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01 Apr 2011 18:26

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U.S.: Koran-burning Terry Jones linked to Afghanistan killings

  • Thoughts on placing blame: Eleven people, among them U.N. officials, were killed in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif today. ABC News reports the killings occurred after a crowd of people protesting Pastor Terry Jones were informed of his completed Koran burnings. To be clear, what Terry Jones did in burning the Koran was at best a crass publicity stunt and at worse bigoted antagonism, and before he did it U.S. military figures warned of possible violent outcomes. He bears a responsibility for his actions, actions which in the strictest literal sense seem to have caused horrific destruction. It should be said, though, that burning a book in almost any definition of civil society can’t be grounds for murder, no matter your affinity for the words printed inside. Keeping this in perspective is important in an honest, nuanced debate on these issues. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Mar 2011 10:05

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World: Protip to U.S. soldiers: Don’t kill civilians and take “kill photos”

  • The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers’ performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations (in Afghanistan).
  • A statement from the U.S. Army • Regarding a series of photos released by German magazine Der Spiegel which show U.S. soldiers taking photos with a man illegally killed in Afghanistan. The “kill photos” were reportedly part of a large series of thousands of photos the Army has tried to keep under wraps, fearing the result could be an even bigger black mark than Abu Ghraib. Some of the soldiers are already being prosecuted for their actions, which involved defenseless Afghan civilians whose deaths were reportedly staged to look like combat casualties. But things could get far worse from here. (Also: If you want to see the photos, look elsewhere.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 21:22

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World: “General Petraeus” and “Charlie Sheen” share same sentence

  • General Petraeus is giving us the Charlie Sheen counter-insurgency strategy, which is to give exclusive interviews to every major network, and to keep saying ‘we’re winning’ and hope the public actually agrees with you.
  • Rep. Lynn Woolsy (D-CA) • Quoting Rolling Stone editor Michael Hastings, who made the comparison at a Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting, on the House Floor. Woolsey wants US troops out of Afghanistan, pronto, and hasn’t taken kindly to the optimism in Petraeus’ recent media blitz. This isn’t the first time she’s come down on Petraeus, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan; in 2010, she accused the general of using “weasel words” to dodge a question about the troops’ withdrawal date. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 13:57

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World: Muammar Gaddafi blames (surprise!) foreigners for uprising

  • Muammar Gaddafi, still horrible: Included in this already striking video showing Libyan rebels firing on a state war plane overhead, Muammar Gaddafi held a press conference of sorts in which he again claimed there isn’t a domestic uprising against him. He said that small groups of dissidents have entered Libya from Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt and Palestine, but rest assured, Libyans are still with him. It’d be amusing, if he weren’t brutally killing his own people. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Dec 2010 11:21

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World: He said, The NYT said: Will Afghan War ground raids reach Pakistan?

  • yeah … The New York Times reported that the U.S. military was looking into expand their Afghan ground raids into tribal areas of Pakistan for purposes of expanding intelligence. The article notes that the U.S. has until now used drones in Pakistan out of fears of a backlash from the Pakistani government.
  • … but NATO denies this, with one commander saying this: “There is absolutely no truth to reporting in The New York Times that US forces are planning to conduct ground operations into Pakistan.” Who’s lying here? Did Jayson Blair write that Times article? Or does NATO not want that info public? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Dec 2010 22:01

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World: Deadly accidental attack in Afghanistan

  • 4 Afghan soldiers mistakenly killed by NATO-led airstrike source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Dec 2010 10:40

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U.S., World: Afghan war report: Troops could start leaving in mid-2011

  • 100k number of troops the U.S. has stationed in Afghanistan right now
  • 30k number of troops Obama added to that total earlier this year
  • 20k troops could leave in 2011 without significantly affecting the war source
  • » The progress so far: Those numbers, which come from the Obama administration’s assessment of the war, suggest that the administration is optimistic about the way things are going – particularly that they’ve stunted the Taliban’s momentum. Hopefully that’s true – a prior report from the US National Intelligence Estimates suggested things were much gloomier.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Dec 2010 14:47

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U.S.: Obama official Richard Holbrooke in critical condition post-surgery

Holbrooke, Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is recovering from emergency surgery to repair a tear in his aorta, which is a really bad spot for a tear. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Dec 2010 11:30

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U.S., World: Obama comes to Afghanistan to test Skype connection with Karzai

  • what President Obama made an unexpected trip to Afghanistan for some strange reason. He’s there right now, kids, and he’ll stay for maybe six hours tops.
  • why His relationship with comically inept Afghan President Hamid Karzai requires some face time. Problem is, due to weather, the closest they’ll get is Skype. Really. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 10:23

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World: Rogue Afghan police officer plays turncoat, kills NATO soldiers

  • 6 NATO troops killed by an Afghan policeman who went rogue source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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