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While our troops showed up and did their jobs, the same can't be said for our nation's political and military leadership.Ever since he was a little kid, Brent Taylor possessed a strong desire to serve his country. Growing up playing games such as “cops and robbers,” the future Utah Army National Guard major understood from an early age the difference between good and evil, while also harboring a passion for protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. Coupled with bedtime stories exploring world history and family vacations to U.S. historical sites, Brent’s destiny to serve his country in the American military...

In the end, all America’s troops and dollars can’t build a cohesive, peaceful democracy out of nothingness. The future of Afghanistan needs to be up to the Afghan people.Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., is speaking out in favor of extending America’s longest war, even as most Americans overwhelmingly favor pulling out of Afghanistan. Kinzinger recently gave an interview to NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” in which he lamented America’s looming withdrawal from Afghanistan and compared the 20-year war to a simple peacekeeping mission.“I’m proud of the American people for sticking by this mission for 20 years. We actually needed...

David Frum’s dangerous argument is part of a larger effort to suggest that if China attacks democratically ruled Taiwan, helping Taiwan is not worth the risk of war with China.David Frum is a prominent member of the foreign policy priesthood, albeit an accidental one, and he continues to urge U.S. foreign policy errors in a new Atlantic article about China. “China Is a Paper Dragon” argues the Biden administration is unnecessarily concerned about the People’s Republic of China (PRC).Frum’s argument is part of a larger effort by high-profile pundits to suggest that if China attacks democratically ruled Taiwan, helping Taiwan...

Sen. Ben Sasse issues statement calling for indefinite continuation of Afghanistan War, currently in its 20th year. Says to bring any troops home would be a "retreat" and "not grounded in reality." #20MoreYearsShouldDoIt https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1328807860361441281

A reprioritization of America’s strategic interests would cement the legacy of the first president in the era of great-power rivalry.n a recent memo advocating a swift U.S. drawdown from Afghanistan, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller gave shape to the fundamental political stand of the Trump administration—realism and restraint. “We are not a people of perpetual war — it is the antithesis of everything for which we stand and for which our ancestors fought. All wars must end,” the memo read. This comes after a rapid purge in the last couple of weeks, in which President Trump dismissed Defense Secretary Mark...

A Nebraska teen who was just a kid when her father died from an IED explosion in Afghanistan more than a decade ago found a way to honor him in her high school graduation pictures. Aurora High School senior Julia Yllescas sent her pictures to a photographer on Saturday to create an "angel picture" of her and her father, Army Capt. Robert Yllescas. The photos showed Yllescas with a faint shadow version of her father. One showed them sitting down on a bench. In another, Yllescas held a folded American flag while standing next to him in uniform. Julia Yllescas...

A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a US soldier in Afghanistan has received a multimillion-dollar payment from Canada’s government after a court ruling said his rights were abused, a Canadian official said Thursday night. The official confirmed that Omar Khadr has been given the money. A different official also familiar with the deal said it is for $10.5 million Canadian dollars (US$8 million). Both insisted on speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly.

This is an enhanced version for 2010. Thanks to all our soldiers! "Merry Christmas From Afghanistan" Merry Christmas from Afghanistan, oh man, it's that time of year, and the birth of Jesus doesn't seem to please the terrorists down here; I'd like to take a moment for you folks at home to make it clear; Merry Christmas from the Eastern Hemisphere. Merry Christmas from Afghanistan, way back in the USA, You've got mistletoe and falling snow, we've got sandstorms and grenades But what the hell, it's just as well we celebrate it anyway, Merry Christmas from 5,000 miles away. And...

Local and national support for naming the future I-10 bridge in Mobile Alabama in memory of a fallen paratrooper... Corporal Chris Mason (KIA 28 November 2006 Iraq)... continues to grow. The Facebook page that was setup, for people to like and show support has over 6,000 people listed and growing each day. Most are people from Lower Alabama, where the bridge will be constructed. But still there is a great deal of resistance from the "good ole boy network". Chris will need your help. Corporal Chris Mason once said.... Being in the military is about putting your life on the...

AUSTRALIA will enter a historic partnership with NATO at the group’s summit in Wales this week, giving the Australian Defence Force greater access to the planning and decision-making of the world’s most powerful military alliance. US President Barack Obama will officially name Australia an enhanced partner of the organisation, recognising the nation’s contribution to NATO operations, particularly Afghanistan, over the past decade. The Australian can also reveal the Abbott government is considering increasing Australia’s long-term presence in Afghanistan with the potential deployment of 200 special forces troops amid worldwide concern about the collapse of security in Iraq after the withdrawal...

A soldier who served with Bowe Bergdahl told the Examiner that the most painful part about the last five years was having to remain silent while misinformation was being circulated in the media surrounding the circumstances of Bergdahl's disappearance. The soldier, who opted to remain anonymous, said that he was bound by a nondisclosure agreement. "We're watching the news," he said. "None of it was true."

Eventually, the search grew larger, and we were searching in places we hadn’t been before. We went all over Paktika, and even into Ghazni and Paktia provinces. The exact sequence is a blur for me now. When you constantly move from one emergency to the next, and spend five years not really thinking too much on it, it becomes hard to remember, even more so with my old age. We began operating out of Sharana again, and slowly began to do missions that were not directly related to the search for Bergdahl. But the search still continued, albeit at a...

<p>Military leaders have submitted a proposal to the White House that would keep 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after the U.S. combat mission ends in 2014, a senior U.S. official confirms to Fox News.</p> <p>The 10,000-troop plan or any other troop proposal could still be rejected by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has not yet signed a security agreement that would allow American soldiers to remain in the country.</p>

Gen. John Allen recently retired from the military following his post as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, but the memories of the 561 troops who died under his command - and the many thousands who were wounded - have not retired from his mind. "I think about them every day; I think about them at night," Allen told On the Radar. "And there's a moment of reflection about those 561 empty chairs around dinner tables." He described the war in Afghanistan as "a conflict of sacrifice" and said his focus now is to make sure the country...

This is a wonderful and uplifting story posted by Pat Dollard at his site! A most welcome change from all the bad news out there. The look on the girl's face when she sees her dad is priceless.

KABUL, Afghanistan - The war in Afghanistan enters its 10th year Thursday with key players hedging their bets, uncertain whether the Obama administration is prepared to stay for the long haul, move quickly to exit an increasingly unpopular conflict, or do something in between. Fearing that his Western allies may in the end abandon him, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has started to prepare his nation for a withdrawal of international forces by shoring up relations with neighboring Pakistan and reaching out to insurgents interested in reconciliation. Fewer people are talking about establishing Western-style democracy in Afghanistan. Instead, the focus is...

Not just her nose, though: They ordered her husband to saw off her ears too for the crime of running away from home. Time’s editor insists that “We do not run this story or show this image either in support of the U.S. war effort or in opposition to it,” but that’s nonsense, of course. The image is as stark an argument as you’re likely to see for continuing the war, which is why lefties naturally have been griping about it all day. Some offer legit complaints — instead of putting a mutilated girl on the cover to make the...

"(Petraeus) is not smarter than McChrystal," Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Ahmed Yusuf said in a statement. "Also, his losing consciousness last week in an investigative hearing before the members of the U.S. Congress brought his physical competence and his courage into question." *snip* "His military standing and his four-star rank greatly waned around the world" after the fainting episode, mocked the Taliban's Yusuf, according to a SITE Intelligence Group translation. McChrystal's firing by Obama, by the way, was "divine victory," the Taliban mouthpiece added.

President Barack Obama has to relieve Gen. McChrystal of his command. I don’t really see how this ends any other way. I guess McChrystal could tender his resignation, but even that would be a slap in the face to the Office of the President. If McChrystal did not have faith in his civilian leadership, he should have resigned. Civilian control of the military is one of the pillars of this Republic. To disrespect the commander-in-chief in such a blatant manner is an affront to the Office of the President and borders on insubordination.

Operation Enduring Freedom, on Oct. 7 will begin its ninth year. At $4 billion per month, a National Priorities Project has determined that the total cost of military operations in Afghanistan by the end of the year will be almost $200 billion. Thoughtful American taxpayers may ask why the Obama administration has not only embraced the Central Asian ground war that it inherited from Bush, but is seeking to expand not only the U.S. military footprint, but subject its NATO allies to contribute more troops and funding as well. Shorn of post 9/11 patriotic and fervor against the perpetrators of...