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US President Barack Obama is widely expected to announce next week that he favours sending more than 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, in a momentous decision for his presidency. At an appearance on Tuesday with Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, Mr Obama said that after eight years in which the US did not have “either the resources or the strategy to get the job done, it is my intention to finish the job”. He added: ”the whole world... has a core security interest in making sure that the kind of extremism and violence that you’ve seen emanating from this region...

In Indiana, practice for 'civilian surge' in Afghanistan State Dept. enlists Afghans to help prepare Americans for mission CAMP ATTERBURY, IND. -- Outside a scruffy, two-story building, armed and flak-jacketed U.S. soldiers stood watch under a sagging Afghan flag. Inside, the provincial governor, a Hamid Karzai look-alike in a striped robe and Karakul cap, pleaded with two tribal elders to get along. Only the Taliban would benefit from their dispute, the governor's aide said with a nervous click of his worry beads. An American at the table asked to speak. If they couldn't settle their differences over landownership, he gently...

BELGRADE, Serbia — Belgrade's open-air markets were a welter of busy customers on Friday, pushing and shoving to buy one item — garlic. In Serbia, garlic has long been regarded as a good luck charm and a guard against many ailments. As far as the public is concerned, that includes the swine flu pandemic, which recently has spread in Serbia and triggered near panic among the local population. That is now evident in Belgrade's produce markets, where the price of garlic has shot up, thanks to a sudden increase in demand. The smell of the little white cloves also has...

Gold prices are currently trading at the record level of $1,100/oz. Looking at the long-term loss of value in the dollar, and the damage caused by the financial excesses of the last quarter century, the question is whether this is just the kickoff phase for the precious metal. Many experts expect gold to trade above $1,300 by the first quarter of 2010. They ultimately see the correlation between peak gold and weak dollar resulting in gold above $2K. Gluskin Sheff Chief economist David Rosenberg thinks that as the world keeps losing confidence in paper currencies, and as investors worldwide seek...

The Surge: the Untold Story provides a historical account of U.S. military operations in Iraq during the Surge of forces during 2007 and 2008.This documentary offers audiences a unique look into the real story of the Surge in Iraq, as told by U.S. military commanders and diplomats as well as Iraqis.

<p>NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures - as well as spot metal - extended record highs shortly before futures floor trading opened in New York on Monday.</p> <p>A markedly weaker U.S. dollar was mainly behind the surge.</p> <p>In recent trading, December gold was up $11.70 at $1,107.40 an ounce after hitting a most-active record of $1,111.70. Nearby November gold hit $1,109.30, a front-month Comex record. Spot gold also hit a fresh all-time peak of $1,111.15 an ounce as the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro.</p>

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...

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...

Top lawmakers sparred Sunday over the timing of President Obama's decision on how to move ahead in Afghanistan, with Republicans urging a quick move to boost troop levels and Democrats counseling patience. In partisan displays, senators generally agreed on the need to support whatever Afghan government emerges from a Nov. 7 runoff election between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah, but they differed on exactly how to do that and when. Republicans said Mr. Obama must sign off soon on a recommendation from the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to increase the number of American troops there...

Republicans are warning President Barack Obama that he will risk losing GOP votes for any troop surge in Afghanistan if he requests fewer than the 40,000 additional troops sought by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The GOP threat is significant, because with many Democrats opposed to an infusion of troops, Obama may need Republican votes to pass a war supplemental bill. “It’s dangerous to water down what seems to be necessary from a military point of view,” said Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), a member of the Armed Services Committee. “A lot of us would say he’s making a political decision and not...

According to an Associated Press story featured in the Chicago Tribune: "WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will not commit more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until he is convinced that the central government can be a credible and effective U.S. partner, a senior White House aide said Sunday." Obama’s hard line is interesting. If the American people would take such a stance against our own government, perhaps things would get accomplished, since our own president and Congress are neither credible nor effective. Video of this comedy available at the original article.

The US military on Friday cancelled plans to send a 3,500-strong Army brigade to Iraq because of improving security conditions there, possibly freeing up troops for the war in Afghanistan. The 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team from the 10th Mountain Division based in Fort Drum, New York, had been scheduled to relieve another combat brigade in Iraq in January but will not deploy, the Defense Department said in a statement. With the US commander in Afghanistan asking for major reinforcements, the move could provide another brigade for the troubled mission if President Barack Obama decides to approve the troop request....

