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President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy. Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1, followed by meetings on Capitol Hill aimed at winning congressional support amid opposition by some Democrats who are worried about the strain on the U.S. Treasury and whether Afghanistan has become a quagmire, the officials said. The U.S. officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized...

First MILITARY Personnel Killed by Hostile Fire in Afghanistan That is all they really said. More to follow per FOX News Anchor. . .

President Obama makes no effort to conceal irritation when the first question he's asked in Asia is about what's taking him so long on Afghanistan. Photo: AP SHANGHAI, China – President Barack Obama made no effort to conceal his irritation when his press corps used the first question of his maiden Far East trip to ask what was taking him so long on Afghanistan. Jennifer Loven of The Associated Press had asked: “Can you explain to people watching and criticizing your deliberations what piece of information you're still lacking to make that call.” “With respect to Afghanistan, Jennifer,” the...

In a press release about his recent trip to Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan asked the public for its views on American policy. Florida Veterans for Common Sense agrees with Buchanan that the Obama administration should consider all options for troop levels in Afghanistan. But our organization considers the recommendation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal to increase troop levels by 40,000 to be the worst option. We are extremely proud of our troops, and there is no doubt they are highly skilled and motivated. Yet, no matter how well our soldiers execute their orders, they cannot prevail if the mission is...

WELLINGTON : The New Zealand government said the army vehicles would provide increased protection for 71 Special Air Service soldiers, especially from roadside bombs, Radio New Zealand reported on Friday. Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said the light armored vehicles would stay there as long as they were needed to provide increased protection for the personnel, particularly from roadside bombs, which were one of the greatest threats.

KABUL - Europe may send 5,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan, Britain’s prime minister said yesterday - affirming support for the NATO mission as the Obama administration nears a decision on increasing American troop levels. The announcement came as the Taliban struck again in the capital. A suicide car bomber blasted a US convoy near an American military base in Kabul, injuring nine American soldiers and 10 contract security guards.

A Republican member on the House Armed Services Committee is claiming he was denied access to Gen. Stanley McChrystal on a recent fact-finding trip to Afghanistan. Rep. Jeff Miller’s (R-Fla.) accusation comes as President Barack Obama is close to announcing whether he will endorse McChrystal's recommendation of sending about 40,000 additional troops to the war-torn country. Since McChrystal's proposed solution to the escalating conflict in Afghanistan was leaked to the media in late September, some Republicans have grumbled that the Defense Department has curbed McChrystal's availability to lawmakers who support his request for more reinforcements. Miller, who sits on both...

The U.S. ambassador in Kabul sent two classified cables to Washington in the last week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise, said senior U.S. officials. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry's memos were sent in the days leading up to a critical meeting Wednesday between President Obama and his national security team to consider several options prepared by military planners for how to proceed in Afghanistan. The proposals, which mark the last stage of a...

President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday. Obama is still close to announcing his revamped war strategy — most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19. But the president raised questions at a war council meeting Wednesday that could alter the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what...

Barack Obama will likely hold off deciding his strategy and troop strength levels until December, according to a New York Times report on his upcoming meeting Wednesday with his national security advisers.That would make four months since Obama's hand-picked Afghan General Stanley McChrystal made an urgent request in August for 40,000 to 80,000 reinforcements, warning the war would be lost within twelve months without them.Obama recently asked for new troop level options and for reports on the provincial Afghan governments.Obama has made numerous excuses for delaying his decision, most prominent of them the election controversy over Hamid Karzai's reelection as...

Mikhail Gorbachev—the man who pulled the Soviet Union's troops out of Afghanistan after a decade of stalemate—says the US should do the same.

<p>MSNBC and Bloomberg are reporting that the Obama administration is denying reports by CBS News and the AP that Obama has decided to send nearly 40,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan.</p> <p>Both outlets report that Obama has not received final recommendations from his advisers and he would then need time to review them.</p>

A whopping 70% of Americans — including 52% of Democrats as well as 88% of Republicans and 73% of Independents — think the Obama administration does not have a clear plan for Afghanistan, according to the latest IBD/TIPP Poll. But then, the public itself seems unsure of the best course of action in the nine-year-old conflict. Americans continue to oppose an immediate troop withdrawal, with even Democrats opposing such an action by 52% to 45%. But in contrast to last month, more now believe the war is unwinnable and oppose sending more troops and resources. Forty-eight percent are now...

(CBS) Tonight, after months of conferences with top advisors, President Obama has settled on a new strategy for Afghanistan. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the president will send a lot more troops and plans to keep a large force there, long term. The president still has more meetings scheduled on Afghanistan, but informed sources tell CBS News he intends to give Gen. Stanley McChrystal most, if not all, the additional troops he is asking for. McChrystal wanted 40,000 and the president has tentatively decided to send four combat brigades plus thousands more support troops. A senior officer says...

Officials said President Obama will not announce his decision until after he returns from his upcoming trip to Asia and stressed that no final decision has been made, even in private. But the plan under consideration would represent a middle ground between different requests made from the top commander in Afghanistan. But the plan under serious consideration would split the difference between troop requests made by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. McChrystal had put forward a "high risk" request for only 10,000-15,000 troops, and a "medium risk" request of 40,000-45,000.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that he is “angry” and “disappointed” with President Barack Obama for delaying his decision on increasing troop levels in Afghanistan. “The fact is we already have men and women over there, and the longer we delay in sending them the needed resources they need the greater danger they are in,” McCain said during an interview on Fox News’ Fox & Friends program. “That’s just a fundamental fact of warfare and so I’m past being a bit angry.” “I’m disappointed that we haven’t made the decision,” he said.

It’s been three months since General Stanley McChrystal informed the Obama administration of the resources he needs to successfully prosecute the war.  The controversy over the elections in Afghanistan have been resolved for a week now, which supposedly kept Barack Obama from making a decision on whether to give McChrystal more troops and the number that will be sent.  This morning, McClatchy reports on an apparent trial balloon coming from the White House that Obama will split the difference between McChrystal’s medium- and high-risk options for troop support of a counterinsurgency strategy — but still won’t make a decision until...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is wrapping up deliberations on war strategy in Afghanistan and is considering final Pentagon options that include sending about 30,000 more troops, officials said on Saturday. A deployment of that size would be less than the 40,000-troop increase recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but more than many of Obama's Democratic allies may support. Record combat deaths have eroded U.S. public support for the war, and a decision to expand troop levels could become a political liability for the president ahead of congressional elections next...

In the protracted Washington debate over the war in Afghanistan, the most concise analysis so far has come from America’s top soldier: “If we don’t get a level of legitimacy and governance (there), then all the troops in the world aren’t going to make any difference.”Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was speaking two days after Hamid Karzai was declared the winner, by default, in August elections so massively rigged that a U.N.-backed electoral complaints committee threw out about a million Karzai votes. That forced a run-off from which his challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah...

The U.S. Marine Corps today released video of its V-22 Ospreys arriving in Afghanistan. Ten MV-22s flew from the USS Bataan and are now operating in southern Afghanistan. The video is of MV-22Bs with the Marine Medium tiltrotor Squadron 263, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit taking off in three waves from the flight deck of the Bataan. And here is video of the arrival and flight of the first Osprey to be use in Afghanistan.

War On Terror: Sen. John Kerry, who was so wrong about Iraq, now says our commander in Afghanistan is "reaching too far, too fast" and that a "good enough" policy should suffice. It won't. Offering his advice on how to micromanage the war against the Taliban, Kerry said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Obama's hand-picked general to fight what he called a "war of necessity," is wrong in saying he needs 40,000 more troops to fight and win it. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Kerry advocated a "good enough" policy designed not to achieve victory in al-Qaida's...

BBC LATEST: Headline Only US President Obama Says He Will Not Rush "Solemn Decision" To Commit Troops To Afghanistan

The ongoing debate over the way forward in Afghanistan has settled into the “light footprint,” counterterrorism approach, versus the “heavy footprint,” population-centric counterinsurgency approach. Reportedly, what is about to emerge from the Obama administration is a hybrid of the two, with the vast majority of troops providing security in Afghanistan’s major population centers and pulling troops out of less populated rural zones. Drone strikes and periodic raids would be employed to check the Taliban in remote areas. The danger in such an approach is that once rural villages are ceded to insurgent control, they may never be recaptured as the...

Click to watch on You TubeWASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2009 -- Embedded above is a b-roll video of the ATV MRAP in Afghanistan. Scenes include the vehicle driving through the base and interviews. (Courtesy Video, American Forces Network Afghanistan. Length: 00:01:38.)

'Legendary' Soldier Who Defused 64 Taliban Bombs Is Blown Up On His Last Day On The Front Line By IAN DRURY 03rd November 2009 An army bomb disposal expert who saved countless lives in Afghanistan was killed on his final mission in the warzone. Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, 30, died instantly when a roadside bomb he was trying to disarm blew up. The Improvised Explosive Devices are the favoured weapon of the Taliban and since June Sergeant Schmid had successfully dealt with 64 of them. Legendary figure: Olaf Schmid was renowned for his expertise in disarming explosive devices. Colleagues described...

