First it was longtime Republican Rep. Bill Young. But I don’t think any political observer would be able to guess who would be the next Republican to consider a quicker timeline in Afghanistan: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that the United States should reconsider all its options in Afghanistan — including withdrawing more quickly [...]

In a move that calls into question the continuation of the mission in Afghanistan, the US suspended joint military operations with Afghan security forces, after a spate of insider attacks that killed troops in the field. “We’re to the point now where we can’t trust these people,” a senior military official said. So far this [...]

The US has handed over the prison at Bagram Air Force base to Afghanistan, in the latest in a series of transitions to have the Afghans take control of their own security. The prison transfer was part of a bargain won months ago by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. However, hundreds of prisoners at the facility [...]

As we wind down the overt military phase of the Iraq war, I think this article carries some important knowledge. In Iraq as well as Afghanistan, the way out of the country has been to train native security forces to take over. We trained hundreds of thousands of security personnel in Iraq, and just as [...]

The US is looking to wind down the war in Afghanistan quicker than previously stated, perhaps as soon as next May at a NATO meeting, according to multiple reports. The Obama administration is exploring a shift in the military’s mission in Afghanistan to an advisory role as soon as next year, senior officials said, a [...]

That was some hearing with Leon Panetta before the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. First he claimed that America faced a “catastrophe” if the military had to go with a slightly smaller presence in Latin America and Africa. Then, he moved the goalposts on the Afghanistan drawdown announced by the President earlier this year. Pentagon [...]

You may have missed it among all the protests and occupations, but last week marked the 10th anniversary of one of the longest wars in American history, the war in Afghanistan. Many of the soldiers now fighting that war were in grade school when it started. And both the US and NATO acknowledge that the [...]

Not that the media will pay attention to anything that doesn’t involve a long-form birth certificate, but eight troops died today in Afghanistan. Eight NATO troops and an alliance contractor were killed early Wednesday when a veteran Afghan military pilot opened fire on trainers during a meeting in a military compound before being killed himself [...]

This would only be more audacious if they dressed up someone as a giant nail file and had him walk into the prison untouched: The Taliban staged an audacious prison break here early Monday, freeing at least 476 political prisoners through a long tunnel, according to the warden, Gen. Ghulam Dastagir Mayar. He said that [...]

The US will formally unveil a plan to NATO that would extend US involvement in Afghanistan through 2014. The transfer of security to the Afghans would begin over the next 18-24 months. This is predicated on the Afghans actually being able to create a security force that would take the lead against their homegrown insurgency. [...]

Before we settle into Election Day, consider that we just went through an entire election cycle with 150,000 American men and women fighting overseas, and… it really didn’t come up. Didn’t get mentioned even a little bit. Republicans basically agree with it, and don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, anyway (we have to [...]