Afghanistan War News Updates -- September 2, 2009

An MQ-1 Predator returns to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, from an Operation Enduring Freedom mission. Demetrius Lester / USAF / Sipa

U.S. To Boost Combat Force In Afghanistan -- L.A. Times

Support units will be replaced by up to 14,000 'trigger-pullers,' and noncombat posts will be contracted out, Defense officials say. The swap will allow the U.S. to keep its troop level unchanged.

U.S. troops patrol in Kunar province. The military believes the U.S. needs to optimize its forces in Afghanistan to carry out a counterinsurgency strategy. (Sgt. Matthew Moeller / U.S. Army / August 13, 2009)

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More News On Afghanistan

Deputy Intelligence Chief Is Slain in Afghanistan -- New York Times
Spy chief among 23 killed in Taliban suicide blast -- AP
Suicide attack 'kills deputy head of Afghan intel' -- Yahoo News/AFP
Blast Kills Afghan Deputy Chief Of Intelligence -- Time Magazine
Afghan blast kills senior officials -- CBC
Taliban Surprising U.S. Forces With Improved Tactics -- Washington Post
More US "Trigger Pullers" Headed for Afghanistan -- CBS News
More Combat Troops for Afghanistan -- The Slatest
Obama to Receive McChrystal Report Wednesday -- Washington Post
Obama to get Afghan report on vacation -- AFP
Nervous Barack Obama eyes Afghan surge -- The Australian
Poll: Most Americans oppose more troops for Afghanistan -- McClatchy News
Can the U.S. 'Offshore' Its Afghanistan War? -- Time Magazine
A Return to Offshore Balancing -- Captain's Journal
Warlord's Defection Shows Afghan Risk -- Yaroslav Trofimov, Wall Street Journal.
US use of private contractors in war hits record high - Christian Science Monitor
Misconduct Claimed at US Embassy in Kabul -- Ginger Thompson, New York Times.
Afghan U.S. Embassy patrol in 'deviant' parties with booze, hookers - report -- New York Daily News
American Embassy Contractors in Kabul Accused of Ritual Abuse -- Giles Whittell, The Times.
Report Details Misbehavior by Kabul Embassy Guards -- Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post
UN Reports a Decline in Afghanistan's Opium Trade -- Matthew Rosenberg, Wall Street Journal
UN Sees Afghan Drug Cartels Emerging -- Richard A. Oppel, Jr., New York Times.
Report: Afghanistan's Opium Boom May Be Over -- Time Magazine
Afghan Opium Crop Down, Prices Plummet: U.N. -- Reuters
FACTBOX-Some facts about Afghanistan's opium crop -- Reuters
A high-stakes bid for Afghan hearts -- Christian Science MOnitor
Afghanistan vote fraud overshadows Paris meeting -- AFP
Afghans Brace for Unrest Over Vote Tally -- Pamela Constable, Washington Post.
Tribal Leaders Say Karzai’s Team Forged 23,900 Votes -- Dexter Filkins, New York Times.
Experts: Elections Last Chance to Resolve Afghan Conflict -- Ravi Khanna, Voice of America.
First the Votes, Now the Complaints Pile up in Afghanistan -- Laura King, Los Angeles Times.
Taking Kabul by the Horns -- The Times editorial.
US Military Deaths in Afghanistan Region at 734 -- AP