Free Republic

Senator John McCain appeared on This Week today from Afghanistan, but before getting onto matters of foreign policy, he weighed in on the Republican contest going on in the United States and continued to speak out forcefully on an issue that has been part of his political identity for over a decade: campaign finance reform. McCain has not been the biggest fan of Super PACs, and McCain today blasted the Supreme Court for its decision in the Citizens United case two years ago. When Jake Tapper asked McCain about how the GOP’s divisive contest may end up handing the election...

AFTER several unsuccessful attempts, the US has finally succeeded in establishing direct contacts with the Afghan Taliban. Both sides are inching closer to the formal inauguration of peace talks in Qatar for settling the Afghan conflict. The Afghan government and Pakistan, who claim stakes in any development related to the conflict, appear to have been sidelined by the US and the Taliban in a process Washington calls “exploratory”. To shun this impression, President Hamid Karzai told the Wall Street Journal recently that “there have been contacts between the US government and the Taliban, there have been contacts between the Afghan...

I recall a few years ago I was engaged in our favorite national pastime – waiting in the drive-thru line at the local Tim Horton’s – when I noticed a Canadian Forces truck pull in behind me, occupied by two of our Finest. Figuring it was the least I could do, I told the girl at the window to put the next order on my tab. After a couple of double-double coffees and a box of Timbits were added, I got my stuff and moved on. A store across the parking lot was my final stop before home. I had...

While I understand that only a fraction of the population of this nation is directly affected by what you are about to read, I would never-the-less like to remind you that the remainder of the population is affected coincidentally. While the majority of the American population probably never even considered the Armed Forces as a possible career objective, there are those who never considered life without serving their country, in uniform, on a field of combat. Most of these young men and women never take the time to internalize some idealized vision of charging death for God and Country, they...

McALLEN — Another reminder of why we need a secure border emerged this week, as U.S. Border Patrol officials confirmed three Afghan nationals were detained in the Rio Grande Valley - an increasing "hot zone" of cartel invasion and violence against American ranchers. Border Patrol confirmed the detentions, but would not say where or when they occurred. Enrique Mendiola, assistant chief Border Patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley sector, said that human smugglers see moving people besides Mexican nationals as a "business opportunity." "Average smuggling rates for other-than-Mexican nationals far exceed those of Mexicans and Central and South Americans,"...

Islamabad: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived here yesterday for a two-day visit to attend the Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan summit aimed at enhancing cooperation for peace and security in the region. Earlier in the day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai flew into the Pakistani capital. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani welcomed the visiting heads of state at the President House. Karzai and Gilani held a meeting during which they discussed the regional situation and bilateral ties and ongoing efforts for restoring peace in conflict-hit Afghanistan, officials said. President Zardari was to host a banquet for the Iranian and Afghan...

Covering something that comes out of Joy Behar's mouth makes one feel a little dirty. Analyzing Behar is like analyzing a Kardashian, only Behar isn't that smart. If science could somehow harness energy from the brainwaves that come out of this dolt's head, we might be able to light a small birthday candle. But trudge through the muck we must, to deliver such wisdom unto the masses... Via NewsBusters: The shrill, extremist comments coming from the co-hosts on The View continued, Thursday. Liberal comedienne Joy Behar trashed Virginia for passing abortion restrictions, saying the new law makes the state like...

Flags will be lowered in New Jersey Saturday, the day of Whitney Houston’s funeral. But a Marine mom in Arlington says it’s an honor Houston doesn’t deserve. When Phyllis McGeath heard Gov. Chris Christie had ordered flags lowered to half-staff for Houston, she said she felt a pain deep inside her. “I was hurt and offended. Disappointed. Saddened,” she said. “I felt like the honor that was given to my son was tarnished.” McGeath had three sons who were active duty Marines. Her oldest, Philip, was killed by a suicide bomber just four weeks ago in Afghanistan. He was 25....

The U.S. and Afghan governments have begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal, disclosing an important breakthrough in efforts to end the 10-year war. Mr. Karzai, whose government had protested being left out of recent talks between Washington and the insurgents, added he believes most Taliban are "definitively" interested in a peace settlement.

Twin brothers Osbrany and Osmany Montesdeoca enlisted in the Marines together shortly after they graduated high school. Now, just over a year later, Osmany is returning from Afghanistan to attend his brother's funeral after Osbrany was killed on Friday while serving in Helmand Province. 'They were always talking about the Marines,' said the boys' uncle Andriano Moreta.

