Afghanistan

"President Obama's decision to remove 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan by this time next year represents a careful balancing of political interests and military requirements. "

"The Pentagon is pushing a plan that would keep about 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan once the NATO military mission there ends in 2014."

"U.S. Special Operations Forces have a brand new home in Afghanistan. It's owned and operated by the security company formerly known as Blackwater, thanks to a no-bid deal worth $22 million"

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

"The United States has two vital interests in that part of the world: preventing terrorist attacks on this country and its allies, and preventing nuclear weapons or materials from falling into the hands of terrorists. Protecting these interests after 2014 will require the United States to be able to launch precision military strikes from this region. But it will not require tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. "

"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."

"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."

"A close look at Mr. Karzai's growing alienation from the U.S. helps to explain why so many of America's war objectives in Afghanistan remain unfulfilled. It seems increasingly likely that the U.S. will leave behind both an undefeated Taliban insurgency and a dysfunctional government mired in corruption and utterly dependent on foreign aid."

"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."

"An evaluation of the former general's record, however, shows that he made far more than one mistake, and that the consequences for the nation and thousands of individuals have been profound. It's time for the shroud of popular myth to be removed from Petraeus' war record."

"As the media frantically investigates the alleged improprieties of the U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, generals Petraeus and Allen, is this brouhaha distracting us from the real question: Have these generals been effective? Have any of the eleven U.S. commanders over the last eleven years been effective?"

" 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."

"The CIA director's resignation over a sex scandal has obscured how badly his counterinsurgency strategy failed in Afghanistan"

"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)."

"Afghan-US Security Pact Talks to Officially Begin Thursday"

"When it comes to corruption in Afghanistan, the time may be now for the United States to look in the mirror and see what lessons can be learned from contracting out parts of that war."

The only people thinking long-term appear to be the Taliban. "The Americans are going and the Taliban need the people's support, so they are trying to avoid attacks that result in civilian casualties," said Noor Agha Mujahid, a member of the Taliban shadow government for Kandahar province, where he oversees operations in a rural district. "After 2014 ... it will not take a month to take every place back.""

"JALALABAD, Afghanistan-One of Afghanistan's top power brokers has been freeing suspected insurgents, running an open extortion scheme and traveling with suitcases of undeclared cash earned from criminal activity, according to internal U.S. documents. "

"Afghanistan's Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan on Thursday said that the process of creating a military unit made up of the former mujahedeen fighters is underway to protect and secure Afghanistan because Nato had failed to do so."

"WASHINGTON: A congressional oversight body has sent a letter to the US State Department, saying that some American-funded companies and individuals are actively supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan. In the letter, which was also copied to the US Agency for International Development, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction urged the US government to immediately stop disbursement of federal funds to these companies and individuals."