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In the decade-long Afghanistan war, 2011 was the deadliest year on record for Afghan civilians with 3,021 killed — a rise of 8 percent from the year before, as Taliban-affiliated insurgents ratcheted up violence with roadside bombs and suicide attacks, according to a new United Nations report.



Summary: The U.S military estimates $360 million in U.S. tax dollars has ended up in the hands of the very people the American-led coalition has spent nearly a decade trying to defeat in Afghanistan: the Taliban, criminals, and power brokers with ties to both. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 17, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.


Jul 4th, 2011

Summary: The outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, who was recently confirmed as the next director of the CIA, says U.S. troops have achieved progress on the battlefield but that “much work remains” to be done in Afghanistan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 4, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Baghdad’s Green Zone was targeted in a mortar attack as Vice President Joe Biden visited Iraq on America’s Independence Day.



Summary: In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, says much of the Taliban’s battlefield momentum has been halted, putting the U.S. on course to begin pulling out troops in July 2011 and shifting security responsibility to the Afghans. He cautioned, however, that security progress remains “fragile and reversible,” with tough days ahead as the Taliban launch an expected spring offensive. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 15, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar — second in the Taliban only to one-eyed leader Mullah Mohammed Omain — reportedly infuriated Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was said to have been holding secret peace talks with the Taliban’s No. 2 when he was captured in Pakistan the previous month, in February 2010.


Nov 13th, 2010

Summary: An independent 25-member task force led by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and former national security adviser Samuel Berger is cautioning President Barack Obama about the high cost of the Afghanistan war and suggests the United States should downsize its ambitions and reduce its military presence in Afghanistan if Obama’s December 2010 Afghanistan policy review finds the current strategy is not working. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 13, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that morale had fallen among soldiers in Afghanistan, while those in Iraq showed much improved mental health amid lower violence. There were 133 reported active-duty Army suicides from January 2009 through October 2009, compared with 115 for the same period in 2008.


Oct 7th, 2010

Summary: Analysis on the 9th anniversary of the beginning of the U.S. war in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on October 7, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided news and analysis on the 9th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, destroy al-Qaida, and kill or capture Osama bin Laden and other leaders of the terrorist organization.


Aug 13th, 2010

Summary: The number of civilians killed or wounded in the Afghan conflict rose 31 percent in the first six months of 2010, with anti-government forces causing about three-quarters of the casualties, according to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 13, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Marines surging into Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, to protect citizens ahead of the August 20 national election were meeting fierce resistance from the Taliban.


Jul 2nd, 2010

Summary: Taliban suicide attackers stormed a four-story house used by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Kunduz, north Afghanistan, killing four people before succumbing in a fierce, five-hour gunbattle with Afghan security forces. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 2, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that PolitiFact’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Truth-O-Meter rated Rep. Michele Bachmann’s “scaremongering claim” that ACORN will be a paid partner of the Census Bureau and “in charge” of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public in the 2010 U.S. Census as [Liar, Liar] Pants on Fire.


Jun 24th, 2010

Summary: President Barack Obama says his ouster of the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, would not disrupt his war strategy or timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 24, 2009 Aubrey Immelman featured a book review of Bill Prendergast’s illustrated history of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s political career in comic book format, titled “False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story.”


Jun 23rd, 2010

Summary: President Barack Obama has relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his command in the Afghanistan war, naming Gen. David Petraeus as his replacement. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 23, 2009 Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases.