Afghanistan War News Updates -- June 25, 2011

UP THE HILL - U.S. Army 1st Lt. John Dundee, foreground, leads a group of soldiers from the town of Gomerai, back to Combat Outpost Najil in Laghman province, Afghanistan, June 15, 2011. Dundee is a platoon leader assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Staff. Sgt Ryan C. Matson

Mullen: I Was Against Obama's Afghan Drawdown At First -- MSNBC

Military chief: 'No commander ever wants to sacrifice fighting power in the middle of a war'

KABUL — The United States' top military officer said Thursday that President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan incurred "more risk than I was originally prepared to accept" but that he now supports Obama's strategy.

"I would prefer not to discuss the specifics of the private advice I rendered with respect to these decisions. As I said, I support them,'' Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in prepared remarks he was due to deliver in a congressional hearing.

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More News On Afghanistan

Military advisers react to Obama's Afghan plan -- CBS
Commanders say Obama overruled them on Afghanistan -- Yahoo News/AFP
Mullen sees risk in Obama's Afghanistan withdrawal -- Yahoo News/AP
Mullen: Obama Afghan plan risky but "manageable" -- CBS
Fear, relief in Afghanistan at US withdrawal plan -- Yahoo News/AP

Car bomb at clinic in eastern Afghanistan kills at least 25; some reports put toll at 60 dead -- Yahoo News/Canadian Press
Car bomb outside Afghan clinic kills at least 60 -- AP
Afghan hospital bombing kills 60 -- AFP
60 Dead, 120 Wounded in Afghan Hospital Blast -- Voice of America
Taliban deny Afghan bomb involvement -- SKY News
Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill Insurgents -- U.S. Department of Defense
French soldier killed in Afghanistan during reconnaissance mission -- Canadian Press
Afghanistan says 4 children killed in Pakistani border shelling -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Kabul urges end to Pakistani border attacks -- Yahoo News/AFP
'Terrorism' on increase in Afghanistan, region: Karzai -- Canada.com/AFP
Experts: Drawdown plans leave an ambiguous military mission -- Stars and Stripes
Afghan campaign a mixed bag, intel analysis says -- CBS

Clinton: Taliban talks unpleasant but necessary -- CBS
Spain to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by 2014 -- Bernama
While US talks withdrawal, Afghan corruption soars -- Yahoo News/AP
Afghan MPs hit back over court ruling -- Reuters
Photos with dead Afghans stirred pride, soldier testifies -- Stars and Stripes/McClatchy News
Marines in Afghanistan Get Ballistic Underwear -- Military.com

Staying in Afghanistan: Where’s the sense? -- Colbert King, Washington Post
What the Afghan war is missing: A sense of desperation -- Matthew Sherman, Washington Post
Victory fragile as Afghan mission winds down -- Matthew Fisher, Edmonton Journal/Postmedia News
Obama as risk manager of Afghanistan war -- Christian Science Monitor editorial
The Drawdown in Afghanistan Begins -- Oliver North, FOX News
Victory in Afghanistan might be short-lived: Fragile peace; Streets seem normal but residents worry -- Matthew Fisher, Montreal Gazette/Postmedia News

Timeline: Conflict in Afghanistan -- Yahoo News