CORRESPONDENTS
Nancy Youssef
Military growing impatient with Obama on Afghanistan
Six months after it announced its strategy for Afghanistan, the Obama administration is sending mixed signals about its objectives there and how many troops are needed to achieve them. | 09/18/09 18:48:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
White House issues yardsticks for success in Afghanistan
The White House Wednesday presented Congress with eight general yardsticks to measure success in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but didn't say how they'd help the administration determine how well U.S. policy in the region is working. | 09/16/09 20:23:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Top U.S. officer: Afghan war 'probably' needs more troops
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the U.S. "probably" needs to send more troops to Afghanistan to support the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, which he called a large part of the problem there. | 09/15/09 17:52:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Military leery of Afghanistan escalation with no clear goals
Military observers, soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan and some top Pentagon officials are warning that dispatching tens of thousands more soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan might not ensure success. The heart of the problem, they say, is that neither Barack Obama's White House nor the Pentagon has clearly defined America's mission in Afghanistan. | 09/07/09 15:20:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel
Military leaders: U.S. effort in Afghanistan just beginning
Top Pentagon leaders Thursday insisted that despite an expected request for more American troops in Afghanistan, the U.S. isn't engaged in nation building there and that although violence is increasing, the military effort there is "only now beginning." | 09/03/09 19:54:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Pentagon worried about Obama's commitment to Afghanistan
The prospect that U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal may ask for as many as 45,000 additional American troops in Afghanistan is fueling growing tension within President Barack Obama's administration over the U.S. commitment to the war there. | 08/31/09 19:29:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record
With the death of four U.S. soldiers Tuesday, the U.S.-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan now has lost more troops this year than in all of 2008, and August is on track to be the deadliest month for American troops there since U.S. operations begain nearly eight years ago. The numbers reflect the rising pace of combat in Afghanistan and come as opinion polls show that a majority of Americans think the war in Afghanistan isn't worth the cost. | 08/25/09 18:57:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef and Jonathan S. Landay
Baghdad bombings question: Did U.S. draw back too fast?
Neither American officials in Washington nor Iraqi officials in Baghdad seem willing to entertain bringing U.S. troops back into the city, even though violence has risen since their withdrawal. Wednesday's bombings, which killed at least 95 and injured more than 500, came as Iraqi officials have been dismantling many of the security steps that had brought a dramatic drop in bloodshed to the Iraqi capital. | 08/19/09 18:56:00 By - Sahar Issa and Nancy A. Youssef
In Afghan district, U.S. will face 'toughest environment'
The Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan wonder whether the Americans who're coming later this month will be able to do any better than they have. | 08/13/09 16:16:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
In Taliban heartland, coalition's made little headway after 8 years
Coalition troops have been battling the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly eight years, and yet in the Zhari District, where the Taliban sprang to life, not a single coalition soldier is based in any of the villages. The Canadian troops who've fought here for the last three years are frustrated and skeptical that their American brethren will have any better luck. | 08/13/09 16:13:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
U.S. mulls pulling troops from remote Afghan outposts
The U.S. military commander in Afghanistan is considering pulling American troops out of some remote outposts on the country's mountainous eastern border with Pakistan, where local guerrillas are allied with the Taliban and al Qaida, U.S. officials told McClatchy. | 08/12/09 17:34:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay and Nancy A. Youssef
McChrystal wants huge boost in U.S. civilians in Afghanistan
In addition to possibly requesting thousands of additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the top American military commander in Afghanistan will ask the Obama administration to double the number of U.S. government civilian workers who are in the country. The request for additional civilian resources will be part of a 60-day assessment of U.S. Afghan strategy now being conducted by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The plan will also propose revamping the relationship between civilians and the military so that soldiers shift economic and political development work to civilians. | 08/10/09 17:59:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef and Warren P. Strobel
As security rises in Kabul, residents feel less safe instead
As the United States steps up its civilian presence in Kabul, residents of the ancient capital say they're beginning to feel like a city under siege. Huge intimidating convoys of armored SUVs now are common sights in the city's growing traffic jams. Newly erected concrete barriers block off many buildings from nearby thoroughfares. Nearly every day, there's some incident involving security teams pointing guns out of windows at frightened commuters. | 07/23/09 15:30:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan tests McChrystal's new order
An airstrike that Afghan officials allege killed at least four civilians Wednesday is the first test of a new U.S. directive that American troops let Taliban fighters flee if civilian lives are at risk. | 07/17/09 17:49:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Karzai opponents hope to beat him in second round
In an effort to offset Afghan President Hamid Kazai's deals with various tribal factions, his rival presidential candidates are hoping to deny him a majority in the Aug. 20 election, then coalesce around one leading opposition candidate in a runoff. | 07/14/09 14:58:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
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