Afghan outrage builds from shooting massacre. Updated at 3:31 p.m. ET (CBS/AP) BALANDI, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents opened fire on two brothers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as they left a memorial service Tuesday for 16 villagers allegedly killed by a U.S. soldier. Qayum and Shah Wali Karzai and other top Afghan officials in their delegation escaped in their cars unharmed from the ambush in the country's south. CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark reports that one Afghan soldier was killed in the attack. The soldier was protecting the two men as part of a high-level government delegation that was visiting one of the two villages where the killings took place. Two other Afghan army personnel were wounded in the 20-minute firefight that ensued in one of the two villages in Kandahar province where the killings had occurred two days before.
Hayden: Early Afghan withdrawal undercuts goalsAfghan shooting suspect could face death penaltyTaliban: We'll "behead" U.S. troops over massacre Panetta said he was awaiting plans from Gen. G.I.' Afghan official: Video shows soldier surrendering. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.S. soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers on a rampage was caught on surveillance video that showed him walking up to his base, laying down his weapon and raising his arms in surrender, according to an Afghan official who viewed the footage.
The official said Wednesday there were also two to three hours of video footage covering the time of the attack that Afghan investigators are trying to get from the U.S. military. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. U.S. authorities showed their Afghan counterparts the video of the surrender to prove that only one perpetrator was involved in Sunday's shootings, the official said. The shootings, which claimed the lives of nine children among the 16 dead, has further strained already shaky relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan. Some Afghan officials and residents in the villages that were attacked have insisted there was more than one shooter. U.S. U.N. Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghanistan Agree on Detainee Transfer. One soldier, one year: $850,000 and rising. By Larry Shaughnessy Keeping one American service member in Afghanistan costs between $850,000 and $1.4 million a year, depending on who you ask.
But one matter is clear, that cost is going up. During a budget hearing today on Capitol Hill, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, asked Department of Defense leaders, "What is the cost per soldier, to maintain a soldier for a year in Afghanistan? " Under Secretary Robert Hale, the Pentagon comptroller, responded "Right now about $850,000 per soldier. " Conrad seemed shocked at the number. "That kind of takes my breath away, when you tell me it's $850,000," Conrad said A Pentagon spokesman later said a more accurate figure is $815,000 a year. Regardless of which number is used Sen. "The cost per troop in Afghanistan has averaged $1.2 million per troop per year," the center's Todd Harrison wrote in an analysis of last year's Department of Defense budget.
Why the difference? But one thing is clear, the cost is rising. Taliban reject Karzai claim of secret meetings. NEW: The Taliban reject the claim that there have been meetingsNEW: Karzai's government only has "propaganda," the Taliban sayKarzai tells the Wall Street Journal his government has held talks with the TalibanKarzai is in Pakistan for discussions Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Taliban rejected a claim Thursday by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that it was taking part in secret talks with the Afghan government. "The Islamic Emirate strongly rejects Karzai's remarks and adds that the Islamic Emirate has never met with the representatives of the powerless Kabul administration, and has made no decision to hold talks with the Karzai government, even in the future," the Taliban said in a statement e-mailed to CNN.
Karzai's assertion suggested a change in course for peace efforts, because the Taliban has long publicly refused to meet with Karzai's government, and Afghan officials have complained they were largely sidelined in talks taking place between the United States and the Taliban. 32 senators call for 'no containment' strategy for Iran. A group of 32 senators from both parties unveiled a new Senate resolution Thursday that would establish the sense of the Congress that containing a nuclear Iran is not an option. The resolution, which will be formally introduced later today, "strongly supports U.S. policy to prevent the Iranian government from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and rejects any policy that would rely on efforts to ‘contain' a nuclear weapons capable Iran," and "urges the president to reaffirm the unacceptability of an Iran with nuclear-weapons capability and oppose any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat.
" A group of senators held a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill to explain the thinking behind the resolution and reinforce its bipartisan character, including Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Getty Images. Karzai Says Afghanistan Has Joined Talks With Taliban. The Afghanistan Report the Pentagon Doesn't Want You to Read | Michael Hastings.