Considering 2008 was the most violent year in Afghanistan since the 2001 American invasion and predictions that 2009 would be even worse, it hardly seems a shock that the winter of 2008-09 has been quite a bit more violent than normal. Yet Colonel Pete Johnson gave...
Rival Candidates Urge Karzai to Resign
Just one day after Afghanistan's Election Commission overturned President Hamid Karzai's decision to hold the presidential election, as the constitution requires, before his term ends on May 22, rival candidates said they felt Karzai should resign at the end of his...
Clinton Proposes Afghanistan Conference, Then Presses for Iran’s Inclusion
Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed a high-level international conference on Afghanistan, which would be sponsored by the United Nations and would seek to arrive at a "common set of principles, perhaps embodied in a chairman's statement, on a common way...
Karzai Overruled: Afghan Election Will Be Delayed After All
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's decision earlier this month to overturn the ruling of the Election Commission to delay the election to August 20 has itself been overturned, and the commission has once again set the date for August 20. Holding the election in August...
French DM Urges Date for NATO Pullout From Afghanistan
When NATO agrees on its latest strategy for the war in Afghanistan, French Defense Minister Herve Morin believes that they should set a specific timetable for its goals and for the "start of the withdrawal of alliance forces." Over seven years into the war, the...
Karzai Condemned for ‘Early’ Elections
On January 29, the Afghan Election Commission decided to delay the nation's presidential elections until at least August 20. This would've effectively kept Afghan President Hamid Karzai in office for several months after his term ends (on May 22), and was publicly...
Afghans Protest Alleged NATO Gunshots in Mosque
Hundreds of angry protesters in Afghanistan's Ghazni Province blocked roads and clashed with police today in protest over a reported incident in which Polish soldiers fired on a village mosque. The Polish Defense Ministry denied any knowledge of any sort of incident...
Karzai Expected to Call Snap Elections on Friday
It is being reported that Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai will, on Friday, declare a snap election for April 21. The move is coming amid pressure from the opposition regarding the constitutionality of delays to the election. The Afghan Election Commission had...
Gates: US Might Accept Eventual Truce in Afghanistan
Asked by a Pakistani reporter whether the Swat Valley truce between the Pakistani government and militants could serve as a model for a similar deal in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates replied that "if there is a reconciliation, if insurgents are willing...
Afghans Say 13 Civilians Killed in US-Led Strike
Afghan authorities confirmed today that at least 13 civilians, including six women and two children, were killed in a US missile strike near Herat. The US said the strike targeted a "key insurgent commander." Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rick Helmer said in a...