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Keyword: afghanistan

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  • The Great Draft Dodge: Karl Eikenberry and what Americans lost when they stopped fighting

    12/15/2014 10:06:12 PM PST · by 2ndDivisionVet · 91 replies
    National Journal ^ | December 13, 2014 | James Kitfield
    Karl Eikenberry couldn't understand why the staff sergeant insisted that he take a loaded pistol to patrol the barracks. The West Point cadet was in Hawaii for the summer, serving as a staff duty officer with the 25th Infantry Division, which had recently returned from Vietnam. It was his job on weekend nights to ensure good order. "Why would I take a sidearm?" Eikenberry asked. "In case you need it, that's why," replied the sergeant. As soon as he entered a darkened barracks building, Eikenberry says, he understood why his staff sergeant was so nervous. Soldiers were gathered in small...
  • The ACLU vs. America

    12/15/2014 12:20:44 PM PST · by Starman417 · 5 replies
    Flopping Aces ^ | 12-15-14 | Wordsmith
    Nope. Not their war against Christmas; but their war against our military: The Obama administration is withholding hundreds, perhaps even thousands of photographs showing the U.S. government’s brutal treatment of detainees, meaning that revelations about detainee abuse could well continue, possibly compounding the outrage generated by the Senate “torture report” now in the public eye. Some photos show American troops posing with corpses; others depict U.S. forces holding guns to people’s heads or simulating forced sodomization. All of them could be released to the public, depending on how a federal judge in New York rules—and how hard the government fights...
  • [Sydney] Hostage-taker named as radical Muslim cleric Man Haron Monis

    12/15/2014 6:19:13 AM PST · by Cincinatus' Wife · 47 replies
    Channel 9 News ^ | December 15, 2014
    Radical Muslim cleric Sheik Man Haron Monis has been revealed to be the ringleader in the Sydney cafe siege that has seen up to 30 people held hostage for more than 10 hours. Monis was born Manteghi Bourjerdi and fled from Iran to Australia in 1996 where he changed his name to Man Haron Monis and assuming the title of Sheik Haron. He has gained media attention in the past for a "hate mail" campaign, protesting the presence of Australian troops in Afghanistan. The campaign saw him and his partner Amirah Droudis post hate-filled letters to the families of dead...
  • Green Berets took lead in war to rebuild Afghanistan

    12/15/2014 5:35:12 AM PST · by huldah1776 · 18 replies
    The Virginia Pilot (pilotonline.com) ^ | December 15, 2014 | Drew Brooks
    CAMP VANCE, Afghanistan Michael Sullivan was training to join the Special Forces when he and his fellow soldiers had a real-world lesson to talk about in a food court on Fort Bragg. On Sept. 9, 2001, suicide attackers posing as journalists assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, a leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. The Green Beret trainees were familiar with the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, Sullivan said. They knew Massoud was seen as a threat to the Taliban regime. Two days later, on Sept. 11, Sullivan - then a captain - was signing for textbooks for his language courses when...
  • Soldiers from NYC, Arizona killed in Afghanistan [Fort Hood, Lost 2]

    12/14/2014 5:18:06 PM PST · by huldah1776 · 10 replies
    Star Tribune ^ | December 14, 2014 | Associated Press
    The Department of Defense says an Army sergeant from New York City has been killed in Afghanistan. A soldier from Arizona was also killed. Military officials say Sgt. Ramon Morris, 37, and Spc. Wyatt Martin, 22, died Dec. 12 in Parwan province. The men died from wounds suffered when their vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device.
  • Qatar broke promise with US, allowed Gitmo detainee to leave the country

    12/14/2014 4:33:49 PM PST · by Nachum · 44 replies
    jihad watch ^ | 12/14/14 | Robert Spencer
    Relying on allies that aren’t allies is yet another consequence of the Washington establishment’s determined refusal to face the realities of the jihad, and to formulate policy based on those realities. “Qatar ‘broke promise to US over Guantanamo detainee,'” by David Blair, the Telegraph, December 12, 2014 (thanks to Lookmann): Qatar broke an “explicit” promise by allowing a former Guantánamo detainee who had trained with al-Qaeda to leave the country and visit Britain, a new report has found. Jarallah al-Marri, who attended an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan before the terrorist attacks on September 11, was freed from Guantánamo in...
  • What Ferguson Protesters Did To A Slain Police Officer Will Infuriate You

