Today's Fresh Blogs...

• WORLD IN BRIEF

  Published: October 21, 2007, 12:00 am

  Tags: World, Brief, Hamas, Myanmar, Musa Qala, The Taliban, Helmand Province, Jammu Kashmir, Gaza City, George W Bush, Horn Of Africa, Mahmoud Abbas, Mandalay, Mogadishu, Shizuo Nagano, The White House, Yangon, Afghanistan, Fatah Organization, Japan, Reporters Without Borders

  Burma lifted a curfew on Saturday and ended a ban on assembly imposed during a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests -- the latest sign that military rulers are confident they have fully crushed the largest demonstrations in two decades.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• WORLD IN BRIEF

  Published: November 9, 2007, 12:00 am

  Tags: World, Brief, United States, Vojislav Seselj, Chad, France, Syria, U S Army, Uh 60 Black Hawk Helicopter, Guizhou Province, Helmand Province, Damascus, Europe, Pyongyang, Afghanistan, Bosnia And Herzegovina, China, Croatia, Italy, Naval Historical Center, North Korea, Serb

  North Korea expressed rare gratitude Thursday for U.S. help in ending a high-seas standoff with Somali pirates, a sign of warming ties between the longtime foes, fostered by progress on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Military Weighs Recruiting Afghan Tribes to Fight Taliban

  Published: December 4, 2007, 12:00 am

  Tags: Military, Weighs, Recruiting, Afghan, Tribes, Fight, Taliban, Afghanistan, United States, Robert Gates, Nato, The Taliban, Iraq, U S Armed Forces, Helmand Province, Abc Inc, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Pentagon, Al Qaeda

  KABUL, Dec. 3 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in Afghanistan on Monday to weigh new strategies for quelling insurgent violence, which has escalated here in recent years despite increases in U.S. and NATO troop levels.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Taliban Forces Flee Afghan Stronghold

  Published: December 11, 2007, 12:00 am

  Tags: Taliban, Forces, Flee, Afghan, Stronghold, Musa Qala, The Taliban, Al Qaeda, Helmand Province, Gordon Brown, Gul Agha, Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, Nato

  KABUL, Dec. 10 -- Hundreds of Taliban fighters fled in trucks and on motorbikes Monday as Afghan and international troops fought their way into the only important town controlled by the hard-line Islamic movement.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Pentagon Critical Of NATO Allies

  Published: December 12, 2007, 12:00 am

  Tags: Pentagon, Critical, Nato, Allies, Robert Gates, United States, Afghanistan, Michael G Mullen, George W Bush, International Security Assistance Force, Iraq, The Taliban, Al Qaeda, Iran, Helmand Province, Dan Mcneill, Europe, European Union, Kandahar, Pakistan, Scotland, The

  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates sharply criticized NATO countries yesterday for not supplying urgently needed trainers, helicopters and infantry for Afghanistan as violence escalates there, vowing not to let the alliance "off the hook."

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• U.S. Boosts Its Use of Airstrikes In Iraq

  Published: January 17, 2008, 12:00 am

  Tags: U S, Boosts, Its, Use, Airstrikes, Iraq, Baghdad, United States, Arab Jabour, Colin Kahl, 3rd Infantry Division, Afghanistan, U S Armed Forces, Ak 47 Assault Rifle, Diyala Province, Helmand Province, Eliane Nabaa, Gary L Crowder, Gary L North, Khan Bani Saad, Marc Garl

  The U.S. military conducted more than five times as many airstrikes in Iraq last year as it did in 2006, targeting al-Qaeda safe houses, insurgent bombmaking facilities and weapons stockpiles in an aggressive strategy aimed at supporting the U.S. troop increase by overwhelming enemies with air...

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Opium Brides of Afghanistan

  Published: March 29, 2008, 1:19 pm

  Tags: International, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Khan, Helmand Province, Gul Ghoti

  In the country's poppy-growing provinces, farmers are being forced to sell their daughters to pay loans.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Laura Bush Spotlights Signs of Hope In Afghanistan

  Published: June 9, 2008, 12:00 am

  Tags: Laura, Bush, Spotlights, Signs, Hope, Afghanistan, United States, Laura Bush, The Taliban, British Broadcasting Corporation, Helmand Province, Bamian, Hamid Karzai, Kabul, Paris, Nato, New Zealand, Sangin Valley, United Kingdom, Bamian Province

  BAMIAN, Afghanistan, June 8 -- First lady Laura Bush, on a mission to highlight signs of progress in war-torn Afghanistan, ventured outside the capital Sunday to an area that symbolizes both the destruction and attempt at rebirth.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• A Sober Assessment of Afghanistan

  Published: June 15, 2008, 12:00 am

  Tags: Sober, Assessment, Afghanistan, Dan Mcneill, Pakistan, The Taliban, International Security Assistance Force, United States, Nato, U S Armed Forces, Helmand Province, 82nd Airborne Division, Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, Farah, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Islamabad, Larry J Baugues

  The outgoing top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said Friday that attacks increased 50 percent in April in the country's eastern region, where U.S. troops primarily operate, as a spreading Taliban insurgency across the border in Pakistan fueled a surge in violence.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0

• Pentagon Report Anticipates Rising Violence in Afghanistan

  Published: June 28, 2008, 12:00 am

  Tags: Pentagon, Report, Anticipates, Rising, Violence, Afghanistan, The Taliban, United States, Pakistan, The Pentagon, Al Qaeda, Afghan National Army, Helmand Province

  Violence in Afghanistan will continue to rise this year, as Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters have proved resilient and aggressive foes against coalition forces, according to a new Pentagon report issued to Congress yesterday.

  Comments (0)   Blog link Rating: 0