US paints false picture of Afghan war: officer. Heroin production in Afghanistan has RISEN 61% By David Williams Updated: 10:19 GMT, 17 February 2012 The West is losing the heroin war in Afghanistan – ten years after Tony Blair pledged that wiping out the drug was one of the main reasons for invading the country. Despite spending £18billion and a conflict which has so far cost the lives of almost 400 British troops, production of the class-A drug by Afghan farmers rose between 2001 and 2011 from just 185 tons to a staggering 5,800 tons. It increased by 61 per cent last year alone. Afghan drug war debacle: Blair said smashing opium trade was a major reason to invade but 10 years on heroin production is up from 185 tons a year to. Panetta: U.S., NATO will seek to end Afghan combat mission next year. Current NATO strategy, agreed to at a summit in Lisbon in November 2010, calls for coalition forces to gradually shift to a training, advisory and assistance role with the Afghan military on the way to withdrawing all combat troops by the end of 2014.
The alliance has yet to agree on the pace of that process, however, and Panetta went further than what some in the administration were prepared to say publicly about their own deliberations. “Our goal is to complete all of that transition in 2013,” Panetta told reporters en route to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. “Hopefully by mid- to the latter part of 2013 we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role.” NATO “consultations are ongoing,” said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to clarify the administration’s position. “Until the leaders come together . . . and make a final decision” at their scheduled May summit in Chicago, “nothing is final.” Administration briefs Senate leaders on Taliban transfer. Top Obama administration officials briefed eight senior Senate leaders Tuesday on a pending deal to transfer as many as five Taliban prisoners from the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Qatar.
The Cable staked out the classified briefing in the basement of the Capitol building Tuesday afternoon. The eight senators who attended the briefing were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Intelligence Committee heads Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Senate Armed Services chiefs Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ), and Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN). No ‘Afghanistan’ in new Obama campaign video. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign late Thursday released a Hollywood-caliber campaign film, 16 minutes and 56 seconds of Tom Hanks-narrated footage that trumpets Obama's achievements since taking office three years ago, highlights the challenges still ahead—and never once mentions America's longest war, the conflict in Afghanistan, by name.
The movie, directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim, defends Obama's handling of the economic collapse of 2007-2008, highlights the auto industry bailout, puts the May 2011 raid in Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden at the center of his argument for another four years in the White House, lays out the immediate benefits of his landmark health care overhaul, and notes he fulfilled his promise to withdraw from Iraq. The only Republican critic cited by name is Mitt Romney, whose November 2008 op-ed entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" appears at 5 minutes and 13 seconds into the film.
"And they say 'well, 49 percent chance he's there, 51. Nicolas Sarkozy Weighs Afghan Withdrawal After Soldier Kills 4 French Troops. Panetta: Apparent Marine desecration of Taliban corpses is ‘utterly deplorable’ - Checkpoint Washington. This post has been updated.
Top U.S. officials moved swiftly Thursday to try to prevent diplomatic damage and contain public disgust from the release of a video that appeared to show Marines urinating on three Afghan corpses — images that spread quickly around the globe. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he had viewed the video and considered it “utterly deplorable.” He telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation. United States Marine Corps investigate desecration video, Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai calls footage 'simply inhuman'
A still shot from the video, titled "Marines Humiliating dead Taliban insurgents.
" The United States Marine Corps is investigating the video, which could spark a scandal similar to the Abu Ghraib prison photos. The U.S. Marine Corps is investigating a shocking video that appears to show four Marines cracking wise while desecrating the bodies of three dead Taliban terrorists. Marines video: What’s your reaction? - Post User Polls. Posted at 11:37 AM ET, 01/12/2012 Jan 12, 2012 04:37 PM EST.
U.S. Attempts to Stem Video Outcry. Afghans protest over reported Koran desecration at U.S. base. Nato apologises for Afghan Koran 'disposal' 21 February 2012Last updated at 17:18 A large crowd of protesters gathered outside the sprawling Bagram air base The Nato commander in Afghanistan has apologised over reports foreign troops may have burnt copies of the Koran.
Announcing an inquiry, US Gen John R Allen said any "improper disposal" of religious materials was inadvertent. Reports suggest the books were taken from prisoners after the US uncovered a secret Taliban message system. Karzai urges calm as six die in Afghan Koran protests. Twelve killed in protests across Afghanistan. Afghan soldier kills two U.S. soldiers. 2 Americans Are Killed as Afghan Unrest Enters Fifth Day. Obama apologizes... Carney Sends Afghans Our “Severe Apologies” Welcome to White House Dossier!
