The late-night Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan that killed up to 31 Americans and 7 Afghans killed over 20 Navy SEALs, including members of Seal Team Six, the same unit that participated in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. “It’s a big loss” for the SEALs,” one of the officials said. The numbers are [...]

Walter Pincus was the guy at the Washington Post known for writing skeptical stories about the Iraq debacle that wound up on page A17. He still gets that level of respect today, even when he’s got better information than anyone else. In this case, Pincus advances the story of permanent bases in Afghanistan (I’m calling [...]

Since Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung broke the suspense, I guess I’m free to say now that the President will announce tonight the removal of all 33,000 second surge troops from Afghanistan within 14 months, by September 2012. This would include a reduction of 10,000 troops by the end of the year, with the other [...]

The Obama Administration is floating a steeper drawdown in Afghanistan than they contemplated in previous weeks, due to new “strategic considerations.” While they call the considerations the war’s cost and the killing of Osama bin Laden, the fact that 204 House members just voted for a quicker pullout, and the fact that there’s an election [...]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has delivered the latest in a series of ultimatums to NATO about civilian casualties from airstrikes. The most recent errant airstrike killed 14 women and children in Helmand province and entirely missed its target of Taliban militants. Mr Karzai said his government had repeatedly asked the US to stop raids which [...]

Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, is not dead, according to both the Taliban and Pakistani officials. The Afghan Taliban forcefully denied reports Monday that their leader is dead, dismissing them as “claims and rumors” from the “Kabul stooge regime’s intelligence directorate.” Mullah Mohammed Omar “is alive and well and is leading the [...]

In a blockbuster deal announced just under the trade deadline, America will deal its war in Afghanistan for a war in Pakistan. The deal was announced in a series of maneuvers today. first: The administration has accelerated direct talks with the Taliban, initiated several months ago, that U.S. officials say they hope will enable President [...]

Two suicide bombings in Shabqadar, Pakistan, at a paramilitary base, killed scores of recruits while they were boarding buses to return home for a break. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan’s Taliban Friday claimed their first major strike in revenge for Osama bin Laden’s death as at least 70 people were killed [...]

I really think we’re witnessing a sea change on the Afghanistan war. Not just from members of Congress who want to accelerate the drawdown or affix an endgame strategy, but from the Administration itself: The Obama administration is seeking to use the killing of Osama bin Laden to accelerate a negotiated settlement with the Taliban [...]

Put aside the wisdom of telegraphing a military offensive; doesn’t the Taliban want to return the world to an 8th-century standard of Islamic Law? Is there room in that worldview for email? While the Taliban have made public statements in the past about the commencement of the spring fighting season, this year’s announcement, like much [...]

Marcy and company have been working quite a bit on the Wikileaked Guantanamo docs, so I’m not going to step on toes there. I will just point out that the documents appear to be vast enough that any news outlet can spin virtually any narrative they want. As Marcy notes here, the documents label prisoners [...]