Afghanistan War News Updates -- October 3, 2009

Canadian troops wait to be picked up in western Zhari District as a Canadian CH-47D Chinook helicopter touches down on Saturday, March 7, 2009. (CP / Murray Brewster)

U.S. Review of Battle Disaster Sways Strategy On Afghanistan -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The paratroopers of Chosen Company had plenty to worry about as they began digging in at their new outpost on the fringe of a hostile frontier village in eastern Afghanistan.

Intelligence reports were warning of militants massing in the area. As the paratroopers looked around, the only villagers they could see were men of fighting age idling in the bazaar. There were no women and children, and some houses looked abandoned. Through their night scopes they could see furtive figures on the surrounding mountainsides.

A few days later, they were almost overrun by 200 insurgents.

Read more ....

More News On Afghanistan

Extra US troops for north, west Afghan: military -- AFP
3 US troops killed by attacks in east Afghanistan -- Yahoo News/AP
Conflicts leave 5 American soldiers dead in Afghanistan -- China View
Two more US soldiers killed in Afghanistan: NATO -- AFP
US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 774 -- AP

Obama Meets Top Afghan Commander as He Mulls Change in War Strategy -- New York Times
Barack Obama Holds Runway Summit with General Stanley McChrystal -- Times Online
Gates leaning towards more troops for Afghanistan, sources say
-- CNN
U.S. strategy in Afghanistan under fire -- Canada.com
Path to a Pashtun Rebellion in Afghanistan -- Washington Post
War Debate Addresses Taliban Ties To al Qaeda -- Wall Street Journal
Don't Go Wobbly on Afghanistan -- Frederick W. Kagan & Kimberly Kagan, Weekly Standard
For U.S. troops in Afghanistan, home is where they make it -- McClatchy News
Corruption, Shortage of Mentors Hinder Afghan Forces, US Says -- Washington Post
US Set to Boost Afghan Border Police Training -- Stars And Stripes
For Ottawa (Canada), tough choices loom over Afghanistan -- CTV News

Commentaries And Analysis

A Protection or a Provocation? -- Pamela Constable, Washington Post
How national is the Afghan army? -- James Denselow, The Guardian
A General's Public Pressure -- Bruce Ackerman, Washington Post opinion
Obama Confronts Ghost of Vietnam -- Paul Kelly, The Australian opinion