    12/14/2014 10:45:18 AM PST · by GrandJediMasterYoda · 26 replies
    tpnn.com ^ | 12/14/14 | By Kristina Hall
    What Ferguson Protesters Did To A Slain Police Officer Will Infuriate You By Kristina Hall Officer Jeremy Henwood was shot and killed while sitting in his police cruiser just moments after he bought a young boy his meal at McDonald’s, because the young man couldn’t afford it. Officer Henwood was a decorated HERO who served several tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine combat veteran. In those final moments when he took his wallet out and helped a boy from his community, it truly showed just what kind of man he was. After purchasing the young...
  • Deadly suicide bombing interrupts play condemning suicide bombings

    12/11/2014 1:34:59 PM PST · by wtd · 3 replies
    CNN ^ | 12/11/2014 1 hour ago | Massoud Popalzai
    CNN: Deadly suicide bombing interrupts play condemning suicide bombings"Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)-- A suicide bomber detonated explosives Thursday inside a French-funded school in Kabul during a play that condemns suicide attacks, leading to deaths and numerous injuries, the French foreign "
  • Afghan woman shocks onlookers by baring her legs

    12/11/2014 8:48:04 AM PST · by george76 · 34 replies
    ny post ^ | December 11, 2014 | Michael Hechtman
    Here’s the mystery woman who ditched her burqa in Afghanistan and sauntered around Kabul with her legs showing — stunning onlookers and scandalizing the country’s mullahs. “I was shocked,’’ the man who took the photo, local journalist Hayat Ensafi, told the BBC. “I know I had to catch this special moment because I never saw a woman here walking down the streets like this.’’ He tried to talk to her, “but she walked very fast and didn’t talk to me at all.’’ He posted the shot on Facebook and it has gone viral. “The whole city of Kabul is shocked,’’...
  • Why I Voted against Condemning Russia

    12/11/2014 5:01:57 AM PST · by wetphoenix · 10 replies
    The National Interest ^ | December 10, 2014 | Dana Rohrabacher
    Recently, the House passed, by an overwhelming margin, a resolution to condemn the Russian Federation for actions considered hostile and aggressive within its sphere of influence, specifically with regard to the politically torn country of Ukraine. Ten Members voted “nay,” myself among them. I wish to explain why I took this unpopular position. Above all, while Vladimir Putin’s government may well have engaged in questionable behavior toward neighboring countries, Resolution 758 was nothing more than gratuitous, needlessly provocative and shortsighted. Moreover, reasonable observers the world over can see it as tantamount to a declaration that Russia is America’s enemy. The...
  • Suicide bomber attacks Afghan army bus in Kabul, six killed

    12/10/2014 11:18:31 PM PST · by Racehorse · 4 replies
    Reuters ^ | 11 Dec 2014 | Hamid Shalizi
    A suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Afghan army personnel, killing six soldiers and wounding 11 on Thursday on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, the Defense Ministry. Five Afghan school children were also reported killed in a foreign forces airstrike, local officials said. The international coalition had no immediate comment. Thursday's bombing comes after almost a two-week lull in Taliban attacks in Kabul in the wake of a wave of bombings on guesthouses, government officials and vehicles of foreign aid workers in the heavily-guarded capital last month. Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent months in Afghanistan...
  • Pakistan Says Top Al-Qaida Militant Killed in Raid (A big one - Jafar the Pilot)

    12/06/2014 7:03:12 AM PST · by Straight Vermonter · 16 replies
    ABC/AP ^ | 12/6/14 | MUNIR AHMED Associated Press
    Pakistani soldiers killed a top al-Qaida operative Saturday who was indicted in the U.S. for his alleged involvement in a plot to bomb New York's subway system, the military said in a statement. The death of Adnan Shukrijumah is the latest blow to the terror organization still reeling from the 2011 killing of leader Osama bin Laden and now largely eclipsed by the militant Islamic State group. It also marks a major achievement for the Pakistani military, which mounted a widespread military operation in the northwest this summer. The military announced Shukrijumah's death in a statement, saying that he was...
  • Centcom: No Clear Links to Taliban in Killing of Army Two-Star

    12/04/2014 6:24:11 PM PST · by PROCON · 9 replies
    freebeacon.com ^ | Dec. 4, 2014 | Bill Gertz
    Military blames 'self-radicalized' Afghan cop for attack that killed general, wounded 18An investigation into the Afghan national police officer who shot and killed a U.S. Army general in Kabul last August found “no clear evidence” the shooter was part of the Taliban or a terrorist group, according to a U.S. Central Command report. The report into the shooting, which killed Maj. Gen. Harold Greene and wounded 18 others during a visit to the Afghan National Defense University, stated that the shooter, Rafiqullah Tashkera was a “self-radicalized” jihadist. Rafiqullah opened fired on a group of soldiers that had gathered for a...
  • Answers Needed On Bergdahl Ransom Payment

