President Karzai’s Half Brother Killed in Afghanistan

Staff / Truthdig Jul 12, 2011 Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was fatally shot at his home in Kandahar on Tuesday by a local police official, Sardar Mohammad, whom Karzai had included in his inner circle The Taliban took credit for the assassination (more). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Drawdown That Wasn’t

Staff / Truthdig Jul 2, 2011 Tom Engelhardt, a fellow at The Nation Institute and creator and editor of TomDispatch.com, takes a close accounting of President Obama's Afghanistan speech delivered in late June, in which Americans were told that this year the U.S. would begin winding down its war in that country. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Leave the Shooters Until Last,’ Gates Urges

Staff / Truthdig Jun 6, 2011 Ahead of policy deliberations in Washington, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates argued for a modest approach to the U troop drawdown in Afghanistan that will begin next month He favors the removal of support forces in a strategy that would leave as much "combat power" in place as possible until the war's end . Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Karzai Plans for Transfer of Control in 7 Regions

Staff / Truthdig Mar 23, 2011 Come July, foreign forces will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, coinciding with President Hamid Karzai's plan to begin returning seven regions of his country back to local control. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Afghanistan MIA From Deficit Debate

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Mar 16, 2011 While Republicans race to cut spending, including outlays for education, health care and social services, they never mention one of the real reasons for the deficit: the cost of the war in Afghanistan and the mess we’ve made in Iraq. The Republican goal is clear. It has nothing to do with America’s longest war. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Obama’s 2010 Successes and Failures in the Middle East

Juan Cole / Truthdig Dec 21, 2010 As the decade draws to a close, it is clear that the bright hopes inspired by Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech have markedly faded, and the disappointments have outweighed achievements in the most important arena for contemporary American foreign policy.The disappointments have outweighed achievements in the most important arena for contemporary American foreign policy. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Holbrooke’s Last Words

Staff / Truthdig Dec 15, 2010 Richard Holbrooke was apparently preoccupied with his role as the Obama administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan until the very end, discussing the ongoing conflicts in those two countries up until he went into surgery for the heart problem that led to his death Monday. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

WikiLeaks

Pavel Constantin, Cagle Cartoons, Romania Dec 7, 2010 Dig deeper

World According to WikiLeaks

Taylor Jones, Cagle Cartoons, Politicalcartoons.com Dec 7, 2010 Dig deeper

Hillary Gets Wiki-Served

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Dec 1, 2010 Hillary Clinton should cut out the whining about what the Obama administration derides as “stolen cables” and confront the unpleasant truths they reveal about the contradictions of U.S. foreign policy and her own troubling performance. Hillary Clinton should cut out the whining about what the Obama administration derides as “stolen cables” and confront the unpleasant truths they reveal. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Pentagon Calls 2014 Afghanistan Withdrawal ‘Aspirational’

Staff / Truthdig Nov 19, 2010 Hamid Karzai and NATO would like Afghan forces to take over the country's security by 2014, a goal Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell calls "aspirational," as in "There may very well be the need for forces to remain in-country  " (more jibber-jabber after the jump). Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Petraeus, Clinton Criticize Karzai’s Criticism of Strategy

Staff / Truthdig Nov 16, 2010 Hamid Karzai is acting up. The Afghan president, who rankled top U.S. brass earlier this year with hints at split loyalties, has again come out with some fightin' words against the American war effort in his country. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )