NewsRack: newstrust/Afghanistan

Afghan Avalanches Kill at Least 28 - International Herald Tribune: Front Page

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

At least 28 people are dead and another 1,500 are stranded following multiple avalanches in Afghanistan.

Operation Breakfast redux - asia times

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The escalating drone war of the United States in the Pakistani tribal borderlands has ominous parallels with Richard Nixon's secret bombing in Cambodia 40 years ago to destroy a "Bamboo Pentagon", where North Vietnamese communists were supposedly orchestrating raids deep into South Vietnam. Could the US be repeating the same mistakes that brought the Khmer Rouge to power? - Pratap Chatterjee (Feb 9, '10)

Islamabad can't give an inch - asia times

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The United States has nudged Pakistan and India closer, bending over backwards to reassure each of their strategic importance. But Pakistan stands to lose popular support if it concedes to Indian demands without gaining concessions, while its greatest fear remains militants infiltrating its larger cities and unleashing the type of havoc witnessed recently in Karachi. - Zahid U Kramet (Feb 9, '10)

AN INDIA-PAKISTAN TEST : India papers over cracks - asia times

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The growing realization within India's policymaking elite that instability in Pakistan is detrimental to India's security and economy has led to optimism in Delhi over renewed India-Pakistan dialogue. However, the countries' conflicting approaches to Afghanistan, a continued atmosphere of mistrust and the precarious state of Pakistan's leadership mean that reconciliation is less likely than renewed conflict. - Chietigj Bajpaee (Feb 9, '10)

Marines wait in the cold for Afghan offensive - Boston Globe: Latest

Alfred de Montesquiou, Associated Press Writer — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Marines wait in the cold for Afghan offensive

US Marines expectantly await battle in harsh Afghan desert winter - Star Tribune: World

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

NATO: Afghans to play big role in offensive - MSNBC

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Thousands of Afghan soldiers and police will join U.S. and NATO troops in an offensive in southern Afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the Afghan war. ...

UK to launch civilian aid group - BBC: Front Page

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

A UK civilian stabilisation group is to be launched later to help rebuild countries hit by conflict or disaster.

NATO: Afghans to play big role in offensive - Salt Lake Tribune

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Camp Shorabak, Afghanistan » Thousands of Afghan soldiers and police will join U.S. and NATO troops in an upcoming offensive in southern Afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the Afghan war.

NATO says Afghans to play big role in offensive - San Jose Mercury News: Politics

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

CAMP SHORABAK, Afghanistan — Thousands of Afghan soldiers and police will join U.S. and NATO troops in an upcoming offensive in southern Afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the Afghan war.

Afghan assault on Taliban to test US strategy - Hindustan Times: World

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

A planned assault on a major Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan is the first real test of a new US-led counter-insurgency strategy to re-establish government control and end the war.

Afghans flee Taliban redoubt ahead of NATO onslaught - Feature - Earth Times

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Kandahar, Afghanistan - Hundreds of villagers are fleeing a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan ahead of a much-publicized major operation by Afghan and NATO troops expected in the coming days. NATO and Afghan military officials have been publ...

Taliban defiant as Afghans flee ahead of assault - TheNews RSS Feeds - Top Stories

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

KANDAHAR: The Nato commanders urged the Taliban to surrender as troops dug in on Monday for a major assault on their key stronghold in southern Afghan

Britain hits grim milestone before major attack in southern Afghanistan - Star Tribune: World

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Two Nato troops killed - Nation : Last Twenty Four Hours News

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Two Nato troops killed

Quitting Isn't An Option - TOI: Editorial

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Signal to Afghan Taliban that NATO is in this fight to win

Destabilizing Pakistan - Mother Jones

Pratap Chatterjee — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website. Sitting in air-conditioned comfort, cans of Coke and 7-Up within reach as they watched their screens, the ground controllers gave the order to strike under the cover of darkness. There had been no declaration of war. No advance warning, nothing, in fact, that would have alerted the "enemy" to the sudden, unprecedented bombing raids. The secret computer-guided strikes were authorized by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, just weeks after a new American president entered the Oval Office. They represented an effort to wipe out the enemy"s central headquarters whose location intelligence experts claimed to have pinpointed just across the border from the war-torn land where ...

Afghans flee before assault - Hindustan Times: News

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

NATO commanders called on the Taliban to surrender as troops dug in on Monday for a major assault on one of the last insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan, sending thousands of residents fleeing.

NATO says Afghans to play big role in offensive - Boston Globe: Latest

Alfred de Montesquiou, Associated Press Writer — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

NATO says Afghans to play big role in offensive

Open plan - BBC: World

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Why surprise plays little part in latest Afghan operation

Open plan - BBC South Asia

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Why surprise plays little part in latest Afghan operation

VA is prodded to give more aid to female vets - LA Times: Top News

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

VA is prodded to give more aid to female vets

Stop the Green Tech Coup, Military Industry of the Offensive - Truthout.com

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Environmental NGO's have been uncritically thumping the green tech funding plank and they're generating funding that could be harder to hold onto than a fistful of sand in the Iraqi oilfields.

US troops who have died while serving in Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa - Star Tribune: Nation

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Operation Breakfast Redux: Could Pakistan 2010 Go the Way of Cambodia 1969? - Truthout.com

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Sitting in air-conditioned comfort, cans of Coke and 7-Up within reach as they watched their screens, the ground controllers gave the order to strike under the cover of darkness. There had been no declaration of war. No advance warning, nothing, in fact, that would have alerted the "enemy" to the sudden, unprecedented bombing raids. The secret computer-guided strikes were authorized by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, just weeks after a new American president entered the Oval Office.