday that efforts in Kandahar to drive back Taliban insurgents were likely to take significantly longer than planned, raising new questions about what can be achieved in southern Afghanistan before the end of the year.
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Our Longest War
www.washingtontimes.com-June 11, 2010
June marks the 104th month of U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan and, consequently, America's longest war in history (Vietnam lasted 103 months). It would be less significant if we were not fumbling on all fronts in Afghanistan, from security to development to governance. The disconcerting indication of this mile marker is not simply that Afghanistan trumps Vietnam as the longest war in U.S. history, but that there is no guarantee that by the 116th month, July 2011, the bulk of U.S. presence will leave as promised.
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Kandahar offensive will take months longer than planned, U.S. says
www.washingtonpost.com-June 11, 2010
When the Obama administration decided last fall to accept Hamid Karzai as the legitimate president of Afghanistan for the next five years, there were no illusions that working with him and his government would be easy. It has been even harder than many U.S. officials anticipated.
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General: Kandahar operation will take longer
www.washingtonpost.com-June 10, 2010
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that major parts of the military operation to secure Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, would be pushed back because it was taking longer than expected to win local support.
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Gates: Progress in Afghan war must come this year
www.associatedpress.com-June 10, 2010
Public support for the war in Afghanistan will evaporate unless the nations leading the fight against insurgents can show by the end of this year that the 8-year war is not locked in stalemate, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.
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US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Issues Afghanistan Warning
www.guardian.co.uk-June 10, 2010
Public in Britain and US will not tolerate loss of soldiers in Afghanistan unless there is a breakthrough soon, claims Gates.
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The Battle For Afghanistan: Fighting Terror, Bit By Bit
www.usatoday.com-June 10, 2010
The intimidation campaign bedevils the U.S.-led effort to bring order and good government to what had been a lawless refuge for insurgents and drug traffickers. The resistance illustrates the challenge the United States faces elsewhere, especially in the much larger city of Kandahar, another Taliban stronghold that coalition forces plan to quell this summer.
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'Still A Long Way To Go' For U.S. Effort In Marja
www.washingtonpost.com-June 10, 2010
Residents of this onetime Taliban sanctuary see signs that the insurgents have regained momentum in recent weeks, despite early claims of success by U.S. Marines. The longer-than-expected effort to secure Marja is prompting alarm among top American commanders that they will not be able to change the course of the war in the time President Obama has given them.
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General McChrystal: Kandahar operation will take longer
www.washingtonpost.com-June 10, 2010
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is finding himself squeezed between a ticking clock and an enemy that won't go away.
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Gates: Progress in Afghan war must come this year
www.cbsnews.com-June 09, 2010
Public support for the war in Afghanistan will evaporate unless the nations leading the fight against insurgents can show by the end of this year that the 8-year war is not locked in stalemate, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.
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Afghanistan Strategy Shifts To Focus On Civilian Effort
www.nytimes.com-June 09, 2010
The prospect of a robust military push in Kandahar Province, which had been widely expected to begin this month, has evolved into a strategy that puts civilian reconstruction efforts first and relegates military action to a supportive role.
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US: Sacking Of Afghan Officials An Internal Matter
www.saltlaketrubune.com-June 08, 2010
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday to replace two top security officials, National Directorate of Security Amrullah Saleh and Interior Minister Hanif Atmar, with ministers of "equal caliber," and said the sacking of the pair does not signal trouble in Karzai's government over efforts to seek a peace deal with the Taliban.
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Armed Farces
www.time.com-June 04, 2010
The U.S. has spent $26 billion building up the Afghan army. But it is still poorly trained and rife with internal rivalries. Will it ever be fit to fight?
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A Three-Pronged Approach to Confront Afghanistan's Corruption
www.rand.org-June 04, 2010
Corruption is not inevitable. Afghanistan should focus on technical, legal, and cultural areas to ease the tyranny of corruption.
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To Serve the Nation: U.S. Special Operations Forces in an Era of Persistent Conflict
www.cnas.org-June 02, 2010
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are currently experiencing their most extensive use and greatest transformation. In playing direct and leading roles in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in the broader U.S. effort to defeat al Qaeda and violent extremism across the globe, these forces have become more operationally adept, endowed with more resources and organizational capacity.
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Strategy Vs. Tactics In Afghanistan
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 02, 2010
Gen. Stanley McChrystal has embraced Hamid Karzai as part of the Obama administration's startling about-face on the Afghan president. Until recently, the Obama team seemed to understand that Mr. Karzai was "not an adequate strategic partner," in the well-chosen words of our ambassador (and former general) Karl Eikenberry. Mr. Karzai's refusal to name cabinet ministers in the wake of the August 2009 election (as required by the constitution) so angered his own parliament that for several days last month they refused to conduct any business, instead sitting silent in protest.
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In Afghan region, U.S. spreads the cash to fight the Taliban
www.washingtonpost.com-May 31, 2010
In this patch of southern Afghanistan, the U.S. strategy to keep the Taliban at bay involves an economic stimulus.
