Word: afghanistan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Since 2007, the Pentagon's Human Terrain System (HTS) has been placing social scientists in every Army combat brigade, regiment and Marine Corps regimental combat team. There are now more than 500 people employed by HTS, a number that is increasing rapidly. On the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, their job is to gather information and provide commanders with a greater understanding of the local population, reducing the need for lethal force by helping the Army determine the needs of the community, according to Steve Fondacaro, the project manager at HTS. Secretary of State Robert Gates has publicly praised...
...raid and now has to look after her six daughters by herself. "My clients are furious that German forces ordered the Kunduz air strike. They feel very disappointed," says Popal. "They see German troops as murderers, just as American soldiers are viewed." (See pictures of the battle in Afghanistan's Kunar province...
...This will not be the first time the German government has paid compensation to relatives of civilians killed in Afghanistan. In 2008, the German army handed $20,000 to the family of an Afghan woman and two children who were shot dead by a German soldier at a checkpoint. But given the scale of September's air strike in Kunduz - widely considered the most deadly air raid involving German forces in Germany's post-war history - the payout to victims' relatives is bound to be much bigger. The Defense Ministry spokesman dismisses German media reports of a $4.5 million payout...
...controversy comes at an awkward time, with Germany under increasing pressure to contribute more troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Despite doubts over the German mission in Afghanistan, on Dec. 3, the Bundestag voted to extend the mandate by another year, until 2010. There are now about 4,300 German soldiers in Afghanistan - most are based in the north of the country - and Germany is the third biggest troop contributor after the U.S. and Britain. But the U.S. is looking for a bigger commitment. "More German troops would be very welcome," Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy...
...Merkel has said she won't make a decision on deploying any more German troops until after the international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London on Jan. 28. But with Horst Seehofer - leader of her Christian Democrats' sister party and coalition partner, the Bavarian Christian Social Union - already signaling his opposition to boosting German forces, it's clear that the decision won't be easy...