The risk of leaving Afghanistan earlyThe US Defense Secretary said overnight that US and NATO were aiming to end all combat in Afghanistan by the end of next year. But what will the earlier withdrawal mean for Afghanistan? asks David Ignatius.
US military
Obama to China: you can’t exploit our fiscal crisis
Barack Obama used his address to Parliament to send an unambiguous message to China.
End of the mail sends the message: the Iraq War is over
Ex-Iraq War solider Brandon Friedman explains how the end of the mail run to soldiers is more of an official end to the war than any announcement a president can make. A war “survives on word from home,” says Friedman.
Secret CIA operations in Iraq
US president Barack Obama announced that the US military will leave Iraq by December 31 this year. But the CIA has a number of covert programs and counter-terrorism operations in Iraq that will continue, writes Eli Lake.
Now they ask, and they’re happy to tell: stories from the frontline
Pentagon officials signed the death certificate for the US military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ban on known gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers today with a rowdy cheer more akin to civilian political rallies than a military ceremony.
The Wired chatlogs: a cry for help from a confused, lonely man
The new Wired chatlogs alleged to be by Bradley Manning reveal a lonely, deeply unwell LGBT man at the centre of the US military’s secrets.
Libya: it’s a not a ‘war’ if Americans aren’t dying
The Obama administration has been able to launch attacks in Libya without congressional approval because it claims it isn’t a war. Why not? Because American soldiers aren’t dying (although Libyans are). But this is a war, declares Jonathan Schell.
A soldier’s toughest mission: coming home
After months away at war in Iraq or Afghanistan, many US soldiers struggle with the transition back to home life. The NY Times interviews soldiers struggling with survivor guilt, injury and children they barely know.
How the killing of bin Laden very nearly didn’t happen
The US military knew they only had one chance to illegally enter Pakistan and attack Osama bin Laden’s hideout. But the SEAL mission very nearly failed thanks to a weather issue affecting the helicopter and therefore the whole plan.
The bulletproof bin Laden hunting war dogs
US military dogs are a crucial part of overseas operations, but these aren’t no suburban Fidos. They wear bullet-proof body armour fitted with cameras, with their fitouts totally more than $30,000.
The ten-year hunt for Osama
It took a decade and a billion dollar war before the US finally captured al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. What was bin Laden doing in those 10 long years? The Guardian provides a timeline.
US Army kills civilians then poses with their bodies
It’s a gruesome tale. US soliders in Afghanistan killed civilians and then posed, smiling, for photos with their corpses. NATO have been preparing for the release of the photos for months, reports Der Spiegel.
Letter from...: Letter from… the DMZ
For South Koreans, a visit to the DMZ is a visit to a near-mythical place, where relatives may still live out their lives unknown. For tourists like me, it’s a chance to see the last front line between 20th century ideologies, seemingly frozen in time and space, the last physical barrier between capitalism and communism, writes freelance writer Doug Hendrie.
Why is Bradley Manning forced to sleep naked?
Bradley Manning, the young US soldier accused of leaking classified military information to WikiLeaks, is banned from wearing clothes at night thanks to half-hearted claims he is a suicide risk. Army court-martial defence specialist David E. Coombs explains the bungled logic.
Child abuse: the new Taliban tactic
There’s a rising number of domestic abuse cases in Afghanistan and the US military wonders if it is a new Taliban technique to help gain access to US military bases and gather intelligence, since military hospitals care for the wounded.
Rising Afghanistan death toll
The death toll for foreign troops in Afghanistan hit 700 for the year this weekend making 2010 the deadliest year of the nearly decade-long war. At least in Iraq foreign troop deaths are declining, explains Richard Farmer.
Wikileaks 
Why is the US government still sending cables?
As the WikiLeaks US embassy cables scandal takes up the news headlines, Foreign Policy asks a very valid question: why do US diplomats still send “cables”? Partly because the descriptive information sent to millions is also an attempt for diplomats to prove themselves.
The Afghanistan War needs less tanks
The US military’s tank-like MRAP (mine-resistant ambush-protected) vehicles work wonderfully in the streets of Iraq. But in the hills and desert of Afghanistan, the tanks just help the insurgents gain more ground writes Major Michael Waltz from the US Special Forces.
How journalism is failing us in the Iraq War
There’s a reason “embedded” became a dirty word in journalism: most of the news coming out from Iraq and Afghanistan is highly filtered, not representative of what is going on and completely overplays the US Military’s importance and success, declares Patrick Cockburn.
must read 
US troops + Afghan police: not exactly a match made in heaven
Politicians keep talking up the important of training Afghanistan’s police force, but as Christopher Beam learns, the ANP and US Troops encounter cultural misunderstandings, Taliban infiltration of the cooking department and arguments about whether the Afghanistan police are lazy.
Time to mention the war
What exactly are we — and the rest of the NATO/ISAF mission — wanting to achieve in Afghanistan? Democracy is a complex issue in a fraught nation like Afghanistan and it’s time to question whether Aussie troops are helping or hindering, says Benedict Coleridge.
A reality check on Afghanistan
Transition of power in Afghanistan won’t just run on some pre-determined calendar schedule arranged by outside forces. This is a messy and difficult battle and Afghans still need training, writes Russell Robinson.
revealed Drones in Pakistan halt terror attack on Europe
Remember how the Eiffel Tower was evacuated recently? Plans for a Mumbai-style terror attack on Britain, France, and Germany were intercepted by international intelligence organisations and then foiled by missile drones on Pakistan militants last week.
Killing civilians then keeping their fingers as momentos
Chilling new video of a US solider being interviewed, talking about Afghanistan civilians being killed for sport and then dismembering their corpses, emerged in the US this week. What will happen now to the war in Afghanistan?