UPI) -- President Nicolas Sarkozy of France says he wants to see victory in Afghanistan but has no plans to send more French troops to that country. Speaking to the Le Figaro newspaper, the French leader said he believes there should be a build-up of more Afghan troops, CNN reported. As for staying on in Afghanistan, Sarkozy told the newspaper: "I answer yes -- and stay to win. "But France will not send one more soldier," he added. "My belief is that more Afghan soldiers are needed. It is them who will be the most efficient to win this war...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had made no secret about the expanding US force in Afghanistan, despite a report suggesting troop numbers had been downplayed by the Obama administration. The Defense Department had consistently said the number of US forces would reach 68,000 by the end of the year, a Pentagon spokesman said. "Nothing's missing. Nothing's hidden," Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters. His comments came after the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Obama had approved the deployment of 13,000 troops beyond the 21,000 he announced publicly in March. But at least half of those 13,000...

Gold Hits New Record High as Dollar Slips Published: Tuesday, 13 Oct 2009 | 5:39 AM ET Text Size By: Reuters Gold rose to a record high at $1,063.60 an ounce on Tuesday as the dollar slipped against the euro, increasing the metal's appeal as an alternative asset. Firmer oil prices and an improvement in physical demand for gold [US@GC.1 1068.4 11.7001 (+1.11%) ] after a sluggish year for jewellery buying are also lifting gold prices, analysts said.

Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, today urged President Obama to move with "deliberate speed" on a decision to increase troops in Afghanistan as his generals have requested, saying that to disregard their advice would be an "error of historic proportions." McCain said on CNN's State of the Union that Obama should back General Stanley McChrystal's proposal for an increase of 40,000 troops and resist a "half measure" aimed at placating political opponents of deeper U.S. involvement. " McChrystal, the top general in Afghanistan, warned last month that the conflict would likely end in...

Would that "win" us a "watered down" (re: semblance of) victory? It sounds like President Obama might be looking to have it both ways on Afghanistan. A U.S Marine from Delta Company of 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion patrols near the town of Khan Neshin in Rig district of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan September 8, 2009. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) The "demoralizing" results of the recent Afghan election- with allegations of fraud, both real and perceived, has been an enormous setback. The Afghans are losing faith in the new government and the Taliban are emboldened....

War Strategy: When Bush and Petraeus proposed the surge in Iraq, Democrats demanded that the general testify before Congress. So why has the Senate blocked a similar invitation to our commander in Afghanistan? Those with memories longer than the 24-hour news cycle recall that in the dark days of the Iraq War, David Petraeus was summoned to Washington to explain the surge strategy that would eventually lead to victory in Iraq. Democrats hoped for a show trial. MoveOn.org took out a full-page ad in the New York Times labeling the commanding general of our efforts in Iraq "General Betray-us." Then...

THE call to send 40,000 more US troops to Afghanistan ignores a crucial military principle: Don't reinforce failure. In civilian terms, that's "Don't throw good money after bad." Anyway, we don't have the troops to send -- unless we want to ruin our exhausted ground forces. This is a surge too far. The Army faces the prospect of sending soldiers directly from Iraq to Afghanistan. The senior officers responsible for our soldiers' morale and readiness are appalled. Afghanistan is such a mess that you have to clear off tons of political garbage to reach the reality. And the reality is...

Political ideology and feelings about the Bush administration aside, history is likely to show that the surge in Iraq was a success — at least militarily... Remember, too, that the first six months of the surge, from January to early July 2007, were some of the war's toughest months. Into this complicated global stew, David Finkel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter, has gone micro to look at a group of soldiers brought into the surge to serve a 15-month deployment. Finkel's often lyrical book, "The Good Soldiers," follows a U.S. Army battalion, the 2-16, nicknamed the Rangers, from tearful...

The upcoming New York special election to succeed Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) is shaping up to be a real free-for-all, with a new poll showing any one of the three candidates having a shot to win. The anti-tax Club for Growth commissioned a poll showing Republican Dede Scozzafava, Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman all within three points of each other. Scozzafava leads with 20 percent, with Owens and Hoffman tied at 17 percent. That’s consistent with the results of an internal poll conducted by Hoffman’s campaign – and privately, Republican and Democratic strategists report hearing similar...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: There is no immediate decision pending on resources because one of the things that I'm absolutely clear about is we have to get the strategy right, and then make determinations about resources. So we are going to proceed and make sure that we don't put the cart before the horse. (END VIDEO CLIP) BRET BAIER, HOST: President Obama today talking about U.S. forces inside Afghanistan and when that decision would be made, if he makes it. Now, that's coming as we hear from our sources on Capitol Hill and in the military telling FOX...

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is privately requesting between 30,000 and 40,000 more troops, a request that has produced "sticker shock" and "huge resistance" among key lawmakers, sources told FOX News. Congressional liberals who led the charge against the Iraq war are starting to turn their attention to Afghanistan, putting pressure on the Obama administration to scale back even as it prepares to consider a likely request to increase the U.S. troop presence.