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In Camouflage or Veil, a Fragile Bond
www.nytimes.com-May 30, 2010
Two young female Marines trudged along with an infantry patrol in the 102-degree heat, soaked through their camouflage uniforms under 60 pounds of gear. But only when they reached this speck of a village in the Taliban heartland on a recent afternoon did their hard work begin.
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McChrystal apologizes to Afghan president for deaths in drone attack
www.washingtonpost.com-May 29, 2010
A biting U.S. military report released Saturday criticized "inaccurate and unprofessional" reporting by operators of unmanned drones for contributing to a mistaken February air strike that killed and injured dozens of civilians in Southern Afghanistan.
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Operators of Drones Are Faulted in Afghan Deaths
www.washingtonpost.com-May 29, 2010
The American military released a scathing report Saturday on the deaths of 23 Afghan civilians earlier this year, saying that “inaccurate and unprofessional” reporting by a team of Predator drone operators helped lead to an inadvertent missile strike on a group of innocent men, women and children.
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When Afghans Seek Medical Aid, Tough Choice for U.S.
www.nytimes.com-May 29, 2010
Five-year-old Sadiq was not a casualty of war. He was simply unlucky. The boy had opened a sack of grain at his home early on Wednesday morning, and a pit viper coiled inside lashed up and bit him above the lip.
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U.S. Pins Hopes On Ragtag Afghan Police
www.latimes.com-May 27, 2010
If the U.S. is to succeed in seizing control of Kandahar — the country's second-largest city — from the Taliban this summer, improving the performance of the police will be at the heart of the effort.
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U.S. Officials Grapple With Shift From Military-Run Effort In Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com-May 25, 2010
U.S. diplomats in Baghdad have for years felt overshadowed by their military counterparts -- commanders who have controlled a vast budget and overseen an enormous footprint.
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Gates Orders Services To Adopt McChrystal's COIN Standards
www.defensenews.com-May 25, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has directed the U.S. military services to adopt a set of counterinsurgency tools modeled after ones instituted in Afghanistan by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, said a senior Pentagon official.
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U.S. Tries Luring Taliban Foot Soldiers Back To Society
www.nytimes.com-May 24, 2010
Even as Washington and Kabul debate their plans to reconcile with senior members of the Taliban, military commanders on the ground in Afghanistan are reintegrating insurgent foot soldiers on their own. The reason is simple, Captain Cuomo said: While Marines are “trained to fight, and we don’t mind fighting, the problem with fighting is that it doesn’t bring stability to your home.”
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McChrystal Calls Marjah A 'Bleeding Ulcer' In Afghan Campaign
www.mcclatchynews.com-May 24, 2010
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top allied military commander in Afghanistan, sat gazing at maps of Marjah as a Marine battalion commander asked him for more time to oust Taliban fighters from a longtime stronghold in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.
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U.S. Troops, Afghan Police Sweep Through Taliban Stronghold
www.latimes.com-May 23, 2010
Military and civilian teams search homes and offer reconstruction aid in a Kandahar district. The operation is a preview of a wider summer campaign.
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A Crash Course In Kandahar
www.washingtonpost.com-May 20, 2010
The soldiers who will lead the buildup of U.S. forces in Kandahar this summer began arriving this week and immediately dove into a crash course on the problems they will face in Afghanistan's most critical battleground.
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To Suppress Taliban, U.S. Deploys Farm Aid
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 19, 2010
Dozens of goggle-clad laborers converged at the Lalay family orchard at dawn, spraying pomegranate trees with soap water against parasites.
They were paid by U.S. taxpayers, as are tens of thousands of laborers across southern Afghanistan who have been put to work in a $360 million program—one of the biggest yet—aiming to suppress the insurgency in the Taliban's cradle.
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Night Raid Blamed For Civilian Deaths
www.washingtonpost.com-May 18, 2010
District police chief Abdul Ghafour woke to a cellphone call after 1 a.m. Friday: There was gunfire at Rafiuddin Kushkaki's home. Ghafour put on his uniform, sent two police trucks ahead and followed in a third.
"I thought that the Taliban must have attacked this man's house," he said.
He was wrong. It was a raid by U.S. Special Operations forces and their Afghan colleagues, and it left at least nine Afghan men dead in the Surkhrod district of Nangahar province in eastern Afghanistan.
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Combat Generation: Trying to work with an Afghan insurgent
www.washingtonpost.com-May 17, 2010
Last November, Lt. Col. Robert B. Brown received an enticing offer from a mysterious enemy.
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Afghan Violence Blocks Reconstruction Plan
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 17, 2010
Persistent Taliban violence has slowed the American reconstruction effort in the former insurgent stronghold of Marjah, raising questions about the U.S. strategy that will be used next month in the key southern city of Kandahar.
