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1.: Afghanistan: U.S. Death Toll Double That Of Last Year

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:50 am (PST)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4S9US_nWxptv4pqJw5hedX0EQsw

Agence France-Presse
December 27, 2009

Soldier dies in Afghanistan, doubling US death toll
By Lynne O'Donnell

-Experts say deaths will escalate further with the arrival of reinforcements - 30,000 from the US and 6,800 from NATO allies - over the course of 2010....Extra troop commitments from NATO allies are expected to take to around 150,000 the total number of foreign troops operating in Afghanistan under US and NATO command in the coming year.

KABUL: A bomb attack killed a US service member in Afghanistan, NATO said on Sunday, doubling the number of American soldiers killed in the country this year compared with 2008, according to an AFP tally.

The NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the soldier died from an improvised explosive device (IED), the biggest killer of foreign troops in the eight-year battle to contain a Taliban insurgency.

"An ISAF service member from the United States died following an IED strike in southern Afghanistan Saturday," the force said in a statement.

The death takes this year's international military casualties in Afghanistan to 506, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org which tracks military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Of those deaths, 310 have been Americans, according to the AFP tally. That figure compares with a total of 155 Americans given by icasualties for 2008.

This year has already proved the deadliest so far....

The total number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan in 2008 was 295.

An influx of extra troops this year has escalated battles in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, the Taliban heartland, as has the number of deaths of both foreign troops and the Afghan forces they are leading.

The insurgents have supplemented battlefield tactics with roadside bombs, which have taken an enormous toll.

Experts say deaths will escalate further with the arrival of reinforcements - 30,000 from the US and 6,800 from NATO allies - over the course of 2010.

US President Barack Obama has ordered the troop surge as part of a new war strategy....

Extra troop commitments from NATO allies are expected to take to around 150,000 the total number of foreign troops operating in Afghanistan under US and NATO command in the coming year.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen warned during a visit to Kabul this month the violence will get worse before getting better as the Taliban dominate at least a third of the country.

"I told our troops heading here to steel themselves for more combat and more casualties," he said.

The number of foreign troops to have died in Afghanistan this year surpassed 500 with the deaths early last week of four British soldiers in the south in as many days.
....
Military officials in Kabul have said the troop influx will be gradual over the first eight months of 2010 and will be concentrated on populated areas on the ring road that connects the country.

It is also, however, expected to lead to more battles and subsequently more deaths, analysts said.

NATO officials have said that for every IED death, there can be up to eight casualties, many with horrendous injuries including loss of limbs and eyes.

The record death toll has fuelled opposition among the Western public about why their troops are dying for the world's second-most corrupt country.
....
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2.: U.S. Missile Strike Kills Over 13 In Northwest Pakistan

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:01 am (PST)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/27/content_12711502.htm

Xinhua News Agency
December 27, 2009

U.S. drone attack kills 13 in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: At least 13 people were killed in suspected United States drone attack in northwest Pakistan's tribal area, local TV channel reported Sunday.

According to details, a missile fired by U.S. unmanned aircraft had initially killed four militants in the border village of Saidgai in North Waziristan tribal agency Saturday.

The death toll in the strike has mounted to 13 on Sunday morning, the private channel GEO News reported.

Following the strike, U.S. B-52 jet plane, along with other spy planes, continued its flights over the tribal areas on Sunday morning, the channel reported.

The flights have reportedly remained confined to areas located in South and North Waziristan Agencies and Kurram Agency, sources claimed.

According to tribal sources, the flights of B-52 jet plane has kept terrifying the people living on the tribal belt for several weeks.

The U.S drones regularly hit hideouts of the militants in the Pakistani tribal region, which Washington considers as the center of Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants. Pakistan opposes the U.S. strikes inside the country's tribal regions and seeks the drone technology. But the U.S. does not accept Islamabad's request.
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3.: Trade-Off For Missiles: U.S. Demands Taiwan Aid For Afghan War

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:04 am (PST)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114751&sectionid=351020406

Press TV
December 27, 2009

'US asks for Taiwan support in Afghanistan'

Following a recent US-Taiwan military deal, the Obama administration has demanded that Taiwan provide non-military aid for troops in Afghanistan.

Washington made the request through unofficial channels, the China Times daily cited an unnamed military source from Taiwan on Sunday.

The US wants Taiwan to provide medical or engineering assistance to US troops in Afghanistan that will be increased, according to the source.

A National Security Council official refused to confirm or deny the newspaper report.

This week a US military firm signed a 1.1 billion dollar contract with Taiwan to upgrade its Patriot missile systems.

Taiwan's defense ministry announced that the contract included short-range ballistic and cruise missiles.

Talks on the contract began in 2007, when the Pentagon announced that it would allow Taiwan to upgrade its missile systems.

China has criticized the deal, saying it is in violation of US commitment to reduce weapons delivery to Taiwan, which is recognized by only 23 countries.

China and Taiwan have had separate governments since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing still regards the island as part of its territory.
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4.: NATO Official: 33 Of 34 Afghan Provinces Up For Grabs

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:49 pm (PST)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\12\28\story_28-12-2009_pg7_37

Reuters
December 27, 2009

Taliban have expanded their influence across Afghanistan: NATO official

* Says Taliban have own governors in 33 out of the country's 34 provinces
* US has only a year to turn the tide of Afghan war and make US strategy work

KABUL: The Afghan Taliban have expanded their influence across Afghanistan and are now running a 'full-fledged insurgency' with their own 'governors' in all but one of the country's provinces, a senior North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) intelligence official said on Sunday.

"Time is running out. We've got about a year to prove that our strategy can actually work. The Taliban has shadow governors in 33 out of the 34 provinces," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told a small group of reporters. "So he (the Taliban) has got a government-in-waiting. He has got ministers," he added.

Violence in Afghanistan has reached some of its highest levels in the eight-year war and the United States President Barack Obama is sending in 30,000 extra troops as part of his new war strategy, to try to turn the tide. Other NATO countries are sending some 7,000 more.

But Washington's plan also calls for US troop levels to be scaled down from 2011 and the White House has said the United States will not be in Afghanistan in eight or nine years' time. The Taliban are willing to wait.

"The insurgency is confident and are looking towards a post-ISAF Afghanistan," he said, referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force....

There are already around 110,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan but despite the numbers, they are locked in a stalemate with the Taliban, unable to stem the rising tide of suicide and roadside bomb attacks.

With the improvised explosive device (IED) or roadside bomb, the Taliban have found their weapon of choice against the foreign troops, the official said, adding 'kinetic' events had risen by 300 percent since 2007.

The official said in 2003, foreign forces dealt with 81 IEDs, that figure rose to over 7,200 for 2009. This figure includes IEDs that had exploded and those that were found and cleared. "This is not meant to be a joke, but whoever is their logistics chief, you know, we ought to be taking lessons from them. Because that's pretty good ... for an enemy insurgent force to generate that kind of capability," the official said.

Foreign troop casualties are at their highest since the war began and public support is waning. More than 1,500 soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the war started in late 2001 and twice as many Americans have died so far this year compared to 2008.
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5.: U.S. Ambassador: "NATO Membership Would Be Good For Serbia"

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Sun Dec 27, 2009 9:05 pm (PST)

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=12&dd=27&nav_id=64061

Politika
December 27, 2009

U.S.: Belgrade must cooperate with Pristina

BELGRADE: Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Jennifer Brush, said that Belgrade must cooperate with Pristina.

She said that America does not expect Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence.

Brush said that cooperation is necessary so that the problems that affect both sides can be figured out.

She told daily Politika that she does not believe that new status talks will be able to be scheduled after the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of Kosovo's declared independence is given.

As far as the eventual membership of Serbia in NATO is concerned, Brush said that the decision is up to Serbia to make, but that the U.S. and Alliance members believe that NATO membership would be good for Serbia.

Brush said that Serbia needs to define what it means by military neutrality.

"It is still unclear to me, personally. On one side, NATO membership gives a clear concept, it is an extension of multilateral relations," she said.

She said that the U.S. supports Serbia's European integration, adding that the visa liberalization and unfreezing of the interim trade agreement were good things that occurred at the end of this year, and were promised by President Boris Tadić while campaigning in 2008.

Brush said that relations between America and Serbia have improved and will continue to do so, adding that the government, President Tadic and former ambassador Cameron Munter had a lot to do with the improved relations.

She also said that the visit of U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden to Serbia in 2009 was a very significant event.

"I believe that his visit brought a very important turnaround in our relations and offered new hope for stronger bilateral cooperation," Brush said.
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