There is rising disillusion among liberals and peace activists that a president who built his campaign on his opposition to the war in Iraq now views America's other conflict as a "war of necessity". Mr Obama has already added 21,000 extra troops to the 38,000 stationed there by George W Bush. In the next few weeks, he is likely to receive requests from the Pentagon for more when Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanisan, submits a report on the progress of the war. It is expected to paint a grim picture and offer the president three options for...

During the campaign President Obama defined Iraq as a "bad war" and Afghanistan the "good war," so it was no surprise when the POTUS put securing Afghanistan near the top of his foreign policy agenda. What was surprising was an interview he gave ABC where he said "victory" in the war-torn country isn't necessarily the United States' goal."I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur," Obama told ABC News. The enemy facing U.S. and Afghan forces isn't so clearly defined, he explained....

An opponent of the surge in Iraq, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich) is now calling for one in Afghanistan. According to Bloomberg.com, Levin has stated in letters and face-to-face meetings with National Security Advisor Jim Jones that, “Any further postponement” of a decision to support a surge in Afghan forces will hamper U.S. efforts to quell an insurgency in its eighth year. In a May 19 letter, Levin was among 16 other Senators who “urged a doubling of Afghan forces” and cautioned against “taking an incremental approach” that “does not reflect the realities on the ground. Is this is the same...

John Kerry Will Hold Oversight Hearings on Obama’s Afghanistan SurgeJuly 10, 2009 01:25 PM ET By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog I caught up with Sen. John Kerry this week and asked him about, among other things, the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, disclosed that he's decided to hold oversight hearings on the Obama administrations handling of the war. You can read about it at GlobalPost. Kerry is one of the few top government officials who can impact U.S. policy to have fought in Vietnam. He soured on the war, and...

WASHINGTON – Colin Powell says the U.S. took too long to strengthen its forces in Iraq after Baghdad fell early in the war. Powell, the nation's top military officer under President George H.W. Bush and secretary of state for President George W. Bush, said the decision to use a lighter force to defeat the Iraqi army was correct. But he said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that the younger Bush's administration should have realized the initial success in 2003 was only the start of a longer fight.

This week, American troops start leaving Iraqi cities in compliance with both former President George W. Bush's negotiated start date for withdrawal and President Barack Obama's campaign pledge. Given Bush's profound commitment to succeed in Iraq, if he were still in office and if he judged such a scheduled removal of troops to be dangerous, he doubtlessly would have postponed the action -- just as he changed his strategy and ordered the surge against the advice of most of his government and most of Washington in 2007. Yet it was that surge and the changed strategy designed and led by...

It may not be "Mission accomplished," but we are getting closer. Yesterday, the United States completed the process of withdrawing from Iraq's cities. American forces closed or turned over to Iraqi authorities 150 bases and facilities. The Iraqis are happy to see us go, and we are glad to be leaving.

Oh me, oh my, Obama's approval ratings have fallen from the sky. In other news, the hard-line withdraw of troops is resulting in increased violence in Iraq. And... oh yeah! Cap & Tax and Obamacare still suck. Here are your daily news diggs! http://diggsandburies.blogspot.com/ Video Diggs will come, as always, late tonight.

Rocket-propelled grenades streaked through the fading light and exploded behind the US convoy patrolling in eastern Afghanistan. Muzzle flashes flared in the gloom as Taleban insurgents opened up with heavy machineguns and AK47s. Delta company was caught in an ambush. Foul-mouthed soldiers swung their weapons towards a complex of mud-walled buildings 800 yards away. “Get some!” roared the gunner of an M19 grenade launcher. The thud of return fire from the Americans’ vehicle-mounted weapons began. Soldiers inside their Humvees opened bullet-proof windows and slid their rifles through. Those on the right side of the convoy scrambled out and brought their...

The decision by the Obama administration to fire General McKiernan as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and replace him with General Stanley McChrystal has been met with widespread praise, with former vice president and current chief Obama critic Dick Cheney describing McChrystal as “an absolutely outstanding officer.” With all the focus on whether McChrystal can decisively change the situation in Afghanistan, commentators are missing what McChrystal’s selection means. Think about President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan. He’s put in place a reputable new commander in preparation for a broad counterinsurgency campaign. He’s dispatching over 20,000 additional soldiers to help...

KABUL, May 6, 2009 – The new U.S. Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, with more troops and nonmilitary resources to flow into Afghanistan to support it, opens a window of opportunity to break a security “stalemate” here, the senior coalition military official in Afghanistan said today. “It’s a time where there remain some deep-rooted, definite challenges in this region and this country,” Army Gen. David D. McKiernan told reporters traveling here with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. “But it is also a time, I think, this year, when there are some opportunities with the increased emphasis that this administration has placed on Af-Pak...

