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"Though it hardly seems possible, Nov. 11 marked the 12th Veterans Day in which the United States has been at war in Afghanistan (nine of which also included fighting in Iraq)."

""I've often worried that the lesson from Iraq and Afghanistan - and especially Afghanistan - is that we don't know how to do foreign aid, and therefore we shouldn't continue to provide aid at the levels we have been," said Ms. Wadhams of the Center for American Progress. "

I detailed aid failure in "Funding the Enemy."

"The U.S. has lost billions of dollars to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan and stands to repeat that in future wars without big changes in how the government awards and manages contracts for battlefield support and reconstruction projects, independent investigators said Wednesday. The Wartime Contracting Commission urged Congress and the Obama administration to quickly put in place its recommendations to overhaul the contracting process and increase accountability."

"The resolution that the United States Conference of Mayors passed on Monday calling on President Obama and Congress to "speed up the ending" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was not nearly as strong as the one it passed 40 years ago, calling on President Richard M. Nixon to withdraw all American troops from Vietnam within six months. "

"Nearly two dozen generals have commanded troops from the United States and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, since the American invasion in late 2001 - with five U.S. generals running both commands in the past five years alone."

" The United States and Afghanistan faced potentially divisive issues such as immunity for U.S. troops as the two sides began talks Thursday on a security agreement that will shape America's military presence in the country after the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops in two years."

"WASHINGTON - The debate over how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014 comes down to risky business."

"WASHINGTON - Reflecting a war-weary nation, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday for an accelerated withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting."

"WASHINGTON - The U.S. intends to wage a counterterrorism campaign inside Afghanistan even after the main U.S. combat force leaves in 2014 in order to prevent al-Qaida from fulfilling its ambition to re-establish a sanctuary there, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday."

"To use a few of the catchwords of that moment, it transformed nothing, empowered no one, stabilized and economically uplifted not a single Iraqi. It just sat there empty, dark, and unused in the middle of the desert. Like the chickens, we were plucked. "

"An Army lieutenant colonel who accused senior U.S. officials of concealing bad news about the war in Afghanistan will receive the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling on Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis laid out his concerns in "Truth, Lies, and Afghanistan,""

"The Army inspector general is conducting a system-wide review of mental health facilities to determine whether psychiatrists overturned diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder to save money, a move that comes as the case of a U.S. soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians has brought fresh attention to the strains of war."

"Citing an Army lieutenant colonel's claims that there is no progress being made in Afghanistan, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is urging Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to create an independent study group to review U.S. strategy in the sandbox."