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Today elitist Nancy Pelosi has thrown Afghan President Karzi into the meat grinder. Besides this, back in October Obama opened up his bottomless checkbook to the Taliban. Also stating that in the future, Taliban members will be allowed into the Afghan government. Is it clear whose side the left is on? Pelosi calls Afghan Karzai "unworthy partner" WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Barack Obama’s special envoys have hardly blazed a trail on the international stage have they? George Mitchell has had as much success in the Middle East as Ireland had in qualifying for the World Cup. Richard Holbrooke, the AfPak envoy, is no Akhund of Swat. In fact, he is rarely seen in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. So who is it that will enforce the will of the West on the dastardly and corrupt Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan? Why, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, of course. The New York Times says she has struck an “unlikely rapport” with the cuddly Afghan...

November 17, 2009 MURTHA CONTINUES TO UNDERMINE TROOPS By William RussellIn recent interviews defending President Obama’s slow decision making on Afghanistan, Congressman John Murtha continues to undermine our troops, embolden our enemies, and place our country in greater danger. He does this by drawing on the wrong lessons from his own experience in Vietnam, and endorsing the enemy’s propaganda.  By continually questioning the request for more troops, Mr. Obama and Mr. Murtha are signaling the possibility that America might withdraw as we did in Vietnam. But unlike Vietnam, we do not have the choice of leaving and withdrawing to our...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – Improving the quality and professionalism of Afghanistan’s central government will not be accomplished quickly, and will involve continued discussion between U.S. and Afghan officials, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. “My view on all this is that improvements in governance in Afghanistan will be evolutionary,” said Gates, in response to a Pentagon reporter’s question on the possibility the United States could link the amount of assistance it provides the Afghan government through its performance in rooting out alleged corruption. Newly re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged that he will fight government corruption....

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have turned the focus of Afghan war planning toward an exit strategy, publicly declaring that the U.S. and its allies can't send additional troops without a plan for getting them out. The shift has unnerved some U.S. and foreign officials, who say that planning a pullout now -- with or without a specific timetable -- encourages the Taliban to wait out foreign forces and exacerbates fears in the region that the U.S. isn't fully committed to their security.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – President Barack Obama’s security team recognizes troops alone aren’t the answer as it begins wrapping up strategy deliberations about the way ahead in Afghanistan, the top military officer said here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses Army and Air National Guard’s senior servicemembers from across the nation at the Guard’s first Joint Senior Leadership Conference outside Washington, D.C., Nov. 19, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,...

KABUL, Nov. 19, 2009 – Afghan and international forces killed several militants and detained terrorism suspects in two Afghanistan provinces yesterday, military officials reported. A combined Afghan-international force detained several suspected militants in northern Kandahar province while pursuing a senior Taliban commander. The force targeted two vehicles near the village of Sahabey in the province’s Ghorak district after intelligence indicated militant activity. One of the vehicles contained a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and several rounds, as well as a machine gun and ammunition. The vehicles’ occupants were detained for further questioning, and the force safely destroyed the RPG launcher and other...

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Nov. 19, 2009 – I felt like a bean-bag being tossed about in the cab of our pickup truck as our convoy traveled several bumpy miles off the main road, deep into the Hindu Kush Mountains of the Panjshir Valley, Nov. 15. Army Pvt. Orson Whitaker wraps a young resident from Dakhawak village in the Paryan district of Afghanistan’s Panjshir province in a hand-made quilt, Nov. 15, 2009. The supplies are a part of the combined effort of the provincial government and reconstruction team in Panjshir to provide essential services and assistance to residents. U.S. Air Force...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will have scant time to rest up from his eight-day Asia trip. On Saturday, two days after his return to Washington, the Senate plans a make-or-break vote on his hard-fought plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. Obama also confronts a difficult choice on strategy and troop levels in Afghanistan, which will be criticized no matter what he decides. His bid to re-regulate the financial industry faces stiff opposition in Congress. The decision to try high-profile terror suspects in federal courts has drawn withering Republican attacks. And he faces a problematic push by House...

Let me get this straight. Obama insisted that we immediately mortgage unborn generations lives to squander trillions of dollars on misbegotten bills which no one had a chance to read in order to enact stimulus programs and socialist interventionist programs not scheduled to fully fund until the next presidential campaign for the sake of corrupt businesses which he and his tax-cheating minions insist are "too big to fail" (or file bankruptcy) and because "we cannot afford to do nothing." And yet he has all the time in the world to decide whether or not to issue an order to man-up...