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War of persuasion: The modern U.S. officer emerges in Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-May 16, 2010
Lt. Col. Robert B. Brown could hear the fear in his 24-year-old lieutenant's voice on the patchy radio. "We have enemy inside the wire. It is really bad here," 1st Lt. Andrew Bundermann said. "We need those [expletive] birds now."
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Karzai Presses U.S. On Kandahar Plan
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 14, 2010
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that the U.S. needs to do a better job of selling the pivotal military operation in Kandahar, known as the birthplace of the Taliban, in order to get the all-important support of the Afghan people.
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General Warns Troops Will See Spike In Fighting
www.washingtontimes.com-May 14, 2010
U.S. and allied forces will see increased fighting in Afghanistan as their offensive in the southern part of the country unfolds in coming weeks, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Thursday.
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Obama's Warring Team
www.washingtonpost.com-May 14, 2010
The countless red carpets rolled out for Hamid Karzai in Washington this week could not disguise an ugly emerging reality: So far, Barack Obama's surge in Afghanistan isn't working.
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US war aim: protect civilians first, then troops
www.realclearpolitics.com-May 13, 2010
A key to the U.S. approach to fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is this seemingly backward logic: The more aggressively you protect your own troops, the less secure they may be.
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Distrust of Afghan Leaders Threatens U.S. War Strategy
www.nytimes.com-May 13, 2010
Nearly a year into a new war strategy for Afghanistan, the hardest fighting is still ahead, but already it is clear that the biggest challenge lies not on the battlefield but in the governing of Afghanistan itself.
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Obama Weighs Outreach To Taliban
www.latimes.com-May 13, 2010
President Obama signaled Wednesday that despite his earlier hesitation he may embrace a plan by his counterpart from Afghanistan to reconcile with certain Taliban leaders in hopes of uniting the country and ending a conflict that has stretched nearly nine years.
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Pentagon Rethinking Value Of Major Counterinsurgencies
www.mcclatchynews.com-May 12, 2010
Nearly a decade after the United States began to focus its military training and equipment purchases almost exclusively on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military strategists are quietly shifting gears, saying that large-scale counterinsurgency efforts cost too much and last too long.
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Five Fronts in the War in Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-May 12, 2010
American military leaders have had to devise multiple strategies to deal with Afghanistan’s complex terrain and an array of enemies. Here is a look at five areas of focus for the American military.
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Afghan Tribal Politics Backfire On Plan By U.S. Military
www.washingtonpost.com-May 10, 2010
U.S. military officials in eastern Afghanistan thought they had come up with a novel way to stem the anger and disillusionment about government corruption that fuels the Taliban insurgency here.
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Afghan Drug Traffickers Face More Resistance
www.usatoday.com-May 10, 2010
Stepped up U.S. and Afghan military operations in southern Afghanistan have loosened the Taliban's grip on narcotics trafficking, a key funding source for the militant group, a top Marine commander said.
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Tensions Between Eikenberry, McChrystal Will Be Focus Of Their Washington Visit
www.washingtonpost.com-May 09, 2010
The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry, and the top U.S. military commander there, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, assumed their posts amid lofty expectations that they could re-create the hand-in-glove partnership that Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker had while leading the war effort in Iraq.
But the Eikenberry-and-McChrystal team that returns to Washington this week, alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has a much different dynamic.
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At Ft. Leavenworth, Gates Says Pakistan Committed To Fighting Extremists
www.kansascitystar.com-May 08, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered strong praise Friday for Pakistan's efforts to root out extremist militants amid concern about potential links between the failed Times Square car bombing and Pakistan-based Taliban forces.
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Is President Obama's Afghanistan strategy working?
www.washingtonpost.com-May 08, 2010
With Afghan President Hamid Karzai visiting Washington this week, The Post asked experts whether the surge in Afghanistan was working. Below are contributions from Erin M. Simpson, Gilles Dorronsoro, Kurt Volker, John Nagl, Thomas H. Johnson and Andrew J. Bacevich.
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U.S. Calls Marja Offensive A Success
www.latimes.com-May 07, 2010
The U.S.-Afghan military operation in Marja succeeded in securing the town, but American officials said Thursday that steep challenges remain to improving local government functions throughout Afghanistan.
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Too Few Afghans Ready To Take Over In Taliban Strongholds, Senate Panel Is Told
www.washingtonpost.com-May 07, 2010
Not nearly enough trained Afghans are available to take control of key Taliban strongholds such as Marja after the military has pushed out the enemy, U.S. officials told a Senate panel Thursday.
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Medal For 'Courageous Restraint' Plan Get Mixed Review From Troops
www.washingtonexaminer.com-May 07, 2010
A proposal to grant medals for "courageous restraint" to troops in Afghanistan who avoid deadly force at a risk to themselves has generated concern among U.S. soldiers and experts who worry it could embolden enemy fighters and confuse friendly forces.
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Leading With Two Minds
www.nytimes.com-May 07, 2010
They say that intellectual history travels slowly, and by hearse. The old generation has to die off before a new set of convictions can rise and replace entrenched ways of thinking. People also say that a large organization is like an aircraft carrier. You can move the rudder, but it still takes a long time to turn it around.
