Afghanistan War News Updates -- June 16, 2010

Barack Obama, then a senator, with Gen. David Petraeus in Baghdad in 2008. Reuters

The West Is Tiptoeing To The Exit In Afghanistan -- Wall Street Journal

Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. Central Command, is used to coming under fire in the field. He led the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division in the 2003 Iraq war, overseeing its heroic charge to Baghdad through Karbala, Hilla and Najaf. Famously he is supposed to have remarked to embedded reporters after the fall of the Iraqi capital: "Tell me how this ends." That request was interpreted as an indication that Gen. Petraeus realized early on that keeping the peace after the fall of Saddam would prove a good deal more difficult than winning the war in the first place. He was right. Iraq had to endure years of bloodshed and chaos before the surge of troops he implemented in 2007-08 began to turn the tide.

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More News On Afghanistan

Debate grows over Afghanistan withdrawal plan -- L.A. Times
Petraeus hedges on Afghanistan withdrawal -- Washington Times
Petraeus becomes ill during hearing on Afghan forces and withdrawal date -- Washington Post
Concern Grows Over U.S. Strategy In Afghanistan -- NPR
Rising concern in US Congress over Afghan war -- AFP
Questions on Afghan strategy touch nerve in Pentagon -- Reuters

Bomb attack kills 2 US service members in northern Afghanistan, pushing June toll to 30 -- FOX News
2 NATO soldiers killed, 3 injured in northern Afghan province -- Xinhuanet
2 US service members killed in Afghanistan -- AP
Two NATO soldiers killed in northern Afghanistan -- AFP
Two US soldiers among 16 killed in Afghanistan -- Sify News

Militant Group Expands Attacks in Afghanistan -- New York Times
Four Months In, Special Forces Team ‘Can’t Find the Taliban’ -- The Danger Room
U.S. Bolsters Afghan Police to Secure Kandahar -- New York Times
Afghan mission 'will fail without British troops' U.S. warns -- The Daily Mail
Afghanistan’s Civic War -- New York Times
Taliban suspected in car-bomb death of Afghan district leader, two others -- Washington Post
Taliban assassinate key district governor in Kandahar -- Long War Journal

Afghanistan seeks bids to tap huge mineral wealth -- Yahoo News/AFP
News of Afghanistan's mineral wealth deepens suspicion of US aims -- Christian Science Monitor
Why all the talk about minerals now? -- CNN

Afghanistan's newfound mineral wealth could fuel further conflict -- Michael Williams, The Guardian
Afghanistan's $1 trillion mineral wealth is a problem for Britain and US, poised to withdraw -- Gerald Warner, The Telegraph
The power of education is the real gold in Afghanistan -- Kathleen Parker, Washington Post
Petraeus's War -- Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic
Afghanistan: This Way to the Exit -- Iain Matin, Wall Street Journal