WASHINGTON -- The Nobel Peace crown lies uneasy on President Barack Obama’s head as he ponders the next U.S. move in Afghanistan, with hints and leaks showering down to tell us that he will eventually send thousands more troops there. His decision -- which could be announced soon -- was triggered by the request from Gen. Stanley McChrystal for 40,000 more troops to secure the cities and protect the citizens of Afghanistan, in addition to the 68,000 U.S. troops there now. Obama has been reviewing the U.S. role in Afghanistan for months, a time-consuming study that has led to accusations...

YANKEE, GO HOME by thelastcrusade.org Hamid Karzai, the newly re-elected President of Afghanistan, wants US troops out of his country within five years.Despite the billions of US dollars that have been poured into Afghanistan and the deaths of 922 American soldiers, Mr. Karzai expressed no gratitude to the United States for its part in securing the country and protecting the Afghan people from radical insurgents.To the contrary, Mr. Karzai, in his second inaugural address, called for a national tribal council to seek peace with the Taliban.The peace overture negates the primary purpose of the on-going war, which, according to...

White House aides: No Afghan decision before Thanksgiving By Anne E. Kornblut Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 19, 2009 12:23 PM SEOUL -- President Obama will not announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the Thanksgiving holiday, senior aides said Thursday....

In the old days, when I was a kid, we used to put on our patent leather shoes, chiffon and tulle dresses and walk to the neighbor kid's birthday party carrying a wrapped Mr. Potato Head, or Barbie Doll. We were willing to suffer the indignation of dressing up on a Saturday for a slice of thick, homemade cake and a collection of prizes like a Pez dispenser or a ring-whistle or a wooden paddle ball awarded to the winner of each game. Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Musical Chairs and, my favorite, the treasure hunt. Our hostess would...

Hamid Karzai pledged to tackle corruption and said he wanted Afghan forces to take over security of the country within five years as he was sworn in for a second term as president. Mr Karzai also called for a national tribal council to seek peace with Afghanistan’s insurgents. He made his announcement as 800 guests watched him inaugurated amid tight security in his fortified palace in the heart of Kabul. His inauguration speech had been keenly awaited by western backers losing patience with his government which is widely seen as corrupt and ineffective. London and Washington had both said they...

SEOUL -- President Barack Obama will not announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the Thanksgiving holiday, senior aides said on Thursday. The news came as the president greeted 1,500 troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, just before boarding Air Force One and heading back to Washington after an eight-day Asia trip... Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cell phones to snap pictures. "You guys make a pretty good photo op,"...

President Obama took his “Do as I say, not as I do” routine to dizzying international heights today, demanding that Iran cease its “foot-dragging” over whether or not to comply with demands to halt development of its nuclear program... He made the demand while continuing to drag his own feet on whether or not to provide more troops in Afghanistan, something he’s been mulling over since last summer. Expect B-list “actress” Janeane Garofalo to be a featured guest on Bill Maher’s show soon to remind us, once agian that if the world criticizes Mahmood Ahmadinejad for taking his time, it’s...

Yes, that's what the commander-in-chief said to his troops today in South Korea. Well, give the bas**** credit for being honest for once.Buried at the end of a Washington Post report on his decision to not decide on Afghanistan until after Thanksgiving is this George Washington moment for Barack Obama: Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cell phones to snap pictures. "You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said. Standing on a riser...

Holiday Mail for Heroes is back! In this season of hope and giving the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes, Inc. have joined forces to invite Americans to “send a touch of home” to United States service members and veterans across the country and abroad. In its third year, the Holiday Mail for Heroes program is an opportunity to share joy and thanks with our service members throughout the holiday season by way of a greeting card.Today over 1.4 million men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces and over 24 million veterans have served in the past....

Our ultimate goal of homeland security will be served through a better understanding of the threat confronting it in order to “disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat al Qaeda and its allies.” Let me describe this global threat through a comprehensive survey that I conducted of all the al Qaeda plots in the West, all the al Qaeda affiliate plots in the West and all the plots done “in the name of al Qaeda” in the West since the formation of al Qaeda in August 1988. It is necessary to expand our inquiry because al Qaeda is now only one of...