If media leaks are to be believed, President Obama will attempt to chart a middle way in Afghanistan, sending more soldiers but not as many as General Stanley McChrystal would like. The New York Times describes the emerging strategy as “McChrystal for the city, Biden for the country,” a blend of the diametrically opposed approaches advocated by the general (who favors a counterinsurgency strategy) and the vice president (who wants to do counterterrorism operations only). The Times writes that "the administration is looking at protecting Kabul, Kandahar, Maza-i-Sharif, Kunduz, Herat, Jalalabad and a few other village clusters, officials said." In...

President Obama has run out of "excuses" for delaying a decision on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, House Minority Leader John Boehner said Monday after Afghan President Hamid Karzai was declared the winner of his nation's presidential election by default. Obama administration officials had suggested that a decision on American troop levels should be withheld until Afghanistan's runoff election was over. But now that Karzai's challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, has dropped out of the race and handed the election over to Karzai for another five-year term, lawmakers are urging the U.S. president to finalize his overhaul of America's...

As Baker's flag-draped casket was lowered from a small charter jet into the hands of six fellow Marines, his family and friends stood arm-in-arm, weeping on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Stillness and silence dominated the scene. The sound of passenger planes taking off and landing was drowned out by the weight of the scene unfolding at ground level. That silence was broken only when a police bagpiper began playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." Baker's casket then was loaded into a waiting hearse, and scores of policemen and firefighters — from no fewer than 25 area...

Yesterday, a squad of Navy SEALs engaged in combat operations in Afghanstan had several men badly wounded by RPG explosions. Freeper "Wardaddy" is related to one of them. Navy SEAL Bryan Stuart is Wardaddy's close cousin's son. He has been medevaced to Germany for surgery. Other details are sketchy as of yet.

President Obama is within weeks of making a decision on sending additional troops to Afghanistan, Chief White House Advisor David Axelrod said on "Face the Nation" Sunday.

In his slick PR fashion, Obama's answer to the charge that he is "dithering on Afghanistan" is to feed the hungry media a military photo op. Yes, Obama can be seen in the pic saluting a US Soldier's flag-draped casket coming back from Afghanistan. Now we know why the White House insisted that our battlefield casualties should not be shielded from the media. You need tame media access for photo ops. So Obama is finally showing some respect. For the Hollyweirdos, appearance is reality. We now have a Commander in Chief who knows how to salute. He must therefore be...

Obama Requests More Options for Troop Levels The Washington post reported two officials as saying late Friday Obama asked the Pentagon's top generals to provide him with more options for troop levels in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama grappled Friday with the costs and consequences of a long-term commitment to Afghanistan, but reached no decisions about troop levels, a top aide said, as military advisers briefed the president on an armed services already taxed by challenges around the globe. The president reviewed his options with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and made clear he wants at least one more meeting with...

New Delhi - Former US president George W Bush on Saturday warned that the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan must be won else the world would face "serious threats."Addressing a conference in New Delhi, Bush said defeating the radical Islamic groups was necessary to stop a return to "brutal tyranny" in that country. "The mission in Afghanistan has been long and difficult and costly but I believe it is necessary for stability and peace," he told the conference organized by the Hindustan Times. "If the Taliban, al-Qaeda and their extremist allies were allowed to take over Afghanistan...

At today's White House briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Barack Obama has spent "close to 20 direct hours" in meetings on Afghanistan since Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for tens of thousands of reinforcements was submitted over two months ago with a warning the war would be lost in twelve months without more troops.Gibbs says Obama also spends "quite a bit of time" thinking about the war in Afghanistan.Gibbs was asked about a statement by the mother of one of the fallen soldiers, Sgt. Dale Griffin, killed in Afghanistan this week whom Obama met with at Dover early Thursday morning....

Obama Considering Scaled-Down Afghan War ‘McChrystal Light’ plan would send fewer troops than sought by commander Oct . 29, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is considering sending large numbers of additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan next year but fewer than preferred by his war commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. officials said. Such a narrowed military mission would escalate American forces to accomplish the commander's broadest goals, protecting Afghan cities and key infrastructure. But the option's scaled-down troop numbers likely would cut back on McChrystal's most ambitious objectives, amounting to what one official described as "McChrystal Light." Under the pared-down...

The Washington Post reports tonight that Barack Obama and top administration officials have concluded the Taliban cannot be beaten and that they are looking for ways to cede parts of Afghanistan to the Taliban without those regions becoming safe havens for al Qaeda.The article also reports that Obama may wait until after he returns from a 10 day visit to Asia that begins November 11 to decide his policy for Afghanistan.The Post article is largely about Obama's request made this week, two months after he received Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for tens of thousands more troops to fulfill Obama's counter-insuregency...