    12/03/2014 9:44:56 AM PST · by raptor22 · 9 replies
    Investor's Business Daily ^ | December 3, 2014 | IBD EDITORIALS
    Oversight: A House Armed Services Committee member asks for a probe into reports that money was paid in a failed attempt to ransom alleged deserter Bowe Bergdahl. And where's that Bergdahl investigation report, anyway? Back on Oct. 16 we noted that the Pentagon had completed its investigation into Sgt. Bergdahl's abandonment of his Afghan post. But the report by Brig. Gen. Kenneth Dahl would not be released, according to an Army spokesman, until the end of a review process that was likely to be conveniently lengthy, lasting at least until after the midterm elections. It has now been over six...
  • War contractors ready for battle against Islamic State

    12/03/2014 8:28:04 AM PST · by Timber Rattler · 6 replies
    Stars & Stripes ^ | December 1, 2014 | Jennifer Koons
    President Barack Obama has stressed that the U.S.-led coalition fight against the Islamic State can be won without “boots on the ground.” But it depends on who’s wearing the boots. Thousands of private security contractors, who played critical, below-the-radar and at times controversial roles in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are being asked to consider joining this latest battle against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria and possibly elsewhere in the Middle East. What specific jobs they will fill, and which departments or countries will be paying for their services, remains to be seen. But the demand for their...
  • A-10 Warthog retirement debated after replacement’s role in ‘friendly fire’ deaths

    12/01/2014 9:17:03 AM PST · by george76 · 103 replies
    Washington Times ^ | November 30, 2014 | Rowan Scarborough
    A large association of battlefield target spotters has written to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to oppose the planned retirement of A-10 Warthog strike jets — a debate that now encompasses the “friendly fire” deaths of five American soldiers in Afghanistan. The A-10 endorsement from the Tactical Air Control Party Association is significant because, outside of the Warthog’s pilots themselves, perhaps no other warriors know its ability to protect ground troops under fire better than the ground controllers who guide it to enemy targets. ... The five fatalities occurred on June 9, when a B-1B strategic bomber — a planned replacement...
  • Taliban Invent & Deploy Bird Bomb in Northern Afghanistan ...

    11/29/2014 1:51:33 PM PST · by DogByte6RER · 39 replies
    Khaama Press ^ | Sat Nov 29 2014, | MIRWAIS JALALZAI
    Police defuse a bird bomb in northern Afghanistan For the first time Afghan police discover and defused a bomb which was planted in a bird’s body in northern Faryab province. Faryab is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, which is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. According to local police, the suspicious bird was flying over a police check point on Faryab- Jawzjan high way in Shereen Tagab distract, when police start tracking it. “The bird which also had a GPS on the top of his head was used by unknown sources possibly Taliban against...
  • Grieving Afghan mother takes bloody revenge by killing 25 Taliban militants

    11/26/2014 12:16:08 PM PST · by bunkerhill7 · 38 replies
    The Daily Mail ^ | November 26, 1 2014 | Henry Austin
    Reza Gul looked on as the militants attacked her son's police checkpoint Flanked by her daughter and daughter in law she led the fightback The Taliban remain tight lipped about the attack
  • U.S. to leave more troops than first planned in Afghanistan: sources

    11/25/2014 3:11:19 PM PST · by huldah1776 · 9 replies
    Orlando Sentinal ^ | November 25, 2014 | Tribune wire report
    The United States is preparing to increase the number of troops it keeps in Afghanistan in 2015 to fill a gap left in the NATO mission by other contributing nations, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The final numbers are still being agreed, but there will be at least several hundred more than initially planned, one of the sources said. "If they hadn't done that, the mission would have lost bases," the source said. Under the U.S. commitment, described as a "bridging solution" until other nations fulfill their pledges later in the year or the troops...
  • Defense Secretary Hagel Is Out – Too Stupid For Even Obama

    11/24/2014 12:11:43 PM PST · by 2ndDivisionVet · 34 replies
    Gateway Pundit ^ | November 24, 2014 | Jim Hoft
    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was fired by the Obama administration today. The former senator is even too stupid for Obama. Obama said Hagel had “been in the dirt” of combat like no other defense chief. The New York Times reported: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel handed in his resignation on Monday, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama’s Democratic majority in the Senate and the struggles of his national security team to respond to an onslaught of global crises. In announcing Mr. Hagel’s resignation from the State Dining Room on Monday, the president, flanked by Mr. Hagel and...