You may subscribe at no cost by entering your email address here. You'll receive the free OBAMAGRAM newsletter and updates on breaking White House news. You won't get spammed, and your email address will never be shared. Enjoy the website! White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today offered “severe apologies” to Afghans for the burning of Korans by U.S. soldiers, suggesting kowtowing by the U.S. government to Afghanistan over the incident was necessary to avoid attacks on U.S. troops. Pentagon Official Apologizes at Virginia Mosque for Koran Burnings in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Koran protests claim more lives. 24 February 2012Last updated at 17:57.
U.S. cites heightened threat; 9 killed in Afghan airport bomb. Afghans: Quran-burning soldiers to face trial. Text smaller Text bigger By Jack Minor In a development that could chill the dedication of every soldier in the field, the U.S. government has refused to deny reports by the government of Afghanistan that NATO has agreed to have the soldiers who burned copies of the Quran face trial.
Last week, Afghan president Hamid Karzai demanded NATO turn over the U.S. troops to be tried in Afghanistan. President Obama subsequently sent a letter to Karzai reassuring him that the troops involved would be punished for their actions. Gingrich says Obama "surrendered" by apologizing to Afghans - Political Hotsheet.
With a landslide victory in Nevada, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has all the momentum he needs to propel him to a possible nomination. But as Jan Crawford reports, former front-runner Newt Gingrich still has some fight left in him on the eve of Colorado's caucus. SPOKANE, Wash. -- Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said President Obama "surrendered" Thursday when he apologized to the Afghan government for the burning of several Qurans at an American military base near Kabul. Referring to the burning of "radical Islamic material" that included the Qurans, the former House speaker said the situation had been "blown into a huge incident by various fanatics in Afghanistan.
" Clinton Defends Obama Apology - Alexandra Jaffe. While Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have all criticized President Obama's Afghanistan apology in recent days, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview on Sunday that such rhetoric was "troubling" and could potentially exacerbate the conflict. "I find it somewhat troubling that our politics would enflame such a dangerous situation in Afghanistan," she said in an interview with CNN. Clinton said that "it was the right thing to do" for Obama to apologize for what military officials have called the accidental burning of a number of Korans on a U.S. military base, which led to widespread protests and the killing of several Americans. Clinton also said that her statement yesterday in Tunisia that Obama would be re-elected wasn’t inappropriate, though she did say that, "my enthusiasm for the president got a little out of hand.
" "I know what happens in campaigns,” she said. Taliban to Afghans: Kill foreigners over Quran burnings. At least six people have been killed amid ongoing violence over the improper disposal of Qurans at NATO's main base in Afghanistan. By msnbc.com staff and news services KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban urged Afghans Thursday to target foreign military bases and kill Westerners in retaliation for burnings of copies of the Quran at NATO's main base in the country as a third day of violent protests began. Thousands of demonstrators gathered across the country, some chanting "Death to America! ", Reuters witnesses and officials said. Afghanistan Nato officers shot dead in Kabul ministry.
25 February 2012Last updated at 15:28 The ministry was put in lock-down after the incident Two Nato officers have been killed in the interior ministry in the Afghan capital Kabul, coalition officials say. Nato said an "individual" had turned his gun on the officers but denied earlier reports he was a Westerner. Afghan security officials said those killed were an American colonel and major. Local media reports suggest the incident followed a "verbal clash". Nato commander Gen John Allen said all Nato personnel were being recalled from Afghan ministries on security grounds. Suspect in Afghan Attack ‘Snapped,’ U.S. Official Says. Soldier accused in Afghan killings on his way to Kansas base. Soldier accused in Afghan shooting spree identified as Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. Bales, a 38-year-old married father of two who enlisted in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was flown Friday to a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to await possible criminal charges, according to a U.S.
Army statement. APNewsBreak: New case of Aghan killing Marine. News from The Associated Press. Taliban leaders held at Guantánamo Bay to be released in peace talks deal. Afghan Taliban to open Qatar office for peace talks. A decision by the Afghan Taliban to set up a liaison office in Qatar is the first concrete step in a decade by the militants toward a peace deal, but it shuts out a key negotiating partner — Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government.