War On Terror: Sen. John Kerry, who was so wrong about Iraq, now says our commander in Afghanistan is "reaching too far, too fast" and that a "good enough" policy should suffice. It won't. Offering his advice on how to micromanage the war against the Taliban, Kerry said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Obama's hand-picked general to fight what he called a "war of necessity," is wrong in saying he needs 40,000 more troops to fight and win it. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Kerry advocated a "good enough" policy designed not to achieve victory in al-Qaida's...

Bret Baier just said on Special Report that senior officials are telling various news outlets that Obama is going to ask for 20,000 more troops for Afghanistan. Nothing up on the website yet or anywhere else- just reported. Expect to hear the offical announcement within the week.

<p>Years ago, I bought an old Time magazine - the issue with the 1965 Man of the Year on the cover. I kept it around to remind me both of the fallibility of men, and, even, of Time magazine. It was of Gen. William Westmoreland. He was the Vietnam era's Gen. Stanley McChrystal.</p>

There are already more than 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan working with 200,000 Afghan security forces and police. It adds up to a 12-1 numerical advantage over Taliban rebels, but it hasn't led to anything close to victory. Now, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan is asking for tens of thousands more troops to stem the escalating insurgency, raising the question of how many more troops it would take to succeed. The commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, says the extra forces are needed to implement a new strategy that focuses on protecting civilians and depriving the militants of popular...

Eight Americans died in combat in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, bringing October’s total to 53 and making it the deadliest month for Americans in the eight-year war. September and October were both deadlier months overall for NATO troops. The troops, along with an Afghan civilian accompanying them, were killed in several attacks involving “multiple, complex” improvised bombs, according to a statement from the NATO-led coalition. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said that Taliban in Zabul Province were responsible. He said they had blown up two armored vehicles carrying the troops. He also said that the Taliban had engaged in...

-- Roadside bombs today killed eight U.S. service members in Afghanistan, the military said.

A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed. But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency. "I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the...

Note: The following text is a quote: DEA Mourns the Loss of Three DEA Special Agents in Afghanistan OCT 26 - WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today confirmed that three Special Agents were killed during a counternarcotics mission in Afghanistan. “Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration mourns the tragic loss of three DEA Special Agents and seven U.S. service members killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan,” said Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. “The incident occurred during the early morning hours of October 26, when these heroic individuals were returning from a completed, joint counternarcotics mission.”...

The image of young women in a hot , dusty combat zone toting automatic weapons is still startling to some. But right now there are 10,000 women serving in Iraq, more than 4,000 in Aghanistan. They have been fighting and dying next to their male comrades since the wars began. "I can't help but think most Americans think women aren't in combat," says Specialist Ashley Pullen who was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in 2005 for her heroic action in Iraq where she served with a military police unit. "We're here and we're right up with the guys." Technically...

U.S.: 4 Troops Die in Afghan Chopper Collision Hostile fire ruled out in Monday morning crash; two soldiers injured KABUL - The U.S. military said four American troops were killed and two injured in a collision of two helicopters in southern Afghanistan Monday morning. Hostile fire was ruled out in the crash. No further details were released. In an unrelated incident, another helicopter went down Monday during a joint, international security force operation against insurgents in western Afghanistan in which a dozen militants were killed.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - Fourteen Americans died in a pair of helicopter crashes in Afghanistan on Monday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. In the deadlier crash, a helicopter went down in the country's west. "Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed," an ISAF statement said. "Those injured include 14 Afghan service members, 11 U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian."

KABUL, Afghanistan - International Security Assistance Forces have responded to false accusations that a U.S. service member burned the Quran last week in the Maydan Shar district, Wardak province. In response to accusations that international forces dishonored the Quran after striking an improvised explosive device in Wardak province Oct. 14, ISAF troops conducted an investigation in conjunction with local Afghan National Army commanders and found the claim groundless. A spokesman for the Governor of Wardak, Mohammad Alim Fadayee, and Mullah Qari of the ANA unit in Wardak, publicly stated that ISAF troops were not responsible for the desecration and found...

ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan — More than six years after sending the first Stryker armored vehicles into desert combat, the Army has decided that it’s probably a good idea to start painting them tan so they will blend in with the environments in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Safeguarding soldiers is the primary purpose for this color change,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Peter Butts, commander of the 1st Battalion, 401st Army Field Support Brigade, who announced the change in a news release from Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, earlier this month. “Strykers will blend into surroundings better. They’re less likely to stand out...

Does the Obama administration understand why we invaded Afghanistan? Does the Obama understand that we have no choice but to remain in Afghanistan until we can establish a stable government that will not allow the country to be a base for terrorism? The Christian Science Monitor has reported that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN it would be "irresponsible" to send more troops into Afghanistan before the political situation is resolved. Actually it would be irresponsible to wait for the political situation to be resolved before committing sufficient troops to stabilize the situation. We invaded Afghanistan in...