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Afghanistan Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2018 8 Comments
Every year on November 25 we remember Johnny Micheal ("Mike") Spann, the first American killed in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. It was on that date in 2001 that Spann was killed during a Taliban prisoner uprising at the Qala-i-Jangi fortress. The "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh was being held and interrogated at the fortress, though it remains unclear what if any direct role he played in Spann's death.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 10, 2018 30 Comments
In December 2017, investigative reporter Josh Meyer broke a story in Politico Magazine which exposed how the Obama administration allowed Hezbollah to run drugs, including into the U.S., for fear that a crackdown would upset Iran during the nuke deal negotiations. We covered that report in Obama allowed Hezbollah cocaine running into U.S. in quest for Iran nuke deal:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 21, 2017 3 Comments
Vice President Mike made surprised American troops in Afghanistan Thursday. In the first visit to Afghanistan by either Trump or Pence, the Vice President met with Afghan leaders and American troops.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 12, 2017 11 Comments
Pakistan officials announced that the Taliban has freed an American woman, her Canadian husband, and their children after five years of imprisonment. From ABC News:
Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her husband Joshua Boyle, 34, who were abducted while hiking in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province in 2012, were secured in an exchange between Pakistani military and U.S. commandos late Wednesday in a secret operation to bring them home after one of the longest -- and strangest -- American hostage ordeals in recent history, counterterrorism officials revealed.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on August 22, 2017 8 Comments
Eliminating Islamist terrorism was high on the agenda when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington three months ago. “We will destroy radical Islamic terrorism,” President Donald Trump had said in his joint statement with Premier Modi. Last night, President Trump told India to take concrete steps in the region towards that final goal. President Trump’s speech outlining the new strategy in Afghanistan received wide support and approval in India. "India welcomes Trump's South Asia policy," India’s leading newspaper Times of India commented:
India today welcomed US President Donald Trump's determination to enhance efforts to overcome the challenges facing Afghanistan and confront issues of safe havens and other forms of cross-border support enjoyed by terrorists.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 14, 2017 25 Comments
Yesterday, the military dropped a MOAB bomb on an ISIS tunnel in Afghanistan. The left freaked out over possible civilian death and injuries. (Weird, I remember their silence when Obama dropped 26,000 bombs last year alone) But Afghan officials said that the bomb did not kill any civilians. From ABC News:
Thirty-six ISIS militants were killed but no civilians died when the U.S. military dropped the "mother of all bombs" on a cave complex in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 13, 2017 18 Comments
The U.S. military has dropped a Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB) for the first time in history on an ISIS tunnel in Afghanistan. The military needs to use an Air Force C-130 cargo plane to drop the bomb. Fox News reported:
President Trump told media Thursday afternoon that "this was another successful mission" and he gave the military total authorization.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 09, 2017 12 Comments
Gen. Joseph Votel, the general in charge of the U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he needs more troops in Afghanistan to break a stalemate:
“We are developing a strategy, and we are in discussions with the secretary and the department right now,” Gen. Joseph Votel told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise-and-assist mission more effective.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 09, 2017 14 Comments
Yesterday, during the Senate's debate on Attorney General Jeff Sessions's confirmation, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) mentioned he wouldn't be surprised if Russia made a move to help the Taliban against us and NATO. It appears he was onto something because Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia wants to "legitimize the Taliban" in Afghanistan as a way "to undermine the United States and NATO. From The Hill:
“The Russian involvement this year has become more difficult,” Gen. John Nicholson told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “First, they have begun to publicly legitimize the Taliban. This narrative that they promote is that the Taliban are fighting Islamic State and the Afghan government is not fighting Islamic State and that therefore there could be spillover of this group into the region. This is a false narrative.” “I believe its intent is to undermine the United States and NATO,” he later added.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2016 4 Comments
The first time we wrote about Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann was in early May 2011, in the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden:
Hearing the news of Osama bin Laden’s death brought forward many emotions and memories. One of those memories for me was the story of Johnny “Mike” Spann, from Winfield, Alabama, the first American killed in ... Afghanistan..., on November 25, 2001. Spann was a CIA operative, one of a small number of Americans who landed in Afghanistan, helped coordinate local forces hostile to the Taliban, and directed bombing and other military action. The story of this small band of men has been told, but not told enough.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 13, 2016 8 Comments
A Taliban suicide bomber managed to find his way into a U.S. military base in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he detonated a bomb and killed four Americans. The blast left 16 wounded:
The suicide bomber at Bagram Air Field had been dressed as a day laborer and detonated the explosives in the vicinity of a dining facility around 5:30 a.m., according to a foreign security source. The sprawling base, which contains tens of thousands of contractors, is often targeted by Taliban rockets and attacks on patrols near the base, but suicide bombers hadn’t previously succeeded in breaching the outer layers of security.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 04, 2016 10 Comments
Before the Obamas could even move out of the White House at the end of the term, the president's legacy is unveiling itself across the Muslim World. From Mediterranean Sea to Persian Gulf, the forces of Radical Islam continue to score one triumph after another. Once reduced to hunted fugitives by President George W. Bush's military campaign of 2001, the emboldened Taliban fighters have once again raised the Islamist battle cry of 'Allahu Akbar' as they embark on a nationwide offensive to wrestle back control of Afghanistan. Taliban fighters have captured most of central Kunduz city, a strategically important city some 200 miles north-west of Afghan capital of Kabul, claims French news agency AFP. French television channel France24 showed footage of Taliban fighters in the centre of the city after having run over the city's defences -- before one could say Afghan National Army. Government forces still control the city's airport and started preparations to repel the Taliban out of Kunduz, French report claims.

Posted by Jane Horton on May 30, 2016 8 Comments
On Sept. 9, 2011, my husband, Spc. Christopher Horton, was killed in action in Paktia, Afghanistan. My world shattered. As I struggled to look through the kaleidoscope lens that made up my life, I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t eat, and I could barely breathe. I didn’t understand why God would take away my husband so soon, or why he chose me to live on alone and carry this great burden. I was drowning in grief, heartbroken and almost hopeless. Throughout my long four and half years of being a war widow, nothing has been harder for me than to learn to live — when all I wanted to do was die. There have been many sleepless nights where I have laid on my face praying and crying my eyes out, and many mornings where I rolled up into a ball, asking for God to take me, or somehow spare me from this pain. I didn’t want to be here anymore, I didn’t want to face the day. Christopher and Jane Horton Wedding Lawn

Posted by Rachel Porto on May 29, 2016 13 Comments
Memorial Day. What does it mean to me? It means a time to reflect on my husband's service and sacrifice. A time to reflect on the sacrifices of thousands of families like my own. I met Jonny Porto in 2008 shortly after I graduated college. He was stationed on the Army post on which I worked and we met one summer weekend night at the bowling alley. I was immediately struck by his charisma, sincerity, and devilishly handsome good looks. I spent the evening with him and his friends, and although I had just met them all, they made me feel like we've been friends forever. At the end of the night, Jonny asked me if he could kiss me. I figured, "Sure, why not?" Little did I know that would be the kiss that would change my life. Many thought it was sudden when Jonathan proposed to me in November, but we knew it was right. We married on May 2, 2009, only 9 months after meeting. It was a true whirl-wind romance.
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