Afghanistan War News Briefs -- November 27, 2010

Afghans return to their villages after receiving gifts for the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, in Nawa, Afghanistan, Nov. 17, 2010. U.S. Marines assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, provided security while U.S. and Afghan soldiers distributed supplies as a goodwill gesture. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mark Fayloga

U.S. Now In Afghanistan As Long As Soviets Were -- L.A. Times

The last Red Army troops left in 1989, driven out after nine years and 50 days by U.S.-backed fighters known as mujahedin. Despite contrasts, the U.S. and Soviet wars have common narrative elements.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Moscow — As wartime days go, Friday was a fairly quiet one in Afghanistan. Helicopters skittered across the sky; convoys rumbled along desert roads; soldiers in mountain outposts scanned the jagged peaks around them.

But one thing set the day apart: With its passing, the length of the U.S. military's campaign in Afghanistan matched that of the Soviet Union's long and demoralizing sojourn in the nation.

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More News On Afghanistan

Nato in Afghanistan longer than Soviet Union: analysis -- The Telegraph
US troops pass Soviets' Afghan stay -- Al Jazeera
Grim Milestone: American Presence in Afghanistan Equals Length of Soviets' War -- ABC News

Afghanistan: Suicide bombs target police in Paktika -- BBC
Afghan bombers target police -- Al Jazeera
Suicide attack at Afghan police HQ kills 12 -- Yahoo News/AP
Suicide Attacks At Afghan Police HQ Kill 12 Officers -- Radio Free Europe
Four policemen killed in suicide attack in Afghan east -- Yahoo News/AFP
17 insurgents killed in Afghanistan: NATO -- Hindustan Times

More Ups than Downs in Afghan Counterinsurgency Fight -- U.S. Department of Defense
Shiite deal gives militants new Afghan access -- AP
Afghan police learn to shoot, patrol -- Washington Times

Taliban imposter several inches shorter than man he was impersonating -- The Telegraph
Reports: British Spy Agency Paid Taliban Impostor -- Voice of America
Duping of MI6 reveals Afghan coalition flaws -- BBC

Afghanistan Rejects U.S. Aid for Bank Audits -- Wall Street Journal
Afghanistan: a history of occupation -- The Telegraph
The Man Who Would Be Taliban -- Tobin Harshaw, New York Times
Talks are the only route in Afghanistan -- Ahmed Rashid, L.A. Times
Coddled VIPs don't see real Afghanistan -- Don Martin, National Post

FACTBOX-Military deaths in Afghanistan -- Reuters