Afghanistan Government too corrupt to consolidate US military’s efforts

September 25th, 2009 NEW YORK - Despite General Stanley McChrystal advocating a troop increase in Afghanistan, only twenty-nine percent Americans support his suggestion, a new poll has found. According to a new CBS News/New York Times poll, 29 percent think that troop levels should be increased, while 32 percent said they should be decreased.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The 66-page assessment report provided to U.S. President Barack Obama by his top military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley A.

August 26th, 2009 2 US troops killed in AfghanistanKABUL — The NATO-led force in Afghanistan says attacks have killed two U.S. troops, keeping August on track to be the deadliest month of the war for the U.S.

August 17th, 2009 KABUL - Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the world's and Afghanistan's most wanted warlords, has said that he will not enter into any peace talks while foreign troops remain in Afghanistan. Hekmatyar, who was once Afghanistan's prime minister and now leads the Hezb-e-Islami political party and a paramilitary group in Afghanistan, told Sky News in an interview that: "The important issue for us is to end the occupation and re-establish the country's sovereignty.

August 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Britain has rejected claims that its military mission in Afghanistan was undermined by a failure to provide the army force with clear direction. British responsibility in Afghanistan have been abstracted by unrealistic planning at senior levels and poor coordination between government departments, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report published Sunday.

July 29th, 2009 LONDON - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has commended efforts of the Obama administration to re-balance the relationship between the United States and Pakistan saying it is very important to stabilize Pakistan in order to maintain peace in Afghanistan. "We need a more stable Pakistan to get a more stable Afghanistan.

July 25th, 2009 LONDON - The British government will send reinforcements to Afghanistan to help maintain the required operational effectiveness in the wake of rising number of casualties suffered by its troops while fighting the Taliban in that country, officials said Friday. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said 125 additional soldiers will be deployed in Afghanistan to strengthen the security ahead of the presidential elections in August.

June 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US is winding down efforts to destroy poppy in Afghanistan, special envoy Richard Holbrooke said Wednesday, after criticism that the zealous US approach has pushed peasants toward the Taliban. Holbrooke, special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said President Barack Obama's administration was making "significant adjustments" from the previous government of George W.

June 16th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Last week, when Pak Air Force decided to strike Makeen - a key trade centre of Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan - it was the result of a two-month long brainstorming in the military establishment on how to isolate Baitullah Mehsud within the Taliban. The offensive was virtually carried out to avenge the suicide bombing in Lahore that killed religious scholar Dr Sarfaraz Naeemi.He has a hand in virtually every terrorist attack in Pakistan," Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said recently.

June 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Six in 10 Pakistanis believe that their political parties are highly or very highly corrupt. According to a new survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, political parties (60 percent) were public's perception of corruption, followed by parliament (57 percent) and private/business sector (41 percent).

May 28th, 2009 LONDON - Assassinated Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's niece Fatima Bhutto has criticized Pakistan's leadership for creating all problems that the country is facing at present. Bhutto charged the state, especially its civil and military machinery, for creating the Taliban menace, whose expanding writ is threatening the existence of the country.

April 23rd, 2009 LAHORE - The United States while expressing serious concerns over the Pakistan Government's decision to implement Islamic law is Swat Valley has raised questions over Pakistan army's capability to counter insurgency inside the country. Senator Jack Reed, who accompanied another Senator Ted Kaufman on a visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, said that the increasing writ of Taliban in the country posed the greatest threat to the region.

March 17th, 2009 KABUL - Moscow has no intention of sending a military contingent to Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. 'The international community is not asking the Russian Federation to send its military contingent to Afghanistan, nor is any such action being planned,' Lavrov said here during a one-day visit to Afghanistan.

February 1st, 2009 KABUL - Following nearly 20 percent reduction in poppy cultivation in 2008, a joint Afghan and UN survey predicted a further decrease in cultivation this year, but said the illegal crop was still mostly grown in the volatile southern region. 'I am pleased to announce that during 2009 a further decrease in poppy cultivation is expected,' General Khoaidad, Afghan minister of counter narcotics, told reporters in a press conference after the release of the report in Kabul Sunday.

January 8th, 2009 KABUL - Three soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed Friday in southern Afghanistan, an official said. 'We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the soldiers who died while working to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan,' said ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Richard Blanchette.