Afghanistan War News Updates -- January 18, 2011

IN MARJAH - U.S. Marines and Afghanistan National Army soldiers debark a CH-53E Sea Stallion during Operation Integrity, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Jan. 15, 2011. The Marines are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment. The operation's goal was to cordon off a suspected hotspot for Taliban activity, search for weapon and IED caches, disrupt enemy logistical operations and gather census data on locals in the region of Sistani. ISAF photo

Costly Coalition Plan To Recruit Thousands More Afghan Forces Draws Concerns -- Washington Post

KABUL - A U.S.-backed plan to hire an additional 73,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers has raised concern among diplomats in Kabul about the quality of recruits and the sustainability of an increasingly costly security apparatus financed almost entirely by international donors.

The plan represents a 24 percent increase over an initial American goal. It would cost the United States an additional $6 billion next year, roughly twice as much as previously planned, and could saddle the United States and other countries with heftier Afghan security costs for years, if not decades, to come.

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More News On Afghanistan

Costly Afghan troop boost raises concern -- The Age
Plan calls for more Afghan security forces -- Washington Post

27 insurgents killed in S Afghanistan -- Xinhuanet
Afghan officials: 50 Taliban switch sides in north -- Cnettre Daily/AP
Forces target Taliban leaders throughout Afghanistan -- Dvids
In Afghanistan, Insurgents Let Bombs Do Fighting -- New York Times
U.S. Marines begins arriving in Afghan Helmand province -- Xinhuanet
AFGHANISTAN: Deminers in the firing line -- IRIN
The Afghan Diaries: Night Patrol with the Bomb Squad -- Time Magazine

GOP Senators Visit Afghanistan -- Wall Street Journal
GOP Senators Take Secret Afghanistan Trip -- Newser
Seven Republican senators visit Afghanistan and Pakistan -- Washington Post
Obama's Afghan strategy is praised -- Freep
Senators wrap up in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- CNN

Afghan Businessmen Protest Iran's Fuel Blockade -- NPR/AP
Afghans irate over fuel blockade -- UPI
Iran’s Fuel Blockade Raises Food Prices, Tensions in Afghanistan -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Iran's fuel blockade strains relations with Afghanistan, prompts protests -- Washington Post

Conflict on Afghan Efforts to Tax Foreign Contractors -- New York Times
Afghan tax effort targets U.S. firms -- Washington Post
Afghanistan Attempts to Levy Taxes on US Aid Contractors -- War On Terror News
Afghans move to tax U.S. contractors -- UPI
Afghan govt taxes US aid: report -- AFP

Tainted Afghan parliament set to open in days -- Yahoo News/AFP
Afghan underworld elements terrorize citizens -- Army Times/AP
Afghan underworld shows challenges for stability -- AP
Deeper Into Fathomless Afghanistan -- New York Times
Kinder prison, swifter justice for US detainees in Afghanistan -- Boston.com
Q+A - How is Afghanistan's drug trade evolving? -- Yahoo News/Reuters
All-Seeing Blimp Could Be Afghanistan’s Biggest Brain -- The Danger Room
Solar-Powered Marines See Gains In Afghanistan -- NPR
Afghanistan War: Should we stay or should we go? -- Harry Sanna, Global Post