More Than 200 Taliban Fighters Die in Afghan Clash

Staff / Truthdig Sep 3, 2006 Two thousand NATO and Afghan soldiers are involved in the largest military operation to occur in southern Afghanistan since NATO took over the area in early July. The explosion of violence in the area has taken the lives of over 200 Taliban fighters and of four Canadian soldiers. A UK reconnaissance plane also crashed, killing 14 people. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Talks Nonsense With Brian Williams

Staff / Truthdig Aug 30, 2006 Watch with amazement as our commander in chief mangles the English language, and speaks nonsensically about the war in Iraq, America's standing in the world, his relationship with his father, and Albert Camus. (Via crooksandliars) A must-see! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Faced With Reality, Coulter Walks

Staff / Truthdig Aug 25, 2006 When conservative hate mistress Ann Coulter told two Democratic strategists on Fox News that Afghanistan was "going swimmingly," they went to town on her, and Coulter cut her interview short. Watch it. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Military Prepping New ‘Pentagon Papers’

Staff / Truthdig Aug 17, 2006 The Pentagon has ordered up a series of studies to examine the military's failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports the Boston Globe. According to one of the authors, the findings (scheduled for this fall) "won't be pretty." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Hillary Brutally Spanks Rumsfeld Over Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Aug 4, 2006 Hillary Clinton raked Donald Rumsfeld over the coals on Thursday over his "failed" prosecution of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She closed with a knockout punch: "Given your track record, Secretary Rumsfeld, why should we believe your assurances now?" (video and transcript) Rumsfeld was left sputtering. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Playing the Atheism Card Against Pat Tillman’s Family

Stan Goff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2006 The family of slain NFL-player-turned-Army-Ranger Pat Tillman may have been irreligious, but does that mean they're not entitled to the truth about the fratricide that killed their son? New Truthdig contributor Stan Goff, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who has written extensively on the topic, probes for the truth. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

The Child Brides of Afghanistan

Staff / Truthdig Jul 11, 2006 The N.Y. Times presents a photo essay on girls as young as 11 being married off to men three or four times their age, sometimes to settle gambling debts. The last line of the accompanying textual essay is as heartbreaking as anything you'll ever read. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Army Equipment Costs for Two Wars Will Triple

Staff / Truthdig Jun 27, 2006 The annual cost of replacing, repairing and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than triple next year to more than $17 billion, according to Army documents obtained by the Associated Press And we still can't find the money for schools, healthcare, environmental-technology research oh, never mind . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Afghanistan Spiraling Ever Downward

Staff / Truthdig Jun 26, 2006 Afghan President Hamid Karzai is proving unable to control the insurgency that is terrorizing large swaths of the country. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gitmo and Afghanistan Interrogation Tactics Exposed

Staff / Truthdig Jun 19, 2006 In a new book, a medical ethicist has compiled a list of interrogation techniques documented at US detention centers in Guantanamo and Afghanistan They include: external electric shocks; beating; punching with fists; use of truncheons; stretching or suspension (to tear ligaments or muscles to cause asphyxia) UPDATE: An L Times reporter writes that the barring of U reporters from Gitmo "make[s] us all the more determined to question, probe and illuminate the actions of our government being waged in the country's name" . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Anti-U.S. Riots in Kabul Show Mission Unaccomplished

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2006 A traffic incident in the Afghan capital led to rumors of an American-on-Afghan massacre. Massive riots ensued. Bitter resentment of occupying U.S. forces has been laid bare. "Today has set us back 10 years," said a NATO-employed Afghani security worker. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Hasn’t Curbed Torture: Report

Staff / Truthdig May 3, 2006 Amnesty International's report says the US has failed to eradicate "widespread" torture in its jails in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba Also, no senior U officials have been held accountable for the practices . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )