Afghanistan war

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'Always Remember the 13. Say Their Names'

Congress honors 13 troops killed in Afghanistan withdrawal

(Newser) - House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday posthumously presented Congress' highest honor—the Congressional Gold Medal—to 13 US service members who were killed during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation to honor the 13 troops, who were killed along with more than 170 Afghans...

GOP: Biden Picked 'Optics' Over Safety in Afghan Exit

Democrats and White House fire back and pin the blame on Trump

(Newser) - The blame game over the deadly US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 is heating up before the election. Republican members of Congress issued a new report blaming President Biden and VP Kamala Harris for the chaotic exit, one that left 13 US service members dead , while Democrats say Donald Trump'...

Trump Targets Harris Over Afghanistan 'Humiliation'

13 service members killed in bombing 3 years ago will be honored with Congressional Gold Medal

(Newser) - On Monday, Donald Trump tied Vice President Kamala Harris to the chaotic Afghanistan War withdrawal on the third anniversary of the suicide bombing that killed 13 US service members, calling the attack a "humiliation." The GOP nominee laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Sgt. Nicole...

Beneath Arlington Cemetery, 3K Mementos Are Quietly Kept

A look at what becomes of what is left on the gravestones in Section 60

(Newser) - Section 60 is a 14-acre parcel of the 624-acre Arlington National Cemetery and the final resting place for those who lost their lives fighting for their country post-9/11. That makes it home to a much more modern generation of fallen soldiers, and to a modern practice as well: the leaving...

Afghan General's Brutality May Have Backfired on US

'New York Times' reports on the legacy of Gen. Abdul Raziq

(Newser) - When the US was in Afghanistan, an Afghan general by the name of Abdul Raziq was seen as one of America's most valuable allies in the fight against the Taliban. On the upside, Raziq was young, brave, smart, and charismatic, and he kept order in crucial Kandahar, the New ...

CNN Pushes Back at Pentagon Account of Kabul Airport Attack

Outlet says new evidence turns over narrative of a lone suicide bomber in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Few claim that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan almost three years ago went smoothly. Now, conflicting accounts of the war's final days are emerging that puts the Pentagon's narrative at odds with others.
  • Bombing: In the late afternoon of Aug. 26, 2021, a blast brought about by an
...

More Witness Interviews in Kabul Bombing Ordered

US general says he wants new accounts of airport attack taken seriously

(Newser) - For the first time, almost 20 eyewitnesses to the bombing at the Kabul airport as US forces were leaving Afghanistan will be able to tell their stories to Pentagon investigators. Gen. Michael Kurilla ordered the interviews of US personnel who were wounded in the August 2021 attack and whose public...

Afghan Immigrant Who Helped US Forces Killed as Lyft Driver

Nasrat Ahmad Yar, a 31-year-old father of four, was fatally shot in DC

(Newser) - A 31-year-old father of four driving for Lyft was shot to death in Washington, DC, during an apparent botched robbery, say police. And the death of Nasrat Ahmad Yar around midnight on Monday has another tragic aspect: Ahmad Yar is from Afghanistan, where he worked as an interpreter for US...

Judge Says Decorated Australian Veteran Committed War Crimes

Ben Roberts-Smith loses defamation case

(Newser) - Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living veteran, has lost his defamation case against three newspapers that reported that he had committed war crimes in Afghanistan. After a year-long, high-profile trial, federal Justice Anthony Besanko determined that the newspapers have proven that the former Special Air Services had committed war...

Veterans Testify of 'Catastrophic' Afghanistan Exit

'No one was held accountable'

(Newser) - Active-service members and veterans provided firsthand testimony Wednesday about the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing detail the carnage and death they witnessed on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind. Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee about...

