Tag Archives: afghanistan

Afghanistan: Moving Toward a Distant Endgame

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested last week that the United States could wrap up combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2013, well before the longstanding 2014 deadline when full control is to be ceded to Kabul. Troops would remain in Afghanistan … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , | Leave a comment

‘At each other’s throats’

ISLAMABAD — Al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open warfare between the two most powerful Pakistani Taliban leaders, militant sources have said. Hakimullah Mehsud, the head … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Canada’s quest to turn Afghanistan’s army of phantoms into fighters

The current rate at which Afghan soldiers walk away from their jobs, and other kinds of attrition from the army, will make it difficult to adequately build up the force before international troops leave the country in 2014, a top … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged | Leave a comment

Full story of SEAL mission in question

By the time the CH-47 transport helicopter descended to 150 feet above an unprotected landing zone in Afghanistan around 2 a.m. on Aug. 6, the element of surprise had been lost. Hours earlier, two other Chinooks had deposited 47 Army … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Meet the Haqqanis

Unlike the Taliban, Afghanistan’s Haqqani network fields “world-class fighters” who are keen to disrupt the peace process Afghanistan has long been a place where hope is in short supply. Its neighbours are hostile and meddlesome. Its government and institutions are … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , | Leave a comment

NATO halts transfer of detainees to Afghan jails

Faced with new evidence of torture by Afghan police and security forces, NATO’s top commander has ordered an immediate halt to detainee transfers, a controversial practice for Canadian and other foreign contingents for years. The order – only days before … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Half of NATO’s trainers could stay in Afghanistan past 2014: colonel

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO trainers will continue to mentor and train Afghan army and police for years past the pullout deadline of 2014, said Col. Peter Dawe, deputy commander of the Canadian contribution to the NATO training mission. Dawe told … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Nasir: Afghanistan – Two Funerals and a Policy Disaster?

Within a week,  two top advisors to Afghan President Hamid Karzai have been killed. The murders of Jan Muhammad Khan, a former provincial governor, and Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s own half-brother, underline the fact that the war in Afghanistan … Continue reading

Posted in Web Logs | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan

TEHRAN—Iran’s elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior U.S. officials, in a bid to accelerate the U.S. withdrawals from these countries. … Continue reading

Posted in Featured | Tagged , , | Leave a comment