NEWSWORTHY
In valley where Soviets were routed, Afghans are uneasy about prospect of U.S. withdrawal
The last time Abdul Karim saw Soviet forces he was a teenage mujahedeen fighter shivering on an Afghan mountainside, clutching his Kalashnikov and wondering if winter or the Russians would bring death first. "But then I heard (mujahedeen commander) Ahmad Shah Massoud over the walkie ...
New acting Pentagon chief makes global debut with status uncertain and no military experience
At an extraordinary moment in Pentagon history, a former business executive with little political stature and without military experience is making his international debut as the acting U.S. secretary of defense. After conferring Monday with Afghan leaders and American military commanders and diplomats in Kabul, ...
Top Pentagon official in Afghanistan amid push for peace
The Pentagon's top official made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with U.S. commanders and Afghan leaders amid a push for peace with the Taliban. Pat Shanahan, the recently installed acting secretary of defense, said he has no orders to reduce the ...
Long a spoiler, Pakistan quietly starts aiding U.S.-Taliban talks
Pakistan, long at odds with the United States over the war in Afghanistan, has begun to play a behind-the-scenes but central role in supporting U.S. peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, including by facilitating travel to negotiations, U.S. officials and Taliban sources say. The Pakistani ...
U.S. rebukes Germany for deporting wanted Islamic militant to Turkey
The United States sharply rebuked Germany on Thursday for deporting a wanted Islamic militant to Turkey instead of extraditing him to New York to stand trial on terror-related charges. Adem Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen, has been charged by a U.S. federal grand jury with conspiring ...
By abandoning Afghanistan, the Trump administration is repeating one of the worst foreign policy mistakes of the past few decades.
The Taliban said Monday they will participate in what they call "intra-Afghan" talks in Moscow designed to bring together prominent Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai, opposition figures and tribal elders — but no Kabul government officials. The two-day meeting in the Russian capital, ...
U.S. President Donald Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran "because Iran is a real problem," according to a CBS interview to be broadcast on Sunday. The Republican president ...
In rebuke to Trump, 68-23 Senate vote opposes pulling U.S. forces from Syria and Afghanistan
In a bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump, the Senate voted 68-23 Thursday to advance an amendment that would oppose withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The amendment by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell comes after Trump called for a drawdown of troops ...
Fears grow that Trump will rush Afghan exit, leaving country in same chaos as when U.S. invaded
Trump administration claims of progress in talks with the Taliban have sparked fears even among the president's allies that his impatience with the war in Afghanistan will lead him to withdraw troops too soon, leaving the country at risk of returning to the same ...
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a rare break with President Donald Trump and proposed a measure urging the U.S. to continue the fight against Islamic State and al-Qaida in Syria and Afghanistan and avoid any "precipitous withdrawal." McConnell said an amendment he plans to ...
'Agreement in principle' reached in U.S.-Taliban Afghan peace talks but Kabul not in the loop
Negotiators for the U.S. and the Taliban insurgents have reached "agreements in principle" on key issues for a peace deal that would end 17 years of war in Afghanistan, the top U.S. envoy said Monday. The statement by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad followed six days ...