Afghans Oppose US Order on Frozen Funds
Afghans
Protest
Biden Order
Feb 12, 2022 12:30 PM CST

Afghans Protest Biden Order

Demonstrators oppose decision on frozen funds, demand compensation for war deaths

(Newser) - Demonstrators in Afghanistan's capital Saturday condemned President Joe Biden’s order freeing up $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the US for families of America's 9/11 victims—saying the money belongs to Afghans. Protesters who gathered outside Kabul's grand Eid Gah mosque asked America for...

Pentagon Adjusts Account of Kabul Airport Attack

Investigation concludes that a single bomber was responsible

(Newser) - The mass killing at the Kabul airport last August, as US forces were withdrawing from Afghanistan, was carried out by a single attacker, a Pentagon investigation has found. At least 170 Afghans and 13 American troops were killed in the blast . The Pentagon report says it was caused by one...

As Kabul Fell, a Last-Minute Scramble to Evacuate: Report

Critics question whether better planning from the Biden administration could have saved lives

(Newser) - The Biden administration was working out crucial details of the civilian evacuation from Kabul even as the Taliban descended on the Afghan city, according to a document obtained by Axios . The National Security Council's summary notes from the Aug. 14 meeting of the Deputies Small Group—chaired by Homeland...

Veteran Gets Unexpected Gift From Long-Dead Friend

Edmonton Oilers T-shirt belonged to his best friend and fellow medic, killed in Afghanistan in 2008

(Newser) - A Canadian veteran whose best friend and fellow service member was killed 13 years ago serving in Afghanistan got a surprise Christmas gift this year that drew out a cascade of feelings: his pal's Edmonton Oilers hockey T-shirt. The CBC reports on the emotional story of the friendship between...

Kabul Has Deadliest Attack Since US Left

Mosque bombed during Taliban service, reportedly killing at least 5 civilians

(Newser) - At least five civilians were killed in a bomb blast at the entrance to a Kabul mosque Sunday, a Taliban official said, describing the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since US forces left at the end of August. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell on...

Milley: 4 Administrations Made Afghanistan Mistakes

Effect was cumulative, general tells lawmakers

(Newser) - It wasn't any one recent mistake that cost the US the war in Afghanistan, Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers on Wednesday. "It wasn't lost in the last 20 days or even 20 months," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said. "There's a cumulative effect...

Generals Contradict Biden on Afghanistan Exit
Generals Contradict
Biden on Afghanistan Exit
THE RUNDOWN
Sep 28, 2021 5:30 PM CDT

Generals Contradict Biden on Afghanistan Exit

They say they wanted to keep force of 2.5K in the country to prevent collapse

(Newser) - In an ABC interview last month, President Biden defended the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan, denying that advisers had wanted him to keep 2,500 troops in the country. He was contradicted by top military officials during a heated six-hour Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, the Hill reports. Gen....

CIA Warned About Civilians Seconds Before Drone Hit

Word came too late to stop the missile that killed 10 people

(Newser) - A Hellfire missile was on its way to its target, a white Corolla in Kabul, when the CIA realized there were civilians in the area, maybe even children in the vehicle. The agency issued an urgent warning to the US military seconds before the missile struck, killing 10 civilians, seven...

Blinken Answers for Afghanistan Exit
Blinken: Trump
Left No Good Options
Sep 13, 2021 5:04 PM CDT

Blinken: Trump Left No Good Options

'We inherited a deadline. We did not inherit a plan' for Afghanistan, he tells panel

(Newser) - Repeatedly criticized by Republican lawmakers, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday defending the US handling of the end of the war in Afghanistan. Blinken, in turn, put blame on former President Trump's administration, Politico reports. "We inherited a deadline," Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee....

Evidence Raises Questions About US Drone Strike

Driver could have been putting canisters of water, not explosives, in his vehicle

(Newser) - Video footage and interviews in Kabul have raised questions about the Pentagon's account of the final, fatal US drone attack of the Afghanistan war. The drone struck a vehicle in a residential neighborhood on Aug. 29 that the military said carried explosives and was "an imminent ISIS-K threat"...

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