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Kandahar Deployments Augur Key Fight In Afghan War
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 06, 2010
The Army brigade that will lead the coming U.S.-led offensive in Kandahar began deploying to Afghanistan this week, signaling the final preparations for what is expected to be a pivotal battle of the Afghan war.
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Report: Politics Not Getting Due Attention In War
http://news.yahoo.com-May 06, 2010
The war effort in Afghanistan suffers from a lack of attention to the volatile politics of the country, according to a former adviser to the top U.S. general there.
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Threat Rising From Homemade Afghan Bombs: US Army Chief
www.reuters.com-May 06, 2010
The threat from roadside bombs in Afghanistan is rising, the U.S. Army's top general said on Thursday, underscoring concern about what has become the biggest killer of NATO troops in the war.
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Outreach Is Working, Carnahan Reports
www.stlouispostdispatch.com-May 05, 2010
Deadly explosions during U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan's visit to Afghanistan over the weekend testified to the recent upsurge in attacks both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Carnahan said Monday.
But Carnahan said he believes that the strategy of winning over locals is taking root despite the weekend violence. In one attack, seven people died from a roadside bomb and in another, a suicide bomber killed a civilian at a NATO installation.
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McChrystal Says Karzai Visit Is Crucial
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 04, 2010
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the chief allied commander in Afghanistan, is preparing for a major surge of forces into the southern city that gave birth to the Taliban. But next week, he will have a different task—helping shepherd Afghan President Hamid Karzai through a trip to Washington that is seen as crucial to repairing battered relations between the two governments.
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Are We Losing in Afghanistan?
www.realclearpolitics.com-May 04, 2010
Are we losing Afghanistan to the resurgent Taliban? The facts and figures set out in the 152-page report the Pentagon sent Congress last week compel the conclusion that we are.
The new report says that the Taliban regards 2009 as their most successful year. It says that violence in Afghanistan is at a level roughly double compared to the same period last year. And it concedes that all the counterinsurgency has accomplished so far has been to create “some islands of security…in a sea of instability and insecurity.” In that roiling sea, the Taliban often retaliate against whole families or villages for cooperating with US forces.
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NATO Investigates 3 Afghan Civilian Deaths
www.nytimes.com-May 01, 2010
The French military took responsibility on Friday for killing four Afghan children during a missile strike in early April, and NATO said it was investigating allegations of a military convoy gunning down two Afghan women and a girl in southeastern Afghanistan.
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Afghan Taliban Seen As Making Gains
www.latimes.com-April 29, 2010
A Pentagon report presented a sobering new assessment Wednesday of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, saying that its abilities are expanding and its operations are increasing in sophistication, despite recent major offensives by U.S. forces in the militants' heartland.
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Pentagon Sees Afghan Instability Leveling Off
www.washingtonpost.com-April 29, 2010
The Afghan government can count on popular support only in a quarter of the main urban areas and other districts that are considered key to winning the war with the Taliban and other insurgents, the Pentagon said in a report delivered to Congress on Wednesday.
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Pentagon Reports Taliban Gains And Strains
htttp://online.wsj.com-April 29, 2010
The Taliban are improving their ability to set up shadow governments that "discredit the authority and legitimacy" of the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to a Pentagon assessment of the war's progress.
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U.S. Seeks To Bolster Kandahar Governor, Upend Power Balance
www.washingtonpost.com-April 29, 2010
The governor of Kandahar, Tooryalai Wesa, is an outsider with little sway in the province's politics, a mild-mannered academic who spent more than a decade in Canada and is considered by many Afghans to be ineffectual.
Below him in rank but far more powerful in reality is provincial council chief Ahmed Wali Karzai, a half brother of the president who has amassed a business empire fed by foreign aid and, many allege, the opium trade.
It is a power balance that U.S. officials are trying to upend.
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Afghanistan war: US night raid sparks protest over civilian deaths
www.csmonitor.com-April 29, 2010
A night raid by US troops, which left an armed Afghan dead, sparked a street protest Thursday. In the Afghanistan war, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has issued orders to limit night raids in an attempt to reduce civilian deaths in the pursuit of Taliban fighters.
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U.S. training Afghan villagers to fight the Taliban
www.washingtonpost.com-April 27, 2010
Taliban fighters used to swagger with impunity through this farming village, threatening to assassinate government collaborators. They seeded the main thoroughfare, a dirt road with moonlike craters, with land mines. They paid local men to attack U.S. and Afghan troops.
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Elite U.S. Units Step Up Effort in Afghan City Before Attack
www.nytimes.com-April 26, 2010
Small bands of elite American Special Operations forces have been operating with increased intensity for several weeks in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan’s largest city, picking up or picking off insurgent leaders to weaken the Taliban in advance of major operations, senior administration and military officials say.
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Agriculture, Food, and Poverty in Afghanistan
www.csis.org-April 26, 2010
It has taken nearly eight years for the member countries in ISAF, and International Aid donors, to realize just how critical Afghanistan’s agricultural sector is to many of its people. Food security and distribution is also a major problem and both are sources of vulnerability for the Afghanistan given its 30 year history of violence and given the scale of Taliban and insurgent operations. Moreover, both agriculture and food distribution are caught up in the problems raised by Afghan dependence on opium cultivation, extortion and corruption in aid and transport operations at every level, and manipulation by national and local power brokers.
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NATO Backs Plan To Give Command To Afghans
www.nytimes.com-April 24, 2010
Setting the stage for a gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States and other NATO countries adopted a plan here Friday that sets conditions for beginning to remove troops from a lead role in Afghan provinces by the end of this year.
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NATO Approves Plan To Hand Over Afghanistan Security To Government
www.washingtonpost.com-April 24, 2010
NATO members adopted a framework Friday for turning over security in Afghanistan to that country's government, and senior officials said they want to begin the transition this year.
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Precedent Suggests Afghanistan Taliban Could Win: Report
www.csmonitor.com-April 23, 2010
While current US counterinsurgency doctrine in Afghanistan broadly conforms with historical best practices, the Taliban enjoy a slew of advantages that historically correlate with insurgent success, according to a new study of 89 past and ongoing insurgencies worldwide.
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Kandahar's Power Woes Illuminate U.S. Divide
www.washingtonpost.com-April 23, 2010
U.S. military commanders and senior diplomats are locked in a dispute over the best way to bring more electricity to Afghanistan's second-largest city, complicating a major campaign to win over the population of Kandahar and push out the Taliban.
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New McChrystal Approach Means Greater Danger For German Forces
www.spiegel.com-April 22, 2010
During his much-anticipated visit to Berlin, US General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, refrained from making any demands for additional German troops. But McChrystal's new "partnering" strategy means the Bundeswehr will have to get involved in highly dangerous operations.
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Building Up Afghan Capacity Seen As Key Challenge
www.nytimes.com-April 22, 2010
When U.S. forces went in to clear the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in February, the hope was that local Afghan government could step in fast, but that has proved tough and underscores a countrywide challenge.
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In Afghanistan War, A Kinder, Gentler Night Raid?
www.csmonitor.com-April 21, 2010
Gen. Stanley McChrystal has issued new rules designed to make night raids less invasive, as part of the broader Afghanistan war strategy to win over the population. Some soldiers say it’s hamstringing their ability to nab Taliban militants.
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The Kandahar Offensive: Avoid the Snake Oil
httP://smallwarsjournal.com-April 19, 2010
Sometimes doing nothing or doing less is better than doing anything in a counterinsurgency. However, the preference of action over inaction is deeply embedded within the United States military if not within the American culture as a whole.
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Petraeus Says Commando Raids On Afghan Taliban Leaders Rising
www.businessweek.com-April 16, 2010
The U.S. is deploying more counter- terrorism teams in Afghanistan designed to kill Taliban leaders as the Afghan government works to lure away their supporters, said General David Petraeus, the top commander in the region.
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U.S. Boosts Anti-Taliban Special Forces
www.latimes.com-April 15, 2010
The Pentagon has increased its use of the military's most elite special operations teams in Afghanistan, more than doubling the number of the highly trained teams assigned to hunt down Taliban leaders, according to senior officials.
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U.S. Forces Close Post In Afghan 'Valley Of Death'
www.nytimes.com-April 15, 2010
The last American soldier left here Wednesday, abandoning a base surrounded by tall cedar trees and high mountains, in a place that came to be called the Valley of Death.
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Afghanistan: A Tale Of Soldiers And A School
www.time.com-April 15, 2010
Deep in the Taliban heartland, U.S. troops led by a determined young officer tried to win hearts and minds by reopening a school. The obstacles they met show just how tough it will be to win the war in Afghanistan.
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Gates Says Civilian Deaths Test War Strategy
htttp://online.wsj.com-April 14, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said civilian casualties in Afghanistan were posing a strategic challenge to the military's success there.
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Shooting By U.S. Soldiers In Afghanistan Fuels Karzai's Anger
www.washingtonpost.com-April 13, 2010
Twelve days before President Hamid Karzai denounced the behavior of Western countries in Afghanistan, he met a 4-year-old boy at the Tarin Kowt civilian hospital in the south.
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Afghanistan and Obama
www.csis.org-April 12, 2010
t has been over a year since President Obama announced the outline of a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and well over half a year since the appoint of General McChrystal and Ambassador Eikenberry led to efforts to define and implement that strategy in practical terms.
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U.S. Troops Fire on Bus in Afghanistan, Killing Civilians
www.nytimes.com-April 12, 2010
American troops raked a large passenger bus with gunfire near the southern city of Kandahar on Monday morning, killing as many as five civilians and wounding 18, Afghan authorities and survivors said.