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT -- At a forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff dropped by Feb. 10 to meet with the leadership of Task Force Bulldog, have lunch with the troops, and present awards to eight soldiers, including a Bronze Star Medal to a soldier from the Czech Republic. ... Novotny, a reconnaissance squad leader and combat medic, rescued an American soldier who was gravely wounded Nov. 19, public affairs officer Terry Kelley said. On a route clearance patrol, Kelley added, some roadside bombs went off and one wounded a soldier who...

While I understand that only a fraction of the population of this nation is directly affected by what you are about to read, I would never-the-less like to remind you that the remainder of the population is affected coincidentally. While the majority of the American population probably never even considered the Armed Forces as a possible career objective, there are those who never considered life without serving their country, in uniform, on a field of combat. Most of these young men and women never take the time to internalize some idealized vision of charging death for God and Country,

Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis spent most of last year on his second tour of Afghanistan; He was assigned to the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force. While carrying out his duties the Colonel talked to the troops about their situation in the region. He talked to everyone in any position as well as allies and Afghan security forces. He traveled over 9,000 miles and personally patrolled with ground troops in several provinces. Give credit to Co. Davis he saw the real situation up close and in person. His unclassified report to The Armed Forces Journal exposed that the situation on the...

A former member of the Afghan army who seriously wounded three Australian troops last year has boasted about the attack in a video posted online. Muhammed Rozi shot the diggers along with two Afghans at a patrol base in Uruzgan province in November. He opened fire on his mentors from a watchtower at the base, using an automatic weapon and grenade launcher to inflict maximum damage. It was the third attack by a Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier on Australian troops in 2011, and came 10 days after three Australians were killed and seven were wounded when another Afghan soldier...

SAN DIEGO – The Marine Corps on Thursday once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS -- a special unit that murdered millions of Jews, gypsies and others. The Corps said in a statement that using the symbol was not acceptable, but the Marines in the photograph taken in September 2010 will not be disciplined because investigators determined it was a naive mistake. The Marines believed the SS symbol was meant to represent sniper scouts and never...

Bush’s mere due-process-free eavesdropping on and detention of American citizens caused such liberal outrage, while Obama’s due-process-free execution of them has not. Beyond that, Obama has used drones to kill Muslim children and innocent adults by the hundreds. He has refused to disclose his legal arguments for why he can do this or to justify the attacks in any way. He has even had rescuers and funeral mourners deliberately targeted. As Hayden said: ”Right now, there isn’t a government on the planet that agrees with our legal rationale for these operations, except for Afghanistan and maybe Israel.” But that is...

http://armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030

A US Army officer has accused the American military of painting a misleading picture of progress in the war in Afghanistan while glossing over the Kabul government's many failings. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis deliberately broke ranks with the official portrayal of the war after spending a year in the country, issuing a grim assessment and accusing his superiors of covering up the harsh realities that plague the mission. "What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by US military leaders about conditions on the ground," Davis wrote in an article published in Armed Forces Journal, a private newspaper...

WASHINGTON — On his second yearlong deployment to Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis traveled 9,000 miles, patrolled with American troops in eight provinces and returned in October of last year with a fervent conviction that the war was going disastrously and that senior military leaders had not leveled with the American public. Colonel Davis on patrol in Khost Province last August. Since enlisting in the Army in 1985, he said, he had repeatedly seen top commanders falsely dress up a dismal situation. But this time, he would not let it rest. So he consulted with his pastor at McLean...

Is the world counting down to "D-Day"? After US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta estimated that Israel would attack Iran by June, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned government officials against "Iran chatter," A European diplomat based in Pakistan said that if Israel attacks, Islamabad will have no choice but to support any Iranian retaliation. The diplomat's statement raised the specter of putting a nuclear-armed Pakistan at odds with Israel, which is widely believed to have its own significant nuclear arsenal.

The Obama administration is considering the controversial release of several senior Taliban figures from Guantanamo Bay. Diplomatic sources say they would probably be relocated to Qatar in the Persian Gulf, where the Taliban is negotiating the establishment of a liaison office to facilitate dialogue with the U.S. James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence told the Senate Intelligence Committee this week that such transfers, though controversial, are not new when trying to end combat. "In almost every case where we've had hostilities, that at some point in time, there are negotiations. I don't think anyone in the administration harbors any illusions...

This week Washington officials announced five Taliban prisoners to be released from Guantanamo Bay and transported to Qatar. Even though the exact nature of the prisoner transfer hasn’t been announced it is most likely a good will gesture to encourage the Taliban into enter into peace negotiations. The five terrorists were selected by the Taliban leadership as a precondition to talks. Ignoring the objections of the military and intelligence experts Barack Obama is going ahead with the transfer the terrorists. According to Rep Mike Rogers (R-MI) the administration’s outreach to the Taliban is an act of “desperation.” What will Qatar...

The Occupy Wall Street movement is almost five months old and although some vow not to abandon their posts throughout the country, HBO’s Bill Maher says the protest has ran its course. On Friday night’s airing of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher likened the Occupy movement to the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, which according to him has gone on too long. “Let me ask about another occupation because this is, and you would be good on this, too, panel — the Occupy Wall Street,” Maher said. “Because similar to Afghanistan, when you occupy anything too long, people do get...

This is the outlet and sharing medium of an Army lieutenant deployed to Afghanistan for a year. The opinions contained within belong to the author alone and in no way reflect the viewpoints of the United States Army, the EOD community, or her fellow Soldiers.

The White House received a letter last year purported to come directly from Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Taliban, asking the United States to deliver militant prisoners whose transfer is now at the heart of the Obama administration's bid to broker peace in Afghanistan. The message, conveyed through an intermediary and intended for President Barack Obama, reportedly expressed impatience that the White House had not yet transferred five former senior Taliban officials out of Guantanamo Bay military prison. U.S. officials have been considering moving the detainees to Afghan custody in the Gulf state of Qatar as one of...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban leader and detained an additional suspected insurgent during an operation in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province today, military officials reported. The leader directed roadside-bomb attacks against Afghan forces throughout the district, officials said. In Afghanistan operations yesterday: -- In the Darah-ye district of Kunar province, a combined patrol found and destroyed about 880 pounds of hashish. In Jan. 31 operations: -- An Afghan-led and coalition-supported force detained two suspects and seized and destroyed two anti-tank mines, heavy machine gun ammunition and bomb components...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban leader today in the Kandahar district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, military officials reported. The leader executed attacks against coalition forces in the Tarnek wa Jaldak district of Zabul province, officials said. Multiple suspected insurgents were detained during the operation. In other Afghanistan operations today: -- An Afghan-led and coalition-supported force in Kandahar’s Maiwand district captured a Taliban leader who operated an attack cell in Helmand province and conducted attacks in the Nahr-e Saraj and Sangin districts. In operations yesterday: -- In the Shah Joy and Qalat...

Obama administration officials are downplaying Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s comments that by late next year U.S. troops could switch away from a combat role in Afghanistan to an advise-and-assist mission. Panetta’s remarks caught members of Congress, as well as European and Afghan allies, by surprise, and some surmised that his comments were a trial balloon for a strategy shift. En route to a meeting in Brussels with NATO defense ministers, Panetta said Wednesday that it was his hope that U.S. and NATO troops would transition to a training-and-advisory mission in Afghanistan in mid- to late-2013. “Hopefully, by mid- to the...

Misinformation and Legal Wrangling Delaying Mission-Critical A-29 Super Tucano for American Warfighters in Afghanistan SPARKS, Nev., Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the winner of the U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) competition, today issued a point-by-point rebuttal of misinformation being spread by the disqualified contender for the contract. The LAS contract provides aircraft, training and support for the U.S. government's partner building efforts in Afghanistan and other nations. The aircraft is urgently needed to support aerial reconnaissance and light air operations in Afghanistan, as well as to develop the organic capability needed to complete the...

The Obama administration has taken “operational steps” to move five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay as part of a confidence-building measure to further peace talks with the Afghan Taliban – a development that comes in advance of a hearing Thursday where senior intelligence officials will testify on national security threats, a senior congressional official told Fox News. The five detainees were said to be "hand-picked" by the Taliban preparing for the talks. The Taliban transfer issue will be a significant focus of the hearing on worldwide threats. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said ahead of...

A secret U.S. military report says that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), confirmed the document's existence but said it was not a strategic study of operations. "The classified document in question is a compilation of Taliban detainee opinions," he said. "It's not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis." Nevertheless, it could be interpreted as a damning assessment of the war, now...

The Taliban in Afghanistan are being directly assisted by Pakistani security services, according to a secret Nato report seen by the BBC. The leaked report, derived from thousands of interrogations, claims the Taliban remain defiant and have wide support among the Afghan people. It alleges that Pakistan knows the locations of senior Taliban leaders. A BBC correspondent says the report is painful reading for international forces and the Afghan government. Pakistan has strenuously denied any links with the Taliban on previous occasions. "We have long been concerned about ties between elements of the ISI and some extremist networks," said US...

The United States military has said in a secret report that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, Britain's Times of London newspaper said Wednesday. "Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban," the newspaper said, quoting the report. "Once ISAF (NATO-led forces) is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable," it quoted the report. The Times said the "highly classified" report was put together by the U.S. military at Bagram air base in Afghanistan for top NATO officers last month....

LAKE FOREST – Hundreds of firefighters and law enforcement officers waved flags from bridges above freeways from Los Alamitos to Laguna Hills saluting a procession carrying the remains of Cpl. Christopher G. Singer, a Marine killed in Afghanistan on Jan.21. Military personnel from the National Guard, Army Reserve and the Marine Corps stood in military formation saluting Singer and his family. Law enforcement personnel representing multiple jurisdictions also took part in the ceremony. Singer, 23, was killed while conducting operations in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the Twentynine Palm-based 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, an element of Camp...

Another horrific case of violence against women in Afghanistan came to light Monday when authorities reported that a husband in a northern province, angry that his wife had not yet borne him a son, strangled her soon after she gave birth to their third child. Domestic abuse is commonplace in Afghanistan, but women’s rights groups have grown increasingly anxious amid efforts by the U.S. administration and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to embark on peace negotiations with the Taliban movement. In the Kunduz case, however, the alleged killer was affiliated with an anti-Taliban militia commander, and local police...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2012 – A combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban facilitator and detained several suspected insurgents during an operation in the Lashkar Gah district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province today, military officials reported. The facilitator distributed weapons and explosives to insurgent fighters and coordinated roadside bomb attacks against Afghan forces throughout the area, officials said. In other Afghanistan operations today: -- A combined force in the Jalrayz district of Wardak province captured a Taliban facilitator who distributed homemade explosives and weapons to insurgent fighters throughout the Maidan Shahr district. -- In the Khost district of Khost...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force captured an al-Qaida facilitator in the Gardez district of Afghanistan’s Paktia province today, military officials reported. The facilitator coordinated insurgent activity t and provided reports to senior al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan, officials said. No civilians were harmed. In other Afghanistan operations today: -- A combined patrol found about 5,559 pounds of marijuana in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. -- In the Qalander district of Khost province, a combined force detained several suspects and seized grenades and assault rifles while searching for a Haqqani network leader who attacks Afghan...

Organized crime-related deaths in one Mexican border state during the first nine months of 2011 exceed the number of Afghan civilians killed in roughly the same period in all of war-torn Afghanistan. According to the Mexican government, from January through September 2011 2,276 deaths were recorded in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which borders Texas and New Mexico. A Nov. 2011 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that over nearly the same period – January through October 2011 – 2,177 civilians were killed in Afghanistan, where a U.S.-led war against the Taliban is underway. It did not provide a breakdown...

The call from the Central Intelligence Agency came on a December afternoon in 2009 while Gary Anderson was skiing with his three children. It’s about your wife, the agency man said. Standing inside Eagle Rock ski lodge in Pennsylvania, Anderson pleaded for details. The CIA official said simply: Where are you? We’ll meet you. Anderson suspected dreadful news about Jennifer Matthews, his college sweetheart, his wife of 22 years and a CIA operative on assignment almost 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan. With several hours until the CIA meeting, Anderson and his three children — then 12, 9 and 6 —...

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has thanked the British people for sacrificing "blood and treasure" for the future of his country. His comments followed talks with David Cameron at the UK prime minister's Buckinghamshire residence, Chequers. The leaders signed an agreement detailing how their countries would work together after UK combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014. Mr Cameron said the relationship would be based on diplomacy, trade and aid.

KABUL, Afghanistan – When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, Maulvi Qalamuddin headed the Committee to Protect Virtue and Prevent Vice, the religious police that shut down girls' schools, beat up men with insufficiently long beards and arrested those in possession of music or video tapes. Nowadays, the 60-year-old Taliban cleric is on a different mission: He is overseeing a network of schools that teach reading, writing and math to thousands of girls in his home province of Logar, an insurgent hotbed just south of Kabul.

Afghan soldiers turned guns on their US and NATO trainers more in 2011 than perhaps any other year, and the military organization running the war in Afghanistan has responded by choosing not to report details of these incidents. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a NATO-led security mission established by the UN Security Council in 2001 to secure Afghanistan, has opted to leave the announcements up to the respective nation whose soldiers are killed. Sometimes, the incidents are simply not reported. Last week, a rogue Afghan National Army soldier turned his weapon on his French trainers in Kapisa Province, killing...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2012 – A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed several insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader in the Kot district of Afghanistan’s Faryab province today, military officials reported. The sought-after leader is an explosives expert and suicide-attack network facilitator who targets senior Afghan government officials throughout the Almar district, officials said. During the operation, two insurgents exited a building and fired at the security force, officials said. Several remaining insurgents barricaded themselves inside the building and also opened fire. The security force returned fire, killing the insurgents. The security force confiscated several assault rifles,...

The media will spend the next ten years with their heads up their sphincters trying to determine motive. Hmmm ..... what could it be now? For those of us in the media who have not surrendered to jihad (all three of us), we have noticed a decided uptick in this activity. Arrests in the US are weekly now, sometimes daily. Nothing to see here, folks, keep it moving until the next catastrophe. And then the enemedia and Hamas-CAIR operatives in DC will blame ...... counter jihadists. :) Colorado man arrested on terrorism AP (hat tip Ken) AURORA, Colo. (AP) —...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 – Combined Afghan and coalition forces found two large drug caches in Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. A combined patrol in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province found about 660 pounds of marijuana, and a combined force in the Dand district of Kandahar province discovered about a ton of hashish. In Jan. 21 Afghanistan operations: -- A combined force killed Farid, a Taliban judge, and two other insurgents and seized rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles, grenades and chest racks in the Sayyidabad district of Wardak province. Farid was responsible for ambushes and for roadside-bomb and direct-fire...

Somewhere over Afghanistan. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060917.htm (medium, large, huge) The Photographer Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway, United States Air Force  

WESLACO - Three people from Afghanistan are in Border Patrol custody in the Valley. Border Patrol acknowledges they apprehended the three Afghanis in the Valley. They were found in two different groups. One was found south of Mission by the river. The other two were found in a stash house north of Moorefield Road. Samuel Freeman, a political science professor at the University of Texas Pan American and expert on U.S. foreign policy, says it's unusual for Afghanis to show up in the Rio Grande Valley. Freeman says the three could be drug runners. He says there's a huge pipeline...

Editor’s note: The world is at this moment witnessing a horrific phenomenon: Islamists coming to power throughout the Middle East under the guise of a supposed “Arab Spring” – while the President of the United States is facilitating the entire process. Indeed, President Obama is reaching his hand out in solidarity to Islamists and enabling their solidification of power throughout the region. While displaying a disastrous weakness with Iran and allowing the Mullahs to move ahead aggressively with their nuclear weapon program, the Obama administration is helping the Muslim Brotherhood take over Egypt and the Taliban regain power in Afghanistan....

Full Title:Handcuffed, Blindfolded, Shot in the Back of the Head: Taliban Releases Horrific Video of Executions of 15 Pakistani Soldiers Blindfolded and handcuffed to each other on a barren hilltop, Pakistani soldiers wait for death at the hands of a merciless Taliban fighter. Fifteen men were lined up for execution, the chilling scene captured on film by the Taliban for a video released as a warning to the Pakistani army operating near the Afghan border. The Frontier Corps soldiers were seized last month in what the Taliban said was an operation to avenge the deaths of insurgents in Pakistan. The...

In order to appease his base for his 2012 re-election, Obama needs to announce a peace deal with the Taliban, and an accelerated withdrawal from Afghanistan. In order to do that, he needs you to believe that when Taliban pinky swear to disobey Allah and abandon jihad, they will be telling the truth. It’s all a huge scam, ladies and gentlemen, on both Obama’s and the Taliban’s part. Prepare for more Americans to die in the future because of this. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban must renounce ties to terrorists and endorse peace efforts as a condition for opening...