As our powerless secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, dutifully covers her head to attend the inauguration of an Afghan president so unpopular his ceremony has to be held behind closed doors, our AfPak (Afghanistan/Pakistan) policy isn't merely adrift. It's sinking. President Obama inherited a mess, and promptly made it worse. But let's be fair: There's plenty of blame to go around in the ongoing Afghan nondecision debacle, as well as regarding our follies in Pakistan. If the devalued buck stops at the president's desk, it's also true that the generals involved with AfPak have failed to fulfill their duties to...

Note to Hamid Karzai: One country's corruption is another country's stimulus package. ... The U.S. government should not throw stones. According to Transparency International's 2009 Global Corruption barometer, the U.S. Congress is the single institution perceived by Americans to be most affected by corruption. The U.S. government reported that $6.4 billion in stimulus money went to 440 nonexistent congressional districts, "creating or saving" around 30,000 phantom jobs. The White House admitted in July that billions of dollars spent in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds might not be traceable.

The situation in Afghanistan is like a poker game. There are only three options for action: raise, call or fold.  The President seems to be unable to pick one that doesn’t have Americans on both sides of the debate pulling out their hair. During his campaign for the White House President Obama said, “We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate. We need more troops there. We need more resources there… I would send two to three additional brigades to Afghanistan.” He promised to send another ten to fifteen thousand troops to help those already there. He also declared that the war...

White House Waves White Flag Exit Operation Enduring Freedom bythelastcrusade.org Speaking as Western leaders gathered in Kabul for Thursday's swearing-in of President Hamid Karzai, US President Barack Obama said his forthcoming announcement about the war in Afghanistan will include his intent for a complete troop withdrawal in the immediate future. "I am confident that when I announce my decision the American people will have a lot of clarity about what we are doing, how we are going to succeed... and most importantly what's the endgame on this thing," he told CNN."Unless you impose that kind of discipline it could...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Nov. 18, 2009 – Supplies and equipment to sustain the more than 20,000 servicemembers and civilians from 15 different nations at the world’s busiest military airfield arrive here daily. Army Spc. Jose Ramirez directs a cargo truck to a parking space at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Nov. 14, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisebet Freeburg  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But not all supplies arrive by air. The 386th Movement Control Team has processed more than 25,000 cargo trucks through this southern Afghanistan base since May. The 386th MCT, an active duty Army unit from Vincenza,...

KABUL, Nov. 18, 2009 – Afghan and international forces killed several enemy militants and detained numerous terrorism suspects in Afghanistan today, military officials reported. A combined Afghan-international force detained a group of suspected militants in Zabul province while pursuing a Taliban commander responsible for several attacks in the area. The force searched buildings on the west side of Qalat City where intelligence indicated militant activity and detained the suspected militants without incident. In a separate operation, a combined force killed several enemy militants in Khost province, including a Haqqani terrorist involved with attacks in the area. The force targeted a...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2009 – A range of decisions still remain for President Barack Obama and his administration to finalize the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the president said in Beijing today. In separate interviews with traveling press, Obama said Afghans have to responsible for their own security and Pakistan has to be more effectively involved. “There are a range of things that we know we have to do,” the president told CBS correspondent Chip Reid. “At this point, it’s a matter of fine-tuning a strategy that we can be confident will be successful and also won’t be open-ended.” Obama has...

"Welcome to Spin Boldak. I am Commander Mullah Manan," he said, "second in command to Mullah Abdul Hakeem, commander of Helmand Province." "I just returned from a council meeting in Kandahar," he said."The only true Taliban shura is the one led by Mullah Omar. It has 29 members and some hold key government posts.""Mullah Omar’s orders are written down and given to the shura members. They pass them on to a chosen eight or nine others. No one uses any form of telecommunications or electronic devices," Manan added."We are not safe in Quetta," Manan answered. "These days, Pakistani security forces...

KABUL (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama aims to bring the Afghan war to an end before he leaves office, he said on Wednesday, the eve of a swearing-in ceremony Western officials hope can help salvage Hamid Karzai's tattered reputation. Hillary Clinton arrived in Kabul to attend the re-elected Afghan president's inauguration, her first visit as U.S. secretary of state and the most senior visit by a member of Obama's administration, which has kept Karzai at arm's length. Karzai takes his oath on Thursday, three months after a vote marred by widespread fraud. The election, intended to bolster the government's...

Support for the war in Afghanistan has ebbed to a new low...

