Monthly U.S. Troop Deaths in Iraq Hit a Two-Year High

Staff / Truthdig Jun 30, 2011 Despite the reduced number of U.S. troops in Iraq, the monthly death toll among Americans there has risen to a two-year high, reached when three soldiers were killed Wednesday in a rocket attack. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: Troop Timetable, Budget Breakdown, Fed Forecast

Staff / Truthdig Jun 25, 2011 So, now we know Obama's big plan for pulling American troops out of Afghanistan, but it hasn't exactly been well received. This week's "Left, Right & Center" panel -- featuring Tony Blankley, Matt Miller, Robert Scheer and Chrystia Freeland -- offers no exception to the naysaying. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Why Does the War Go On?

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Jun 24, 2011 The many contradictions in President Obama's speech about Afghanistan Wednesday night were perhaps intended to obscure the bottom line: Tens of thousands of American troops will remain for at least three more years, some of them will be maimed or killed, and Obama offered no good reason why. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Trapped in Afghanistan

Mike Luckovich / Truthdig Jun 24, 2011 Dig deeper

Bad News for a Country Tired of War

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Jun 23, 2011 Barack Obama’s plan for a limited withdrawal from Afghanistan means tens of thousands of American troops will remain there, many of them fighting, for several years to come. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama Expected to Announce Afghanistan Decision Wednesday

Staff / Truthdig Jun 21, 2011 Set your TiVos: The White House announced Monday that the president will deliver an Afghanistan speech Wednesday. Obama's advisers have been debating how many of the more than 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to bring home, with the military's top brass pushing to keep most there indefinitely. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Spare Us the Propaganda on Afghanistan

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Jun 9, 2011 The White House account of President Barack Obama’s meeting with his Afghanistan team was insultingly vague for anyone wanting to know when—or if—the Afghanistan war will end.Nobody in this White House debate seems to be raising the central question: Why we are there? Dig deeper ( 4 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 )

War Is the New Normal

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Jun 2, 2011 Remember the war, the one in Afghanistan? The recent Memorial Day weekend forced the news media to briefly focus on it. But otherwise the war and its heavy toll have faded from our national consciousness. When historians look back upon this time, they may wonder why the nation was not enraged by the many years spent on two useless wars. Dig deeper ( 4 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 )

Clinton Warns Taliban

Staff / Truthdig Feb 19, 2011 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has some choice words for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, warning of increasing military pressure as the U prepares to resume heavy fighting “They cannot defeat us,” Clinton said as the war in Central Asia is catapulted into its 10th year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Afghan Police Force on Shaky Ground

Staff / Truthdig Dec 13, 2010 New statistics show that the Afghan police force, upon whose shoulders eventual U.S. and British military withdrawal is based, is experiencing an unsustainable rate of attrition that sees one in five recruits bailing every year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )