Afghanistan

FORT LEAVENWORTH, KAN. - The attorney for the Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians yesterday questioned the quality of the evidence against his client and said he planned to travel to Afghanistan to gather his own. John Henry Browne said he met with Robert Bales for 11 hours over two days at Fort Leavenworth, where his client is being held. He added that there was still a lot he didn't know about the March 11 shootings. "I don't know about the evidence in this case.

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By Daniel L. Davis There has been a great deal of discussion in recent weeks regarding the appropriate size of the post-2014 U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan. Many well-known pundits have argued the United States should keep as many as 15,000 troops on the ground. The rationale cited is that we must have a "robust presence" to accomplish American strategic objectives. They argue that going with a force smaller than that, or taking the so-called zero-option of complete withdrawal, must be resisted to avoid defeat.

A Marine from Hawley, in Wayne County in northeastern Pennsylvania, died Sunday in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said yesterday. Pfc. Serge Kropov, 21, died in Helmand province of a "nonhostile incident" that is under investigation, the department said. He was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 16, Third Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif.

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said the Soviet Union has suspended the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan because of persistent violations of a U.N.-negotiated agreement. "Let's wait and see," Shevardnadze told reporters at the United Nations yesterday. "It is necessary to stop the violations that take place. It is the most important thing. " In another development, 35 people were killed and more than 150 injured when a rocket landed in a central square in Kabul today during a rebel missile attack on the Afghan capital, the Soviet news agency Tass reported.

President Obama should take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the death of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to dramatically reshape U.S. policy related to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. For a decade, this country has expended an inordinate amount of its resources, not to mention the more than 1,500 soldiers killed, to fight a war in Afghanistan that never promised to yield comparable strategic results. The cost was swallowed in the mistaken belief that a "war on terror" could be won if a decisive blow were struck on one front.

A top Foreign Ministry spokesman today said the Soviet Union has suspended its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan because of heavy attacks by rebels and hinted the pullout might not be completed by a Feb. 15 deadline. "The Soviet troops are being withdrawn due to the goodwill of the Soviet government," First Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh told a news conference. "They will be withdrawn in honorable conditions. " The current atmosphere of heavy attacks by insurgents with arms supplied by the United States, Pakistan and other countries "does not provide conditions for such a withdrawal of Soviet troops," Bessmertnykh said.

IJUST FLEW from Philadelphia to Columbia, S.C., for my 18-year-old son's orientation at University of South Carolina for his fall start of college studies. Sitting next to me on the small plane was an even younger young man - a 17-year-old on his way to a different orientation: 10 weeks of Army basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C. The young man, like an overgrown puppy strapped in beside me, eagerly twitched with anticipation. This was only his second airplane ride. (The first came earlier in the day from his home in Minnesota to Philadelphia.)

Soviet ground forces have returned to the northern Afghan city of Kunduz after pulling out two weeks ago, the Washington Post reported today. The maneuver appears to reflect conflict between the Soviet government and army over how to execute the withdrawl of its troops from Afghanistan, western diplomats said today. The move was the first instance of Soviet troops returning to a city already abandoned since the overall withdrawal began May 15. U.S. officials in Washington confirmed the Soviet troop move but said it did not appear to break the Geneva accord on the pullout.

Sylvester Stallone says that "Rambo" will next appear in Afghanistan on a rescue mission to free his former commanding officer from his Communist captors. The second "Rambo" movie ended with John Rambo walking bare-chested across Thailand. Next, he will lead the Mujahedeen tribesmen into battle on horseback. Stallone, currently working on "Over the Top," said he will do the new "Rambo" movie in the fall for release next July 4. He said he is dubbing this film " 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' across the plains of Afghanistan into the mouth of pain.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Georgia said Wednesday that the country has closed two of its bases in Afghanistan after 10 of its soldiers were killed by militant attacks within the last four weeks, but it will not reduce the number of troops serving there. The announcement by Defense Minister Irakli Alasania came five days after he visited Afghanistan to meet with his country's contingent in the U.S-led coalition in the aftermath of the attacks. A massive truck bomb killed seven Georgians at their base in Helmand province's Now-e-Zad district on June 6, while three other Georgian soldiers died May 13 in a bomb attack on another base in Helmand's Musa Qala district.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Military operations against Taliban insurgents in the country's northwest tribal areas have reached a turning point with the imminent retaking of a militant stronghold near the legendary Khyber Pass. After months of operations, which saw Pakistani special forces parachute into the area in March, the military succeeded over the weekend in taking mountain ridges that overlook the junction of the Khyber and Kurram tribal agencies, prompting insurgents of the self-described Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to flee.

KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber targeting U.S. troops outside an Afghan government office killed nine children walking home from school and two of the Americans on Monday, the latest sign that this year's fighting season could be one of the deadliest of the 12-year-old war. An increase in casualties among civilians and security forces reinforces fears that foreign forces will be leaving behind a country in the throes of relentless violence when...

The United States risks "snatching defeat from the jaws of something that could still resemble victory" if it speeds up its withdrawal from Afghanistan and fails to make long-term financial and military investments in the country, according to a new report coauthored by a former U.S. military commander there. The report, written by retired Marine Gen. John Allen, former undersecretary of defense Michele Flournoy, and defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon for the Center for a New American Security, calls on Washington and Kabul to clarify as soon as possible the size of a continuing U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after combat troops withdraw at the end of next year.

ARLINGTON, Va. - President Barack Obama said Monday that Americans must honor the sacrifices of their fighting men and women, particularly at a time when the U.S. combat role in Iraq has ended and the country's involvement in Afghanistan is winding down. Speaking at Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama said he worries that the country's servicemen and women aren't being fully appreciated in an era in which "most Americans are not directly touched by war. " He said he couldn't explain that phenomenon but said it might have something to do with the all-volunteer military force and advanced technology that now permits the United States to accomplish some military missions with far fewer personnel.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Ten terrified international aid workers huddled inside a fortified room in Kabul for two hours during a Taliban attack until they were rescued by Afghan police, the aid group said Sunday. A NATO commander said the dramatic operation bodes well for the country's future without foreign forces. An Afghan police officer and two civilians were killed. The top commander of the international military coalition said the relatively low number of casualties was a sign of how Afghan forces have "markedly improved" as they increasingly take over responsibility for protecting the country ahead of most foreign troops' withdrawal next year.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb struck a U.S. convoy in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing three American troops, while a motorcycle bomb in a crowded village market killed at least three Afghan civilians, officials said. A NATO spokesman, Col. Thomas Collins, said the blast hit the American convoy in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, the spiritual heartland of the Taliban and one of the most volatile regions in Afghanistan. Collins originally said four U.S. troops were killed, but Capt.

By Rashid Khattak While the media have understandably been focused on parliamentary elections in Pakistan in recent weeks, including the campaign violence in the run-up to Saturday's vote, the bigger threat to long-term stability in the region may be the ongoing border skirmishes between that country and Afghanistan. "Dozens of people are killed and injured every day in bomb blasts and attacks on election rallies and public meetings in Pakistan. It is the first priority of media to cover these incidents," said Riaz Khan, an Islamabad-based journalist.

Iran denies killing Afghans KABUL, Afghanistan - Iranian border guards killed 10 Afghan migrants and wounded eight others when hundreds tried to illegally cross into Iran in search of work, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said Sunday. Iran denied that. Details of the incident Friday in Afghanistan's northwestern Farah province have been sketchy and often contradictory. An Interior Ministry statement said 300 Afghan laborers tried to cross into Iran illegally, looking for work. Iranian border guards opened fire, killing 10, it said.