One night in August, the Taliban stormed a local police station in this once-peaceful province and shot dead the governor's younger brother. Since then, the governor has singled out a culprit: The German military, which he says refused to send a helicopter to rescue his brother as he bled to death. "I called them and they said that wasn't a mission they could do," said Gov. Mohammad Omar. "They don't like to go out at night." German officials said there was no way they could have saved his brother. They offered their condolences, and said the death is just one...

First MILITARY Personnel Killed by Hostile Fire in Afghanistan That is all they really said. More to follow per FOX News Anchor. . .

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2009 – NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen today predicted the alliance’s future mission in Afghanistan will entail a counterinsurgency approach with “substantially more troops.” The NATO chief, speaking to the alliance’s Parliamentary Assembly, said he expects NATO will reach a troop-level decision in a few weeks for the International Security Assistance Force it leads in Afghanistan. “I’m confident it will be a counterinsurgency approach, with substantially more troops, and will place the Afghan population at the core of ISAF’s collective effort by focusing on their safety, and by supporting reconstruction and development,” he said. Rasmussen’s remarks...

KABUL, Nov. 17, 2009 – Afghan and international forces worked together to kill or detain numerous enemy fighters and terrorism suspects in operations over the last two days, military officials reported. A combined Afghan and international security force killed several enemy militants, including a sought-after Taliban district commander, and detained several suspected militants in Afghanistan’s Wardak province early today. The force searched a compound near the village of Mayshin Kala in the province’s Sayed Abad district where intelligence indicated militant activity. Upon entering the compound courtyard, the force came under attack and returned fire, killing several enemy militants. During the...

Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index on Tuesday, saying war-ravaged Somalia remains the world's most corrupt country, followed by Afghanistan.Transparency International's rankings are based on how corrupt a country's government is perceived to be by experts and international institutions like the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

This war is a new kind of war. It is different from all other wars of the past, not only in its methods and weapons but also in its geography. It is warfare in terms of every continent, every island, every sea, every air-lane in the world.That is the reason why I have asked you to take out and spread before you (the) a map of the whole earth, and to follow with me in the references which I shall make to the world-encircling battle lines of this war. Many questions will, I fear, remain unanswered tonight, but I know...

In an interview published November 11 at Salon.com, titled, "Woody Harrelson on war, death, LBJ and Obama," by Andrew O'Hehir, actor Woody Harrelson, who stars in the soon-to-be-released film, The Messenger, recounts his conspiracy theory that America invaded Afghanistan not because of the 9/11 attacks, but because Chevron wanted to overthrow the Taliban and build an oil pipeline. Harrelson: The guys from Chevron went in and met with the Taliban and realized those guys just weren't in control enough. That's why they wanted to oust them. Otherwise it's an absurd concept: You're going to war because a guy from some...

TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) -- Rockets slammed into a market northeast of Kabul on Monday, killing 12 civilians but missing their presumed target: a meeting between France's top general in Afghanistan and dozens of tribal elders and senior local officials. The attack also wounded 38 people, 20 of them critically. The market was crowded with shoppers because Monday is bazaar day in Tagab, a sprawling town of mud brick fortress-like compounds and small fields along a river surrounded by the barren slopes and snowcapped peaks of the Hundu Kush mountain range.

Gordon Brown plans to host talks in the new year to discuss timing for handing over the campaign in Afghanistan to the Afghan government. The prime minister said he wanted the Nato meeting to "set a timetable" for transfer starting in 2010.

British forces should buy off potential Taleban recruits with “bags of gold”, according to a new army field manual published yesterday. Army commanders should also talk to insurgent leaders with “blood on their hands” in order to hasten the end of the conflict in Afghanistan. The edicts, which are contained in rewritten counter-insurgency guidelines, will be taught to all new army officers. They mark a strategic rethink after three years in which British and Nato forces have failed to defeat the Taleban. The manual is also a recognition that the Army’s previous doctrine for success against insurgents, which was based...

11/16/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Members of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team here combine resources from the Air Force, Army, Navy, U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Agriculture into one unified effort aimed at the economic, judicial, social, educational and infrastructure development of the Panjshir valley. James DeHart, a State Department member and director of the Panjshir PRT, leads the governance efforts of the team while Lt. Col. Eric Hommel is the PRT commander and exercises command authority over military operations. Both civilian and military expertise and resources are needed in a...

11/16/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- U.S. military and coalition servicemembers who enforce security on Bagram Airfield work closely to accomplish a singular mission to ensure a safe and secure environment. Members of the Air Force's 455th Air Expeditionary Wing coordinate with Task Force Cyclone, Afghan national security guards and Task Force Gladius, Company B, Special Troops Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division members to secure the perimeter of Bagram Airfield and the surrounding areas. Since coming here, Task Force Cyclone and force protection security workers have helped improve the efficiency of the operations around the airfield, said Army Lt. Col....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2009 – Combined Afghan and international forces killed or detained numerous enemy fighters in Afghanistan in recent days, military officials reported. A combined force in Nangarhar province today detained several suspected militants, including a sought-after Taliban facilitator believed to be responsible for numerous weapons shipments to other militant elements in the area. No shots were fired, and no civilians were harmed during the operation. In eastern Paktika province yesterday, a combined force killed a group of enemy militants and detained two suspected militants while pursuing a Haqqani terrorist network commander with ties to the local Haqqani leadership....

ABOARD USS NIMITZ IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, Nov. 16, 2009 – Two soldiers working deep inside this aircraft carrier serve as liaisons between the aviators of Carrier Air Wing 11 and coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan. Army Maj. Johnnie Gallegos and Army Sgt. 1st Class Percy Patterson joined Nimitz Carrier Strike Group as ground liaison officers when Nimitz entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. Their work directly supports a tactical directive issued in July by Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, that places limitations on the use of force that could...

November 16, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Fumbling on AfghanistanBy the Editors President Obama’s deliberations on Afghanistan have begun to take on an element of farce. It’s understandable that he wants to think carefully before almost doubling our force in Afghanistan as requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. But let’s remember: McChrystal is Obama’s hand-picked general, sent to Afghanistan to carry out the “comprehensive� strategy Obama announced in the spring. Obama isn’t drilling down on a strategy that has failed — as Bush had to do in Iraq at the end of 2006 — he’s reconsidering his own strategy before it’s been...

I was a supporter of both the Afghanistan invasion and the Iraq war. I believed then, following the Sept. 11 attacks, that it was a matter of national security to hand Islamic terrorists stunning defeats in their own backyards. Even a year ago, I would have said bringing the troops home prematurely would be tantamount to surrender to an enemy determined to do us in. But that was then. This is now. Things have changed and changed dramatically. The biggest change is one in America's leadership. I do not believe Barack Obama is capable of achieving anything remotely resembling victory...

I earned and wore a Green Beret and have sons doing the same now against a different enemy. There still remains a similar Beltway mindset where strategy is planned by military leaders, then discarded by an Administration seemingly bent on the destruction of what we hold dear. I’m a 70% disabled Vietnam veteran and like many suffer migraines, wear hearing aids, groan when arising, and start each day in pain. However, there is no pain as heart-breaking, as the gut-wrenching ache I feel when I see the President of my country and his staff acting like wimps and appeasers to...

‘A Probabilistic Undertaking’ Sarah Carlsruh, November 16, 2009 “We are now losing in Afghanistan. It is not a slow win. It is not a stalemate,” proclaimed Frederick Kagan at the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) November 4th lecture on the “Afghanistan Strategy: The Way Forward.” Top Commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, requested in an August 31st report to President Barack Obama that 40,000 additional troops be sent to Afghanistan. A September 21st Washington Post article quotes Gen. McChrystal saying that “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months)—while Afghan security capacity matures—risks...

Half a year ago in Cairo, President Obama addressed the Muslim world. Global leftists lauded the speech as heralding instant change in the Middle East. The Obama-adoring pundits were right. Change came. But it's all bad. Instead of listening to the extravagant claims of our leftward-plunging media about how profoundly that speech affected Muslims, let's look at what's actually happened since Obama praised Islam and trashed America: Iran: No nukes? Strategic cooperation? Rule-of-law democracy? Greater freedom for the Iranian people? Naw. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's regime plays Obama like a card sharp working a hick who just showed up with his...

The United States has no long-term stake in Afghanistan and its primary aim is to defeat Al-Qaeda there, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday. "We're not interested in staying in Afghanistan. We have no long-term stake there. We want that to be made very clear," she told ABC news. "We agree that our goal here is to defeat Al-Qaeda. That has been a clear goal and a mission from the president ever since he made his commitment of additional troops back in the spring." "And we understand that the Afghans themselves need help in order to defend...