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U.S. troops fire on bus in Afghanistan, 4 civilians killed
www.washingtonpost.com-April 12, 2010
American soldiers opened fire on a bus passing through Kandahar province Monday morning, killing four civilians and potentially aggravating a population already wary about the influx of thousands of new American troops headed their way.
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Karzai Tours With McChrystal After U.S. Rift
www.reuters.com-April 11, 2010
Afghanistan and the United States took public steps to end a feud on Sunday with the Afghan president touring a city alongside the U.S. and NATO commander and Washington calling him a "reliable partner".
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Inquiry Puts Spotlight On U.S. Special Forces In Afghanistan
www.latimes.com-April 09, 2010
A joint U.S.-Afghan investigation into a raid in February may shed light on the secretive role of Special Forces, who are said to account for a disproportionate number of civilian deaths.
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Shaping the War in Afghanistan
www.csis.org-April 09, 2010
As General McChrystal has stated, the steady deterioration that has taken place since 2003 seems to have halted. ISAF and the Afghan government have begun to implement a strategy, new ISAF and Afghan resources are being deployed, and a more integrated civil-military effort is just beginning to take place in the field. The battle of Marja is the first major test of this strategy.
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U.S. now focused on getting rid of Taliban instead of opium crops in Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-April 08, 2010
A multimillion-dollar U.S. program that was started last fall to persuade farmers to plant wheat instead of opium poppies did not make a dent in the amount of cultivation in Helmand province, the heart of Afghanistan's poppy region, according to a recent U.N. survey. U.S. Marines, who arrived here in force seven weeks ago to wrest control of the province from the Taliban, are under orders to win over the population and leave their poppy fields alone
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Why Hamid Karzai makes a bad partner for the U.S.
www.washingtonpost.com-April 08, 2010
President Obama will soon have 100,000 troops fighting a counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan. Their success depends on having a credible Afghan partner. Unfortunately, Obama's partner is Hamid Karzai.
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U.S. Admits Role In February Killing Of Afghan Women
www.nytimes.com-April 05, 2010
After initially denying involvement or any cover-up in the deaths of three Afghan women during a badly bungled American Special Operations assault in February, the American-led military command in Kabul admitted late on Sunday that its forces had, in fact, killed the women during the nighttime raid.
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Hurting U.S. Efforts to Win Minds, Taliban Disrupt Pay
www.nytimes.com-April 04, 2010
Since their offensive here in February, the Marines have flooded Marja with hundreds of thousands of dollars a week. The tactic aims to win over wary residents by paying them compensation for property damage or putting to work men who would otherwise look to the Taliban for support.
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How to use Afghan culture to devise a political strategy -- and exit
www.washingtonpost.com-April 04, 2010
If U.S. military commanders are right, here's how the path out of Afghanistan begins: Several dozen weathered Pashtun farmers are sitting on carpets under a makeshift tent. It's 45 days after U.S. Marines and Afghan troops have swept into this Taliban stronghold, and now the town's elders are gathered in a shura.
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The Kandahar gambit
www.latimes.com-April 04, 2010
Afghanistan's future, and U.S. hopes for success, probably hinge on a coming offensive in the Taliban stronghold.
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President Karzai Lashes Out
www.nytimes.com-April 02, 2010
The rambling speech of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan on Thursday was alarming. His delusional criticism of the United Nations and governments whose troops are risking their lives by fighting the Taliban complicates the difficult effort to stabilize Afghanistan.
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U.S. Looking For Leaders In Afghan Army
www.usatoday.com-April 01, 2010
Zakirullah Omid was a natural choice for a suicide bomber. The 15-year-old boy was young and an enthusiastic believer in the Taliban, having already committed brazen attacks against NATO and Afghan soldiers.
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Kandahar Offensive To Focus On Governance
http://online.wsj.com-March 30, 2010
The American surge into Afghanistan, which kicked off in February with the capture of Marjah, is moving to Kandahar—a far more valuable prize.
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Afghan Front Feels Little Obama Effect
www.washingtontimes.com-March 30, 2010
Surrounded by gravel-filled buttresses and manned 24 hours a day by alert American and Afghan gunners, Combat Outpost Kowall appears like an outpost under siege. It is one of the frontline posts in Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's expanded campaign to flush out a resurgent Taliban militia ahead of the major offensive on Kandahar expected in the coming months.
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Pentagon Puts Pressure On Hamid Karzai Over Corruption
www.reuters.com-March 29, 2010
The Pentagon's top military officer followed his commander-in-chief to Kabul on Monday to keep up pressure on President Hamid Karzai to tackle corruption, which he said could ruin the war's new strategy.
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Pentagon Puts Pressure On Karzai Over Corruption
www.rueters.com-March 29, 2010
The Pentagon's top military officer followed his commander-in-chief to Kabul on Monday to keep pressure on President Hamid Karzai over corruption, which he said could ruin the war's new strategy.
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Nato Commanders To Put Afghan Troops In Front Line For New Southern Push
www.londontimes.com-March 29, 2010
Nato commanders are to change their tactics in the battle for Kandahar, putting Afghan forces at the forefront of the operation to drive the Taliban from their spiritual heartland.
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U.S. Works To Win Support Of Poppy Farmers
www.usatoday.com-March 25, 2010
Coalition and Afghan forces are developing plans to provide jobs or financial assistance to opium poppy farmers who lost their buyers when a joint U.S.-Afghan offensive drove the Taliban from Marjah last month.
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Report: Pentagon hasn't met main threats
www.washingtontimes.com-March 24, 2010
Somali pirates, Mexican drug smugglers and Islamic terrorists are the types of groups that pose the greatest threat to the United States in the coming decades and, according to a report released on Tuesday, the Pentagon is not adapting quickly enough to stop them.
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U.S. Turns A Blind Eye To Opium In Afghan Town
www.nytimes.com-March 21, 2010
The effort to win over Afghans on former Taliban turf in Marja has put American and NATO commanders in the unusual position of arguing against opium eradication, pitting them against some Afghan officials who are pushing to destroy the harvest.
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U.S. May Expand Use Of Its Prison In Afghanistan
www.latimes.com-March 21, 2010
The White House is considering whether to detain international terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, an option that would lead to another prison with the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay, which it has promised to close.
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Afghan Detainee Releases Aimed At Earning Goodwill
www.latimes.com-March 20, 2010
The community-release program is part of a U.S.-led effort to redress a major Afghan grievance over suspected insurgents being held for months with little or no opportunity to make their case.
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The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
www.newsweek.com-March 19, 2010
Six billion dollars later, the Afghan National Police can't begin to do their jobs right—never mind relieve American forces.
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Economic Challenges in Post-Conflict Iraq
www.csis.org-March 17, 2010
Economics are as important to Iraq’s stability and political accommodation as security and governance, and they are equally critical to creating a successful strategic partnership between Iraq and the United States. It is far from easy, however, to analyze many of the key factors and trends involved. Iraqi data are weak and sometimes absent. U.S. and Coalition forces generally failed to look in detail at many of Iraq’s most serious economic problems, or they issued heavily politicized reports designed to show that Iraqi “reconstruction” had been far more successful than it really was.
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Kandahar slides into lawlessness as Taliban attacks force government to retreat
www.washingtonpost.com-March 14, 2010
For the first time in years, the U.S. military again has Kandahar in its sights.
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Afghanistan's Fix
www.time.com-March 12, 2010
When U.S. marines raided the notorious Lachoya opium bazaar in the southwestern Afghan region of Marjah at the start of their massive military offensive there last month, they found 700 kg of raw opium and 25 kilos of heroin. Anywhere else in the world, that would have been a major drug bust, but for Marjah, it was mere crumbs.
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Gates Tours Market In Former Taliban Town
www.nytimes.com-March 10, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates took a stroll on Tuesday through a village market in this former Taliban sanctuary in Helmand Province, but the lone street of shops was so sleepy that it looked as if everyone had been told to stay home.
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Gates Tours Afghan City 'That Had Been Dead'
www.washingtonpost.com-March 10, 2010
This southern Afghan city has been touted as a symbol of the progress U.S. troops have made in recent weeks. But when Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates swung through the main market Tuesday, it seemed mostly to be a symbol of the work that remains to be done.
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Fight For Kandahar Won't Be Like Fight For Marjah
www.csmonitor.com-March 09, 2010
In the next stage in the Afghanistan war, coalition forces are expected to build up gradually on the outskirts of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, perhaps for months. That strategy departs from the one executed in the Marjah offensive, in which troops entered quickly.
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Coalition Looks Past Marjah, Sees Challenges
http://online.wsj.com-March 09, 2010
Top U.S. military officials called the recent offensive in the town of Marjah a model for future operations in southern Afghanistan, while the top NATO civilian official in the country sought to defuse a controversy about the town's new Afghan administrator.
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'Alone' In Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-March 09, 2010
To work in Zabul province these days is to feel forsaken.
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Gates: New U.S. Afghan Strategy Shows Early Success
http://onl;ine.wsj.com-March 08, 2010
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the retooled American war strategy for Afghanistan was enjoying some early successes but cautioned that there would be "some very hard days ahead" as the U.S. and its allies worked to push the Taliban out of their current strongholds in southern Afghanistan.
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Interview with Gen. David Petraeus
www.realclearpolitics.com-March 07, 2010
General David Petraeus interviewed by Fareed Zakaria.
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In Afghanistan, NATO Denounces An Ally
http://online.wsj.com-March 06, 2010
The U.S.-led effort to flush the Taliban from a stronghold in southern Afghanistan—the first test of the new surge strategy to turn the tide of the war—has been dealt a setback by a dispute over the personal history of the man chosen by the Afghan government to run the town.
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Afghanistan war: NATO unfolds blueprint to rebuild Marjah
www.csmonitor.com-March 04, 2010
Western and Afghan officials have outlined ambitious plans for a new Marjah that include erecting new schools, reforming the police force, and upending the drug trade. Rebuilding Marjah and other towns is now seen as critical to NATO's Afghanistan war strategy.
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Gen. Petraeus tells Charlotte crowd to expect 'hard year' in Afghanistan
www.mcclatchydc.com-March 03, 2010
America is about to embark on the longest campaign in its longest war, the commander of the U.S. forces in the Middle East told a Charlotte audience Tuesday.
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The Next Battles for Marja
www.nytimes.com-March 03, 2010
THIS year will be the third in a row that tens of thousands of new United States troops have arrived in Afghanistan with plans to “clear, hold and build” areas controlled by the Taliban. Those previous surges have achieved little success at holding or building, as the international coalition and Afghan government have inevitably failed to come up with realistic plans for what happens after the fighting is done. Is the campaign in Marja destined for the same fate?
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Offensive In Marja Entering New Phase
www.washingtonpost.com-March 02, 2010
The initial phase of the military offensive in southern Afghanistan to wrest Marja from insurgent control has largely ended, but the more daunting task of building a credible government in the place of Taliban rule has just begun, according to senior U.S. and Afghan officials.
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Marjah Residents Voice Skepticism, Anger
www.philly.com-March 02, 2010
One by one, residents of Marjah stood up before Afghan officials yesterday to voice complaints - their houses damaged, their relatives killed during the military offensive in southern Afghanistan.
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Shape, Clear, Hold, and Build: The Full Metrics of the Afghan War
www.csis.org-March 01, 2010
The "metrics" of the Afghan War are changing. As General McChrystal has stated, the steady deterioration that has taken place since 2003 seems to have halted. ISAF and the Afghan government have begun to implement the a strategy, new ISAF and Afghan resources are being deployed, and a more integrated civil-military effort is just beginning to take place in the field. The situation remains critical, however, and it is important to understand both the key trends in the war, and just how complex any valid set of metrics has to be to show all of the trends involved.
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With Marja Largely Won, Marines Try To Win Trust
www.nytimes.com-March 01, 2010
After the declaration this weekend that the battle for the Taliban enclave of Marja had been won, for the Marines standing behind sandbags and walking patrols, the more complicated work has begun. With it will be a test of the strategy selected by President Obama and the generals now running the Afghan war.
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Marines, Afghan troops to stay months in Marjah
www.apnews.myway.com-February 28, 2010
More than 2,000 U.S. Marines and about 1,000 Afghan troops who stormed the Taliban town of Marjah as part of a major NATO offensive against a resurgent Taliban will stay several months to ensure insurgents don't return, Marine commanders said Sunday.
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As Fighting Eases, Afghans Plant Flag And Their Hopes In Marja
www.nytimes.com-February 26, 2010
The black, red and green flag of Afghanistan was hoisted over the center of this onetime Taliban stronghold on Thursday, as Afghan officials symbolically claimed control after a major American-led military offensive.
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Karzai urges coalition troops to prevent Afghan civilian deaths
www.latimes.com-February 20, 2010
As a major offensive in southern Afghanistan by U.S., British and Afghan troops entered its second week, President Hamid Karzai on Saturday made an emotional appeal for coalition troops to strive to prevent civilian deaths.
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In Afghanistan, Marines handling detainees by the book
www.latimes.com-February 19, 2010
The Marines have been ordered not to treat Afghans roughly. When making an arrest, they are instructed to ask their suspect to voluntarily go with them. Most do.
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Traditional Dispute Resolution and Stability in Afghanistan
www.usip.org-February 15, 2010
Stability in Afghanistan will remain elusive unless disputes between individuals and among communities can be resolved through peaceful and equitable means.
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An alternative to COIN
www.armedforcesjournal.com-February 05, 2010
The U.S. military is a dominant fighting force, capable of rapid global power projection and able to defeat state adversaries quickly and at relatively low cost in American lives and treasure. Unfortunately, American leaders are increasingly trying to transform this force into one optimized for counterinsurgency missions and long-term military occupations. A fundamental problem with the adoption of population-centric counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine as an organizing principle for American military operations is that it systematically fails to take advantage of the real strengths of the U.S. military.
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Deficits in a Growing Defense Budget
www.cfr.org-February 04, 2010
The Obama administration released its second defense budget and an accompanying Pentagon strategy on February 1 amidst talk of rebuilding the American defense establishment. But Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, says while the administration's reform rhetoric is laudable, its defense spending plan doesn't allocate money to seriously rebuild the military to deal with such threats as irregular warfare.
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Marines, Afghan army plan massive assault on Taliban
www.latimes.com-February 03, 2010
The U.S. Marines and Afghan army plan a massive assault on Taliban fighters in Marja, the last community under Taliban control in a sprawling, lawless region once dominated by the insurgency, a top Marine said Wednesday.
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