KABUL, May 6, 2009 – Expansion efforts are well under way in southern Afghanistan, where most of the 21,000 troops deploying to the country this summer will be concentrated. Marines from the 371st Wing Support Command, Forward Operating Base Leatherneck, Afghanistan, lay matting to construct a helicopter landing pad, May 1, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Kanessa R. Trent   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Leaders at every level are working around the clock to ensure basic infrastructure is in place to continue receiving troops in Kandahar before sending them out to the forward operating bases,...

All I can say is: Imagine if a Republican were in the White House. Even with President Obama in charge, some leftist members of Congress are challenging the need to build up our forces in Afghanistan. “I’ve got the sinking feeling we are getting sucked into something we will never get out of,” says Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. But such qualms are unlikely to have much practical impact because the leadership of Congress is solidly behind the war effort.

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2009 – With broad recognition that success in Afghanistan will require more than military might, the State Department is preparing for what’s expected to be an expanded role there after the U.S. Afghanistan strategy review. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent a cable to Foreign Service officers last weekend announcing plans to create more diplomatic positions in Afghanistan. “As part of our expanding efforts in Afghanistan, the department intends to create 14 additional FS positions in Herat and in Mazar-e-Sharif in 2009,” she wrote. “Because of the priority nature of assignments in Afghanistan,” Clinton said...

The number of US and allied combat brigades deployed in Iraq has been cut in half since the height of the "surge" in the summer of 2007, while the number of Iraqi security forces has nearly doubled during the same period of time.

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Here's Obama's comments today about the success of the surge in Iraq, and his plans for withdrawing troops, juxtaposed with some of his and Biden's previous comments on the topic. Hmmm....

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2009 – The commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan said yesterday that while he’s pleased with President Barack Obama’s authorization to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, tough times are ahead. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, delivers an update briefing at a Feb. 18, 2009, Pentagon news conference. DoD photo by R.D. Ward  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, said at a Pentagon news conference that the...

There is no doubt that the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse -- see this report that civilian casualties increased 40% from 2007 to 2008. Given the difficulty of the task ahead, it is entirely appropriate that there should be a vigorous debate, in and out of government, about the best way to proceed. But I am troubled to see analysts whose views I generally respect, and who have considerable on-the-ground experience in the region, making arguments that I think will lead us in precisely the wrong direction.

The surge won't work said Obama, but this surge will work this time because Obama is doing it. Kind of like deficit spending was bad under Bush, but now it is totally brilliant under Obama. Confused yet? See the videos

FORT DRUM, N.Y., Feb. 9, 2009 – The top U.S. military officer said today he doesn't expect the United States to deploy more than about 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, emphasizing the need for the State Department and other U.S. agencies to do their part as well. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y., Feb. 9, 2009. Mullen and his wife Deborah took questions from spouses of deployed servicemembers and participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Behavioral Health Clinic...

Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno was an unlikely dissident, with little in his past to suggest that he would buck his superiors and push the U.S. military in radically new directions. A 1976 West Point graduate and veteran of the Persian Gulf War and the Kosovo campaign, Odierno had earned a reputation as the best of the Army's conventional thinkers -- intelligent and ambitious, but focused on using the tools in front of him rather than discovering new and unexpected ones. That image was only reinforced during his first tour in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003. As commander...

After a five-day trip through the Middle East, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Wednesday that Iraq has become safer and more politically stable. But the Democrat doesn't think that change is necessarily a result of a surge in troops she opposed two years ago. That's a vote Giffords says she stands by. Instead, Giffords said in an interview Wednesday, the positive change — which comes as President Obama prepares to draw troops out of Iraq and increase military levels in Afghanistan — is a result of efforts by Iraqi citizens themselves. "Largely, it's the Iraqi people realizing they would prefer...

In the wake of Iraq's recent provincial elections, it is instructive to consider how many once-settled judgments now have to be significantly, and in some cases fundamentally, revised. Perhaps most important is the one declaring that the effort to spread liberty to the Arab Middle East was a fool's errand, that the cultural soil of Iraq was too hard and forbidding for democracy to take root, and that elections would only strengthen religious radicals and deepen sectarian differences. In fact, freedom is taking root in Iraq. We are seeing the enfranchising of Sunni Arabs. And though the journey hasn't been...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2009 – More U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan to confront insurgent violence and to establish “a baseline of security” there, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters here today. Escalating levels of violence committed by resurgent Taliban fighters and al-Qaida terrorists operating in southern and eastern Afghanistan and along the border with Pakistan has caused “a deteriorating security situation,” Morrell said at a Pentagon news conference. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have acknowledged the need to shift the U.S. military’s focus from a less-violent Iraq to more-volatile Afghanistan, Morrell said. “And the...

It's no longer a close call: President Bush was right about the surge. According to Michael O'Hanlon and Jason Campbell of the Brookings Institution, the number of Iraqi war dead was 500 in November of 2008, compared with 3,475 in November of 2006. That same month, 69 Americans died in Iraq; in November 2008, 12 did.